View Full Version : Strongest Group?
eainterplay
29 Jun 2008, 09:35 PM
Which group is the most talented? Imo, group A (Argentina, Australia, Ivory Coast, and Serbia) has the most talent at the top, whil B is the deepest as all 4 teams are high quality (Japan, Netherlands, Nigeria, and USA). Group C (Beligum, Brazil, China, New Zealand) is the one that stands out as the group that is far inferior to the other 3.
VCFan
30 Jun 2008, 12:19 PM
Which group is the most talented? Imo, group A (Argentina, Australia, Ivory Coast, and Serbia) has the most talent at the top, whil B is the deepest as all 4 teams are high quality (Japan, Netherlands, Nigeria, and USA). Group C (Beligum, Brazil, China, New Zealand) is the one that stands out as the group that is far inferior to the other 3.
Nice analysis. I would place Group D as somewhat of a mix between all 3, because it has great talent, some high quality teams, and some that are slightly inferior (not decidedly though... anything can happen at the youth level).
Volrath
30 Jun 2008, 04:51 PM
Why does Brazil ALWAYS get the easy draw? I mean just look at that group...
soccerislife7
30 Jun 2008, 05:05 PM
Why does Brazil ALWAYS get the easy draw? I mean just look at that group...
True, but I bet that China wants to win the Olymics more than the World Cup to beat us in the medal count.
tomwilhelm
01 Jul 2008, 09:03 AM
True, but I bet that China wants to win the Olymics more than the World Cup to beat us in the medal count.
If wishes were Yuan...
johan neeskens
02 Jul 2008, 10:35 AM
Which group is the most talented? Imo, group A (Argentina, Australia, Ivory Coast, and Serbia) has the most talent at the top, whil B is the deepest as all 4 teams are high quality (Japan, Netherlands, Nigeria, and USA). Group C (Beligum, Brazil, China, New Zealand) is the one that stands out as the group that is far inferior to the other 3.
To be honest I've absolutely no feckin clue how good the Chinese, Brazilian, New Zealand etc under 21s are. I can only comment on the Europeans (and I suspect that other posters too can only comment on youngsters in their region, I mean I don't know where you all live but I personally can't remember the last time I saw a China under 21 v New Zealand under 21 game televised live in the Netherlands).
I do know that this generation of Dutch youngsters has above average talent and, more importantly, a winner's mentality. They've beaten a good number of sides that were rated more highly than them over the past three years thanks to that mentality. Belgium when complete are a quality side and could've been the surprise of the tournament were it not for the fact that a good number of their key players are forced to stay at home by their clubs as they play in CL qualifying (which starts even before the olympic tournament). I'm right aren't I, BG?
eainterplay
02 Jul 2008, 02:48 PM
To say this generation of Dutch youngsters have above average talent is a serious understatement.
johan neeskens
03 Jul 2008, 03:11 AM
To say this generation of Dutch youngsters have above average talent is a serious understatement.
I disagree. We've had better generations of players but they never won a youth tournament. The one difference this generation makes is on the mental level. They're real winners.
argentine soccer fan
09 Jul 2008, 07:24 PM
To be honest I've absolutely no feckin clue how good the Chinese, Brazilian, New Zealand etc under 21s are. I can only comment on the Europeans...
How good are Serbia's under 21 players?
johan neeskens
10 Jul 2008, 09:55 AM
How good are Serbia's under 21 players?
Well the Dutch under 21s beat them 4-1 in the under 21 European champs final as you know, but from what I remember of it, that scoreline was a bit flattering for the Dutch. The first half was highly entertaining with two equally strong and attacking sides. Again if I remember correctly they had a man sent off after Holland scored their first goal in the second half and it was all over for them.
bobjones2
14 Jul 2008, 10:08 AM
yeah... but hosts are hard to beat. this has been a truism in soccer for ages. Think South Korea 2002. But you don't even have to look there to see the pattern.
Chinese are going to be a lot more tougher than people think... Belgium may not be a soccer powerhouse, but this is U23... so I think they won't be a pushover either. Don't know nothing about the Kiwis. Group doesn't look that easy...
hihi
14 Jul 2008, 10:12 AM
Hosts are hard to beat, true. But when it's China......
bobjones2
14 Jul 2008, 10:43 AM
yeah, but hihi... in 2002 people would have said the exact same thing except they would have replaced China for Korea or Japan.
hihi
14 Jul 2008, 11:36 AM
Outsiders can mistake the difference between China and Korea/Japan, but you know well enough we shouldn't.
locoxriver
14 Jul 2008, 08:12 PM
yeah, but hihi... in 2002 people would have said the exact same thing except they would have replaced China for Korea or Japan.
