Englands Group in the World Cup

[Imran Siddiqui]

why? they qualified and Holland didn't, you have to regionalize the qualifiers or you's have european players having to jet off to play in China on a wednesday and get back to play league football on the saturday, the clubs (who pay the wages) would never stand for it.

Exactly! And for a World Cup, you'd prefer to have countries from all over the world compete... especially if it is being held outside of Europe.

[Zopperoni]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
And for a World Cup, you'd prefer to have countries from all over the world compete... especially if it is being held outside of Europe.

Erm...no, I don't.

[reds4ever]

how else is the rest of the world supposed to catch up to Europe and South America, but to play them at the highest level?

Look how poor the African nations were until 1990, they got better by playing competative football against the best teams in the world.

PS BTW Senegal were runners-up in the African Nations this year, so they are due some respect!

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Chowlett
Scotland aren't in because, and as a Scot I can say this, we are a type a Muslim, minus one 'i'.

And for those who are confused, that Musilm is "Shiite"

Whew!! I thought you meant Sunni!

[Saint Marcus]

would you make like to make an exception because we KNOW the Dutch can play better?

Yes. They are called wildcards. There are used in many other sports, so why can't they be used in soccer? Plus, Europe is grossly underrepresented in the World Cup, considering they have the world's best teams. It's a cup in which only the best teams in the world are allowed to compete. Well, that's clearly not the case here. It's not about Holland as such, cause I'd feel the same way if China was allowed to play but, say, Germany wasn't.

[Buck Birdseed]

I think dutch people should shut up already. You did worse in qualifying than Iran, for ****'s sake. Iran actually managed to beat the republic of Ireland, something Holland was unable to do. And since China, etc. beat Iran, based purely on qualifying Holland is worse than all the asian teams. Purely objectively.

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus


Yes. They are called wildcards. There are used in many other sports, so why can't they be used in soccer? Plus, Europe is grossly underrepresented in the World Cup, considering they have the world's best teams. It's a cup in which only the best teams in the world are allowed to compete. Well, that's clearly not the case here. It's not about Holland as such, cause I'd feel the same way if China was allowed to play but, say, Germany wasn't.

FIFA are trying to develop the came in so called third world countries and this is their way of doing it, also teams like Germany, Italy and Holland are given a starting advantage in the qualifying groups because they are seeded, and don't have to play against the other top teams, so if they still can't qualify, well tough!

[Ecthy]

I agree with Snapcase. The Netherlands should be nuked.

[Zopperoni]

Originally posted by Ecthelion
I agree with Snapcase. The Netherlands should be nuked.

OK, no Amsterdam meeting then I suppose.

[Ecthy]

That was a joke, not a reason to get personal and quit meeting plans.

[Zopperoni]

No offense intended, but I'm sick of the "Holland should be in, because Costa Rica is in"-vs-"Holland doesn't deserve to be in, because Costa Rica is in"-discussion.

Louis van Gaal is an idiot, that's all.

[Wernazuma III]

Where's the people complaining that Austria isn't in?

[C0ckney]

Austria has a football team?

[Ecthy]

Let's see if he gets this one...

Austria is not a country. Austrian players could try and run for Germany

[Vetinari]

The really funny thing about the group is that the runner up in the group will meet the winner of France's group. This means that if England (or Sweden) manages to grab a hold of the second position in the group (I am asuming that Argentina will win the group), they will most likely meet France as their first play-off opponent. Doesent sound like England or Sweden will have a very succesfull world cup this year.