World Cup 2010 Qualification thread

yeah...because it's spelt CONCACAF

lol morelike "soccerball" amirite?

he sent a headshot into the netbag - one-nothing!

i bad want ireland to avoid england, they is the strongest in pot 2, despite recent silliness. i will change my mind about this if england appoint alan shearer as coach.

"we have got millions of people all over the world who are standing on the edges of their seats"

lol balancing act

this is even more boring than i feared

Group 3: North Korea, Jordan, Turkmenistan, South Korea.

Uh-oh

T&CA face the might of St. Lucia, the world quakes.

*T&CI even.

ugh do i really want to install RealPlayer to watch this on BBC site

I reckon we'll get Croatia again

I'm watching it on WMP.

it won't let me do that for some reason

never mind i figured it out

just in time for yerp

Winner FTW

go around with one of those stuck to your forehead

Press the red button for those with Freeview/Sky.

Australia/China/Iraq fighting it out for one place could be tough.

Thank god Turks and Caicos Islands avoided Bermuda, I'd been terrified of that.

Wales off to Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein.

England in group 9 would be nice - fewer games to play

altho it would mean Macedonia again noooo

bbc live link:

2010 World Cup qualifying draw
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7109776.stm

the Flash thing on FIFA site is about 10-15 seconds ahead of the BBC feed btw

Cyprus meet Ireland again...

LOL England and Scotland in the same pot.

so far

Group 4 Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein

Fuck that's going to be a hard group for England, away in Kazakhstan and Ukraine.

Group 6 ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

5 Live coverage was unbearably shtoopid so I'm sticking to text.

Scotland off to Scandinavia a couple of times, England's group looks alright for them...so far.

Andorra again. we'll need another miracle second half in Barcelona.

AWAY IN ANDORRA WILL BE HARD FOR ENGLAND AMIRITE?

who will be in seed pot 1 for ENGLAND?

away in Kazakhstan

happy with a point, tbh

Ha, England and Croatia!!!

:D

LOOOOOOOOL

REVENGEH

Croatia, AGAIN for ENGLAND

Croatia again. Bugger.

And Belarus as well. Inhospitable Eastern European trudges a-gogo.

Scotland and Netherlands, could be a lot worse for them.

how does qualifying work?

group 9 looks vvvv interesting

New thread: Who Should Get the England Job in 2010?

Ukraine not better than Russia or Israel so happy with this. England will at least get a point out of mighty Croatia this time.

top 1 automatic qualifers, some 2nd placers go through, and some in play offs?

Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta

Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, NORTHERN IRELAND, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino

Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein

Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia

Group 6 Croatia, ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands

Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro

Group 9 Holland, SCOTLAND, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland

Awesome.

what is the group of death?

what is the easiest group for the top seeds?

Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

^^^weakest qualification group ever

what is the easiest group for the top seeds?

Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands

snap

GROUP 2: looks weak

Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

Srsly I think Northern Ireland can qualify from their group.

the prospect of shock qualifiers seems more distant this time. maybe Slovakia? Bosnia? meh

Good result there for Scotland.

pleased that ireland got bulgaria as their second-pot team. they're beatable.

getting italy is not so good, though i think we'd be looking at second spot *at best* regardless of what 1st pot team we got (greece being the one exception).

one concern: monetenegro are our 6th seed team. did they retain many good players when they split with serbia?

There was only one Montenegran in the last WC squad. I bet he felt loved.

Group 1 looks pretty tricky.

if anything i think Group 7 is the toughest - getting wins in Austria will be tougher than many expect.

re: one concern: monetenegro are our 6th seed team. did they retain many good players when they split with serbia?

I think only 1 player was in the combined squad of S & M

That's like the county of Devon splitting from ENGLAND and asking if ENGLAND would miss any players

population of Montenegro 684,736

population of Devon 740,800

So do Scotland need to WIN the group as 2nd place in that group wont get a play-off spot?

i think 2nd place = at least a play off?

Nice logic dere Martian

population of Serbia 10,150,265
population of England over 50,000,000

I'm sure Tim H and CarsmileSteve would have a few things to say about DEVON's footballing prospects.

From the BBC site

1626: For those of you enquiring about Scotland's group. There are only five teams in it, I haven't gone mad. When the groups are finished, the results against the bottom teams in the other eight groups are discounted and the best eight runners-up will face two legged play-offs to qualify. Is that at all clear?!

Which group are DEVON in?

haha ok martian. i wasn't aware of montenegro's size or popultion before i posted my query. i'm guessing they don't pose much of a threat, then. good!

8 out of 9 2nd places get a play off spot, the weakest runner-up does not.

bulgaria came 3rd in their euro group same as ireland, though they did get 25 points to our lowly 17. they are obviously favourites for the play-off spot, but with a decent managerial appointment we have an excellent chance.

however the logic of asking if Montenegro with a Population of just 684,736 would be able to field a competitive international team, would be statistically similar to DEVON competing on the European stage - irrespective of the comparative populations of Serbia and England.

I suspect raiding the squads of Plymouth, Exeter and Torquay of local Devon talent plus other Devon born players playing in the football league, wouldn't be that impressive.

Tim Hopkins for manger of Devon?

Is it Devon or Cornwall that has the a non-league team funded by a multi-millionaire who's trying to get them into the league ASAP?

It's Cornwall, Truro City. Ignore me.

Netherlands, Scotland, FYROM and Iceland – OK, no real whipping boys, but decent draw for Norway even so. And Scotz0rs in town is always quite a blast. :)

Idiot football journo/pundit on the radio this morning didn't even know how the runners-up/play-off thing works - bemoaning the fact that Scotland can't get into the play-offs because they are in a smaller group. Er, no. And you get paid HOW much to know this stuff?

Australia/China/Iraq fighting it out for one place could be tough.

I don't know about Group of Death, but surely group 5 is the group of contentious genocide.

And you get paid HOW much to know this stuff?

Probably not a lot.

What, Hugh Keevins not paid a lot? Do me a favour...

Stoked for the madness

Asia Group A: Socceroos, Japan, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, Qatar

Top two go through to South Africa. That's GUARANTEED qualification right there. Until they fuck it up.

The real big match up is in Group B mind you, with North Korea vs. South Korea bringing back the Cold War for two nights only.

Don't underestimate the pluck of the boys from Uzbekistan, my antipodean friend.

god qatar are a bloody awful pack of mercenaries, how on earth did they get through ahead of iraq

^^^this

The Iraqi authorities wound up the Iraqi FA. FIFA took a dim view of this and banned Iraq from international competition.

1.
who will be in seed pot 1 for ENGLAND?
-- djmartian, Sunday, 25 November 2007

2.
Croatia, AGAIN for ENGLAND
-- djmartian, Sunday, 25 November 2007

3.
how does qualifying work?
-- djmartian, Sunday, 25 November 2007

Group 1 Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, Malta

Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

Group 3 Czech Republic, Poland, NORTHERN IRELAND, Slovakia, Slovenia, San Marino

Group 4 Germany, Russia, Finland, WALES, Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein

Group 5 Spain, Turkey, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Armenia, Estonia

Group 6 Croatia, ENGLAND, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Andorra

Group 7 France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, Faroe Islands

Group 8 Italy, Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, Montenegro

Group 9 Holland, SCOTLAND, Norway, FYR Macedonia, Iceland
-- djmartian, Sunday, 25 November 2007

does he have a special COMPUTER program that means HOME NATIONS are always in CAPITALS?

re: one concern: monetenegro are our 6th seed team. did they retain many good players when they split with serbia?

I think only 1 player was in the combined squad of S & M

That's like the county of Devon splitting from ENGLAND and asking if ENGLAND would miss any players

population of Montenegro 684,736

population of Devon 740,800
-- djmartian, Sunday, 25 November 2007

I quite fancy NI's chances this time. Could finish second. On the other hand, could feasibly finish fifth. A group packed with mediocrity. And San Marino.

Turks and Caicos didn't make the CONCACAF group stage, but somehow Suriname did.

Group A (aka Group OMGWTFLOL USA v. CUBA!!!!1)
USA
Guatemala
Trinidad and Tobago
Cuba

Group B (death)
Mexico
Jamaica
Canada
Honduras

Group C
Costa Rica
Suriname
El Salvador
Haiti

I will LOL if any team but Costa Rica gets anywhere out of Group C.

The Iraqi authorities wound up the Iraqi FA. FIFA took a dim view of this and banned Iraq from international competition.

-- treefell, Monday, June 30, 2008 9:54 PM

remind me, is CONCACAF the three group winners qualifying but then a best runner-up gets to play an Asian or South American team?

It's only slightly more confusing than that.

There will be two preliminary rounds[2] which will reduce the 35 entrants to 24 and then 12. This will be followed by 3 third round groups of 4 (held across the second half of 2008), with the top two in each group advancing. The top 3 teams from the fourth round group of 6 (held from February to October 2009) will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The 4th place team will compete in a home-and-away playoff against the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL

Mexico, USA, Honduras with Costa Rica in the playoffs?

Probably. But given Group B, this could be Canada's year.

Disappointingly little chat about the all-important Oceania qualifying rounds.

please god let Haiti make it

Was gonna call this "Turks and Caicos Islands won't win the CONACAF Preliminary Round Qualificatiers", but that would be 4-5-1.

-- Dom Passantino, Sunday, November 25, 2007 9:46 AM (7 months ago) Bookmark Link

Can I be the first to say, "Never write off the Turks and Caicos Islands?"