Yeah, but in 2002 people didn't expect the refs to be so partial. :rolleyes:
Jwaksman
25 Jul 2008, 01:21 PM
To be honest I've absolutely no feckin clue how good the Chinese, Brazilian, New Zealand etc under 21s are. I can only comment on the Europeans (and I suspect that other posters too can only comment on youngsters in their region, I mean I don't know where you all live but I personally can't remember the last time I saw a China under 21 v New Zealand under 21 game televised live in the Netherlands).
You're right that there's probably nobody here who has watched the Chinese U-21 team play (if they even have one), but we can learn something by looking back on previous AFC competitions where the current olympic team players would have participated. I did a quick look back at the AFC U-17 and U-20 championships where players currently aged 23 or younger could have played in:
2002 AFC U-17 Championships: China rolled through group play and the first knockout round, but lost to Yemen in the Semis. Took the third place game 1-0 over Uzbekistan.
2004 AFC U-17 Championships: China fell to Japan in the group stages, but Japan somehow lost to Thailand and tied North Korea to miss out on the knockout stages. China impressively rolled through the knockout stages to win the whole Tournament, including an impressive 3-0 win over Iran in the Semis, and a 1-0 win over North Korea in the finals.
2006 AFC U-17 Championships: A poor performance for China. They tied with a bad Vietnam team in the group stages, and only made it to the knockout rounds on the basis of being in a very weak group. Their knockout stages run lasted one match: a 2-1 loss to eventual runners-up North Korea
2004 AFC U-20 Championships: China played well to win a fairly tough group, and rolled all the way to the finals before losing 2-0 to South Korea.
2006 AFC U-20 Championships: China looked good in the group stages, but fell unimpressively in their quarterfinal match, 2-1 to Jordan.
So can we draw any conclusions? The most recent edition of the Chinese U-17 team obviously looked awful, but none of those players are over 19 yet, and I doubt we'll see any of them at the Olympics. The previous editions of their U-17 team were pretty good. Along with their U-20 teams, they have been among the top three or four asian youth teams consistently. On a more specific note, the Chinese youth teams have played very low scoring games. A lot of good defense. We can probably expect a 1-0 win somewhere in their 2008 Olympic future.
I wouldn't consider them title contenders, but I would predict them for 2nd place in their group. I don't see them escaping a potential quarterfinal match with the Italians, however.
TechFootball85
27 Jul 2008, 04:54 AM
Yeah, but in 2002 people didn't expect the refs to be so partial. :rolleyes:
trollers were not welcomed in 2002 :p people making excuses after excuses just because they lost to Asian teams. they wanted to avoid criticism.
locoxriver
27 Jul 2008, 06:12 AM
trollers were not welcomed in 2002 :p people making excuses after excuses just because they lost to Asian teams. they wanted to avoid criticism.
I agree. The Spaniards had no legit reason to complain about the refs in their match vs. S. Korea, they were just making excuses to hide their horrible performance. Hell, I even think the refs favored Spain throughout most of the match. :p :rolleyes:
TechFootball85
27 Jul 2008, 08:43 PM
I agree. The Spaniards had no legit reason to complain about the refs in their match vs. S. Korea, they were just making excuses to hide their horrible performance. Hell, I even think the refs favored Spain throughout most of the match. :p :rolleyes:
just like lame loser like you :p If I were them, I'd rather accept the loss and look for revenge later.
locoxriver
27 Jul 2008, 10:28 PM
just like lame loser like you :p
Uncalled for and immature. But ok...
jIf I were them, I'd rather accept the loss and look for revenge later.
Much easier to say that actually do. The World Cup comes once every four years, so it's not easy to just accept an elimination when it was mainly due to the ref.
Edit: Looking at your other posts, it is obvious that you are Korean or atleast identify yourself with their team. No wonder you are choosing to blind yourself from the truth. I am in no way, shape, or form biased regarding this match. I am not affiliated with Spain or South Korea at all, yet I know what the ref did was just wrong. Let me re-cap your memory:
zbeY7tVr0vo
Enough about this subject. This thread is based on the Olympics. I apologize to everyone for the last few non-related posts.