It seems that in the past few years the super powers of futbol have gone into a series of slumps. Which national team has faltered the most in the past few years? I thought about this and I don't think you can come up with just one, but if I had to choose it would be Holland. They have many, many stars throughout Europe and have nothing to show for it. Holland missed the 2002 WC and had to go to a playoff to make to Euro 2004 where the lost to the Czech Republic and barely tied an average Germany side.
You are always lead to believe that Holland has a great side but i dont think its all that good really. Not a great defence, ok midfield and brilliant Ruud upfront.
What moron would put the World Champions on the list? Winning the World Cup twice and being runners up once in the last three editions of the competition implies a slump???????? Not to mention Copa America, Confederations Cup and Youth World Cup wins in between!
Well for Euro it's between spain and italy, but i think italia has given us the worse performances of the two. Even though spain has been knocked out, they at least pulled off a good result in their first match. Italy has had straight poor showings; its pretty disgusting. Hopefully come tuesday they'll play well.
Well, somebody voted for them. Maybe it is because they didn't qualify for the Olympic games. I voted for Spain. I think Spain has always been dissapointing, ever since the Italians injured Zamora in 1934 and then proceeded to beat them in the rematch. Maybe with Zamora the Spanish would have won the World Cup, but they never came close again, not even at home. This failures come despite the fact that they have a arguably the top league in the world, and certainly the top club team in the world (from a historical perspective). But they never seem to get over the hump. And now they just got eliminated from yet another tournament in the first round.
Yeah, not qualifying for the Olympics is a huge slump!!!!!!!!! We have gone back to the pre-World Cup era, have we? If Spain has never won anything, why should they be considered powerful??????? Thus, Netherlands should be considered as the most disappointing. They have been successful before. At present, they have good players and often play well. However, often they do not go beyond the qualifiers even!
It's already hard to imagine Brazil making the list, even worse who would be voting for the current world champions, Conmebol WCQs and FIFA's ranking leaders. Whoever voted for Brazil step out from you closet and I'll negative rep you for sheer stupidity.
I would think that for most the WC was sub-par to say the least. Brasil did not dominate the South American Qualifying as in past years, as I recall they had a last game victory to secure 4th place I believe. Also in the last Copa America they lost to Honduras of all teams. They are on top of the qualifying right now but have shown that teams like Chile and Peru can compete which would have been an after thought in the past. The Quality of Brasil, in terms of the futbol played on the field, has been at best average for Brasil's very high standards. I think as a fan of the game it would seem as though they haven't played well since the 98 loss to France. The WC aside they really haven't played to the standard that we are all used to. The best teams they played in 2002 are both on this list as well.
I am suprised that no one has voted for Argentina yet. They have had success, yet nothing to show except the Qualifying for 2002, and many youth championships. They have dominated teams but are finding it difficult to score. I think alot of that is to blame on the manager, though I thought Scolari was holding back Brasil's style of play and it seems as though I was wrong. We will have to see if they make a change.
In some ways this is why I elected to put them on the list. I think that even some Brazilians are troubled with the way their national team is playing. I said though, in recent years. I didn't say the last 12 years. Obviously if that were the case Brazil would have never made the list. Besides it's an option and you have 7 other choices. I didn't even vote for them and by the looks of things others would agree that they should be on the list.
You're asking far too much. The days of any one team being as dominant as Brasil was are gone. Heavy tackling, officiating that allows brawn to compete on an equal level with skill and speed, the development of one-trick pony defenders (who pride themselves on intimidating attackers but are themselves incapable of contributing to an attack) and the invention of the catenaccio have all contributed to the relative parity we see now. Brasil won't ever reach the standards of its past- not because they don't have the players, but because no one is willing to play against Brasil the way they did during Brasil's first dominant era. Rather than working to develop the talent necessary to play the Beautiful Game, Brasil's opponents have decided instead to destroy it through physical tactics. Even Brasil had to adapt.