This will be followed by 3 third round groups of 4 (held across the second half of 2008), with the top two in each group advancing. The top 3 teams from the fourth round group of 6 (held from February to October 2009) will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The 4th place team will compete in a home-and-away playoff against the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL

wow that is stupid - several teams will play each other 4 times over the course of the campaign

Merging North and South America as confederations and starting off with Africa-style two-legged round to knock half the teams out before moving to a Europe mini league system is much more intelligence.

If I understand that right, there'd probably be more South American countries in the tournament, no Trinis or Ticos or probably even the US team. Not that it'd be bad to be forced to step up our national team's game, but it'd probably take another 20 years.

Gonna work this out properly later on

France having to come from 2-0 down to draw with Romania. Domenech is still going to hold on, huh?

Scotland going for the comedy uphill struggle route again, yay.

"I hope the people who've done that [booed Cole] will feel a bit ashamed of themselves."

I love it when players whine about people who've paid stupid amounts of money to watch them booing when they're shit.

USA 6-1 Cuba, plus a couple of defecting players

I predict as soon as Adelaide United win the Asian Champions League and the Socceroos qualify, we'll be kicked out of the AFC.

France having to come from 2-0 down to draw with Romania. Domenech is still going to hold on, huh?

It sadlsy seems to be the way things are gonna play out. He has the support of a few players, Boumsong and Henry mainly (I wonder why these two players who get so much love and playtime from Domenech seem to want to hold on to him...). And he seems to be so proud of the fact that they came back from 2-0 to end the match in a draw. Which begs the question why France were 2-0 down, but nooooo that's not important.

This guy, who for almost 4 years has been the apostle of 0-0 draws and 1-0 wins is now telling all the newspapers that he has always been aiming for an offensive style of play where France always score one more than their opponent. So, in a way, I guess I should thank Boumsong for all his defensive errors for, you know, making the game lively and suspenseful... Also, why the hell does he keep picking Vieira in his teams. I like the dude, but what's the point in picking an injured fellow all the fucking time?

I fucking hate Domenech so much it is not even funny. And it pisses me off to no end that he probably will be maintained because France had a good second half against Romania. Failing to see that it also had a shit first half against said Romania, an amazingly shit game against Austria (they couldnt win a single game in the Euro and now they beat us 3-1!!! WTF!) and a thoroughly shit Euro. Oh and also, a crappy qualification to the Euro for which we can only thank other teams for letting us through.

ireland will be the new scotland/northern ireland in this qualification campaign. or the new old ireland.

actually feel confident going into tomorrow night.

xpost never mind Austria's inability to win a match at Euro 2008, they got held to a 1-1 by the Faeroe Islands on Saturday.

So that's why they aren't at the top of the table... Good god, this has to be one of the easiest groups and yet France are still struggling and show an impressive record of 1W, 1D, 1L, 6 goals against and 5 for thus far. To think that in July, it was said that the French Football Federation had told Domenech he needed 5 points in his first three games to keep his job. Everybody thought it was damn easy and that fucker fucked up and yet will probably keep his job.

Seriously Domenech isn't being sacked until the French football authorities find some way of removing the Maltese Falcon from his arse.

I love it when players whine about people who've paid stupid amounts of money to watch them booing when they're shit.

http://www.timeout.com/london/big-smoke/features/5944/Football-prescient_or_plus_ca_change.html

i do think people were booing more because it was Ashley Cole, not because a mistake was made.

Yes I can't imagine why such a caring, loyal, down-to-earth and all round nice guy as Ashley Cole would be booed by anyone.

Obviously they were booing because it was Ashley Cole

but then why not just boo him anyway? why wait for the mistake?

Waste of breath to boo him just for the sake of it

Why do people support England if they hate half the players?

Because the national team is bigger than any and all of the players? Well, theoretically at least.

Next time Ashley Cole plays for England, instead of booing, the whole crowd should just put their phones on vibrate at once.

Why do people support England if they hate half the players?

I supported Scotland when Gary McAllister was the captain, so I don't see the problem

xx-post

In which case you support the national team, which includes all the players picked to represent it.

Trap on form:

"The problem is each game we have is a very important game to qualify.
"I don't understand why Andy Reid is more important than other situations.
"I have said many, many times, we are very, very offensive.
"With two strikers, with McGeady, with Duff, with also Hunt, we are very, very offensive."

In an ideal world Trap would have been made N.Ireland manager and just refused to pick all Protestant players.

I love Trap

Fuck that shit, Domenech keeps his job till 2010. Yay for another two yearss of crap games, even though there are some good players in this team who'll end up saving some games by themselves.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01009/belarus_1009629d.jpg

"phwoar!"

this guy has been working with Alex Ferguson too long
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45109000/jpg/_45109095_e01aa006-6e32-4ee6-ad4b-2dcef65e7cbc.jpg

predictions:
Austria 0 Serbia 0
Belarus 0 England 0
Belgium 1 Spain 2
Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 Armenia 0
Croatia 6 Andorra 0
Czech Republic 3 Slovenia 1
Estonia 0 Turkey 3
Georgia 0 Bulgaria 1
Germany 1 Wales 0
Greece 0 Switzerland 0
Iceland 2 FYR Macedonia 1
Italy 3 Montenegro 0
Latvia 1 Israel 1
Lithuania 4 Faroe Islands 0
Luxembourg 1 Moldova 0
Malta 0 Hungary 2
Northern Ireland 4 San Marino 0
Norway 1 Holland 1
Portugal 2 Albania 0
Rep of Ireland 2 Cyprus 0
Russia 3 Finland 1
Slovakia 0 Poland 0

australia 4-0 up on the stupid qatar mercenary squad deep into the second half. so satisfying!!

Rio looking a lot like david miliband there.

progress scores elsewhere in asia:

japan 1-1 uzbekistan
south korea 2-0 UAE

I don't really support the England team any more, at the moment. Too many of the players are too vile or at best unappetizing.

or at best unappetizing.

been roasting for too long amirite arf bdoom tish

Awesome goal by Gerrard but why on earth did wes brown(i think it was) duck and let that guy get his header in for the equaliser?

I'll be faithfully going out to watch US v T&T tonight, although I think the outcome is pre-determined?

That said, I wouldn't have guessed Belarus had it in 'em.

Bring on Trinidad! ... and while you're at it, bring on Tobago too!

US is fielding a very young team tonight, it'll be interesting to see how Altidore, Adu, and players like Jose Francisco Torres handle starting roles on the road.

Is Adu actually any good?

Rooney scores

xp He had some amazing moments in the Olympics, but as far as I know he has not gotten much in the way of playing time since moving to European leagues. As far as the US player pool is concerned, he's definitely one of the top young prospects, if not the best (Altidore too, but they play different positions).

It's gotten to the point where I sort of don't actually want Heskey to score, in case it breaks his jinx of being a fkn awesome non-scoring all-giving presence.

Also, looooooooooooool Gerrard

A terrible man for the 1-0s Trap. Catenachiacht!

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45112000/jpg/_45112489_rooney466_282pa.jpg

can't wait to play gears of war 2

http://ronanfitzgerald.net/random%20stuff/ROONOFWAR.jpg

i miss Stig Tofting

Töfting with the bad boy clause, "punch someone in the face and we rip your contract"...

And thank you Albania!

Socceroos and Japan are leaving AFC Group A for dust - unless that famous Uzbekistian fighting spirit kicks in, the others are screwed.

STOKED FOR THE GROUP B MADNESS, THROUGH

why on earth did wes brown(i think it was) duck and let that guy get his header in for the equaliser?

'Cuz he's pants?

if you thought England fans booing players was bad, some of the French have taken to booing their own anthem
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7671299.stm

Oh that would never happen in Britain.........

my mistake, it was just the Tunisians. pity!

Anyone hear the Kazakhstan national anthem on Saturday? That's almost as jaunty as the French one.

Football Focus did an awful Borat parody thing last Saturday

http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/kids/jake_humphrey/images/jake_humphrey2_800.jpg

^^^was this gobshite involved with it?

No wonder the Kazakhs were annoyed at Borat, he doesn't look anything like one of them

Socceroos play like absolute shit yet stumble their way another step closer to guaranteed qualification.

Why didn't we join the AFC sooner?

it's refreshing to be the lucky ones for a change!

advancing to the final CONCACAF round:

USA
T&T
Honduras
Mexico
Costa Rica
El Salvador

Mexico only got in by the skin of their teeth

bad luck Barnesy

Mexico only got in by the skin of their teeth

― Your original display name will be displayed in brackets. (dan m), Thursday, 20 November 2008 16:54 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Has Sven even BEEN to the Estadio Jalisco this season?

I was watching the end of the USA/Guatemala match last night and the commentators mentioned that two Mexican players were red carded, so I clicked over to Telefutura to see the madness. I did so just in time to see Sven huddled in a jacket on the corner of the bench, in pouring rain, as the Honduran national stadium exploded around him as time ran out. He looked uncomfortable.

Did no-one give him an umbrella?

gonna call it right here that we don't make the playoffs.

booooooooooooooooooooooo!

i think we'll get 2nd spot, though of course that doesn't mean we're *guaranteed* a playoff

why so pessimistic darragh?

"why so pessimistic darragh"

let's see how qualification goes would be my take, we're in a good position. calling things in football is about as worthwhile as calling a coin toss.

why so blue sky?

because the world(cup) is round?

we shd be using this thread imo

bit late now

but if you insist

In the Northern Ireland game NI have just scored after Boruc took a fresh air swipe after a backpass. He's been making howlers all game after costing the 1st goal.

