Timotas Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 From FIFAWORLDCUP.com Brazil World Cup winner Rivaldo has agreed to join Olympiakos Piraeus, the Greek club's office said Wednesday. Rivaldo will arrive in Athens later Wednesday when terms are expected to be announced, an Olympiakos spokesman told AFP. The club were runners-up in last season's championship after winning seven titles in a row. Olympiakos will play in this year's Champions League without having to go through qualifiers. Rivaldo has been without a club since leaving AC Milan at the end of last season. He had been linked with English Premiership club Bolton, Scottish champions Celtic and German champions Werder Bremen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue and White Army Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 Don't be surprised if this falls through. Rivaldo's a right dickhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted July 21, 2004 Share Posted July 21, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Blue and White Army Don't be surprised if this falls through. Rivaldo's a right dickhead. Quite honestly, that is not true. He is a fine player and a fine person. I know people who have not followed his career maybe judge him by one thing only, that faked injury vs. Turkey, which I admit was appalling. But I can say at Barcelona he was discreet, always spoke well, was a good teammate. A dedicated family man, and never polemical on or off the field. He never faked an injury like that at Barça and was constantly hacked to death by opponents, rarely even complaining. And he is very dedicated defending, works very hard at it always. The only problem he had here at all was not liking to play on the left wing under Van Gaal. But in the end he adapted and scored a lot, just turning into the middle like Ronaldinho is doing for us now. I think we have to be fair to a player overall. What really matters is that he has scored some of the most amazing goals ever. How about that overhead bicycle kick from the edge of the box in the dying minutes vs. Valencia on the last day of the season a few years back to ensure us a champions spot? Awesome. I wish folks wouldn't be so prone to moralizing generalizations when they don't have an idea of the big picture. Though I am not denying he is past his prime, and will have problems to stay on form and make an impact if he is not played in the right way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timotas Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 I agree with you, Jeffrey. I admire Rivaldo for his skill, I have been supporting him for quite a while. He is past his prime, but I'd love to see him play again, he's one of the players who gets the ball and you know something creative and imagitative is gonna happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timotas Posted July 22, 2004 Author Share Posted July 22, 2004 I agree with you, Jeffrey. I admire Rivaldo for his skill, I have been supporting him for quite a while. He is past his prime, but I'd love to see him play again, he's one of the players who gets the ball and you know something creative and imagitative is gonna happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue and White Army Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 He's past his prime, and he now has an ego. He was stringing several clubs along before actually signing for one. Reminds me of Gazza - really a nice bloke and an excellent player, but now past his prime and has commitment issues, and very likely also now an inflated ego. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Blue and White Army He's past his prime, and he now has an ego. He was stringing several clubs along before actually signing for one. Reminds me of Gazza - really a nice bloke and an excellent player, but now past his prime and has commitment issues, and very likely also now an inflated ego. Name one single top quality player without an ego and I'll send you a Rivaldo signed Barça cap. I mean, what kind of argument is that, it is naive to start talking in these terms when dealing with pro athletes. In any case, Rivaldo has shown that he is has swallowed a lot of pride by taking a step down and going to play at a lower level, albeit not that much lower. I don't get it B+W, what gives, are you suddenly a spurned Bolton fan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I still just can't get past that faked injury vs. Turkey in WC2002. Or in FIFA terms, "Simulation". Good player, terrible actor, gullible refs. My friends keep pointing to that incident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 quote:Originally posted by redhat I still just can't get past that faked injury vs. Turkey in WC2002. Or in FIFA terms, "Simulation". Good player, terrible actor, gullible refs. My friends keep pointing to that incident. That is just tabloid stuff. If you don't have the big picture you can't love the game, and have to accept all the soccer-hating press is right when they point to a single dive or vicious foul instead of talking about the whole thing, the game. It is 95% peripheral to the player (so I'll give you 5%). Tell your friends that you don't judge a player because of a single incident, cause if they did they'd have to write off every single player for something atrocious they did on the field, once, maybe, way back. In the end if the ref had not fallen for Rivaldo's act, which was similar to scores of similar incidents I've seen over the years, everyone would have forgotten about it. Rivaldo was the best player on the Brazil squad that Cup IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desigol Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 I've a Greek mate from Uni who supports Olympiakos. He would be chuffed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redhat Posted July 22, 2004 Share Posted July 22, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S. In the end if the ref had not fallen for Rivaldo's act, which was similar to scores of similar incidents I've seen over the years, everyone would have forgotten about it. Rivaldo was the best player on the Brazil squad that Cup IMO. Agreed. Very unfortunate as he and Ronaldo played very well during the tournament. Well, these friends of mine will just have to enjoy lots of hockey this winter. No, um, AHL hockey ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 Generally speaking, any piece of unsportsmanship is acceptable in my book if it occurs against Turkey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted July 23, 2004 Share Posted July 23, 2004 quote:Originally posted by amacpher Generally speaking, any piece of unsportsmanship is acceptable in my book if it occurs against Turkey. For what it is worth, and for all the Brazilians at Barça over the years (right now we have three internationals), I have never supported them, unless the opposition winning would have meant a victory for crap football. In that particular match I would have been quite pleased to see Turkey win. In the end, the feeling that the Brazilians just coast with all that talent irritates me, the only way to get some great ball out of them is for them to be forced play to avoid the embarrassment of getting knocked out early (meaning before semis) at a big tournament. Then, if they can pull it off, I am happy to applaud the triumph of the beautiful game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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