Save the hosts Brazil, which Conmebol teams do YOU think will be in the next world cup? This OPINION thread is meant to be grave dug at a later date. I think that Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay (reprechaje). No offense to the teams that I haven't mentioned, its just my opinion.
good question last time we had 9 for the 98 WC there wanst one was there? it was 4 + current champs brazil
Many essential players will have retired by this, so I have no idea how you would make that list so early on.
are we still going to have the same format or are we returning to the 3 groups of 3? back in 1998 there wasnt a playoff. peru finished 5th, same points as chile and we didnt even play a playoff. iran played TWO!!!!!
Sorry, I thought you meant you were just as deserving of that 4th place spot as Chile. I think we'll have 4 spots for us again. It'll be 5 CONMEBOL countries in the WC guaranteed, rather than 4.5.
Did we ever have 3 groups of 3? I remember there being two groups of 5. I think it'll stay the same like for France '98, it's the simplest and probably the best way to do it. Africa normally has 5 but for this occassion they'll have 6, maybe we'll have 5.5, aka Brazil + 4 + play-off.
This might depend on how the Conmebol teams perform on the World cup if we see decent performances we might get 4 but if all teams do really well, we might get Brasil + 4 + repechaje.
no way will they let us get 6 spots .... thats would be insane we are good but not that good. Brazil,Arg,Chile, Colombia and Venezulea Ok Chile and Colombia both have U-24 teams so really aren't losing much in retired players were Paraguay and Ecuador are going to have to replace alot of very important players. Not saying they def wont make it but def a thing to consider. Argentina is Argentina so no point of even spending time on this. Venezulea has a great sub 20 that will be 24 by that time, with the way their NT is growing and how Caracas FC is doing internationally they will def be the wildcard for me. Not to mention they are one of the teams with most euro players (tho they are half Venezulean) that if they can convince players like Barcas Jeffern to joing them they will def be a force. Uruguay I dont think will make it tho they have a good youth system, its just a very small country and as all the other SA countries are getting better they are going to have more problems. Peru and Boliva just dont have the talent even their youth teams finish last in all our tournies and their clubs suck as well.
Even one week before the end of this eliminatorias, the countries that would qualify was a complete toss up. It's impossible to know what's gonna happen 4 years from now.
we have had in the past in 1986 we had 3 groups one with 4 the others with 3 in 1990 we had 3 groups of 3 with Argentiina already qualified as champs in 1994 we had a group of 4 and a group of 5 with Chile being banned
since the format became everyone vs everyone we have had 98 - Brazil(prev champs), Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Chile 02 - Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay 06 - Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Paraguay 10 - BRazil, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay(play off) Paraguay 4 out of 4 Argentina 4 out of 4 Brazil 3 out of 3 Chile 2 out of 4 Ecuador 2 out of 4 Uruguay either 1 out of 4 or 2 out of 4 Colombia 1 out of 4 Venezuela 0 out of 4 Peru 0 out of 4 Bolivia 0 out of 4
Brasil, Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay Ecuador has a whole crop of talented young guys.. and the old ones that took us to two consecutive WC's are going to retire, except some that still have it for more like Mendez, Ayovi, Castillo, Guagua, and Ambrosi, but those are it. I predict Mendez will be captain of this young generation of talented and lethal players. Valencia, Benitez, Caicedo, Noboa, Guerron, Luis Bolanos, Jairo Campos, Fernando Hidalgo, Fernando Guerrero, Montero, Miller Bolanos, Ibarra, Deison Mendez, Sombrita Hurtado, Matamoros, Anangono, Wilson Folleco, Fidel Martinez, Joao Rojas, and two very good young keepers... Banguera and Dominguez from Barcelona and Liga respectively. And with Bieler, who wants to get nationalized Ecuadorian, and he is young himself, 24 I think, Ecuador has atleast with him, a good and sure goleador. So he is the token nationalizado and of excellent caliber. the sheer talent that is springing up and the already young talent playing is more than enough to qualify next round. I am confident Ecuador will qualify for Brasil.
