Brazil had declined a lot in 2006. Its golden generation of 1994-2002 had aged and seen some retirements by that point.
I think Zidane and Henry are still widely recognized as icons of French soccer, though. I wouldn't say the number of YouTube tributes to either changes that.
I think Spain 2008-2012 and Brazil 1970 both have a strong case for that claim. I would probably give the edge to Spain just because of the unprecedented dominance of international and continental competitions as well as the fact that it happened during a much faster-paced and more difficult era of soccer than was the case in the '70s or the '90s.
A lot of excellent teams faltered in a match or two at the World Cup before winning the title. Spain lost a game to Switzerland in the 2010 edition, and Italy barely advanced from the group stage in 1982 thanks to scoring more goals than Cameroon but still won the title.
Brazil had declined a lot in 2006. Its golden generation of 1994-2002 had aged and seen some retirements by that point.
I think Zidane and Henry are still widely recognized as icons of French soccer, though. I wouldn't say the number of YouTube tributes to either changes that.
I think Spain 2008-2012 and Brazil 1970 both have a strong case for that claim. I would probably give the edge to Spain just because of the unprecedented dominance of international and continental competitions as well as the fact that it happened during a much faster-paced and more difficult era of soccer than was the case in the '70s or the '90s.
A lot of excellent teams faltered in a match or two at the World Cup before winning the title. Spain lost a game to Switzerland in the 2010 edition, and Italy barely advanced from the group stage in 1982 thanks to scoring more goals than Cameroon but still won the title.
You are right! Brazil won the 1994 World Cup as well. So they had a peak of 10 years as opposed to France's peak of 4 years.
France won World Cup 1998 and Euro 2000
Brazil won World Cup 1994 and 2002, Copa America 1997,1999,2003
But France beat Brazil 3-0 in 1998 AND they beat them in 2006 when both were out of their primes. So why no tribute to Zidane and Henry as they're the ones who beat Brazil twice?
I think Spain 2008-2012 and Brazil 1970 both have a strong case for that claim. I would probably give the edge to Spain just because of the unprecedented dominance of international and continental competitions as well as the fact that it happened during a much faster-paced and more difficult era of soccer than was the case in the '70s or the '90s.
That Spain team were special but they won too often by boring the other team to death. Those Brazil teams turned football into an art. It's like pop music before and after the Beatles.