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FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifying Thread

spurs mental

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2007
25,075
49,234
Ok two things... firstly i fucking despise International breaks.... sooooooooooo ****ing boring.

Secondly, is it me or do teams play the same teams kver and over again ewch qualifying phase. I am sure we have played Slovenia before on a number of occasions etc

Also there are some seriously shit teams and no contests... we really should adopt another way of qualification. Im all for giving teams a fair chance but surely faroe islands for example have absolutely no chance of beating Portugal let alone going through the group.

Should we iust lump all the shit teams together and let them have their own qualification. Atleast that way we can have one or two qualify.

If all the shit teams are in a group together then there's going to be some of the best teams who end up missing out on the World Cup and some shit teams in the World Cup getting smashed there instead. The World cup is about having the best teams, not 30 of the best and 2 whipping boys
 

DIEHARD

Well-Known Member
May 17, 2004
4,659
5,443
If all the shit teams are in a group together then there's going to be some of the best teams who end up missing out on the World Cup and some shit teams in the World Cup getting smashed there instead. The World cup is about having the best teams, not 30 of the best and 2 whipping boys

But we have always had good teams miss out on tournaments eg Netherlands and possibly even for the world cup they could miss out.

It is about having the best teams i agree but we should also get some of these teams in by them having their own qualification stage. Remember oceania or asia a while ago... they were shit but with football and entering world cups they improved.

As it stands the qualification phase is a pointless exercise and in that case lets just get rid of the Farpes, San Marinos and Andorras as they wont top their group nor finish second,
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,544
I think last night's game was the first time in my life I've seen Holland play and didn't know who all their players on the pitch were. There were at least three names I didn't recognise.
 

Nerine

Juicy corned beef
Jan 27, 2011
4,756
17,217
I've decided that I'm going to watch the game this evening. Not sure why. I used to really enjoy international football. And I always looked forward to the tournaments etc. But now I mostly find it to be a massive joke. I think it's because there's no back story, no drama, no personality etc.
Like, all the teams in the Premier League seem to have an identity, like a gang with their own ideals, situations, priorities, weaknesses, pressures etc etc. It almost makes the clubs more human. So the EPL to me, is more like a massive soap opera that's very addictive.
When teams play each other, the result has hugely different implications for each team. It's almost a bit Game Of Thrones-y in a way. Each team jostling for supremacy, but battling with all the other teams around them etc. Each club has their own back story, their own history, local rivalries etc.

Of course, I support the national team. From my couch, I might add. I've never bought a single England shirt or anything like that, but I don't really know how anyone can actually support England. I've been to a couple of games before, does that count?

But international games just don't seem like football to me. They seem like a worse version that lacks excitement, played by a team that always looks disjointed and managed by a manager that is never correct for the job.

It's all a bit of a travesty IMO.
 

longtimespur

Well-Known Member
Sep 10, 2014
5,830
9,949
I've decided that I'm going to watch the game this evening. Not sure why. I used to really enjoy international football. And I always looked forward to the tournaments etc. But now I mostly find it to be a massive joke. I think it's because there's no back story, no drama, no personality etc.
team that always looks disjointed and managed by a manager that is never correct for the job.

It's all a bit of a travesty IMO.

At least Rooney will be on the bench(y)
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,544
If you think supporting England is bad, try Norway. 1-1 v San Marino with 30 mins to go, losing to Azerbaijan at the weekend and they're in a group with Germany, the Czechs and Norn Iron. Their coach is an absolute imbecile who doesn't have a clue how to get a relatively talented bunch of players (several PL, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga players) to play anything resembling decent football and is kept in the job by a proper boy's club of an FA. So nothing new there.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,544
It's 4-1 now into injury time, but I stand by everything I said about the coach.
 

sherbornespurs

Well-Known Member
Dec 9, 2006
3,758
9,241
I saw my 1st England v Scotland game at Hampden in 1968, along with 133,999 others.

In all that time since, I never, ever thought I'd see Scotland happy to play in bright pink shirts.
 

tototoner

Staying Alert
Mar 21, 2004
29,387
34,059
USA v Mexico in Ohio later should be interesting after the Trump Presidential win
 

TheChosenOne

A dislike or neg rep = fat fingers
Dec 13, 2005
47,870
49,700
The only England international I ever saw was at Wembley.. the Eng v Argentina friendly with Maradona and co who were world champions at the time so maybe about 1979.

I wouldn't cross the road to watch them now. Something seriously missing, has been for ages.
 

Marty

Audere est farce
Mar 10, 2005
39,885
62,544
Eriksen with a brace for Denmark v Kazakhstan tonight, one of them from the spot.
 

Bulletspur

The Reasonable Advocate
Match Thread Admin
Oct 17, 2006
10,690
25,246
and Paulinho played 90 minutes and scored. so playing in China doesn't mean international exile then?
The way he pressed last night he would have done well under Poch. Wrong timing and all that!
 
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