I wonder what you think which Balkan nation is the best. Romania has always been a competitor as Turkey and Croatia had climbed up to playoffs @ world cups, while on the other hand Serbia & Montenegro, Greece and Bosnia are tough competitors and are making a good progress in euro2004 qualifying.
Uhh, I don't think Turkey is considered a Balkan nation. I'm not sure if Greece is either. I think former Yugoslav countries plus Bulgaria, Albania, and Romania = Balkans. Between those countries, I'd have to say Croatia at this point, but they haven't really done much since their 98 World Cup success.
- part of Turkey belongs to balkan and when they (politicians) talken about 'United Balkan' they were considering Athens capital of Greece to be capital od Balkan, so yes, both Turkey and Greece belong to this region
Well, I am sure that coming from me, this must have a special weight! I will vote for Turkey! But they will have to be more consistent in their good performances to retain this marginal preference of mine concerning the Balkans region (and yes, both Turkey and Greece are in the Balkans! I mean... One could be confuses - wrongly - over Turkey, but to say Greece is not a Balkans Country is funny! The Balkans are a Peninsula! Greece is the tip of it for crying out loud! LOL ! ) Greece is more consistent (except this year up to now! in UEFA point collection overall ) but who can compare this to the success Yugoslavia had in the past, Croatia, Romania and Bulgaria recently and in the past ... etc! I think that Yugoslavia will regain this Balkans title now that they are off the fridge! But I have to vote for Turkey... They mada alot of progress in their game and now its paying off...
I voted for Turkey also, although i dont like their playing style, they have been efficient, and they deserve all the respect they get. Romania and Bulgaria are traditional powers, witch i hope they wont become the new Hungary.
i also voted for turkey but things seem to be shifting i think greece is a close second considering their performances in the euro2004 quals they did very well against some very stiff competition and i'm looking foward to see more of greece in portugal p.s. i'd love to see a neighborly clash at euro 2004 between turkey and greece would be a great game in my opinion especially if hooliganism and politics is kept out of it
Okay, I'm a Turk hence I've been a biased bigot there and voted for Turkey but I'm quite surprised to see that no one has ever voted for Romania. They have always been a cracking footballing nation and emerged a lot of top players the whole world respected for decades, and they are still a very good side, despite they've been hit by the sharp economical and political turmoils they've experienced in the past decade. If my country wouldn't be on a rising form these days I'd have definitely given the token to them. Greece are doing superb lately, I think that's a reflection and result of the Turkish outbreak next door. I wonder what anyone of them would do if the other one didn't exist. I tell ya it goes like this: Whenever Greek succeed in something our guys go "what the f...k?? We won't be surpassed. We'll do it better than them!!!" And when Turks succeed on something then it's Greek's turn: "That's embarrassing! We'll outdo them..." It looks like the scheme is working well for both sides so far, eh guys? Bulgaria are another good side, although they are not doing so well at the club level, as most of their national side players are playing outside their league. Former Yugoslavian states still have the spells from their traditional footballing styles but they lost a lot of blood lately. But I'd still count Croatia as one of the best from Balkans.
Greece of course! Greece won the EC group before such teams as Spain and Ukraine. But there are many good countries in the Balkan.
hmmm personally the survery has obviously been reversed. Romania, bulgaria, serbia and turkey are the best and of those 4, 3 have received less than 3 votes! if you look at value, Serbia Montenegro is most expensive with Kezman, stankovic, kovacevic and mihajlovic. Romania is my favourite of all those (besides serbia of course who i voted for) but ALBANIA? someone must have made 14 accounts and voted 14 times
Re: hmmm I swear i only voted 13 times, there's gotta be someone else. Interesting, only a Serb would point that out. As of now Greece is having the best form, qualifying ahead of Spain from its group. Bulgaria had its peak in 94 with Stoichkov. So did Romania with George Hagi. Croatia did the same in 98. Turkey crashing out of Euro 04 is a major dissapointment but they still have their successful run at the WC02. S&M always have had a good team. That leaves Bosnia, Macedonia and Albania without any kind of success although iirc Bosnia was one win away from going to the Euro 04. Overall the Balkans have always had someone impressing at the highest level. Wonder if there'll ever be a Balkan Cup now that there 10 or so countries.
Well, everybody here seems to forget the fact that Turkey is the fourth in overall points just behind France, England and Czech in the qualification round. So maybe Greece or some other team qualified for the championship but Turkey still had more points than 12 teams which will be in Portugal this summer. And Turkey was a first seed team when the groups were made and we matched with the most powerful team from the second seededs, England which definitely shouldn`t be among the second seeded teams.
My opinion: 1. line: Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, Greece 2. line: Romania, Serbia&Montenegro 3. line: Albania, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Macedonia (the 3rd line have been improved much in recent times!) The first line is not in order of strenght, the oter to it is. Cheers: Peti P.S.: Does anyone know the goalscorers of Jordan-Bosnia-Hercegovina 1-2 friendly game played in 2000.03.15?
I am biased, so I voted for Serbia and Montenegro However, my top three would probably run like this: Turkey, Croatia, Greece. Perhaps S&M (no comment...) above Greece occasionally, but players like Savicevic are long gone. EDIT: I forgot Bulgaria. They tend to be a strong team, but of late have been very hit or miss for me. Still, another team which can be very interesting to watch.