World Cup 2014 Other Teams Thread

Discussion in 'Portugal: National Teams' started by ---Z---, Jun 12, 2014.

  1. 19Scirea82

    19Scirea82 Member

    Jul 8, 2014
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    greece has a history with african players/of naturalizing foreigners for their NT?
     
  2. The Special One

    The Special One Member+

    Aug 6, 2005
    Players of Greek decent from other parts of the world, Australia, Canada, USA
     
  3. 19Scirea82

    19Scirea82 Member

    Jul 8, 2014
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    i don't believe that's true...on the roster at 2012 euro/2014 WC; LB jose cholebas...his father is greek/mother uruguayan

    prior to him, you'd have to go back to the mid 1990s, daniel batista of capo verde islands was nautralized after playing in greece for 6-7 years.

    off the top of my head, croatia...definately. a few brazilians and a handful of australian-croatians. i know this rubbed the aussies the wrong way because those players went through govt. paid youth football developement.

    as far as greece, they would need this...children of greek parents who moved to a germany or holland. the greek league doesn't produce anything due to terrible facilities and lack of coaches. the federation is one of the wealthiest in europe, though there isn't even one national academy for coaches/footballers.

    greece is getting by on it's footballers sharpening their skills and improving in various leagues around europe.
     
  4. The Special One

    The Special One Member+

    Aug 6, 2005
    I will say that they have taken an Aussie kid called Panos Armenakas just recently who is now with Udinese and is somewhat of a prodigy. But I retract my comment on the Greeks, mostly the poaching has happened at youth levels and none of the players pan out
     
  5. 19Scirea82

    19Scirea82 Member

    Jul 8, 2014
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    yes, i've heard of him and there's a another teen 'prodigy' of greek parents born in germany who i believe is in barca's youth system; not sure what level as i usually ignore until substance is shown. his last name is spanoudakis.

    what is interesting is that there was a greek-australian, GK dean bouzanis. teen prodigy, signed for liverpool. the poor kid was under much pressure from a loud and proud diaspora in australia to choose greece and pressure from the aussies to repay the trust and commitment shown to him from aussie football.

    he choose australia in the end, but his career hasn't panned out.
     
  6. The Special One

    The Special One Member+

    Aug 6, 2005
    He went to the same school as me and was a real talent, has signed for the western Sydney wanderers which are a very strong club in Australia
     
  7. 19Scirea82

    19Scirea82 Member

    Jul 8, 2014
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    small world. i'm not australian, but i imagine there is a portugese diaspora there too.

    if you went to school with a futre or rui costa, i believe they'd go to the head of the class.
     
  8. The Special One

    The Special One Member+

    Aug 6, 2005
    Phillip Lahm retires from football, will be remembered as a legend, quitting while on top
     
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  9. J.P.

    J.P. Member

    Oct 31, 2012
    Club:
    FC Porto
    I respect the decision, but if I was an international caliber player, I'd play for my country as long as I could.

    I think making sure you don't hinder the development of younger players should be the coach's decision, not your own.
     
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  10. dipluso

    dipluso Member+

    Jul 19, 2005
    CT
    Massive retirement. Ronaldo of all people will be breathing a sigh of relief though wondering what might have been if he hadn't had the bad luck of facing the guy so many times at major tourneys...
     
  11. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    I remember back in 2006 during that WC, in some Facebook discussion I was saying how good of a player Lahm was. I remember some Argentinian (who I believe was the boyfriend of one of my Facebook friends so wasn't on my list) argued against me how he was nothing special etc etc. lol.
     
  12. dipluso

    dipluso Member+

    Jul 19, 2005
    CT
    That's what makes him so great. Not a flashy player - often under the radar - but incredibly consistent and tough in both directions. Also, one of the least douchey players from the Bayern ranks.
     
  13. dipluso

    dipluso Member+

    Jul 19, 2005
    CT
    And for the NT, goddamn, I'm looking back and Lahm played well in every major tourney and the team went deep into each WC and Euros and I think he played nearly every minute of those tourneys. Probably one of the few mistakes I can remember was in the Euro finals in 08 when he let Torres slip by him.
    Oh, the other error was at 0-0 in our 1st game this WC when Veloso stripped him of the ball in a dangerous position. If we had converted that, the WC might have turned out very differently... damnit.
     
  14. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    The guy is amazing

    funny, I logged out and went over to the Germanny forum (I am banned from there)
    and one guy asked the question about who will replace lahm

    "did Portugal call up Cedric Soares??"

    Cedric is born in Germany.

    but we all know liga sagres players especially SCP ones , its hard to convince Paulo Bento

    even though William was our best midfielder and only started our last game
    and Rojo, Slimani , Garay, etc were good enough to shine for their NT managers.
     
  15. Chess_Panther

    Chess_Panther Member+

    Apr 29, 2007
    Porto, Portugal
    Doubt that Germany will ever look at players playing in the portuguese league. I'm sure that sooner or later Cédric will get the call.
     
