World Cup 2014 General Discussion/Other Teams

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by ImaPuppy, May 7, 2014.

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  1. Cookham

    Cookham Member

    Jun 5, 2014
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yep. Ireland was just abysmal at Euro 2012. It went beyond simply having tough competition, they were a mess. Only managed a distant 4th in World Cup Qualifying behind Austria and ahead of only Kazakhstan and the Faroes. Even needed a miracle comeback in final 2 mins to defeat Kazakhstan at one point. Currently 70th in FIFA rankings. Hey, Portugal's win was solid. Just don't confuse this with Ireland of a few years back. Squad comprised of many Derby, Ipswich, Millwall, Coventry, Forest, Reading, Brighton caliber guys.
     
  2. uclacarlos

    uclacarlos Member+

    Aug 10, 2003
    east coast
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Gotta say, out of all the friendlies we've seen as teams get revved up, there were very few teams that looked as solid as our group.

    Yes. I know they were scrimmages. Yes. I know the competition fluctuated from St. Mary's School of the Blind to World Super Power Juuuuuust Getting Out of the Shower to Consider the Possibility of Maybe Warming Up.

    Taking all that into account, the teams in our group look raring to go as they round the turn of the final warm up lap before the Big Race, and not like they're going to blow their wad, but getting ready.
     
  3. vancity eagle

    vancity eagle Member+

    Apr 6, 2006
    #2653 vancity eagle, Jun 11, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2014
    Honestly I'm infuriated with the joke that has become FIFA. I don't know why they changed the seeding format of a few WC's ago which took the previous 2 tournaments into account. The FIFA rankings are an utter joke, and they are responsible for this mess. We have the 2 finalists of 2010 playing in the same group, group G with 4 knockout round teams from 2010 all in one group.

    We have a dreadfully average Swiss side as a seed, while

    Italy
    England ( don't think they deserve a seed, but much more so than a bunch of seeds)
    Holland
    Portugal
    Ghana

    Are all at the mercy of the draw.

    And I'm sorry I don't care about how many top players Colombia or Belgium have, or even how good their form is THEY DO NOT DESERVE TO BE SEEDED.

    Belgium has not even qualified for the last 2 world cups, OR EUROS.

    Colombia has not done jack on the international scene since 1990 when Roger Milla dumped them out of the WC 2nd Round. At that point my team Nigeria had never even qualified for a WC before. That's how long ago it was. Colombia even failed to win a watered down Gold cup losing to my home country CANADA of all teams a while ago.

    Such teams do not deserve seeds despite whatever potential they may have. It is downright comical.

    Both Ghana and Portugal should be seeded this WorldCup. I bet Switzerland doesn't even qualify despite being given a seed and landing an absolute cake group. Hopefully FIFA's system is heavily scrutinized after this cup. It's absolutely terrible.

    I have also been a proponent, and I believe you have as well, of seeding all 4 pots, while geographical separation could still be maintained, but some of these groups make a mockery of this competition. It does add a little spice though, because some top teams will be out after 3 games, so we could see some interesting match ups.


    IMO this will be the most competitive cup in a while. There are really no teams missing, and a lot of competitive groups and teams.
     
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  4. Area 51

    Area 51 Member+

    Sep 5, 2009
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Fifa's incompetence is nothing new, it's just that in this day and age of social media + globalization, news and issues circulate and spread far more quickly and permeate worldwide.

    So that's why finally FIFA has come under the spotlight the past 7/8 months with the seedings for this World Cup, corruption, Qatar, etc etc

    Switzerland and Colombia getting seeds practically ensured a couple insane groups..and those we got.
     
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  5. Sifrit

    Sifrit Member

    Mar 15, 2014
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    No, Ireland really are shit. They were in Germany's WC qualifying group and Germany beat them 6:1 in Dublin.
     
  6. Fanatical Monk

    Fanatical Monk Member+

    Jun 14, 2011
    Fantasyland
    Pretty sure this is more accurate. I know from experience. :)
    I will guarantee both would have put up more of a fight last night.

    Ireland is going to wish they'd never hired MON. What a clown. Roy is going to be jumping overboard early to save his unlikely club career.
     
  7. Solid444

    Solid444 Member+

    Jun 21, 2003
    All this talk about Ireland´s form assumes that people cannot take that into consideration when coming to an objective conclusion about last night´s match. It is fine to say that, taking into account Ireland´s dissapointing showing yesterday, Portugal still looked good.

