Englands Group in the World Cup

[Drake Tungsten]

Pretty good in rugby, however.

[MikeH]

They aren't as bad as Italy.

[Drake Tungsten]

Sorry. Pretty good in rugby, considering how small they are. Certainly not world class on their own, but where would the Lions be without them?

Maybe I'm just talking out my ass, though. I don't get to follow rugby as much as I would like to over here in the States.

[MikeH]

The lions would probably be winning without the welsh and their idiot coach.

[James Adams]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
I'm going to boycot this world cup until the semis. It's ridiculous to have China, Costa Rica and Senegal play (while excluding teams like Holland and Scotland).

But that is the way of all the world, being unfair and why do Scotland need to be there but not China, Coast Rica and anyway Senegal was second in the African Nations Cup!

[MikeH]

Scotland are totally crap.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Originally posted by Kropotkin
No freaking way Ljungberg will score a single goal in the WC. A lot of non-swedes seems to think that he will be a real threat. The truth is that he's quite harmless in the national side. He has a role where he has to take a lot of more defensive responsibility (Sweden plays with 10 defensive players most of the time, when Zlatan isn't involved for 15 minutes or so), he seldom get a chance to make those dashes into the center while he at the same time don't get the same kind of assistance and passes as in Arsenal.

Take away the gunners from Ljungberg and he's a pretty average midfielder.

Ljungberg has been dynamite this season. The fault isn't with him in the Sweden side- he's had to do his share of tackling at Arsenal as he doesn't have the luxury of a pure attacking midfield role. I think you're under-estimating him.

[Kropotkin]

I've seen Fredrik in 20-odd games for the national side. I can't say that he's been that dynamite in anyone. That includes the one he has played during this season. I'm simply saying that he's no good without that kind of support he gets in Arsenal.

[Flubber]

I can took a look at the groups and their rankings http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/worldcup/ and can acknowledge that group F is tough, but so what ?? The draw is the draw and everyone has to live with it. To win, you have to beat everyone sooner or later.

I feel the same way about claims as to teams that "should" be in the world cup. Sure, having china (ranked 51st) and Korea ( 41st) in there is outside the "top 32" teams but my attitude is again so what ?? Teams COMPETE for the right to get there. While the European playdowns may be the toughest, the reality is that enough European teams qualify that anyone that doesn't should not have a big complaint


According to what I see, the following top 32 teams did not make the Worlds

Colombia 4
Netherlands 9
Yugoslavia 10
Czech republic 14
Romania 16
Honduras 26
Norway 31
Iran 32

AS I see it those nations had a chance to make it . Sure, the qualifiers are such that IIRC all European top 32 teams will not make the cut. BUt to me, the qualifier is part of the competition and no one should have a free ride. The teams rated outside the top 32 that made it

Japan 33
Saudi Arabia 34
Equador 36
South Africa 36
Poland 38
South Korea 41
Senegal 43
China PR 51



For me , this is as it should be. Competition decided who got there. . . And in a 32 team field, only 3 teams are not within the top 38 ranked in the world. Of those three you have a host, a team that has moved up 22 places in the rankings since December, and the most populous nation on Earth. That type of result is quite fine with me thank you very much. Any team that did not make it, well, they simply don't deserve to be there.

[MikeH]

Absolutely. The dutch didn't play well enough to get to the finals. They didn't even make the playoffs.

[Juggernaut]

Originally posted by Kropotkin
I've seen Fredrik in 20-odd games for the national side. I can't say that he's been that dynamite in anyone. That includes the one he has played during this season. I'm simply saying that he's no good without that kind of support he gets in Arsenal.

Either that, or he simply doesn't care as much for his national team. More money in Arsenal...

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
I'm going to boycot this world cup until the semis. It's ridiculous to have China, Costa Rica and Senegal play (while excluding teams like Holland and Scotland).

I can understand your logic a little with regard to Holland as misplaced nationalism as well as bemoaning their failure despite their ranking
But then you include Costa Rica and Scotland. Why is is ridiculous for Costa Rica, ranked 27th in the FIFA rankings to be in while Scotland, ranked 52nd are out. In fact, EVERY nation in the World cup final 32 is above Scotland in the rankings including the Chinese . Is there some other criteria ??

[Kropotkin]

the FIFA ranking shouldn't be taken seriously. I don't know exacly what's wrong with the calculation but somehow it makes some strange rankings that most people that know something about football have problems accepting.

But no matter that ranking, Scotland is probably not good enough for the WC even if they probably are better than China (that's the single team that I really can't accept as a WC team in 2002).

[reds4ever]

good post Flubber, but the rankings must be taken with a pinch of salt, as the way FIFA ranks countries depends on how well you do against the teams you meet.

ie if you are the best team in Asia or Africa and only play teams from your own continent you get an artifically high ranking, thats why if you look at the rankings of the poorer European nations they are very low because they have tougher games (and loose more often) than the mediocre Asian teams (who win easier games)

[Juggernaut]

Originally posted by reds4ever
ie if you are the best team in Asia or Africa and only play teams from your own continent you get an artifically high ranking, thats why if you look at the rankings of the poorer European nations they are very low because they have tougher games (and loose more often) than the mediocre Asian teams (who win easier games)

Not quite. The better teams you meet, the more points you gain if you win or tie. You might want to take a look at the ranking procedures.
Additionally, other factors are considered, like importance of game, location of game (home, away, neutral) etc.

I personally think it works quite good.