World Cup 2014 - Brazil - Qualifying

[jarude]

Netherlands getting into the WC is a formality. Whether or not they **** the bed again...

 

[venessian]

**** the bed?

They dominated their group, beat Brazil and Uruguay, and lost the Final by 1 goal in extra time to a great team last time.
I only wish Italy had done half that.

France, Italy, Nigeria, Cameroon...those teams really **** the bed. I thought the Netherlands were great, and fun to watch.

 

[Reynard369]



Are Senegal the strongest now?

In recent years I liked that Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Ivory Coast were really legitimate threats, at least to advance to the 2nd round. There was so much hope in 2010 and only Ghana delivered.

I don't like the FIFA rankings at all (I just don't really believe them) but I see that currently of the top 50 Côte d'Ivoire is #14; Egypt #34; Ghana #36; Burkina Faso (???, really???) #39; Nigeria #43; Senegal #46; South Africa #49; and Cameroon #50.

Have Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon really fallen so far? They still have great players in Europe. I hope these countries can find the Yekini/Weah/Kanu magic, because the current players are also at that level, if not better, I think.

Bar this past tournament, however, the Netherlands usually do **** the bed. For that matter, so did the Spanish until recently.

 

[Reynard369]

And yeah, the FIFA rankings are complete bullshit. Greece in Pot 1? Montenegro in Pot 2? It'd be laughable if the rankings didn't actually have an effect on certain things (like qualifying pots).

 

[NOBD]



That was a hell of a game...for the Netherlands. You deserved that one, no doubt. Great team.




Fixed for you.

Wait, wait...

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[jarude]



**** the bed?

They dominated their group, beat Brazil and Uruguay, and lost the Final by 1 goal in extra time to a great team last time.
I only wish Italy had done half that.

France, Italy, Nigeria, Cameroon...those teams really **** the bed. I thought the Netherlands were great, and fun to watch.

OK, true enough. Still hurts. Could've done without Heitinga's (sp) red-card-inducing flying kick to the chest. Or, if Robben would've scored on those breakaways...

 

[NOBD]

De Jong was Karate Kid.

 

[venessian]



OK, true enough. Still hurts. Could've done without Heitinga's (sp) red-card-inducing flying kick to the chest. Or, if Robben would've scored on those breakaways...

I agree.
I know the pain of losing a WC Final. I was behind the goal in Pasadena, CA. in 1994 when both Baresi and Baggio missed their penalty kicks .
It was shocking, it was horrible. But, if one is going to lose to someone, it's fun to lose to Brazil. They were great people afterwards, in the streets, no violence, no bullshit, just full of joy and consolation.

Wait, wait...

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

I loved van Basten and his teams (even when he played for Milan...). That team was formidable and probably deserved a World Cup. They were so fun to watch, at all positions, with one of the great line-ups in history.

That said, your posting that video means I have to hurt you, hard, now.... Sorry.

 

[NOBD]



I loved van Basten and his teams (even when he played for Milan...). That team was formidable and probably deserved a World Cup. They were so fun to watch, at all positions, with one of the great line-ups in history.

That said, your posting that video means I have to hurt you, hard, now.... Sorry.

I can handle that. I have peace with the fact that we've been one of the best playing teams in the world since the 70´s that has never won the WC... and Italy one of the most boring playing teams since the 60´s that has...

 

[venessian]



I can handle that. I have peace with the fact that we've been one of the best playing teams in the world since the 70´s that has never won the WC... and Italy one of the most boring playing teams since the 60´s that has...

With only 4 of us posting (I guess El Arg still hasn't recovered from the Copa America, and where are the Limeys???) this is turning into one big mutual-respect thread, but I do have to completely agree with that.

The Netherlands have been perhaps the most dynamic team (WC winner or not) since the '70's. I love their style, and they usually play very consistently, control their matches, and play with great class and fluidity. "Total football" is as beautiful to watch, perhaps even more so, as el jogo bonito.