    Portugal´s last official match was played against Sweeden and, in general, Portugal had a good showing. I find it ironic that for the last couple of weeks, fans here have given more importance to Portugal´s previous friendlies in order to conclude that the level of the team is not up to par with what was shown against Sweeden. Now, that their performance was way better, the talk turns to Ireland´s terrible form.

    Ronaldo looked just fine and there is very little reason to think that this Portugal team will be any weaker than the team that faced Sweeden.
     
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  8. ImaPuppy

    ImaPuppy Member+

    Aug 10, 2009
    Using too many parentheses
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    I thought he looked a step slow and a little rusty. Not that I expect him to look like that against us but he was very un-Ronaldo last night.

    Even so, he was still good.
     
  9. CDPontaDelgada

    CDPontaDelgada Member+

    CD Santa Clara
    Aug 15, 2012
    Ponta Delgada PT
    Nat'l Team:
    Portugal
    You hit the nail on the head has Portugal only one 1-0 posters would be saying Ireland ain't that bad

    Whatever helps them sleep at night
     
  10. Dirt McGirt

    Dirt McGirt Member+

    Jun 20, 2005
    Phoenix, AZ
    Club:
    Seattle Sounders
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #2660 Dirt McGirt, Jun 11, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2014
    You spend a lot time on the US boards trying convince people how good Portugal are. I hope you stick around when they fail to get out of the group.
     
  11. Editor In Chimp

    Editor In Chimp Member+

    Sep 7, 2008
    What's funny is that nobody used the fact that Ireland is terrible as a method of criticizing Portugal.
     
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  12. vancity eagle

    vancity eagle Member+

    Apr 6, 2006
    #2662 vancity eagle, Jun 11, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2014

    Exactly. It was simply keeping things in perspective. A team can still look really good, or even really bad when playing against a poor team. I thought Portugal looked really good defeating a poor team. They did everything you would expect them to do in doing such.
     
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  13. Suyuntuy

    Suyuntuy Member+

    Jul 16, 2007
    Vancouver, Canada
    Well, IMO we beat a terrible Azerbaijan, a mediocre Turkey, and a decent Nigeria. The Portuguese tied a strong Greece, beat a solid Mexico, then destroyed a dismal Ireland.

    If I were forced to rank those rivals by giving points for their defeat and manner of defeat, I'd say we're quite even.
     
  14. uclacarlos

    uclacarlos Member+

    Aug 10, 2003
    east coast
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Probably bc keeping it that close against a quality side like Portugal = decent side.

    And that's not sarcasm.

    Now. If Portugal played like c-rap and Ireland had been extremely lucky, well then our assessments of both teams would adjust accordingly.


    Respectfully, I think you're lapsing other fora with News and Analysis, which tends to be much more cerebral. Granted, there will absolutely be homerism and a bit of myopia, b/c that's just normal.

    But what disguises this forum from others is that the ability to see grey, to see both sides of the story, to be able to criticize AND praise in the same breath. If you are unable to do so, you shouldn't post in this forum.
     
  15. ImaPuppy

    ImaPuppy Member+

    Aug 10, 2009
    Using too many parentheses
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    Man, I can't believe this thing starts tomorrow.
     
  16. Suyuntuy

    Suyuntuy Member+

    Jul 16, 2007
    Vancouver, Canada
    Something I've gleaned from reading the Irish forum:

    http://www.ybig.ie/forum/ireland-v-portugal-match-build-up_topic49158.html

    is that:

    1) Ireland players were tired after playing 4 friendlies in a bit over 2 weeks, in 3 different countries;
    2) Several second-stringers were used, specially in defense;
    3) MON was experimenting a lot, and before the 4th Portugal goal, he took out two defenders to bring in two forwards more --that is, at some point Ireland was playing with only one natural defender and four forwards! They called it "kamikaze" tactics.
     
  17. orcrist

    orcrist Member+

    Jun 11, 2005
    Bay Area, California, USA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So much soccer, so little time :-(
     
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  18. ImaPuppy

    ImaPuppy Member+

    Aug 10, 2009
    Using too many parentheses
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    Yeah, but no one or next to no one is arguing that Portgual didn't look good. They did!

    As another poster pointed out, the Irish being poor and Portugal playing really well aren't mutually exclusive. I think both are true and so does the majority of this board.
     