didn't know the goal difference in 1998 b/w Peru and chile was that much. I thought it was less anyways, for 2014 a few thoughts on the teams i know a little bit about - Venezuela has a nice crop of young players, though its always hard to predict how they will develop - Paraguay also seems to be going through a rejuvenation, which is completely necessary as da Silva will be 34-35, Cabanas will be 34, Caceres will be 35, and most of the team will be in their late 20's and early 30's by the 2014 WC - Ecuador definitely needs a rejuvenation, and their lack of success at the youth levels may pose some problems. Caicedo, Benitez, and Valencia should be in their prime by them, but that would be it from the current squad - Uruguay has an equipazo coming up, and though a lot of their current players may be out there will be some great new ones coming in - Chile shouldn't have too many problems making it, I hope. the team right now is the youngest in Conmebol and will by then have been playing together for quite a while. Medel, Vidal, Carmona, should be at their prime at 27. Alexis Sanchez will be 25. Mauricio Isla 26. even Matias Fernandez and Jorge Valdivia should still be playing quality football (28 and 29)... The problem may be upfront with a 33 year old SUAZO, even though that isn't crazy old either... Argentina will be interesting, because they've shown that even this current generation (with great young players like Messi, Aguero, Higuain, di Maria etc.) is not good enough to replace the old guard which had to be brought back in (Aimar, Veron, Zanetti, Riquelme, Palermo etc.). They will always have great players, but there aren't as many cracks in the youth system as we have become accustomed to. and their current U20 team shows very little promise I'll go on record right now and predict - Brazil - Chile - Uruguay - Argentina - Paraguay In that order
The CONMEBOL will only get tougher come next qualifiers; with Venezuela's current young talent flourishing during that time. Here is my list in no oder (And I do think there will be 5.5 CONMEBOL spots in the 2014 WC, just like they gave an extra spot to the CAF): Argentina Chile Peru Uruguay Ecuador
I agree with this post...although it's too soon to predict the order. (and Brazil will already be there as hosts). This is my pick, in no particular order... I favour the S.Cone to take the 4 direct slots...although I have my reservations on Paraguay as I have not heard of the players they will bing in to replace their veterans (but's that mainly because of my ignorance on Paraguayan football). But overall I think it will be hard-fought tooth and nail business as usual. My favourites for direct qualification. Argentina: No need to elaborate. They just qualified playing the most horrible football in ages and with a brain dead hero as a coach. It's pretty safe to asume they will make it directly again. Chile: Qualified to S.Africa with the youngest team in S.America. An almost U24 side. For 2014 they will be fasterr, stronger and world cup veterans. Most of them will be around the footballing peak of 27...and might even play in the qualifiers after that! The oldest player would be Suazo with 34? 35? I would be suprised if we don't make it directly. The only concern for Chile here should be to slowly start squeezing in some future talent for 2018. Uruguay: Amazing crop of U20's comming up the ranks. Should blend in with some of the veterans they already have. Should qualify directly unless they want to make it hard on themselves like they seem to enjoy doing. Technically their current squad should also be good enough to qualify directly...so it's a bit puzzling. Could go to 5th again. Then the teams that will be fighting for the 5th slot: Paraguay: Many of the old guard will be leaving after S.Africa...who is comming up the ranks? Are they as good as the guys that are leaving? Maybe a Paraguayan can help me with this. I saw their U20's but they were not as promising as the Uruguay side. Can get a direct spot. Peru: They are not as bad as they look. They have hit rock bottom, the only way now is up! Their star players will return for a last run. Unlike last qualies they will fight these till the very end. Besides Manco and Zambrano I see no brilliant talent comming up the ranks. On the bright side Vargas and Farfan will be at their peak...and Guerrero will be Suazo's age so he should be mature as well and get less stupid cards. Could get a 5th spot. Ecuador: Thay have some players that will be at their peak like Valencia. They will have a backbone of hardened veterans mixed up with some fresh talent (how talented are they though?) Will it be enough to qualify directly? Maybe. My guess is they will be fighting till the end, it will be hard to replace their veteran defenders, plus they still have that missing striker problem, they want to nationalize Bieler (does he want to?)