Sure if you consider quality being afraid to attack purposefully being down a goal in a knockout match for over 80 minutes. Pathetic. Same thing Belgium did today by the way. Boring and poor quality. Next.
No, excellent defence, powerful and athletic attacks, quick combinations - that's quality, and not the cute stepovers and needless individual moves. Belgium made a whole lot of excellent moves through the middle of Argentine defense. I wish Belgians had better touch on the ball but overall, only an ignoramus like yourself would have suggested that either Belgium or France did not attack. Watch the games!
Just a little precision, CAF teams have been taking part to the World Cup since 1970* ( according to my maths it does not make 84 years). *Egypt did took part to the World Cup in 1934, but CAF did not exist at the time. They qualified through a "Near East" confederation composed of Mandatory Palestine and Turkey as there was not any organized sport federation in Africa at the time (an example, Egypt won Eurobasket gold medal at home in 1949). I'm being generous when I say 1970, as only 11 countries (out of 50+) took part to qualification in this confederation .
I did not say France or Belgium did not attack, but that the attack was poor and pathetic. Neither Germany or Argentina are known for good defence. Germany had a flu infected team. Both Belgium and France were poor considering they went down early, and never looked like equalizing. Sorry but you must have a differnet definition of quality.
German defense is, actually, quite good and the team discipline and organization are undeniable. They had a brief loss of focus against Ghana. But, aside from that, I would probably consider them the best defense at the WC. Followed by the Dutch. Are you sure you watched the games? Both France and Belgium had excellent chances in their games.
Another ....................................................wannabe . You ain't French or German. You are ........................................................Ukrainian Be proud of your own .................................................................................team
first world cup 1930 former yugoslavia. first qualifying campaign for an international competition for croatia: 1994 for euro 1996 2014-1994: 20 years 20 years: 1 semi-final of world cup. who cares about the fact indepandance was in 1991 i was talking about the years of independant croatia in competitions. 1 semi-final of world cup in 20 years > 1/4 finals at best in world cup history...
Where did he ever say he wasn't? What happened to objectivity? It isn't the least bit suspicious that the person above criticizing France is Nigerian... no, not suspicious at all. Meanwhile, I am doubting he even watched the match if he is going to say we were AFRAID to attack for 80 minutes, especially when even the Germans will tell you we had them sitting on the edge of their seats for the entire second half. Laughable.
If not for a bit of luck, you would be talking about Ukraine at this WC. France was #13 qualifier from UEFA. Ukraine were the unlucky #14 (and #16 in FIFA rankings).
That' s the spirit . However I doubt Ukraine would have escaped the first round at the WC, except if they were grouped with .........................................................Cameroun
Is there any doubt that this was the best World Cup ever for Africa? Two R16 teams for the first time, and it should have been three. Moreover, both Ghana and Algeria played the eventual World Cup champion toe to toe, with Ghana earning a draw (the only points dropped by Germany in the tournament) and Algeria taking the Germans to extra time in R16. Nigeria also played the other WC finalist to a near draw, and scored half of all the goals Argentina gave up in the tournament. Cameroon imploded, of course, with internal issues, but probably the biggest disappointment was Cote d'Ivoire's casualness and lack of pressing against Greece in the final minute, allowing the Greeks to get into the box, draw the penalty and eliminate the Ivorians. A huge blunder, especially since CIV would have had an excellent chance to advance against Costa Rica, and make it to the quarters. After that, who knows? Costa Rica drew with Holland, so the semis were not completely out of reach. All in all though, Africa represented very well at this Cup. I think the future looks much brighter than it did before Brazil. I think CAF should get at least another 1/2 berth, probably at the expense of AFC.
I think the main issue is that CAF has never had so many losses. Also CAF was so close to going much better and putting it beyond doubt. I don't think CAF will want half a slot from AFC: They are politically too interconnected with their fate and have been known to stick together in FIFA. Then noone will claim they don't deserve to be there. I would like CAF to get half a slot, preferably from UEFA so they can go H2H with a UEFA qualifier.
Which brings up a question. Has Africa ever had a half berth? I don't recall any. It may be that FIFA is reluctant to have other federations play away matches in Africa. I dunno. It seems odd that they have never had a half-berth, if that is indeed the case.
They did have half a slot ages ago, but that was when that was all they had: 0,5 a slot. I would very much like this to happen.
Just checked: 1934: Africa and Asia had one joint slot, through which Egypt qualified. 1938-1950: No African country participated 1954: Egypt participated in European qualifying (lost to Italy). 1958: Asia and Africa had 1 joint slot, but the whole qualifying was a mess with Israel almost qualifying without playing a single game (due to Egypt, Sudan and various other countries withdrawing). 1962: 0,5 slot vs UEFA (Spain beat Morocco) 1966: 0,5 slot for CAF (CAF protested and no games were played)
Given the current format, how would half a spot for CAF even be feasible? How do you even decide which team deserves it if there are several teams that just missed? For example in this World Cup, who would've been chosen between playoff losers, Senegal, Egypt, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, and Tunisia? I honestly can't even tell you who's the best of that bunch. I'd favor Senegal but I wouldn't be surprised if they would lose to any of the other teams. Even if the format resembles something like in 2010 or 2006, you still have 4 or 5 teams to choose from.
You would have to alter the format, no doubt. Probably to something like in AFC - 2 groups with 4-5 teams. Top 2 qualify, 3rd placed teams enter a playoff for one direct slot, the other gets another chance vs UEFA.