“Systems football began in 1963 – on the hallowed turf of Wembley – with the impact of a cynical foul by Gino Pivatelli. At that moment in the European Cup final, when the hard-working Milan forward, brought in to combat Benfica’s Mário Coluna, caught the great playmaker, football of the individual came to an end. The foul not only checked a promising break, but broke a bone in Coluna’s foot. Without substitutes, he hobbled on, diminished, and Milan won 2-1 to lift the trophy and register the first victory for a team that prioritised the system over the individual. Modern football was born. …”
Guardian

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Thierry Henry, Kylian Mbappe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the rise of fake football quotes
“At the height of the controversy provoked by Cristiano Ronaldo walking out on the Portuguese national team, one of his former team-mates stirred the pot. Responding to Ronaldo’s accusatory statement towards head coach Jorge Jesus, Maniche, the former Chelsea and Portugal midfielder, said his country was ‘stuck with a player who does not want there to be any star other than himself’. It was damning. Nobody knew where the quote came from, but it spread like wildfire across social media and was even repeated by several news organisations. Unfortunately, it was also completely false. Maniche had never said anything of the sort, and he was compelled to issue a public correction on his Instagram account, urging fans to be careful in the future. This is not a unique problem. Fictitious quotations have been infecting the political discourse for at least a generation. They are nothing new in football either, but never have there been so many of them and never have they been so effective. …”
NYT/ATH