― Pfunkboy in blood drenched rabbit suit jamming in the woods (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 28 March 2009 18:36 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Fucks sake Miller

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 28 March 2009 19:58 (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Not at all, I plan to spend the next couple of hours here laffing leisurely at Scotland xxp

(and people who play for Celtic)

*laffs*

shocking defending by scotland

*laffs again*

OK, I'm watching Portugal-Sweden instead.

why? there should be quite a few more goals in this game, its scotland fans who should be switching over.
Though i dont think Holland have been that great, the goals came from comedy defending. Why Graham Alexander is playing is beyond me.
If Holland decide to turn on the style they will take 7 or 8 off us easy.

Am *loving* the camera position for Portugal-Sweden. It's SO much better than the traditional TV coverage camera angle, actually makes you feel like you're there, gives you better depth perception, just feels *right*.

(fwiw the camera is VERY high up, probably at the top of the stand)

Ummm, with Argentina, France, Portugal + Mexico all faltering to the point where they genuinely not make it to the world cup (of course I know it's far away and this can all change, but while domenech is still in charge, i find that unlikely)... we could actually have a chance of winning it/an 'outsider' doing it right?

ireland are up 1-0 but playing absolute shite

2106: Some selection news - with Carlton Cole injured and questions marks over the fitness of Peter Crouch and Emile Heskey, England have called Darren Bent into the England squad.

aimless passing, no-ones showing up for any passes, just standing around like trees

Are things really that bad? What's up w/ Ablongahor?

The Everton trio may have been stuck on the bench at Wembley but I see Fellaini got booked for Belgium. Good lad.

FFS , Scotland score and the goal is chopped off. For no reason. Fucking hell.

oh great now a penalty for holland

would never have happened if the ref hadnt cheated a minute earlier

guys how's america doing, how hard are we gonna own in 2010

probably not.

we'll qualify, and what will really matter is the draw. either we'll be out at the group stage or make it to the quarter finals. probably not any further than that.

we play el salvador tonight, in san salvador. should be an interesting game. and we should own that one.

you're kinda playing a warzone the size of delaware

what is the usa team missing to just own the hell out of the world

complete national media obsession with soccerball, good infrastructure, proper youth development

first will probably never happen, second we have, third is underway imo

aka "hiring non-american coaches"

there's a proper top-to-bottom tier system in USA soccer? from the top league right down to the kids' teams? if so then you shd start getting results quite soon...as long as enough children are introduced to the game early enough.

outside help is probably also essential yes

as long as enough children are introduced to the game early enough

oh this is the one thing we do have. *everyone* plays ages 5-8. the dropoff is at the junior high level it seems like, schools don't field teams, etc

I'm trying to work out what it is about American coaching that has produced so many excellent goalkeepers. I think the position of goalkeeper requires attributes that are more in synch with those prevalent in America's more traditional games. Or something.

Considering the majority of footballers start at a professional club between 5 - 11, I don't see why it should be such a problem they start playing as teenagers? Unless parents/schools end up discouraging it for a different sport or something.

Oh wait, I guess clubs in America don't work like everywhere else do they? All the sports there have that crazy system of playing for a college team first and then being picked up from that right?

jergins is right about the drop-off, there aren't very many club teams to take over for kids who are getting into their teens. those that do exist are largely pay-to-play, so the best players don't always get in, get to play, get scouted, etc. the colleges seem to produce some good players, but it's really the academy/club level where we're lacking. I won't get into the insane rules MLS has as far as developmental and academy players, but it's pretty well summed up with "shooting itself in the foot".

Portugal-Sweden still nicely poised (and the stream quality is *awesome*)

So yeah, the infrastructure from bottom to top isn't anything like as smooth as it is in the big soccer nations. You'll need to sort that first before your national side starts owning.

Portugal looks to be coming closer tho. we need a fresh striker on, elmander isn't really at his best at the moment

nonsense, he's just at a different kind of 'best' now. the good people of bolton are turning him into a thoroughbred warhorse

not keen on this new England kit

...as long as enough children are introduced to the game early enough.

This is not the problem. Participation in organized games of football by kids under 10 or so is higher in the U.S. than most of Europe.

http://www.slate.com/id/2142554/

The beauty of soccer for very young people is that, to create a simulacrum of the game, it requires very little skill. There is no other sport that can bear such incompetence. With soccer, 22 kids can be running around, most of them aimlessly, or picking weeds by the sidelines, or crying for no apparent reason, and yet the game can have the general appearance of an actual soccer match.

lol, also

He explained with quivering, barely mastered rage, that he preferred decent, honest American sports where you used your hands. Sports where one's hands were not used, he said, were commie sports played by Russians, Poles, Germans, and other commies.

...guess that explains the goalkeepers then

"flopping"!

*flops away*

btw BRAD GUZAN is getting the start tonight in El Salvador

I saw the end of Spain-Turkey at the gym, and then the beginning of Scotland-Holland.

I then had the bright idea of going into a local Mexican restaurant to watch US-El Salvador. Little did I know they were actually playing Mexico-Costa Rico on Telemundo.

USA-El Salvador's on Galavision fwiw

did usa look as bad as it seemed? i was at sounders/rsl

would be nice to see El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica qualifying. :)

as a Liechtenstein fan I am still waiting for their first goal in this qualification. :( (i guess the good days of Mario Frick are over, he's getting old) (Also Darlington Franzie Burgmeier injured)

still think Luxembourg beating Switzerland is the funniest shit ever

Hitzfield will never live that down. that group is a real joke generally.

Group 2 Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia, Luxembourg

^^^weakest qualification group ever

― Dom Passantino, Sunday, 25 November 2007 16:24 (1 year ago) Bookmark

posts very much in character :)

would never have happened if the ref hadnt cheated a minute earlier

― pfunkboy

K otm though, fucking baffling decision to disallow the Scotland goal.

fucking right. if we fail on goal difference to get into the play-off i'll be mighty pissed off. I've watched that goal 20 times and i still cant see any infringement. The ref wouldnt even tell Caldwell why it was disallowed. Well dodgy.

kinda rooting for Israel in group 2 for the novelty (and because Greece and Switzerland were so bad last year) but obv the idea of them qualifying and risk of then drawing Iran or Saudi Arabia isn't so appealing.

all will be linked arms and love

football conquers all

i think whoever finishes runner-up to Holland is probably going to have the fewest points and miss the play-offs anyway (i know they don't take results against 6th placed team into account - does this apply for the 5th placed team too?)

no, thats why the results against 6th place are taken off.

i think

kinda rooting for Israel in group 2 for the novelty (and because Greece and Switzerland were so bad last year) but obv the idea of them qualifying and risk of then drawing Iran or Saudi Arabia isn't so appealing.

On the contrary, it would be fucking great! I hope Scotland don't qualify, we are dire.

great as long as there was no "trouble"

What trouble would there be? The Saudis and Iran wouldn't play Israel so they'd be chucked out the competition, good riddance

Good riddance to two teams of players getting fucked over by their governments' bullshit agenda?

yeah i am rooting for Israel as well, they have been playing decent for like a decade now without qualifying. It would be ironic if the Saudis and Iranians would not play against Israel, since the Israeli squad has a lot of Arabs :)

IF Israel qualifies i wouldn't be a bit surprised if the FIFA secretly arranges a controlled draw.

so they can meet in the quarters amirite

just like when Scotland drew Argentina in the 1982 draw and they had to draw again.

did usa look as bad as it seemed?

y

has brad freidel quit international football or is he just not getting picked?

yeah, he retired from international play

:(

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7971140.stm

At least 19 people have died in a crush at a football stadium during a World Cup qualifier in Ivory Coast.

More than 130 people were injured in the stampede at the Houphouet-Boigny arena in the West African country's city of Abidjan.

About 36,000 spectators were in the stadium, where hosts Ivory Coast beat Malawi 5-0.

The BBC's John James says the arena was packed for the return of striker Didier Drogba, who scored twice.

Our correspondent says the authorities tried in vain to control the panicking crowd. One report said the police had fired tear gas to control the stampeding fans.

The ministry of sport and the Ivorian Football Federation have confirmed the number of deaths and say the incident occurred when thousands of fans tried to squeeze into the city's main stadium.

A wall collapsed causing supporters already trying to squeeze into the stadium to panic.

The incident occurred before the game began but the fixture was allowed to go ahead, according to reports.

The stadium was reportedly sold out in advance of the game after cut-price tickets were put on sale.

The arena has just been refurbished but our correspondent says at this stage it seems the sheer number of people who wanted to get into the match proved too much.

Hundreds of fans have died during riots and stampedes at football games across Africa over the last decade.

Correspondents say poorly-equipped security forces are often unable to control the crowds.

Watched Brazil-Ecuador at a packed Brazilian restaurant in Queens--surprisingly poor showing from Brazil, until Baptista replaced Ronaldinho and immediately scored a goal. Very vociferous, boisterous crowd.

Fantastic news, work has given me a free ticket to the Socceroos qualification match against traditional rivals Uzbekistan. A win could result in qualification for 2010 but more importantly, I'll be wearing The Cape to the match.

Seriously, how long until Messi officially has his name on that Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cryuff only list? He is this great every fucking game.

i was so pissed off that they didnt end up winning the last world cup. they still look like world beaters though. messi's great obv. but who was that guy who ran it out of defence there for the 1st goal? that was amazing.

messi versus some actual defenders would be nice

Ah, wait until Barcelona-Liverpool and then you'll be complaining about the anti-football.

I'd actually thought about this earlier and forgot that there's two games against Chelsea before that could even happen.

