The level of play before the late 90s was NOT higher in Europe, modern football brought that back then South American players didn't need to make that leap.
You should do one with the Mexican midfielder he's a legend in Mexico I cannot remember his name but he used to put the ball between his leg and hop over the Defenders
Footballers such as Gilberto Silva, Juan Román Riquelme, Andrea Pirlo, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick, Sergio Busquets and Mesut Özil all made the game look so easy to the point they were considered lazy or not ambitious enough. It wasn't until they retired or stop playing football people realize they were irreplaceable.
@@SteveNami616 yeah because despite being a DM / CM he rarely tackles his opponents which results in him going months sometimes without a yellow card. Funny thing is he won the ball frequently because his style involves man intercepting the ball. CM these days are program the only way to win the ball his hard tackling and unlimited stamina chasing down oppositions.
"We could give him the ball when we didn't know what to do because we knew he wouldn't lose it," is one of the greatest quotes I've ever heard spoken about a player.
@@SahelleDorjean-zx3wxI remember a good midfielder called Alvarez from that era. But Valderrama was my favourite player from the whole 1990’s WC. Greetings from Hungary.
Just because he made it look super effortless doesn't mean he wasn't athletic. To keep the ball against 4 players of that level like that play after play is just a ludicrous level of athleticism. The fact he achieved the record for most assists at 39 is absolutely insane.
Same here. My step-dad got me into playing and we would watch the games when the national team (Colombia) would play. It was the 90s, and man I was amazed. Later on, when I was playing in high school, El Pibe came to Azteca Park, in Houston, and my step dad took my brother, my girlfriend, and myself to see if we could get a picture with him. We did, plus we were able to get autographed jerseys that we brought with us that day. It's my fondest memory of meeting a legend in the sport I love plus being able to share that experience with my family will always be unforgettable.
Man, the football back in the 70s and 80s (early 90s too) was something else, you know? It wasn't just a game; it was like this beautiful dance of passion and skill. Johan Cruyff was like the conductor of an orchestra, with his Total Football wizardry. Every move, every touch-it was like he was painting a masterpiece with a ball. Then there's Carlos Valderrama, with that wild hair and crazy style. He played like he was having the time of his life on the pitch, making it all look effortless. It was infectious, man. You couldn't help but smile watching him do his thing. And Diego Maradona, oh boy. The guy was a legend. The Hand of God, the Goal of the Century-it was like he was living in a different dimension. You could feel the raw passion oozing out of him, not just for the game but for life itself. What I dig most about that era is how these guys weren't just playing to survive or for big paychecks. Nah, they were out there playing for the love of the game. The pitch was their playground, and they were the kids who never wanted to go home. It's like they were saying, "Let's forget everything else and just play some damn good football." Those were the days, my friend. Football wasn't a business; it was a love affair, and those players were the poets of the beautiful game. It's a vibe that's hard to capture these days with all the big money and politics in football. But man, I just love reminiscing about the magic those guys brought to the pitch.
It was something different ,that is right , not as crazy money as today , I think Ronaldinho was one of the last players playing for the love of the game and having a great time. We missed that for sure,greetings from Spain!!
@@hits_from_the_bong - Oh Magico Gonzalez. Never saw him play, but I"ve seen videos and heard the stories. Quite the character. That nickname definitely suited him.
He's incredibly underrated. We rarely hear of his brilliance. With one assist, one individual play, one steal turned into a counter attack, could completely change the outcome of a game.
Awesome video. Valderrama is indeed one of the most beloved veteran players here in Colombia. We still have much to grow as a football nation, but we have become a respectable country with great players like Luis Díaz and Juan Guillermo Cuadrado. This growth was largely thanks to Valderrama and his golden generation putting us on the map.
@@jaishu123 I'd say peak Falcao was our best player ever, he was the best striker in the world for at least 2 seasons, he was not only good in the pitch but was also a very kind person outside of it, he was also extremely disciplined and you never heard any scandal where his name was mentioned which is something the rest of our best players cannot say.
Valderrama Higuita, and el Tino Aspirilla made Colombia a very exciting team. With Ivan Cordoba, they managed to win the Copa America 2001, the real golden generation
@@armandoromero4928 you're right, Valderrama, Asprilla and many others retired from the National team after the failure in France 98. Ivan Cordoba, Oscar Cordoba and Aristizabal were the only players that were part of the team from the 98 that won the Copa America in 2001
I'm Colombian and his skills were honed not because of the beach, but the type of ball he used. It's call a cloth ball because it's made of, well, cloth or old fabric. It's wrapped tight with string to get the shape and coated with shoe glue. The result is a non bouncy ball but hard to control and dribble (Still sold nowadays). And he wasn't lazy or care free, just simple in what he played; his job was to retain the ball and control the midfield with quick passing. He didn't deviate from that.
my faviotite colombian player was Luis Fajardo incredibly imaginative and innovative as a brazil fan i loved watching fARJADO in the World Cup alongside carlos Estrada and Freddy RINCON their performance against germany in the group stages were legendary the most audacious piece of skill i eve witnessed in my life was this kind of back hill chip and lob pass to a team mate against a Argentinian club team i think it might have been in the club championship 91
THough i watched Valderrama during the 90's world cups, I never realised until this video, how he is basically the template where midfielders like Busquets and de Jong get their style of play from. perfect vision, incredible technique and a natural instinct to keep plays simple. Must be one of the hardest things to do on the pitch. Great video.
