FIFA is not going to change it, just because you don't like it. Or you play by their rules, or you don't play at all. There is no other option
Fifa should change it because its stupid, not because of what I or any poster says on big soccer. Nor should they play have to play less friendlies, preventing them from developing the depth of their roster at the expense of the hopes of a seed in the WC field, as you suggest. Are you arguing just to argue? You've basically said the ranking system is flawed, so why are you arguing?
They don't care if it is stupid. FIFA's smart brains, only care when it is less money entering their pockets. If whom organizes the friendly games, gives FIFA a very important cut of the share, maybe they will start caring a little bit more. But at present times, FIFA gets almost nothing from them. Actually, if it were up to FIFA, they would eliminate all official match dates and have lots more international tournaments under their jurisdiction. But the clubs will not allow it, as the players aren't property of FIFA to dispose with them as whatever they wish with them. The reasons why many teams continue playing friendlies, first is to cash-in some money, and the other is to help development of the team. But the moment they decide to go on with the friendlies, they must know in advance, that it will affect their ranking (most likely, due to it, will have no chance to get seeded). They just got to accept it, as part of the cost of development. There are lots of teams round the world, who actually don't care, but of course they can't complain afterwards, if they get to be, ranked only one place behind the last team that will get seeded. Because the rules were set out for everyone to know them, from a long time before. Now, after the last WC draw, you need to understand that there also are, those teams who do care about their ranking and whom will not hesitate to do whatever it is needed in order to be highly ranked , when it counts. Can't do much about it, as it is their option. Nevertheless, FIFA's ranking sucks. If I like it or not, matters peanuts. As only that system, is the one that will continue being used. The rest only helps to understand it better, a little bit more, to know the positive aspects of it, the same way as the flaws it may have. (something lots of people like to do (I include myself here), studying it).
That one is easy to explain. Its because you're mistaken. UEFA lost its spot after 2002. For Germany they only had 13 + 1, the same as for Russia 2018.
And Espanyol drew 0-0 with Barca at home and then 3 days later Barca beat them 4-0 at home. Yeah in an one off suprises can happen. But I can't see Costa Rica topping a qualifying group with Italy Uruguay and England among the teams. Can you? I mean you realize that those are 2 different achivements
What I can't see, is both England and Italy traveling all the way to Costa Rica, and afterwards playing under the caribean weather and a very hot sun that shines brightly during the whole day, to afterwards come out of there without anything but a defeat, and without their mouths shut, as it will be very likely that they'll complain lots more than whatever they did, back in Brazil, for the same reasons. Playing at home, Costa Rica is a very tough opponent for everyone. At the WC, is not as if Costa Rica defended through the whole game, only to score a lucky goal. They played as if they were the top team, while the former WC champions played as if they were the weak teams, taking extreme caution in whatever they did. If Costa Rica did it once, they can perfectly do it again (specially against those teams, whom in general, don't take much risks).
All I can think of right now is Romania trying to scrape qualifier points in San José, Azteca Stadium or Columbus.
First you have to show him in a map , where those places are. It seems as if our friend from Romania, all he knows about the world, is restricted to the European continent... (btw, I'm joking here)
Yeah Romania doesn't do well in the USA.... Terrible places (weather wise I mean) to play football is now a brag. And all of sudden USA is now a traditional football powerhouse with historical stadiums (2 from your examples)
Yes they did ..... vs Greece You are taking with a guy whose country did waay more impressive things. And this guy tells you that that is not how things work. But i guess it is easier to gain epxerince at the WC when the path there is so easy
That's not so. During the 1st lapse of the match, Costa Rica had more possession of the ball, and Greece only started playing more for the 2nd lapse, after Costa Rica scored the first goal, which is reasonable as with one goal down they were going to lose. After the goal, Costa Rica pretended to defend that lead, which unfortunately for them, it didn't pay off as the greeks in another moment of great luck (as how they eliminated the Ivory Coast team, on the previous match), in the very last minute of the match, scored the equalizer. You got to remember that Costa Rica, also finished the first 90 minutes, one man down ( due to a red card on Duarte, with 20 minutes to go). From there on, with legs tired (an issue that really came evident in Costa Rica, which means that they only last for 90 minutes and more so with one less player in the pitch), Pinto was thinking only on the pk definition, because he knew that they had practiced it a lot, together with counting with one of the best goalkeepers of the tournament. And for him, it paid of (Costa Rica didn't miss any pk, and K. Navas did his job, giving the greeks the ticket home).
Hot weather is the best weather to play soccer and also to watch it. Costa Rica only defended once they went a man down, up to that moment they had controlled the match.
What ? One quarters finnish in all their WC history, where they won against only one former WC champion, and also being "impaled" 1-4 in the same WC by Switzerland, a team only known for defending well, whom did on them the "Vlad Dracula" tactic (taken from you know who) . Besides of this, only one quarters finnish at the Euro, where the team got more defeats than victories in it. Man, you got to get off from the horse you're seating on, and come back to reality. Costa Rica's quarters finnish last WC, was lots more glorious than whatever Romania did in '94. (they didn't lose a single match in it and only got defeated by Netherlands on a pk definition)
Yeah I am sure that in the future people will look at Costa Rica the same way they look ar Romania 1994. Romania Argentina is considered a world cup classic Also this http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2010/may/14/joy-of-six-world-cup
Yeah take a report from The guardian, and tell me now that it is the bible of football..... . . . And on relation to your win vs. Argentina, it was a good win, but it sure gets lots easier, when the opponent's best player and soul of their team, gets banned by FIFA, only a few days before the match gets to be played. Would have been about the same thing if for that match, Gheorghes Hagi would've been banned instead. Besides that report is from 2010, so when who wrote it, never saw what was going to happen the next WC after it.....
Not sure about that. Different people have different preferences, obviously, but I remember a match in Fortaleza in the 2014 WC where the first 15-20 rows were empty because they were in the sun at is was very hot. It was a big match too IIRC, not like Greece v Japan or something like that.
To be honest Romania played some great football in that tournament and Hagi was electrifying. But they have not been able to replicate it for 20 years.
I was impressed with them in Euro 2008...but f'in Mutu had to choke with that late penalty against Italy... Having said that: considering how long it's been since Romania has qualified for the World Cup finals, clearly the football gods haven't yet forgiven them for this: "San José" refers to Costa Rica.
No doubt about it. Hagi, was one of my all-time favourite players, reasons why when I started talking here about Romania, I had to try to manage some way, to put him in the conversation as well. You know ?, for lots of people that talk about football nowdays, in no time, they forget very easily whom were some of the "gods" of football from the past. Only those players who come from the biggest teams, get to be remembered more frequently, while about those players that played for smaller teams almost fall in oblivion, for most. Me, being from Chile, which can also be considered among the smaller teams of the world (we like to think it is bigger, but that usually is only our ego fooling with our minds), makes me feel a great empathy towards the players from similar teams as my own, in this aspect. Now, to just clear out some concepts here, when I say "smaller" doesn't mean bad. Means that we might not be at the very top level, but we are pretty close to where the big teams are, so we are smaller than them.