Messi v. Cannavaro/Ramos/Pepe/Heinze earlier this season was a joy to behold. But yeah, Cole is pretty much the best left back in the world right now (v. Evra I guess? I can't think of anyone else that comes close off the top of my head), it should be fascinating to see.

bayern munich have some decent defenders

cannavaro/ramos/pepe/heinze is definitely not as good as it gets these days, although pepe's one-man shut-out of barca last season was pretty spectacular...he's inconsistent tho, and real's midfield don't really offer much in the way of cover to the back four

Ha, when jona said chelsea first my inner retard came out and thought it was chelsea v. barca and not liverpool have to get past chelsea first. I dunno, Lahm can be good on his day, great going forward but with Messi in this form I'd be surprised if this is any sort of contest. (Same for Ribery v. Abidal really.)

I dunno, it's a defence that has topped the league for 2 years in a row and has a ballon d'or winner in the ranks, it's pretty good. And they had Marcelo at LM, to try and double up on him. Not that any of this really matters and I should stop procrastinating and do some work. :)

After pulling out of the U21s with an injury, G. Imuetinyan Agbonlahor has been called up to replace the apparently genuinely injured Darren" in a very fantastic moment" Bent against Ukraine

They'll get to James Beattie eventually, at this rate

Ebanks Blake deserves a shot as 7th choice imo.

Seriously, how long until Messi officially has his name on that Di Stefano, Pele, Maradona, Cryuff only list? He is this great every fucking game.

yeah, he's amazing but I think he has yet to win a major title to get on the that list.

you mean as an international? Cruyff never won anything at that level (close enough perhaps)

was a key member of one of the great teams though.

Won 3 European Cups, not bad really

Even more than Steven Gerrard

3 european cups ??? which ones ?
I don't really count CL06 since he wasn't a key element that year.
junior world champion is not really a major title in football neither is olympic champion.
It's just my opinion though.

Cruyff, not Messi

for such a great player, I think you expect him to be the major player in winning a major title.
WC, CL (and maybe copa america).

ah ok, sorry

messi won't be in the category of the players listed above until he's played football for a couple more years anyway. let's come back to it in 2020.

stevie g, though, he's a shoe-in, la

since c.ronaldo is a bit of a ghost this year, so far, the ballon d'or should fall into Messi's arm easily... if barca win the CL (I guess we can consider the liga is done with).

speaking of c.ronaldo : so portugal might be the england of euro08 for WC10...
it's a shame. but better them than us (france) !

The England of Euro08, what do you mean?

not qualifying?

yup : the big european team that somehow doesn't qualify.

I forgot they weren't there!

i don't think i could take more Domenach France in a tournament so wouldn't mind them missing out.

best player to miss the World Cup still likely to be Berbatov at this rate.

that's why it was so enjoyable
xp

would love to see Crouch up front with Rooney and Gerrard behind work tomorrow night but don't suppose it will

i would love to see paul mcshane work at right back tomorrow night, but don't suppose it will.

best player to miss the World Cup still likely to be Berbatov at this rate.

Dunno, how are the big African teams doing?

i predict Cameroon, Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Egypt to qualify. who does that leave out?

mido, after a row.

even you must concede that Berbatov is slightly better than Mido

although I'd be very sad if france didn't qualify, I do agree that domenech leaving would be a relief...
still, I'll be at stade de france tomorrow night for the return game against lituania and I hope we'll blast them !

who do the French sports press tout as RD's successor these days?

there are no real talks about this very lately (it would have been a media storm if we'd lost last saturday... or if we lose tomorrow). basically, deschamps, laurent blanc, houiller are often mentioned. but I fear it will be some guy from the federation...

Berbatov > Forlan > Adebayor > Bellamy > Mido in the ranking of strikers not likely to make the World Cup, surely?

Zaki is miles better than Mido

it's Benjani i feel sorry for

that's a pretty good list, though depending on motivation, mido and berbatov could swap places prtty easily.

Special marks for Cassano too I guess, depending on how mental he is the week Lippi picks the team.

well, c.ronaldo might end up being the most famous on that list !

Fingers crossed! A tournament without Portugal would be a blessing.

stephen ireland anybody?

Aiden McGeady shurely?

oh you're harsh (x post) !
I like portugal a lot and enjoy their "323 midfiels/0 striker so let's dance in the middle of the field" strategy.
greatest underachievers (now that spain has finally won something).

england!

i'm assuming that ireland will at least get to the playoffs, tom, so not counting chickens on our other world class players shay given and paul mcshane.

(xp) ... by some considerable distance!

I like portugal a lot and enjoy their "323 midfiels/0 striker so let's dance in the middle of the field" strategy

You missed out the "let's dive and roll about on the ground if anyone so much as looks at us" strategy

it's not a portuguese speciality, this one, is it ?
(italia has some impressive mastery of this strategy for instance)
isn't that what football is all about nowadays ?

Yeah, but some are worse than others. Never found Italy to be the worst offenders either. Eastern Europeans teams are particularly bad for it, these days.

italy is quite awful (or genius) at this !
I mean, they must have INVENTED it !

South Americans!

yeah but italy must have played football BEFORE south america (wiki search ?)
and they cannot have played it without inventing that (football is good for silly generalizations, isn't it ?)

australia will qualify tonight if we beat uzbekistan. so psyched!!

kewell makes it 2-0 from the spot. yesssssssssssssssss!

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200802/r221888_874117.jpg

JESUS DOESN'T SAVE, JESUS SCORES

Has Zaki done anything whatsoever of note since everyone got really excited about him two months into the season? When did he last score?

Admittedly that may still make him better than Mido.

lol actually we're not quite through, despite reading otherwise (on the FIFA site no less) apparently tomorrow morning's game between bahrain and qatar (spit) needs to be a draw.

WOOOOOOOO JUST GOT BACK FROM THE OLYMPIC STADIUM!!!!

We shat them!! We're going to the World Cup again!!

And you know what? I was there wearing The Green and Gold Cape. That's right: The Cape of Good Hope has taken Australia to The Cape of Good Hope in 2010.

Highlight of the night was a Greek bloke in front of me shouting at the referee: "YOU CRAZY MALAKA!!"

would be nice if we could make the world cup.

you misspelled miraculous there :-)

would be nice if we could make the miraculous cup.

would be nice if we could make the world miraculous

ITV is the worst thing in the world.

Did they miss a goal again (or was that Peter Crouch, lol thanks, I'll be here all week, try the veal, etc)

i am enjoying the SPORTKLUB commentary, surely ukraine's finest

USA v Trinis (featuring approx. 9000 year old midfielder Russell Latapy) tonight from Nashville in a 60,000+ seat stadium. I'm guessing attendance *might* hit 20k.

haha I remember that guy

re: England, John Motson's gonna have a hard-on into next week

Russell Latapy is great (and I don't say that about many folk who played for Rangers). full cult hero status on the SPL thread.

yeah they keep dragging him out every once in a while -- he's a big part of why T&T beat USA in the previous round

33rd best player in the world on his day.

this feels like the worst Tyldesley performance I've ever heard.

dire on Beckham

Rooney slashes through someone's leg -- CT spends 2 minutes talking about what that player once did in a CL game, as though he's not to be trusted.

I'm sure CT wasn't always this bad.

when was the 1st mention of 1966?

Tyldsley also needs to get over the fact that Wayne Rooney covers a lot of grass

on tv it always seems like England games at Wembley are solely attended by cooing daytrippers who desperately hope that David will kick it in the goal

that free kick looked like a goal before it was taken

who for?

not England

it wasn't Shevchenko was it?

it was.

well, he scored the goal, didn't take the free kick.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7975635.stm

KEEEEEEEEEANE!

g'tin theyuh

why the fuck are neither ITV nor the bbc results page telling me about ireland

that was @ Keane not Terry

lol offside

oof keane nearly won it with the last kick of the ball. well done n. ireland as well.

"looks a bit like owen wilson"

really?

Sheva's haircut makes him look like your mate's cool dad who's still in a band

or maybe just that top gear death smash guy I'unno

Did Steve Rider just say "cour'esy" with a glottal stop? If that fuckin voice is just a put on and he's really a gobby cockney fishwife that would make him an even worse person

ryder "relief around wembley". hand relief in the studio

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3539/3404385115_ff8d30d6a7.jpg

people who talk about homoerotic footballers usually = BS, but Shevch and Lampard just nowwere bizarrely fondling each other

CT also bad in that he passed off Ireland's GREAT result (vs world champions !!!) in one line

would rather talk about Beckham + Owen Wilson

terrible night

pinefox if you had watched the Scotland game , you would have enjoyed Alan Huttons superb performance.

First half good, second half... not so good.

http://profile.ak.facebook.com/profile5/353/22/s1009031509_7246.jpg

Scoring Summary
Poland San Marino
Rafal Boguski (1)
Ebi Smolarek (18)
Rafal Boguski (27)
Robert Lewandowski (43)
Ireneusz Jelen (51)
Ebi Smolarek (60)
Mariusz Lewandowski (63)
Ebi Smolarek (73)
Ebi Smolarek (81)
Marek Saganowski (88)

Mariusz Pudzianowski (90 +3)

one of the Polish supporters from our league side is fond of saying "IS NOT PICNIC!" I think that applies in this case?

bolivia 6 Argentina 1...........

holy shit

am watching it now, Argentina look really off key while the Bolivians all look like energizer bunnies. I believe it may have been played at altitude, but I thought Fifa had outlawed that??

was in la paz http://www.goal.com/en/news/1648/wcq-south-america/2009/04/01/1186941/bolivia-absolutely-slaughter-argentina-in-la-paz

won £50 having bet £1 on Poland to win 10-0 :)

Can we postpone Messi's HoF induction for another week?