Italy, on the other hand, besides being so boringly catenacciari (maybe Prandelli will be able to change that but...old habits, you know...) also almost always have you with your heart in your throat, squeaking through rounds, relying on counter-attacks, never really completely imposing their will, not building an offensive flow, never completely dominating. It's very stressful to support a team like that.

In this thread so far I think the supporters are:
Reynard: Ireland
NOBD and jarude: Netherlands
venessian: Italy
Right?

Which teams besides your home country do you like?
I have always liked Netherlands, Uruguay, Argentina, Cameroon, Nigeria. I have also liked some specific teams such as Valderrama's Colombia, Hagi's Romania, Larrson's Sweden, but those teams aren't there enough. Spain is too recent for me, and I've never really loved England, Germany, France, or Brazil. I don't know why; just emotional choices really.

 

[Reynard369]

I support Ireland and like to see the US and Germany do well, as well as Australia. Other countries I don't particularly care about, but I root against France, Italy, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Portugal. And I'm always a big fan of a good underdog story a la Greece circa 2004 (although they were a **** side and played some awful football).

 

[venessian]



I root against Italy....

You do like Trap as the Ireland coach (and Tardelli as Asst.), though, right? I far prefer him to Capello. Supporting Ireland, do you root for or against England in non-direct matches? Will Scotland ever become more than a decent occasional qualifier?

I agree re: the underdogs. I love them too, but as you say they do have to play good soccer, like Belgium, Senegal, USA, Ghana, etc, have. Recently Greece and South Africa, and I suspect Qatar in 2022... It would be nice to see Russia do well in 2018, although they may not be considered a real underdog by then.

 

[Reynard369]



You do like Trap as the Ireland coach (and Tardelli as Asst.), though, right? I far prefer him to Capello. Supporting Ireland, do you root for or against England in non-direct matches? Will Scotland ever become more than a decent occasional qualifier?

I agree re: the underdogs. I love them too, but as you say they do have to play good soccer, like Belgium, Senegal, USA, Ghana, etc, have. Recently Greece and South Africa, and I suspect Qatar in 2022... It would be nice to see Russia do well in 2018, although they may not be considered a real underdog by then.

I mostly like Trappatoni. He's done good things for the squad and the team's discipline, but is slow to adapt tactically and can be a little defensive for my taste. I don't root for England, as a lot of the starters are tools (Ferdinand, Terry, Gerrard, Lampard, Rooney, etc), but I still like some of the players like Beckham. Scotland will never be a great team, in part because many of their best players qualify to play for, and ultimately end up choosing to play for, England or Ireland.

 

[El Argentino]



...I guess El Arg still hasn't recovered from the Copa America...

Which teams besides your home country do you like?

Haha, venessian - been lurking this thread since it started, but no posts -

Hrm... In international situations, I'm always pulling for the USA and Argentina. I don't know if I have many other nations that I legitimately hope win matches, but I am always actively rooting against France (post-Zidane years) and Mexico. Brazil has to generally be tolerated just because of their history and long line of world-beaters, but even then eh. Especially recently. I've really enjoyed watching Spain for a while (no gloryhunter), especially up through Euro '08 and I think the 2010 South Africa was a fairly logical continuation of that success. But I'm now in the stage with Spain where I always hope that the opposition can make them uncomfortable. They're great to watch, but you just yearn for them to get knocked off their perch.

Germany's fairly stereotypical organization draws my eye too in a good way. Was really excited when Low gave the axe to Ballack. I haven't watched enough of the Dutch or Italians to make a call on them, unfortunately. England annoys me and I think that squad needs major renovations to stay legitimate (anyone here read Soccernomics by Kuper? Love his dissection of the English WC cycle). I've noticed myself with more and more sympathies for Portugal, especially since 2006 Germany. I remember that Turkey's play in Euro '08 was exciting and I really enjoyed their underdog-never-say-die attitude, but I haven't seen anything of them since.

Honestly, I'm not as well versed on international play outside of South America as I'd like to be. I hope to catch a lot of both Euro 12 and Euro-zone 2014 Brazil qualification.

 

[NOBD]



I haven't watched enough of the Dutch

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]