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  19. Spursfan1

    Spursfan1 Member+

    Sep 7, 2010
    Atlanta
    Club:
    Tottenham Hotspur FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    We have such insanely difficult opponents ahead of us.

    group of death indeed.
     
  20. ImaPuppy

    ImaPuppy Member+

    Aug 10, 2009
    Using too many parentheses
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    #2670 ImaPuppy, Jun 11, 2014
    Last edited: Jun 11, 2014
    So, I know we're not "like that" but do non-U.S. supporters not have their own threads in their own forums to have discussion/PbP? I don't think it's a coincidence that things get derailed when non-U.S. supporters come in here and speak their minds. Most people in N&A are open to discussion and value the opinions of fans from other teams, but it would be really nice if this thread could be the haven within U.S. N&A and especially the haven from the Ghana/Portugal/Germany scouting threads (where supporters of other teams aren't only welcomed, but encouraged to post). Everytime a disagreement starts, there's no resolution in sight because the opinions start out SO far apart on so many issues. It isn't that one side is necessarily wrong or right in these situations, but that the mentality is just different between one set of supporters and another. Part of what has made these kinds of threads good in the past is that pretty much everyone is like-minded, and while that goes against the foundation of worthwhile discussion and learning, it really helps the thread run smoothly. This thread was started specifically so that U.S. supporters wouldn't need to go post in the WC PbP threads in the general soccer forums or forums of other teams. I know that won't happen, and I don't want to advocate complete insularity, but this thread is in the U.S. forums for a reason. Hopefully I'm not overstepping my boundaries because I obviously have no power to implement any kind of rule but can we agree to a truce or something? It would be nice.

    Also, thanks to @zahzah @vancity eagle @CDPontaDelgada @Area 51 (sweet username) @raviept and others for the info they've given us over the last month or so. It is appreciated.
     
  21. vancity eagle

    vancity eagle Member+

    Apr 6, 2006
    again this gives context. Not only are Ireland a poor team, they are a poor team playing under a number of poor circumstances, which only enhanced how poor they are. Portugal still looked good though, and I'm pretty sure they will advance.
     
  22. notredamefan83

    Nov 13, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Switzerland is deserving of their seed. They were undefeated in European qualifying and have a lot of great up and coming young players as well as established players playing at top european clubs. In their back line they have lichtsteiner and Ricardo Rodriguez as full backs. Lichtsteiner has been the starting right back for Juventes for years now, and Rodriguez was probably the best left back in the bundasliga this past season and is being courted by top clubs around Europe. Along with them they have the center back pairing of Djourou and Schar. Djourou has played with Arsenal and now plays for Hamburg and is very solid, Schar is young and inexperienced, but makes up for this with great ability.

    In the midfield They have Beharami and Inler who start together at Napoli as holding midfielders. Their wingers are Shaqiri, who plays for Bayern Munich, is extremely quick, posses a powerful shot, and is very skillful. Their other winger is Valentin Stocker who just transferred to Hertha BSC, is another quick winger who can score a goal. Their central playmaker is Granit Xhaka, he is only 21 years old yet already has 26 caps and 50 appearances for Borrusia Monchengladbach.

    For strikers they have several different young options, but the brightest option is Josip Drmic. In his first season in the Bundasligua he scored 17 goals (good for 3rd in the league) in 33 appearances with the relegation bound Nurnburg, and has since transferred to Bayern Leverkusen.

    Along with the players I have mentioned they have several other players on the bench who start at clubs in the top european leagues that can come in a do the job. They have the record to prove they deserve a seed and definitely have the players to back it up, and I expect them to surprise quite a few people at this world cup.
     
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  23. papermache16

    papermache16 Member+

    Jan 30, 2009
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    England were undefeated too and have a better recent World Cup History, Italy won the whole damn thing 8 years ago, and Holland were just in the finals - also they didn't do well in the Euro '12, but at least they were in it, Switzerland weren't.

    I really can't justify Switzerland getting a seed, talented as they are.
     
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  24. notredamefan83

    Nov 13, 2010
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I will say it is a toss up between England Italy and the Swiss for the last seed, my point was more that Switzerland were at the least, just a deserving as the other countries mentioned.
     
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  25. Crimen y Castigo

    May 18, 2004
    OakTown
    Club:
    Los Angeles
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
     
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