This is because I used Messi as my standard for Scotland to aspire to in my reverse-jinx psychology on the SPL thread, thereby removing his strength to allow Scotland to power (sort of) past the mighty (sort of) Iceland, innit?

Also, well done blueski, seriously? Removal of Boruc made the -0 bit a bit more comfortable for you, surely.

draw wasn't a bad result! lucky trappatoni strikes again, that was a harsh sending off.

is that Argentina's heaviest defeat since Colombia beat them 5-0 in qualifiers for USA '94?

lol obama at halftime of the USA/T&T qualifier: "weighing in on English football would be a mistake" (paraphrased)

OMG I'M HOUSE-SITTING AND I HAVE CABLE. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Chile drew 0-0 with Uruguay after having a man sent off for a spurious second-booking in the first half and being under the cosh for the majority of the game. So now sitting second 2nd in the CONMEBOL table, although Brazil at 4th place are only 2 points behind and have a game in hand. Still, not doing too shabby.

and i'm going to sleep now because i was basically shitting myself for about an hour there.

Did anyone ever put Stern John on the "Best Real Names" thread?

For sure, everyone I watched the game with agreed his name was the shit.

How about Altidore eh?

btw Honduras 3-1 Mexico right now, and Mexico is on their heels

wait how did USA USA USA do????

HAT TRICK

get that motherfucker back to villareal

or to whatever team will PLAY HIM

Mexico loses, has Sven been fired yet?

oh mexico

gbx do you listen to the guardian podcast? they refer to the team as "USA USA USA" every time.

no, i don't, but that is LOL

Guardian also now refers to Harry Kewell as "Harry Kewell (hamstring)"

Stern John is sort of cult hilarious name status but I don't know if he was on the specific name thread; was trying to think of other sports guy names that sound like adjectives

Lionel's messy; Wesley's snider

Scoring Summary
Poland San Marino
Rafal Boguski (1)
Ebi Smolarek (18)
Rafal Boguski (27)
Robert Lewandowski (43)
Ireneusz Jelen (51)
Ebi Smolarek (60)
Mariusz Lewandowski (63)
Ebi Smolarek (73)
Ebi Smolarek (81)
Marek Saganowski (88)

"No easy games in international football these days..."

must say San Marino have been the losers of UEFA football for a long time now, seemingly they can't even put up a defense that will hold a 4-0 :P

shitting hell, 10 - 0 ?

I've got to admit it's getting better/ A little better all the time

Four-Goal Ebi Smolarek is the same player as Five-Minutes-For-Bolton-If-He's-Lucky Ebi Smolarek, yes?

It seems weird that, at present, the biggest obstacle between Norn Iron and the World Cup might actually be Slovakia - the Czechs got done 2-1 by them last night. And the Czechs were at home. Man, those dudes fell off.

Drifted in and out of watching th'England last night, but overheard a bit of the post-match discussion of Rooney's stitch-that-you-cunt moment between OhTeddyTeddy and Townsend, where Sheringham was trying to make the point that Rooney might wind up ending someone's career with challenges like that, and Townsend kept saying "But you'll never take that out of his game!" like that was some kind of counter-argument.

In the highlights show the greatest concern seemed to be that Rooney might injure himself in the course of crippling Johnny Foreigner

Jesus, even Tyldesley pinned the blame on Rooney.

One would expect the Irishman Townsend to be less swayed by chauvinism

got this awful feeling Argentina will now muddle thru all the way to the World Cup final

the Czechs are no good without Brucker it seems

Tyldesley, as I said, also spent 2 minutes uttering innuendoes re. Rooney's victim.

good on you WBS.

still think Ireland's result is superb, why is no one talking about it?

Maybe because Italy played almost the entire game with 10 men?

busy!

but we should probably have won. the team selection in the first place was an embarrassment and mcshane should never play for ireland again. the two centre midfield starters ditto. caleb folan is the new niall quinn, and trap needs to go and ask stephen ireland to play and start selecting andy reid in squads again. john o'shea was superb, kilbane is not a left back and i can't believe andy keogh is a professional footballer.

but i'm too busy to discuss the rest right now!

They seemed to be purposely not mentioning it on the telly last night, like they've finally decided Ireland isn't British anymore

continuity IRA campaign finally working?

Seems like the Continuity Announcement IRA campaign has achieved more than the Provisional Licence IRA managed in the 30 years

there's a staunton/trappatoni joke there somewhere

Italian managers seem to be the way to go, look Giorgio Burleysconi at Scotland

but we should probably have won. the team selection in the first place was an embarrassment and mcshane should never play for ireland again. the two centre midfield starters ditto. caleb folan is the new niall quinn, and trap needs to go and ask stephen ireland to play and start selecting andy reid in squads again. john o'shea was superb, kilbane is not a left back and i can't believe andy keogh is a professional footballer.

wrong about andrews, he was v good last night, he is v good. it's glenn whelan who is woeful. also fuck stephen ireland, they've asked him plenty, if the little shit doesn't want to play for his country then it's unbecoming to keep asking him. also at this rate the rest of the side would be deservedly angry if he comes in.

I'd play Long or Noel Hunt on the wing ahead of Keogh. I agree about O'Shea, after so much criticism he has been brilliant in the last two games. And Stephen Hunt is fantastic, one of the few players who has the courage to take on the opposition, possibly cos he's not smart enough to think that they're better.

Folan is incredibly limited but he did well in patches last night. Agreed on McShane, he is v poor and he's always moaning at the ref and stuff as well.

I thought Ireland played out of their skins last night by the way. The fact they didn't create much is just because it's a limited side. Italy should be ashamed of that performance, even with ten men they could have whipped us 4-0 if they'd been more positive.

well, pinefox just wanted someone to talk about it. it wasn't even as considered as my normal football shitetalk.

i find it hard to distinguish between the whelan/andrews axis- gibson looked much better when he came on.

i love stephen hunt.

steven_hunt_cravat.jpg

*stephen

You're not taking him seriously enough

http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/39593/2001771288875081079_rs.jpg

that's the bastard

what a larrikin!

the hair is part of the hat right?

His hair is his head-suit.

there's another cravat under the cap

And a pig under the cravat.

that kind of sickening racism is so typical of ILX.

so shocked i dropped my potatoes

I was so angry I put my foot through my glow in the dark virgin mary statuette and sent the bill to ILX

i was so appalled i built three thousand holiday homes, let the health service go to shit and awarded myself a huge pay rise before declaring bankruptcy

that's no way to be carrying on

I'm tempted to go on a protest march, but to fill the numbers out I'm going get a load of Aston Villa players from Kent with Irish great-grandmothers

The Irishman Townsend would be mortally offended by the way this thread has turned out

Less of that now lads.

just havin a bit of an awld racist joib

Mind yourself!

a bit of cop on, now lads. that's pub talk.

I like the way every football thread descends into Irish nonsense now.

J. O'Lout

Jozy was really impressive (obv) but not in the way i expected. i hadn't seen him much--just as a supersub--and imagined him as more of a finesse player. instead he is broad and physical and pushing, a right-place-right-time guy. i love him, he's great, i want to see him up top every game now. and maybe we will.

Sven = out

EXCELLENT NEWS FOR NEWCASTLE UNITED

Jozy was really impressive

Yeah, interesting play. He looked good up with Ching.

There has been a sizable "PLAY JOZY NOW" contingent on the internets for about a year, year and a half now. Ironically, there is a similarly large "DON'T PLAY CHING ANY MORE" crowd as well.

lolblogcommentary on Sven's departure: "Sven's career needs steady infusions of fresh strangeness in order to stay interesting, and getting sacked by Mexico gives him a needed boost. Where will his journey of dangerous eroticism and serial underachievement take him next?"

god i wish i had seen the game

had to work through the ireland-italy game so only caught bits and pieces, but what i saw was very encouraging. trap seemed a bit more flexible, making a fairly drastic switch early on - and one which seemed to work. i think he will stick with two of andrews/whelan/gibson until stephen reid comes back from injury (which could be a long wait) or stephen ireland decides to return (which i definitely don't think will happen in this campaign).

i find it hard to have a firm preference for any pairing using andrews/whelan/gibson - all three are fairly meh. gibson looked way out of his depth the first couple of times i saw him, tho many thought his showing off the bench against italy was a big improvement. would def like andy reid back too.

as regards mcshane, he is dreadfully uncoordinated, but do we have anyone better in his position when finnan is out? midfield could definitely be freshened up with the return of s.reid,a.reid and s.ireland, but in the full-back positions i think we just don't have the players.

also, i know mcgeady was decent against georgia, but is there a case for dropping him and playing hunt and duff on the wings? i, personally, would welcome it.

If Hunt and Duff are more capable of trusting the team-mates to get on the end of a pass than McGeady is, rather choosing the option of fannying about in circles then losing the ball to the 18th defender you go past/blootering it miles wide, then yes, you have a case (note: I am not terribly interested in his international career so have no real idea if he plays differently for Ireland than he does for Celtic. Also this is slightly unfair, because when he doesn't do this he is great, but I am easily frustrated by ineffective fanny-dangling).

he certainly doesn't play better for ireland than for celtic, that's for damn sure. more than 20 caps, zero goals, and the home game against georgia was the only real time he stepped up. and the home game against bulgaria was a disappointing reversion to type.

note: I am not terribly interested in his international career so have no real idea if he plays differently for Ireland than he does for Celtic. Also this is slightly unfair, because when he doesn't do this he is great, but I am easily frustrated by ineffective fanny-dangling).

haha I assumed the reason everyone was talking about him was that he was much better for Celtic! Neither his nor Hunt's delivery is great, nor Duff's really either to be fair.