This man was the motor he understood that the play before the goal was more important than the actual finish and his ability to do it with one touch and 360 vision is what made him so special ⭐️
Dude was special. In the early and mid 90s I thought he was one of the best passers in the game. When he played for the Colorado Rapids I got to see him up close, controlling a game while just walking around the pitch.
Same! I got to meet him when he was Playing for The Fusion in Ft.Lauderdale. I played Highschool with Pete Marino/ Sneaky Pete,at that time they were both playing for the Fusion. He always amazed me! Cheers From Florida. BTW love me some Colorado,have a few friends living out there. Beautiful State. 😎🤙
The goal in the 90 WC against West Germany was incredible and Valderrama was the pivot for it. That German Team were largely impenetrable defensively by and Colombia cur the to pieces.
El Pibe. Man did I love watching that man play. My all-time favorite player. I patterned my game after him thought I eventually came to play more of a defensive midfielder role. His true genius is the understanding of space and weight of the pass. His passes always had perfect weight. True Legend.
Hey this might sound crazy to some Colombians, but there was one underrated player called Victor Danilo Pacheco, even Valderrama said he was better than him, if you could search about him you could see the way he played, it was a combination of old and modern football when football wasn't even modern... the problem with this guy was the he is from one of the most hated regions in Colombia and also he was to small for the coach at that time, but the coach (Maturana) played some others that were even smaller than him, but honestly search for this guy, Victor Danilo Pacheco.
I love midfielders like him, growing up in Colombia and not being very athletic I always tried to emulate his style when I was very young, later I knew other players that I liked for not being super quick or strong but had certain style and elegance to pass or shoot while having less pace as a center back, those players were Fernando Redondo and Andrea Pirlo.
Redondo is another forgotten genius. he was so, so good at his peak. the goal he set up for Raúl at Old Trafford is one of the most outrageous pieces of skill ever imo
I drew the short straw for '94 US vs Columbia so watched from a hotel room by myself in Pasadena. Was in tears from win and seeing my parents on tv at end before Meola raised the flag. It took many years for me to accept that my parents truly deserved this experience and see this man named Valderrama.
Football is all about moving the ball. Flashy dribble moves look cool and exciting for the audience, but rarely achieve anything for the game vs. a properly structured and layered defence. A brilliant pass, however, can dismantle even the best defence in the world. For that, players have to be running to receive the ball; not to use it. It is a different mentality and the better and more beautiful way to play the game imo.
Thanks Raymar, I just love your videos and the passion with which you present them. Suggestions for future episodes: Edgar Davids, Franz Beckenbauer, Paul Breitner
Who could forget the midfield legend Valderrama? Man looked like a wizard and played like he was conducting an orchestra. I always enjoyed watching him work magic with exquisite passes and assists. Would’ve love to see him be more goal hungry, but IMO he was still one of the greatest midfielders of all time. He was so unique only the great Pirlo reminds me of Valderrama in his style of play and
I remember watching him in the 1990 World Cup. The media dubbed him The Hair. He looked effortless but it took me all these years to realize how masterful he was. I would always remember him.
Same as. I knew about his hair but sadly missed just how good a player he was. Back then there wasn’t internet or as much tv coverage so you’d see the players more in magazines than actually playing. But turns out his hair was second to his crazy football skills in reality.
I just always remember him always having a great short pass rating on PES. The few timed I did see him dribble, I would have never imagined him not liking it. The Evergreen made his dribbling a grand sight to see.
Fun fact, the nick name "El pibe" came from "la Bruja" Veron's father, at that time he played on Colombia, and of course he was friend whith Carlos dad which was a footballer too, pibe, is a way Argentinians use to call kids and little kids.
More like if KDB went deep position or Xavi got kidnapped by Pablo Escobar. You clearly underestimate Busquests defending ability but he's not a scrub defender.
@@bimapriambada1098 Both players play similar football, they know how to protect the ball, slow, composed, simple and they both don't like carrying the ball for long distances, and imo Busquets is a better defender than Valderrama, and he also has better understanding of space, but what made Valderrama greater was his ability to create low risk high rewards chances from his own side and his scoring ability, he loved scoring screamers.