  16. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    same, it seems hard to believe.

    but they apparently are concerned at their relative "lack of depth" at FB

    I don't believe Germans know what a real lack of depth means though.
     
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  17. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    This is an excellent post :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

    I want to add the following, if you don't mind.

    Many reforms countries like Spain, Germany and now England make is also with this in mind:
    http://football4future.blogspot.nl/2011/04/german-dfb-solution-to-young-player.html

    This used to be an advantage 'smaller' countries as Portugal, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands etc. had. They had the advantage of having a small geographical area so in comparison with larger countries ('larger' in terms of area and population spread) not many talents would be missed out. On top of that: in the age before rich EPL clubs 'hijacked' talented kids from foreign 'small' countries, those spotted high-class talents also played against each other and became better in the process.
    In the countries with higher geographical spread though, this was more of a challenge to organize and finance (how does one finance the transport and housing in a large country?).

    But - as you maybe feel where this story is going to - the satellite and pay-TV revolution changed a lot. It provided countries like Germany, France, Spain (Italy?) with the financial means to tackle these issues. "Widening the net", for reaching and developing distant areas, doesn't come free. To let the very best kids (coming from all over the country) play against each other isn't free either.

    So, in sum, the financial means provides the opportunity to tackle many of the problems that goes along with being a large, spread-out country. Problems that couldn't be tackled before. Don't get me wrong: being a larger country (with larger fanbase, markets, sponsors etc.) was always an advantage but some problems going along with it were not possible to solve.

    Interesting thought.
     
  18. benficafan3

    benficafan3 Member+

    Nov 16, 2005
    Great points. It will be interesting to see how the increasing use of financial resources will play a role in international football. It has always been dominated by a select group of countries but I believe that it will give that extra "push" that will ensure virtually no "surprise" win will happen for possibly, well, ever. Looking at the Champions League, the lack of competition at the top is ridiculously embarrassing. I simply cannot see a team outside of the "usuals" as of late winning the competition in any near future unless some Russian or Arab prince pumps money into some other club. Mourinho's Porto may very much have been the last "surprise" CL winner. Modern football is currently, IMO, an abomination and will become much worse. Personally, I have little motivation to invest any emotions into Benfica this upcoming season after they've essentially had to sell off virtually most of their Starting XI.
     
  19. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    Future WC winners

    2018: Germany 2022= Spain 2026= France 2030= Germany 2034= Germany again, 2038= France again, 2042= Spain again , 2046= Germany, 2050 = Germany, 2054 = Italy, 2058= USA, 2062= Germany

    rinse and repeat.
     
  20. raviept

    raviept Member

    Jun 11, 2010
    Braga
    Club:
    Sporting Braga
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
  21. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    is this the future owner of Stoke City?
     
  22. raviept

    raviept Member

    Jun 11, 2010
    Braga
    Club:
    Sporting Braga
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    More likely, the owner of FIFA.
     
  23. PuckVanHeel

    PuckVanHeel Member+

    Oct 4, 2011
    Club:
    Feyenoord
    Maybe it is also a sign that today many big clubs are sponsored/owned by dictatorships (Qatar, Emirates), oil magnates and betting firms (like B-Win).
    Cannot find an overview that quick but in the 90s the bigger clubs saw sponsorships by electronic firms (Sharp, Sony), food companies (AC Milan) or carmakers (Opel).
    I feel the nature of the sponsorships and ownerships has changed a bit but this needs a closer look.
     
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  24. raviept

    raviept Member

    Jun 11, 2010
    Braga
    Club:
    Sporting Braga
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    I look at Real Madrid and I see a spoiled kid who wants all the good toys from other kids. This year, it's Kroos and James, when they already have Di Maria, Modric, Xabi, Ronaldo, Benzema, and Bale. What's next? Then, consider Barça, Chelsea, City, MU, Arsenal, PSG, Mónaco, etc. It really is impossible for smaller teams to keep up. I see only German teams with their tremendous formation and organized teams like Atletico to challenge them, because otherwise the CL is always the same dull affair. I think one of the biggest problems is the lack of regulation of these transfers. Bigger teams will always be stronger, but this urge to hire anything that moves has spread down the hierarchy. Smaller clubs that rely solely on their formation are not very competitive. That's why you have Porto and Benfica serving as entry hub for many southern american players in Europe. They keep getting good teams at relatively low prices, while mediators like Jorge Mendes gain commissions, or invest in those players in the long term. And this money goes up the ladder again.
     
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  25. ---Z---

    ---Z--- Member+

    Cagalhao
    Nov 2, 2005
    CAMPEAO
    Club:
    Sporting CP Lisbon
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    Looking back it seems irrational that we expect CR7 to do what he does there with our NT with the likes of Meireles and Nani.
     

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