Let's consider that list you provided. See tiny little Switzerland, look further below. Keep going... pass lowly Portugal (who can't seem to beat dregs like the US), all the way down to the bottom where you'll find Italy, a scrub team with ambition to some day beat New Zealand. Look just below that and behold, England. The lowest of the low on your list. Not exactly a top team now is it.
He just didn't want to leave the team, maybe it had something to do with trying to catch Villa as top scorer.
does it really matter? if you are considered one of the 4 best CB's in a country that produces talent in the numbers Belgium does, I think that is pretty amazing.
I think England has not reached a major final, and only one semi (WC90), since the 66 WC. One of the most biased for a home team ever. If that is major then I am good enough for the EPL at age 60.
Well I might be taking some liberties here but in general the coach chooses who he thinks the top players are at each position that can also work well in a team setting. If Ciman is constantly being selected and only 4 CB's are typically chosen on any 23 man roster, I have to assume he is near the top of the CB pool from Belgium.
. Well they're not calling in the 20th best CB in Belgium's pool for grits and shiggles. If he's getting called in, the coach clearly holds him in high regard.
Fair assumption. I'm not harking, just wasn't sure if he starts any of the games or does he get garbage minutes. But you're def right.
Wouldn't you? Actually, I have been Hungary (particularly Budapest, although was almost 10 years ago) and it is a lovely city and a nice country, current political situation notwithstanding. Really, Hungary is pretty much out of it and the Fire are definitely in it (for the first time in 8 years!), so he felt that it was better to stay and star for the Fire towards the playoffs, as opposed to fly to Europe and (possibly) play or sit on the bench for Hungary.
I'm a Hungary NT fan and we're already eliminated with some poor recent results. And he generally doesn't get played much so a lot of his callups are a bit of a waste of time. Hungary NT is all about Adam Szalai now in the #9 role. Consider all those factors and the long trip from Chicago, and it just makes sense. I just checked Hungarian sports sites and there's no controversy around this. We tend to have trouble getting our core players to be regular starters at their clubs, so whenever someone like Nikolic is getting valuable playing time, the coach is likely to be more supportive of absences.
Regarding Ciman it's worth noting that he was getting callups throughout the last 3 Belgium coaching regimes. Which means he's not just one random coach's preference. He probably is the genuine 4th or 5th best CB in the depth chart. Also remember that Belgium has no fullbacks which means that players like Alderweireld and Vertonghen play wide a lot.
Hungary was already eliminated by the 2nd round. Qualifying out of UEFA is so difficult, that there is no room for error. We started with a miserable away game to Faroe Islands in a downpour and high winds which killed the game. Ended 0-0. Next game Hungary played beautifully going forward, but as witnessed at the Euros, the defense is suspect and Hungary lost 3-2 on a last minute goal to Switzerland. That effectively ended qualification, which makes bizarre results like Andorra possible.
This English team has less star power than any I remember. Which is not to say it's worse on the field, of course; name recognition doesn't always correlate with the ability to win.
i was being sarcastic, but you're right. the current stars don't have the Name recognition of the squad 10-15 years ago which had loads of world-class stars.