I will rep again for Andrews to (k*l*an), take a look at him next time, he's by no means amazing but he gets on the ball and he plays simple effective passes. You see him back tackling as well.

no idea where those brackets and asterisks came from around weasel diesel's name

So is Altidore the next Freddy Adu or is he actually good? I mean he is currently sitting on the bench in the Spanish second league...

I seem to remember another man who got his start sitting on the bench in the second tier of the Spanish league, and he turned out alright - a certain JESUS CHRIST

agree with k*l*an (hey, when in rome) completely about the three centre midfielders- gibson was much improved against italy, showed a much better passing range than the other two. am still very sceptical of whichever ronan is repping for (still can't tell them apart).

i think stephen kelly is 100% a better option than mcshane, even if he had a bit of a disaster the last time he played.

yeah kelly is not a bad player. wouldn't mind seeing this foley dude getting a run at left back either. i think it's unfair to lump andrews in with whelan/gibson, he's playing regularly for blackburn and has scored a few goals too. whelan can't even get a game for stoke and gibson imo has still a long way to go, didn't think he did anything on wednesday.

ok, ok- we'll allow andrews and gibson to start the next game. fine.

i can't see that mcgeady offers less in the way of final product to either of our other two superstar wingers. hunt beats the other two in terms of tracking back and effort, though.

i don't know much about foley, tbh- kilbane isn't great at LB but even the italians had clearly heard of mcshane the last night- not many attacks down the left at all.

Lol Scottish football

hahaha

RIP backpass and shagger.

So is Altidore the next Freddy Adu or is he actually good? I mean he is currently sitting on the bench in the Spanish second league...

He's a different kind of player than Adu, big and strong yet still capable with the ball at his feet. His not getting playing time with Villareal and now with Xerez has caused quite a lot of angst among USA supporters, but there have been conflicting reports that he doesn't put in a lot of effort in training (they say the same thing about Adu, coincidentally). One thing's for sure: he's pretty much the best hope we've got atm.

please sack gordon smith too and i dont mind if burley is fired as he let the players drink, put them on the bench and clearly has no respect from the players.
Clear them all out and start afresh. Also we need a manager noone will fuck with and will invoke the 5 day rule everytime a player pulls out a squad.

if rangers have any sense, their suspension of the 2 players will mean they are never picked again and sold.
Ferguson is a troublemaker and bad influence.

Sven In

rofl

here have been conflicting reports that he doesn't put in a lot of effort in training (they say the same thing about Adu, coincidentally).

I don't get this. Is this b/c both have been wonder boys in their respective careers so far? Or just because they're so young? Is it even true? Jozy is so gracious in giving credit to his teammates and not taking the chance to be all "RRRAAAAGH HATTRICK, MOTHERFUCKER!" when he's actually earned it -- how is that guy blowing off practice?

we couldnt afford his wages even for 1 day
xpost

xp well, it's commonly viewed in USA internet fanboy circles as "weak excuses from anti-American Euro coaches" but it's hard to put a whole lot of stock in that pov

He never had that rep for NY, and I don't think Osorio let him off the hook any. I wasn't very plugged in last year so I dunno about the previous season under Area, and Brucie was the one responsible for Claudio Reyna so who even knows.

shocked that the manager can't even take a disguised V sign.

i thought it was pretty funny!

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45626000/jpg/_45626765_fergusonmcgregor_snsb226.jpg

first one not so obvious- i have a feeling i sit like this a lot of the time.

Considering Villareal also have psuedo-American Rossi, I don't think there is anything anti-american going on. As far as I know they are one of the most welcoming teams in Spain when it comes to different nationalities and cultures. Also, they have been known to take lazy bastards who don't like turning up in training (Riquelme, Saviola etc.) and getting the best out of them, so I'm not sure either excuse works.

I was procrastinating earlier and read that the MLS only implimented a team based youth set up from 2006/07, so it'll likely take 10 years to see the benefits.

Riquelme was frozen out of the team tho!

for aaaaages before they sold him to Boca.

Eventually yeah, but for the first, what, 3 seasons he was there there wasn't a problem. In the end though, he'll always be a mental bastard trying to ruin his own career. To think he could be in a midfield of Xavi-Iniesta-Riquelme-Messi right now if he wasn't such a prick.

Yeah, I certainly don't believe the hype that it's anti-American bias. A lot of people here have a huge inferiority complex when it comes to our nat'l team players. That said, I wish Jozy had ended up on a team that *needs* him and will let him play. There were noises about him going to Recreativo on loan, that would probably have been a better situation.

I was procrastinating earlier and read that the MLS only implimented a team based youth set up from 2006/07, so it'll likely take 10 years to see the benefits.

Yeah, and teams can only sign ONE player from the youth set up per year, and they don't automatically retain the rights to the players in the academny (meaning they can develop players, then other teams can come along and sign them for free). I posted about this in some other thread and described it as "shooting themselves in the foot" which I think is apt.

on topic: Former Atletico Madrid coach Javier Aguirre is replacing Sven in Mexico for the remainder of qualifying.

sven is such a fucking sleazbeall. you'd swear he negotiates these quick painless sackings to bag more money and ensure he's not in the papers as manager of an underperforming side for very long.

or that he takes on jobs he knows he's going to get sacked from just for the payoff?

ie heading for portsmouth/newcastle next

isn't the problem, too, with adu and altidore that they're so young??? like, isn't it the norm for a 19 yo to ride pine when they first start out at a club. they may be good, but i think it's a little crazy to assume that they're somehow significantly better than the other junior members of their respective teams. the only reason americans beef about it is because adu/altidore might be the among the best *we've* got, and so no PT means they're not in shape for playing for the nat'l team

Nah, at 19 an outfield player should really be pushing the boundries of regular football if they are any good.

The problem with wonderkids from America is they are treated like they are wonderkids coming through in the Premiership or La Liga or whatever, when really being able to put on some cracking performances at 16 in America is the same as putting on cracking performances in League 1 at 16. Adu should have been talked about like Victor Moses, not like Jack Wilshere.

putting this here b/c I don't know where else to put it

Soccer is Ruining America
America is Ruining Soccer

that webb column is the same old boring-ass lol soccer is gay challopin' that i've heard my entire life

it's like saying lol baseball is boring or football is for meatheads or whatever

Both of which are quite true, is the problem.

:)

soccer is a liberal's dream of tragedy

lol wtf I need to read the rest of this

hahaha oh fuck is this for real?

Do kids ever say, "Trick or Treat, smell my hands"? Did Jesus wash his disciples' hands at the Last Supper? No, hands are divine

ok I'm just going to tell myself this is a satire

soccer mimics the paradigmatic feminine experience of childbirth

Vinnie Jones needs to rip this guy's balls off.

Jesus Christ, that's some missing the point going on there in that article. The rebuttal is fairly OTM, with the exception of dissing on Escape to Victory, which is brilliant.

good luck usa @ that article

looks like both Portugal and Sweden could miss out at this rate. good draw for Ireland, surely they'll make the play-off now.

BBC3. Now. Lawrie Sanchez's facial hair.

Japan, Australia, South Korea and the Netherlands all made it today. Pleased to see Hungary up there in Group 1, they've been AWOL for too long

SEE YOU IN SOUTH AFRICA!!1!

see you there "socceroo"

CHILE BEAT FUCKING PARAGUAY AND URUGUAY LOST TO BRAZIL! Yas!

^^^is half-chilean

btw

LJ.xls

I need to get excited about Chile because chances of Scotland qualifying are uberlol.

Actually fairly stoked about Chile recent team, goalie Bravo is great, has kept us in many games. Forward Suazo plays in Mexico for Monterrey, decent out and out striker. Mark Gonzalez didn't make it at 'pool but he is no bad. Young lads Matias Fernandez and Alexis Sanchez, who play for Villareal and Udinese respectively are, for Chilean standards, fucking excellent young players, might actually make it in Europe. Chilean based defensive players Reno Gattuso-like Gary "The Pitbull" Medel and Gonzalo Jara also pretty sweet.

it's been over a two world cups since I had a team to root* for as well so I'm extra excited.

*(am 1/16th Italian but rooting for those catanacio bastards is rough)

Dom AND Mark C have gone to the great milk-carton in the sky dude, someone needs to step up!

Jim, srsly you need to give us some live feeds to some Chile games, and I'll be right there :)

tonight it was on sky sports 1 iirc, but i was out so was informed by text from my old man and watched the goals here: http://www.3tv.cl/index.php?m=video&v=4374 and here: http://www.3tv.cl/index.php?m=video&v=4373 (caveat click0r, both goals fairly unexceptional and you will have to sit through 10 seconds or so of crap ad).

MEXICO IN CRISIS

hooray USA is world champs!!

can't remember the last time we were in such a strong position at a similar stage, but my god are ireland ever a pain in the eye to watch the last few games. the worst midfield pairing we've ever had.

MEXICO IN CRISIS

Aren't they, though? I was outside after the USA game ended and when Blanco got the pk there were audible cheers up and down the block.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d81/HyperLuv/Gif%20s/love.jpg

Are there a lot of people in Chile named Gary????

lol @ albania (v. portugal)

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/4165/temp1l.jpg

Are there a lot of people in Chile named Gary????

very common in non-Anglophone countries for people to give their children English names because of the dominance of north American films and television I would guess.

have came across totally Chilean person called "Michael" before.

