Good call, but the Netherlands fits the profile better over a longer period, I think. They made the WC final in '74 and '78, losing to the hosts both times and lost to eventual champions Brazil in '94. Despite their considerable talent, they missed the finals altogether in '02, '86 and '82 (iirc). They went out on penalty kicks in the '98 WC semi (again to eventual champs) when Taffarel guessed correctly on every kick and '00 Euro semi against Italy after F. DeBoer missed a PK during the match. Their only "blemish" is Euro '88
True, though the Braves have been utter crap until relatively recently and Dutch supporters actually show up at the stadium.
I'd say that the Dutch are more like the Red Sox, in that they are generally good and come up short. The Cubs suck far too often to be compared to the Dutch.
Cubs= Scotland---passionate support, but not very good. Red Sox= England----good teams that manage to lose in the most heartbreaking way possible. although the Dutch come close, but they won something recently, and they usually don't lose in such a heartbreaking manner (not counting '98)\
Re: Re: Re: Chicago Cubs of Soccer? Yeah, right. Chicago is going right back to where they belong, absolute obscurity.
I liked the comment on the curse issue by one guest on CNN. He was asked what he thought of the curses and he summed it up in a simple way.."Well, the stupid fans believe in the curses and the smart fans don't."
They won 2 straight league titles in the 80s. In fact, they are the last non-Glasgow club to win the SPL crown and they have won four Scottish titles, tied with Hibernian for the most among non-Glasgow clubs.
UEFA Champion not so long ago.... European Cup Winners' Cup not so long ago. To me, Leverkusen is the Chicago Cub of soccer. They had won only a single trophy in their entire history.... a German Cup. And they are backed by one of the biggest German company.
How about Preston? Won the English league and cup double in 1888/9, and the league again the following year. Haven't won it again since and don't look likely to ever again. Bury won the FA Cup in 1900 & 1903. You could name your price at any bookmaker on them winning it again. More realistically Newcastle, who won the league in 1904/5, 1906/7, 1908/9, 1926/7 and their last real chance, a few years ago, they blew something like a 12 point lead. For putting their fans through the wringer, the Plymouth Argyle teams of the 1920s take some beating. Playing in Div 3 (south), in an era when only the champions got promoted, they finished 2nd in 1921/2, 1922/3, 1923/4, 1924/5, 1925/6 & 1926/7 - six years in a row.
I don´t think that there is any club in the world comparable to Leverkusen. The two titles they have(DFB-Cup 1993, UEFA-CUP 1988), were won when they were a middle class team and since they are a top-team they lose evry final they take part in.... The team to compare to the cubs is schalke, even if they won the uefa-cup in´97 and two consecutive DFB-Cup titles. They were the best team in the 1930´s, probably one of the best teams in europe in that time, but they haven´t won a championship since 1958, despite playing 36 years in the Bundesliga! They were three times second and one time third, but never first...........
Barca When's the last time they've won either La Liga or the Champions League? Massive debt certainly doesn't help them. Spain, on the national team level, the team won the European Championship when Spain hosted in the 1960s, and they haven't won anything since. The team is even worse then Italy or the Netherlands. At least these two countries have reached the World Cup Final, something Spain has never done. Add England to the list as well. England’s won nothing since 1966, winning the title versus Germany on a fluke goal.