U20 World Cup are you watching?

Discussion in 'Real Salt Lake' started by georg, May 23, 2017.

  1. DrownedElf

    DrownedElf Member+

    Jul 5, 2010
    Ogden
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    That's why I think if it wasn't the US, it'd likely have to be a joint venture in Europe. Having two neighboring countries host it would probably work, assuming FIFA would allow it. Although if given closer to 3 years, I would think more of the European countries would be able to solo host it.
     
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  2. pcny

    pcny Member

    Sep 2, 2007
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    This is where geopolitical issues come into play...UK gets 90% of its natural gas from Qatar (which has third largest proven reserves in the world, behind Russia and Iran) and Qataris have been major investors in the UK. US has its Middle East Central Command in Qatar, as well as US Air Force Central Command. Politically, both countries would be in a bind if they were viewed as "taking" the WC from Qatar...not sure they'd want to be put in that position.

    Eventually--once every one is through with spending billions on stadiums that will never get used again, when everyone is through with geopolitics playing a role, when everyone is through with bribery and corruption, and particularly since expanding the tournament--I think they come out with something like a "True" World Cup. Played across multiple countries--Italy takes Group A and B, France B&C, Germany D&E etc. Semis in North America (Mexico City, New York), Finals at Wembley. Mix and match all you want. Countries could then not only pull for their home team, but also the team that won their region, etc. Crazy? Of course...but we are talking FIFA.
     
  3. 15 to 32

    15 to 32 Straw Hog

    Jul 1, 2008
    Salt Lake
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    man, I wanna live in that world. But I don't wanna live through the destruction that I think it'll take to get there
     
  4. pcny

    pcny Member

    Sep 2, 2007
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Lots of truth to those words, unfortunately. The geopolitics have the potential to be very, very messy....WC the least of the concerns!
     
  5. El-ahrairah

    El-ahrairah Member+

    Sep 20, 2004
    Wanker County
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So? Do you think that any other country would give a rat's ass about being viewed as "taking" a world cup from the US? Hell no! They would take that world cup in two femto-seconds and not even look back.
     
  6. pcny

    pcny Member

    Sep 2, 2007
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    The idea of hosting a WC, in the grand scheme of things, means a lot more to Qatar as a symbol of being a global player than it does to either the UK or US. Even more so now with the GCC diplomatic actions.

    The idea of getting your LNG supplies cut off (in the case of the UK) or being evicted from your forward Command Center only to see the Russians move in as the new tenant (in the case of the US) weighs heavily against the idea of hosting the WC at Qatar's expense...even if the circumstances around the original award of said WC are extremely shady.
     
  7. The Franchise

    The Franchise Member+

    Nov 13, 2014
    Bakersfield, CA
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Alternate interpretation: Qatar needs the US and UK more than vice versa. There are smaller, but substantial natural gas reserves in the United States and Australia (or several other nations with historical British ties, like Nigeria) for the UK to turn to if they don't wish to do business with Russia, Iran, or Qatar. And as for the U.S. naval base, the Qataris definitely need it more than the U.S. does. There's no need for an American base in the Gulf if there's no honest government willing to host it.
     
  8. DrownedElf

    DrownedElf Member+

    Jul 5, 2010
    Ogden
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    As nice as this sounds, I feel like it'd be a complete mess given travel times. They'd have to really expand the time frame between games. I doubt a lot of players would enjoy taking a 12 hour flight to play a game the following day.
     
  9. El-ahrairah

    El-ahrairah Member+

    Sep 20, 2004
    Wanker County
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It's not a Naval base, it's an Air Force base. The Naval base is in Bahrain.

    And you are right, the Qataris need it more than the US does. We still have bases in the UAE and the aforementioned Bahrain.
     
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  10. pcny

    pcny Member

    Sep 2, 2007
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    #60 pcny, Jun 6, 2017
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2017
    Russia, Iran, Turkey and China all more than willing to forge closer ties with Qatar. It is complicated. Russia would gladly claim the al udeid space currently occupied by centcom. Shun someone and they will find open arms elsewhere.

    Btw I am not endorsing Qatar, I am just making the point that this is an incredibly messy situation...can't just wave it off. Far reaching implications.
     
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  11. pcny

    pcny Member

    Sep 2, 2007
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Not saying you move continent to continent within group play...that'd likely stay in a fairly confined region. Same with round of 16. Quarters/semis/finals you could orchestrate so everyone in same bucket (ie semis in North America, but both teams the fly the Atlantic for the finals)
     
  12. DrownedElf

    DrownedElf Member+

    Jul 5, 2010
    Ogden
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Still sounds like it would be a mess. Not only that, but it'd be terrible for the fans. You'd have to travel to one country to watch your team play in the groups, then to another country if they progress and you have tickets, then another country for the next round, etc. I'm sure it's already quite expensive just trying to catch a game in each round as is, I couldn't imagine how much more expensive it'd get having to go to extra countries and continents.
     
  13. Taragui

    Taragui Member+

    Aug 13, 2006
    Northern Utah
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Big Soccer! Where you can get your soccer commentary and a big side helping of geopolitics and military strategy.

    This is seriously why I keep coming back and ignore most other sites. You never know what you'll end up reading.
     
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  14. 15 to 32

    15 to 32 Straw Hog

    Jul 1, 2008
    Salt Lake
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    don't discount the unicorns
     
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  15. pcny

    pcny Member

    Sep 2, 2007
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Oh, hey..Qatari FM al Thani headed to Moscow to meet with Lavrov on Saturday....

    Not happy about this, but diplomacy matters....
     

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