Busey is huge in Chile. Vive El Buse!

busey is huge everwhere, butthorn.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T2S8GHzxqc

concacaf qualification standings cribbed from a blog:

1. COSTA RICA (12 points). Consecutive wins has 'Los Ticos' in first place, and in very good shape to qualify, but a trip to Honduras looms in August followed by a visit from Mexico (the last team to beat Costa Rica in San Jose) and a trip to surprising El Salvador.

2. USA (10 points). Beating Honduras on Saturday gives Americans some breathing room heading into visit to Azteca in August, but home date vs. El Salvador at Rio Tinto Stadium on Sept. 5th should be an interesting one.

3. EL SALVADOR (5 points). Surprise of the group, Salvadorans have benefited from playing three of first four qualifiers at home. Things are about to get much tougher with three straight qualifiers on the road, starting with visit to desperate Honduras on Wednesday night, followed by visits to Trinidad and Washington D.C.

4. HONDURAS (4 points). 'Catrachos' will regret the missed opportunity to get a point or three in Chicago, but four home games remain on Honduras' schedule. A win vs. El Salvador in Honduras on Wednesday would provide a major boost.

5. MEXICO (3 points). Three losses in four is terrible, but four home games remain on Mexico's schedule. 'El Tri' SHOULD beat Trinidad & Tobago at Azteca, but anything less would suddenly leave the Mexicans vulnerable heading into the USA match.

6. TRINIDAD & TOBAGO (2 points). Defense let T&T down against Costa Rica on Saturday and now the 'Soca Warriors' must find a way to win or tie at Azteca against a desperate Mexico team. Things don't look good for a team that actually boasts a good collection of attacking talent.

if it needed to be said: LOL Mexico

i had no idea they were doing so poorly! bummer. i mean, i understand that it is my responsibility as an american to take pleasure in their misery, but their uniforms are usually so cool :-/

i wonder if Canada will ever get it together

damn i didn't know Mexico were in such a state.

I like their funny salute as the national anthem plays:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Civil_Salute_Mexican_Flag.jpg

miming having a broken arm in a sling.

I shouldn't make fun of El Tri too much since I have a lot of friends who support them, but Blanco bitching about the refs is just too funny:

The Mexican striker said Costa Rican Walter Quesada had addressed the El Tri players with mockeries and insults during the match against El Salvador.
“He said we were sons of bitches and that’s why we were going to miss the World Cup. I wish he dares to repeat that,” Cuauhtemoc Blanco told the Mexican press.

i wish

Oh and Canada would have a chance if 1. Euro countries stopped sniping their best players and 2. their FA wasn't completely out to lunch.

So, one knackered Owen (remember me?) Hargreaves would make all the difference, yes?

Heh, in CONCACAF, most likely. Jonathan DeGuzman of Feyenoord is another promising young player they lost recently, although his brother stuck with Canada.

Honduras in the World Cup would be great, I want to see Palacios play on the big stage.

lol Ukraine

Andorra are literally parking the bus in terms of their defence. lol, really?

Yah didn't you notice the tour bus on the field? Because of the strike, you know, so many buses around...

he's full of goals

i know it's just a friendly but Italy 1-2 New Zealand 2 come on now

Jimmy Greaves OTM

shoulda brung him on for Theo

Convincing 4-3 win for Italy in the end.

another classic Crouch goal

Meanwhile, over in group 9 the Netherlands are 14 (FOURTEEN) points clear after seven games.

Aye, well, have you seen the competition :-)

Ailsa, doesn't the Norway loss offer a wee ray of hope for Scotland?

It does, aye. Group of everyone fighting to be less shit than everyone else, innit?

whoever finishes 2nd in that group has no real chance of grabbing enough pts for the play-off really

A wee sustained run of wins for someone might do something, maybe.

whoever finishes 2nd in that group has no real chance of grabbing enough pts for the play-off really

Whoever finishes 2nd in the other groups is -6 points (probably) because their results against the bottom team get discounted. I think that puts Switzerland at the moment on less than Scotland.

Aye, but have they played bottom-placed teams twice yet? I was going on the assumption they hadn't and just knocking three points off everyone, but that still puts us in the same position as France (who, as keen students of international football will know, we are better than).

(please note I have drunk some wine and my brain is foggy and not functioning at full capacity, so I may have this all wrong)

both on 7 points, tho if Luxembourg do end up bottom that might actually help the Swiss having already lost to them (ridiculous really). xp

Argentina lost to Ecuador 2-0. How long can Maradona last?

Mexico just went up 2-1 over T&T on a 40ish yard golazo, goddamn.

Are Argentina actually going to qualify?

I think they'll find a way, yes.

Chile under Bielsa is in a bit of a roll btw. With today's win over Bolivia (4-0), they reach 26 pts (their previous highest in Quals was 24), second only to Braail.

Mexico just went up 2-1 over T&T on a 40ish yard golazo, goddamn.

@ 3:40

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL8vVzBgAIg

Chile under Bielsa is in a bit of a roll btw. With today's win over Bolivia (4-0), they reach 26 pts (their previous highest in Quals was 24), second only to Braail.

so good! :D

North Korea have qualified for the World Cup. Now that's what I call PROPER dark horses.

tasty underdogs

Shit, only because a late Park Ji-Sung goal knocked Iran out. That's quite disappointing.

I hope North Korea play Italy in the opening match.

Just looking at this, the time difference meant that Saudi and North Korea then played each other knowing that a draw would see them both through (assuming Saudi see off the mighty Bahrain). Wouldn't you know, it finished 0-0

I hope Italy thrash them.

protesters are crowding the streets of Tehran in outrage

Saudi Arabia have to see off the mighty New Zealand, too.

lol at Scotland.

Pish, isn't it? Caldinho decision a shocker, but Burley totally unable to reorganise a team.

Faroe Islands match was interesting...to see how small the stadium is. Otherwise dull.

Caldinho decision a shocker

Aye, a stupid decision to make a second cautionable foul 60 seconds after his first one in front of a card happy ref. A big Heid, but no much in it sometimes.

Burley looks lost. I'm sure wee Bazza's lapping it up.

There is an unsent message in my phone which says "what question is steven whittaker the answer to, because if it's what do I do when I need 3 goals..."

I watched it in a pub in England full of Englishes - the pitying looks only made it worse. Crossed my mind that Burley might be getting his jotters, then failed to cheer up at the prospect when I realised that Gordon Strachan is the prime unemployed candidate, and that's not going to sort out any mystifying substitution policies any time soon.

LOL Scotland. "No easy games in international football"

why does Kazakhstan play in europe and not asia?

(borat joke)

late (lucky?) decisive goals (i mean for the groups as well as the games) from Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Czech Rep and Ireland. Israel seem to have fucked themselves.

did rooney dive (again)? ITV commentary said ref had made a mistake, slovakenia very unlucky, etc but no blame attached to the nation's most valiant right back.

andy townsend reckoned he dived and should have been booked.

in light of not having seen it yet and enjoying the absurdity (a week late) of the rooney dive/foul in the arsenal match, what say ye?

ireland are as bad as ever, but keep getting very creditable results. is capello's time so far pretty much the same?

Don't think it was a foul or a dive.

Was definitely a foul, you can clearly see Rooney pulling the Slovenian's shirt then sliding in and going studs first into his ankle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u38DykT_kYY

yeah, meant don't think it was a penalty or a dive

Englishmen don't dive, remember?

If it's not a dive what is Rooney appealing for?

Perhaps he thinks it's a penalty?

Thank goodness for lip reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvywugy2Yoc

It is possible to appeal, it not be awarded, and not get a yellow card for diving either.

Why would he think it was a penalty if he isn't fouled? I'm not expert but I've played the game before and I can usually tell the difference between falling over and being pushed over.

Seriously?

Are you seriously suggesting that every player who appeals for a free kick but does not get it awarded is cheating?

i.e. intentionally trying to deceive the ref

Where did I say every player - it's clear from every conceivable angle that Wayne Rooney was not fouled there. Wayne Rooney knows he was not fouled. It's clear he was committing a foul (well, two fouls). If he is appealing for a penalty there he is attempting to deceive the referee. Not that his appeal made any difference as the ref was giving it anyway, for reasons known only to himself.

Not that the "deceiving the referee" thing matters either as I understand that's only a UEFA rule.

Those British girls in South America who claimed their stuff had been nicked but turned up under their beds weren't cheating the insurance company then, presumably?

Wayne Rooney knows he was not fouled.

How do you know? This is my point. That wasn't a comical Eduardo dive, there was clearly contact, and it's not Rooney's job to decide who was at fault.

Not that the "deceiving the referee" thing matters either as I understand that's only a UEFA rule.

― Hi, Super Nintendo Chalmers! (onimo), Sunday, September 6, 2009 12:22 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Rong.

there was clearly contact

Rooney grabbing the guy's shirt, and Rooney kicking him.

i can't believe there's a discussion. this is not a penalty, but the referee gave it. bad luck for Slovenia. case closed.

They were jostling for the ball before Rooney fouled him (which I agree he did). I don't think this was a foul or obstruction of Rooney, but maybe Rooney did. Ref's job is to penalise the first offense.

I'm being slightly contrary here, because I certainly _suspect_ Rooney knew he didn't deserve a penalty, and should therefore have been cautioned, but the conventions of refereeing say that suspicion isn't good enough when it comes to simulation. You need to be certain. Which is why you only see it given for theatrical dives. I think in the absence of TV help, this is the right approach.

Rong.

I thought you said it was on the CL thread?
(quick search later)

"Players may be suspended for two competition matches, or for a specified period, for acting with the obvious intent to cause any match official to make an incorrect decision or supporting his error of judgment and thereby causing him to make an incorrect decision."