...that pretty much sums it up. Could get a 5th spot. Colombia: They also have a very young team, but Colombia is very much a case of who they get as a manager. They say they don't have strikers. Yet I see Falcao scoring in Portugal and what the hell happened to Pino? That kid had similar qualities to Alexis Sanchez yet I don't recall seing him in these qualies. If they start playing that 80's football then they will miss out again. Or in the best case scenario will be hoping for that 5th spot. If they get a modern coach with a vertical game and physical football that get the best of their young players they could challenge Paraguay for that direct spot. We will see what the next move of their federation is. Venezuela: They are getting closer and closer every time. Their U20 team will be U24 by then. Will it be enough? Or will they have to wait till they reach their peak at 27-28? My guess, unlike the previous two qualies...this time they will actually reach the last match with some sort of chance. Not a chance: Bolivia: Sure they beat Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil in La Paz...who seem to be forever fightened of hight more than Bolivia itself. But all the other teams don't fear hight anymore. They will have to get our of their comfort zone and start learning to play a football that will get them points away from home. Bunkering like they do, in the best case scenarios, will only get them 1 pont from the match, and will only work in 1 out of 5 away matches they have. Just not enough.
I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see Manco stepping up to that "hype." On the other hand, in 2014, Peruvian talent to look out for would be Joazhino Arroe, Joel Sanchez, and Marcio Valverde.
I'm also one to think that Colombia's problems lie on the DT position. The Colombians are talented but they are in dire need of someone who can make them gel together and motivate them. It's too early to predict much. If Colombia gets someone like Pekerman, for example, I'd consider them as serious contenders. Ecuador is in the middle of a generational transition and those could either go really good (like Paraguay) or really bad (like Chile, after France '98). I'm not too sure that Chile will make it easily to Brazil without Bielsa... in fact, we might not make it at all. I'm hoping Harold sorts that out in a good way, and if Bielsa goes then we should get someone else just as good. Too many variables... hard to say who will make it. Heck, Peru could pull a Chile next qualifiers and make it to second place... who the hell knows at this point.
There are many variables...that is true. A lot of it will depend on the coaches every team gets, except of Argentina who will qualify regardless of who they choose. I also stick with my choice for Chile qualifying directly even without Bielsa. Bielsa already did the hard bit in getting them to the World Cup so young...but people must be remembered that this great team existed before Bielsa...the guys got 3rd place in the U20 World Cup in Canada with Sulantay as a coach...who is a great spotter for talent but as a coach he is nothing out of this world.
I guess its debatable, but I don't read anything into the Panamerican games. What i meant by lack of success at the youth level is that you haven't qualified for the U20 WC since 2001, and the U17 team (which again may not mean very much) hasn't done anything either. You're right to mention Benitez and Valencia, but absolutely everyone else is unproven. You're talking about dudes that might have talent, but FErnando Montero hasn't debut for Villareal, and has only played a few games for the B squad. Guerrero hasn't proven anything anywhere either, and has't gotten consistent playing time in any of his teams. I'm not even sure if Fidel Martinez has even played for Cruzeiro yet... With those guys its unknown what's gonna happen. Believe me in Chile we know abut 19 year olds that have a huge tournament or two and end up in teams like Inter Milan, Villareal, Liverpool, Udinese... and by the tim they're 24 they can't even play for Union Temuco My point was that you're youth teams haven't been nearly as impressive as recent Venezuelen, Chilean, Brazilian, Uruguayan teams, that the only U25 guys that were a significant part of your qualifying team are VAlencia (24) and Benitez (23)
peru has many players that were born arpund 82-84 so that makes a generation..... vilchez, merino(82) vargas, rengifo, marino(83) farfan, guerrero, luis ramirez, diego penny (84) im probably missing 2 or 3 out of that list and we have another promisin generation (88-90) ballon, valverde(for me this guy is a version of vargas but playing in the right side) (88) zambrano, baylon, anderson cueto (89) manco, joel sanchez, luis trujillo (90) and then we have more younger players like arroe (92), cuevas (91)