Former Brazil international Zico has insisted that Argentina and other teams hoping to win the 2014 FIFA World Cup will need a bit of luck.
The 61 year-old, who played at the 1978, 1982 and 1986 tournaments, believes that there is also some misfortune to an opponent that helps a nation on their way to victory.
“Naturally, Argentina are not going to Brazil to collect a trophy,” he wrote in his column for The Guardian. “To win a World Cup, everything has to go your way. It’s not a matter of only playing well. You need opponents’ misfortunes, too. Brazil, for example, played Germany in the and had their job made easier by the absence of Michael Ballack, at the time Germany’s main player who missed the game because of suspension for receiving a yellow card in the semi-final against South Korea.
“These things add up and even with Messi Argentina – indeed whoever wants to win this tournament – will have to rely on a little help from their friends to lift the trophy at the Maracanã on 13 July.”
Zico was capped 88 times by Brazil, but never won the FIFA World Cup. The closest he came was in 1986, when the Seleção reached the quarter-finals.