― caek, Friday, 28 August 2009 13:54 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Implication being that appealing (and especially winning a penalty) after your dive is worse than just diving and not appealing, which seems right to me.

― caek, Friday, 28 August 2009 13:56 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

It's a UEFA rule, not FIFA or FA btw.

― caek, Friday, 28 August 2009 13:57 Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

That law refers to post-match disciplinary sanction.

FIFA Law (which applies to all games of football -- in addition to UEFA by-laws or whatever) says the following:

There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for
unsporting behaviour, e.g. if a player:
...
• attempts to deceive the referee by feigning injury or pretending to have been fouled (simulation)
...

i.e. diving, _if spotted on the pitch by the ref_, is a caution at all levels of football.

hahahhaa in wht world is that a penalty? the little slovenian dude didn't even do anything!!!!

brushing your hand against someone's shoulder is not contact

just to be clear, i don't think it was anything like a penalty.

anyway I will claim for everything under the sun when playing football, even throw-ins when I blatantly know I touched the ball last. I'd've claimed for that penalty too

yeah I know caek, apols, I'm just incredulous tht it was a penalty

haha

play to win bitches

(fuck eduardo tho)

fun fact which i was reminded of by andy townshend speculating that it might have been obstruction when the penalty was first given: obstruction in the box is an indirect freekick (like back pass), not a penalty.

Ireland were shit again last night, but as Darragh says we keep winning. Kilbane is painfully bad at left back, O'Shea was v poor last night too. Guardian seemed to be saying Glen Whelan had a good game, read it after I came in, don't know what they're smoking, he's the most ineffectual player I've ever seen play anyway regularly for us. Steven Reid would be a godsend.#

Watched the RTE coverage and they're pretty much bang on this time, Trapp is negative/boring and doesn't trust skillful players so it's Andrews/Whelan and never Andy Reid, Hunt over McGeady etc etc. It's totally shit to watch but you can't attack it too much, Trapp plays the percentages v tightly (don't concede, hope for a lucky goal) and he's winning.

If he gets that group of no marks to the World Cup then they should build a statue of him on O'Connell Street.

Also I am always impressed by Cyprus.

Last night's game was bizarre, not a single leader on the field, it was a total lottery. Really the worst standard of football you'll ever see.

All of that said, I bet we give Italy a real match in Dublin.

That sounds like Scotland under Craig Brown. Not good - no ambition, happy just to get to turn up, etc. It's pretty soul-destroying when those tactics eventually cease to work and there's nothing left to even build on. Can't blame one man for the failure of an entire footballing culture, but that's what it was masking.

So can someone explain why Northern-Ireland are performing so great so far? I know nothing about them, but am very surprised to see them up high.

Three absolutely crucial late goals from Ibrahimovic, Liedson and Baros last night. Portugal and Czech Republic would've been pretty much out without them, and Sweden will probably overhaul Hungary now. I like Sweden, but would be a little sad about not getting Hungary back to life.

Also, well done to plucky little Brazil, managing to qualify for the nineteenth time in a row.

Ibra's goal last night was the silliest i've ever seen, but we deserved it. Hungary not really looking WC-material anyway.

Brazil's win also means Argentina still in sort of a tight spot? hard to think of them not going through though

Yeah, I see Hungary's spot in the group is probably skewed by them getting the easy games in first. Argentina away to Paraguay in midweek, which must also be loseable. There's a bit of a bunch-up behind them in the table, though, so even if things don't pick up I expect they should still squeeze through via throat-cutting.

sadly i think poor N Ireland will lose in Prague and end up 5th in the tightest of groups.

Northern-Ireland have been doin' some decent qualifications lately. (not only this one!)

but indeed they won't qualify, just as Israel never qualifies, even though they do come close every now and then.

so guess as far as countries debuting in the World Cup we'll have to do with Slovakia and Gabon.. (if i am not mistaken)

if Israel can't qualify from this pathetic group there's no hope for them.

Bosnia-Herzegovina would be World CUp debutants if they can get thru at the expense of Turkey and i hope they do. the play-offs are going to be treacherous with probably France, Sweden/Portugal, Croatia and Russia all likely in there.

LOL Guardian, covering it all up: "The Manchester United striker went down while being challenged by Bostjan Cesar. Rooney showed a flash of anger at referee Jonas Eriksson, who blew for the penalty, though the decision appeared fifty-fifty."

ok, having seen it now (cheers for link) rooney hasn't dived, he's just tried to break dudes ankle, and has thrown his arms up in appeal when (as he assumes) the ref's blown against him? no other reading of it makes any sense.

Has there been another World Cup where the official two best players in the world haven't been at it?

Is it the best eight 2nd-placed teams that go to the playoff, or the eight non-winners with the most points?

Group 9 consists of five teams, one less than the other pools. When calculating the best runners-up, therefore, matches played against the sixth-placed finishers in Groups 1 to 8 will not be taken into consideration. The criteria will be as follows;

- Total points
- Goal difference
- Goals scored
- Goals scored away from home
- Disciplinary record *
- Drawing of lots

* Yellow card, -1 point; two yellow cards in the same match, -3 points; red card, -3 points; yellow card followed by a direct red card in the same match, -4 points.

That doesn't clarify what runners-up means!

Also, do Guyana and the other small South American countries have football teams? If so, why aren't they counted as being in South America?

1994 took place without George Weah, Cantona, Gazza, etc

and how was it? i was a bit too young to remember how good the football was, all i remember from the '94 world cup was getting a haircut while ireland were playing and something exciting happened and i had half of my hair cut off in 1 swoop. that and a black out during the final, only coming back on to see baggio make himself look a plank.

Second placed teams.

xposts

1994 was good. Baggio and Romario were obviously the top guys that year (with a bit of help from Hagi and Stoichkov) so I don't think it suffered too much, weird as it seems these days that England, France, etc would be allowed to not qualify.

Of course, if you're talking 'official' awards rather than ones I just made up, 1978 contained no winners of the Ballon d'Or due to Keegan, SImonsen and Blokhin not qualifying and Cruyff, Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller not going. (though to be fair Rumenigge, Rossi and Platini were there and each won it years later)

dreadful final in 1994 of course, but I remember the rest of it fondly

I really enjoyed 94 in light of not having to fret about another crappy England performance. That pony-tailed tit broke my heart in the final tho.

it's all about that Lechkov header

That and Mihaylov's syrup.

I remember being v excited by the 94 final, tho I was young and maybe it was just it being the first final I could understand.

obv ireland beating italy was amazing, we really petered out after that tho.

Does anyone remember the 1986 final? Just from the stats it ought to be one of the best games ever, but I never hear anyone talk about it. The first one I remember is 1990 and it's been a series of let-downs ever since until Zidane's all-round awesomeness last time around.

I must've watched the 86 final but I can't remember much of it. Can remember back to 74 altho memories of that are v few.

There was a thing in the paper about this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/sep/05/world-cup-2010-cristiano-ronaldo-lionel-messi

2 top players missing, i mean

If they are absent, it could be the biggest setback in 50 years to the attractiveness of the biggest tournament in world sport.

Never watched England play then.

other than crap refereeing directives, silly flighty balls,overlong group stages, too-strenuous regular seasons wearing the top guys out, etc etc, that is

who gives a shit if they're not there, it's just two players.

also ronaldo might be brilliant but his skills are by no means attractive on the eye.

Frankly I will be disappointed next year if the goalkeepers don't complain about these new footballs that move unpredictably in the air.

xxpost: EXACKLY

ron atkinson-world cup 2002 opening game: "these goalkeepers always complain about the balls, it's nonsense. if they were any good they'd be playing outfield anyway."

'tis just odd, is all. Doesn't matter anyway, ever since Riquelme got dropped, Maradona deserves to fail.

I'd miss Argentina, they're always great value - also, you need good teams from outside Europe even if most teams play similarly these days. Looking at the squads from old world cups where nearly all the players were home-based, it must have been pretty immense to see whole teams of unknown style and talent head-to-head.

interested in how/if the public perception of Maradona in his homeland is being affected by this dodgy form. still expect them to make it tho.

Urgh as fun as it would be to be in the WC again, I can't help feeling that the one of nor/sco/mac ending up #2 in our group has NO BUSINESS actually going there... Ah well, that team will probably get deservedly crushed in playoff anyway.

(OK I admit that's based on Scotland and Norway, haven't seen a lot of the FYROM.)

Would actually miss Turkey, they always bring a level of wtf all their own.

if Portugal or France don't make it then the habit of a semi-finalist from the previous World Cup failing to qualify for the next one will continue (this stretches back to '86)

I'd be quite happy for England to go to a major tournament with no prospect of meeting Portugal. I'd really miss Argentina though, they've always been my favourite South American team and Messi never got much of a chance to play in the last World Cup.

Meanwhile:

"They are a very different team," the Croatia coach said. "They have some advantages but they are also missing something from their game. They are missing some Englishness, some of the things that have always made England teams difficult to defend against and play against.

"All I will say is that they are definitely missing something and we know what it is. But of course I am not going to tell you now what it is. It is our secret."

Anyone else reading this as "Glen Johnson is gash"?

trying to double-bluff Capello into going with Heskey

all i remember from the '94 world cup was getting a haircut while ireland were playing and something exciting happened and i had half of my hair cut off in 1 swoop.

tip for you- move to ireland, drink free for life on this story.

Question for the english fans among us-

Should Wayne Rooney be the untouchable fixture in the England forward line, given that Defoe is a better striker? Do people still believe that two professional footballer's 'can't play together' with the right coaching?

Defoe a better striker but Rooney a better player, you mean?