World Football Thread XXX - Germany 2006

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Colonâ„¢
Now that final 16 are known: 10 European teams, 3 South-American teams, 1 North-American, 1 Oceaniatic team and 1 African team. 13 out of the 19 teams from Europe and South-America advanced, while only 3 out of 13 from the rest of the world advanced...

and that neither bothers me nor surprises me--

Qualifying can be tough and my view is that if you weren't good enough to take one of the Fourteen European spots this time out , Tough!!

[Flubber]

Originally posted by duke o' york
Well I don't think you'll find anyone here who takes the FIFA rankings seriously. Things might be more interesting if you entered the South American tournaments - you're unlikely to beat Argentina or Brazil, but would have a decent chance against the other teams (even Canada ).
The sooner the entire Americas compete together the better as far as I'm concerned. Then you can have proper qualifying rounds to eliminate the Panamas and Turks and Caicos Islands of the groups, and concentrate on improving the quality of football across the two continents.

I actually think this could be a good way to do things.

[Spiffor]

Finally, France offered an interesting match today. The game was fluid, it was pleasant to see. The French have shown speed, they've shown a willingness to score them ****ing goals, and they even went so far as to accept not having a proof defense.

The Togolese goalie was excellent, and the rest of the team regularily counter-attacked, with very high speed. Both teams really contributed to the entertainment. At least, until the Togolese becoming exhausted, and the French players learning that they were through. Once the French learned they didn't have to do any extra effort, well, that's exactly what they did

Good game by Vieira, who is forgiven for his counter-performance against the Swiss

Sidenote: The ref (who is hated on this board for being the infamous Italy-USA ref) didn't hamper the game.

[Flubber]

I saw a fair bit of the France game and I echo Spiffor's remarks.

I was quite impressed by the French attack including their persistence after several good first-half chances yielded no goals. They kept at it though and in view view were full value for their result

[Locutus]

Originally posted by Flubber
Qualifying can be tough and my view is that if you weren't good enough to take one of the Fourteen European spots this time out , Tough!!

I'd be fine with that if the qualifiers weren't so uneven. The US and Mexico are all but guaranteed a spot while the best African teams have to fight to the death and many European teams also have a tough time qualifying. I agree that merging CONCACAF and CONMEBOL as DoY suggests would go a long way towards fixing that (although I seriously doubt it will ever happen). That would still leave you with Asia being ****e but some teams there are vastly improving so they may eventually start deserving their 4.5 spots in a couple of decades...

[Locutus]

Originally posted by Spiffor
Sidenote: The ref (who is hated on this board for being the infamous Italy-USA ref) didn't hamper the game.

Only by the Americans. Us outsiders know he by-and-large did a fair job on that match (not the best refereeing job ever, but not nearly as bad as most Americans here would have us believe).

[reds4ever]

France looked pretty good IMHO. Looks like the WC starts from here...

[alva]

Originally posted by Flubber

Qualifying can be tough and my view is that if you weren't good enough to take one of the Fourteen European spots this time out , Tough!!

It also means that many teams often get a free ride to qualify for every WC while many European countries - while sometimes just as good or just deserving - hardly ever.

Freebies need to handed around equally.

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by alva

It also means that many teams often get a free ride to qualify for every WC while many European countries - while sometimes just as good or just deserving - hardly ever.

Freebies need to handed around equally.

USA/Belg?

[alva]

Btw, what's with the Koreans chanting the European anthem?

[Flubber]

Originally posted by Locutus


I'd be fine with that if the qualifiers weren't so uneven. The US and Mexico are all but guaranteed a spot while the best African teams have to fight to the death and many European teams also have a tough time qualifying. I agree that merging CONCACAF and CONMEBOL as DoY suggests would go a long way towards fixing that (although I seriously doubt it will ever happen).

Probably not. I'm sure the powers that be LIKE an opportunity , no matter how improbable, to truly penetrate the US market. A qualification process that assists the US make the World Cup is probably not something they wish to tinker with.

The merger idea would give teams like Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and the US a few more top flight games of the sort that European teams can routinely face. The qualifiers might not change much but it would be a tougher road

Originally posted by Locutus

That would still leave you with Asia being ****e but some teams there are vastly improving so they may eventually start deserving their 4.5 spots in a couple of decades...

Four spots for Asia does not bother me if it helps market the game world wide. Some of their teams were somewhat competitive even if they did fail to qualify and didn't really embarrass themselves-- heck the biggest score was against a Serbian team that YOU called one of the strongest in the event and even Ukraine got toasted in one game as badly as any of the Asian teams

[Lawrence of Arabia]

so I just got back from partying in the streets. it was fun for a few hours until it degenerated into kicking and denting passing cars with french license plates and shouting "français dehors" "sales frouzes" and "frontaliers de merde"

[Lawrence of Arabia]

btw, I have never seen this many yellow cards handed out - it seems like every foul committed gets yellow carded.

[reds4ever]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
"français dehors" "sales frouzes" and "frontaliers de merde"

Give us a clue?

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by reds4ever
Give us a clue?

Tough love toward their betters