I do not think that Brazil has not played well since the 1998 WC final. They played brilliantly in 1999 Copa America. They also played superbly in at least the last three matches of the last World Cup. Their style of play in WC 2002 may not have been similar to the 1982 or 1986 WC teams, but they were successful nevertheless. Success and disappointemnt cannot subsist simultaneously. For all their flair, the 1982 and 1986 WC teams, and the 1996 Qlympic team, were hugely disappointing, because they were not successful. At present Brazil is successful and their fans are not disappointed. Thus, Brazil should not make the list. Regarding playing poorly in the 2002 WCQs and losing to Honduras, they did not have their best team. Ronaldo was not there! Is it not his presence or absence a 50% difference between winning and not winning? In the match against Honduras, Brazil dominated throughout, especially after Juninho Paulista came on. However, they had moronic strikers such as Guilerhme in their team! Can any team on earth win with such a strike force? If Wagner Love plays for Brazil in the next edition of Copa America, I would not be surprised if Brazil does not even score a goal. Brazil did not play well in the 1994 WCQs either. They needed to recall Romario in the team for the last game against Uruguay, a must-win match. Sure enough, Romario scored the goals in a 2-0 win and Brazil played superbly since. Thus, Brazil does play well when they have their best players, even now.
All good points but I think it is just how you see it. Ofcourse I wouldn't think Brasil is even close to Holland or Spain as far as disappointment, as the poll shows!
I think we should be taken off of that list. Unless you consider teams like Denmark and Sweden powerful because that is the level that Spain is at.
Honestly Spain is at the top of that list. Most recently they were eliminated by Portugal, they also never seem to do well in big competitions. Despite the fact that they a have some of the worlds best players.
I am surprised that Spain is even on that list. Why should they be considered powerful, or at least more powerful than say, Euro 1992 champions Denmark? They have not been anywhere close to winning anything since Euro 1964. That includes a WC on their home soil in 1982! I think Russian soccer has deteriorated immensely of late. If Spain makes the list of powerful soccer nations, so should Russia and Uruguay, as these teams achieved success 40-50 yrs back.
The thing is though that Denmark and Sweden aren't really disappointing. They have been playing well, here (Euro04) and in the WC 2002. The thing is that Spain has more class players and have one of the best leagues in the world. We should expect more. Uruguay and Russia have a case but I didn't make the poll so it is what it is.
IMO it's France for Euro 2004. Not very nice to watch at this tournament. Zidane shows some nice skillls, but he can't reach Trezeguet or Henry...
I wish I could take back my vote (Holland) and exchange it for another (Italy). After this tournament, I'm beginning to see the Dutch as a team that at least tries to make the most of its talent through attacking football and sometimes(well, all of the time) just has rotten luck. Italy, on the other hand, creates their own bad luck by playing boring, defensive ball and not creating enough chances to win games against teams with much less talent, at least on paper.
has spain finally been knocked down in everybody's mind, thank god. bad result after bad dissappointment have to count for something. spain most overrated by far
¿Who the retarded Hell would vote Spain over, say, Italy in this poll? Spain, a one time European Cup winner, who has done better than Italy, multi cup winner, in the last 2 tournaments (one round further in bribe central Korea, and first round exit in Portugal...an accomplishment in itself) The same with Holland, shít, at least we qualified for both Cups. Portugal, Spain, England and Holland shouldn't even be on this poll in the first place. Out of the ones that would be left I'd go either with Germany, even though they got to the final in the WC... even the Germans would admit this is one of the worst national teams they've ever had when looking at the players. Or Italy, who haven't won anything for well over 2 decades. At least we aren't expected to win anything.
Germany should get more votes now that their horrible spell has translated into an early exit. 2-1 to the Czech B team ..... WOW!
Portugal World Cup Record; 1966: Quarterfinal 1986: 1st Round 2002: 1st Round LMAO!! You mean like in 1984 European Championships when Spain got to the final? You idiot.
Since 1980, Spain have been knocked out of two major tournaments in the first round. That's 11 tournaments, 9 of those Spain reached the Quarterfinal stage, one of those Spain reached a Semifinal, and one of those Spain reached the final. Shows how much you know.