In the midfield, he was a tree! A real tree, with roots and a huge gold canopy, and what a beautiful tree! Every move he made was elegant. One of those players you never want them to retire.
I've watched his plays during my early 10's old and now also in my late 30's I still think that I miss really him seeing in fields. No doubt our era got to see best rivalries like CR7/M10, Iniesta+Xavi/whole REAL mid+defense, but his times were like emotions❤❤
1:40 Okocha and Valderrama getting so much respect from Ronaldinho just goes a long way to show how special these guys truly are. And then, of course, Ronaldinho handed over to Goat Messi, and the rest is history!
Saw him in some highlights and I stopped and realised I had no idea about him. Kept watching the highlights and wondered what the fuck was going on. I had always heard of him but had no idea he was that gifted. The more I watched the more stunned I was.
funny how I remember CV more than most from that day.. and yet, it was his hair flair that kept it that way. didnt realize (at the time) that he actually just had skills.. Glad you did this video, always loved him growing up.
I attended one of his leagues/camps growing up I got to play against him and partakes in training sessions with him a few times over the years, that was dope and probably why i have such a good touch of the ball to this day 😅
i've only been to one soccer game. columbia vs romania at the rose bowl in pasadena during the 94 world cup and valderrama was by far the biggest star there. i didn't know anything abut him though so very cool to see this.
was one of my favorite players growing up. Made football look way too easy. Never panicked, never rushed.. just always having the right pass in a given circumstance.
midlefielder who wants to play simple football, not athletic but a genious on the pitch. closest current comparrison is busquets, cruyff talked about the impact him leaving barca would have. simple foiotball is winning football, simple midlefielders who are not flashy make a winning formula, that made him special
"PLus the man was tough enough to fight the police" hahahhaha ! Good one man. I'm from Colombia myself, grew up with the legend of el Pibe always and even saw him play on TV for la Tricolor lots of times when I was a kid. And yet this is the first time I see someone doing such a deep analysis of his story and style of play. Keep it up !!!
He played what, 4 years in France, and he is still remembered as an icon of Ligue 1. I mean, the guy is hard to forget, but his style of play, not just his looks, was really unique.
If you think about it, what Valderrama is doing in not dribbling is conserving his energy for the entire 90 minutes. That is why he never loses the ball....that and the skill...he was a smart and efficient player.
I remember this guy from World Cup 94. I didn't follow Colombia that close, but whem i saw higlights-reel it was often this guy with a lot of hair pasing a lot Sadly are World Cup 94 for Colombia remembered by tragedy. To those responsible, burn in hell. To Andres Escobar Rest in Peace
i went to the colombia vs romania game during the 94 world cup but wasn't aware that a tragedy occurred. i'll look it up. i don't follow soccer and was a kid at the time so probably didn't pay attention to news.
I saw nothing resembling tiki taka in this video. No sideways or backwards passing to avoid any percent of risk. All I saw was brilliant passes forwards, often assists.
I had a short conversation with him at LAX while I getting off of work he saw me see him like is it him? And then I asked him are you that soccer player in Spanish he said yeah really humble and nice guy
bro, his pass strengh, accuracy and vision are crazy as hell!! and when you got that, whats the point of dribbling anyway?! also, where are all these skilled personalities nowadays?!?! today, we mostly got "personalities"!
It looked as if he used magnets tield to his boots.. amazing passes and super elastic cyruff fienting..the man who thought the world how South American play soccer ⚽⚽⚽⚽
Insisto: la designación del "mejor jugador" de la historia es un tema generacional y, últimamente, atiende a intereses comerciales; entre los grandes está VALDERRAMA, sin ninguna duda. Lo hacía fácil, sencillo, perfecto y sin esfuerzo
I see dribbling as a forcing move or a get out of jail card. Its useful to bruteforce your way past the defense but its high risk, its a way of preserving posession in a sitiuation youd normally give a turnover. This makes it a strong and powerful weapon in your arsenal if you use it sparingly and with intent. You have to have a brain. If you spam it you lose efficacy and become predictable. This is why players like busquets were so effective, you know they could dribble but most of the times they went with the low effort high efficacy strat. Making It extremely unexpected when they did choose to dribble and by limiting the use you catch the opponents so offguard you break the line of press in a much more dangerous way
Hey, I came across your videos not to long ago and got to say that they are my favourite football videos, anywhere, so thank you for your work. I got to ask tho, are you portuguese ? You have a tiny accent (or maybe is just the way you talk) that makes your videos a pleasure to listen to, and it reminds me of the accent of some portuguese friends that speak perfect english. It has been intriguing me since I found out about you, so let me know if you can.. Keep up the amazing work, ty
Bro kept saying Valderrama lacked agility while is whole game is based on ridiculously quick lateral movement and change of direction, even if he didn’t cover a lot of the pitch
