Finnegan Posted 2 April 2009 Posted 2 April 2009 I agree with Finners. I often find it quite ironic when people dismiss other celebs for being too this or too that as if we look any better ourselves. Victoria Beckham is an exception. I well and truly would not touch her. I find her a complete turn off. Baby got no back! ... too much stereotype?
Koke Posted 2 April 2009 Posted 2 April 2009 Baby got no back!... too much stereotype? She's an Anglo-Saxon so obviously baby got no back.
TrickyTrev Posted 2 April 2009 Posted 2 April 2009 Id leave qualifying as it is , id probably play a few more tournaments for the lesser nations . On a completly seperate note not placed purly to wind Finners up(ok maybe a little) ive just noticed Burkina Faso Bahrain and Congo are above Wales in the world rankings Things can turn around in international football , Turkey used to get dispatched 7/8-0 in the late 80s and Northern Ireland who were regularly hammered now lead their group . I mean countries like Turkey always have the potential to turn it round because they have a big population. Even Northern Ireland isn't that small (1,800,000) and is a genuine football loving nation. Places like Andorra, Liechstenstein and San Marino are not really countries at all. San Marino have a population of 30,000. If we estimate that 1/6 of their population are between 21 and 33, they have 2,500 males to chose from. That is a worse standard than getting in your district side, or your Uni 3rds. There is no chance of them turning it round, they will alays just be there to be whipped. I accept that they should have a chance to qualify for the world cup, but surely these principalities and city states should have to play off against each other to make the main draw. It would be a good competition for them and they may cherish the opportunity to play the big sides if it wasn't their regular thrashing.
Fox You Forest Posted 2 April 2009 Posted 2 April 2009 So basically the best we can come up with is making one of these teams work hard in a pre qualifying event and earn the right to be thrashed.
James. Posted 3 April 2009 Posted 3 April 2009 So basically the best we can come up with is making one of these teams work hard in a pre qualifying event and earn the right to be thrashed. And what exactly is wrong with that?
shen Posted 3 April 2009 Posted 3 April 2009 True enough - but typically speaking Europe and South America are the main bastions of football and it's here it garners amongst the most passion and interest, that and my argument is as applicable to the Euros as to the World Cup.And using the domestic example as a direct model for what should be done on the international scene is flawed due to the simply vaster numbers of teams on that stage. I only brought it up as a moral example and ultimately possibly not my best argument ever. We don't have the same problem for internationals, we don't have overcrowding of teams forming too many groups and not enough time to play these fixtures. Else why would we be throwing in the extra friendlies here there and everywhere? There isn't a problem here. Just a bunch of fans making the somewhat elitist assumption that these other countries would be better served (or would better serve) by being elsewhere. When Andorra, Lichenstein, Luxemburg and co' speak up and campaign for their removal from the EUROs or WC qualifying then I might see your point. The fact that they're not exactly frantically fighting for that sort of makes mine. The only reason you suggest we don't have overcrowding of teams forming too many groups is simply because we get a ridiculous amount of places for the WC. I can't quite find the stats for previous qualification rounds, but I'm quite sure it's not so long back that countries like Israel, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and all the former Soviet states and obviously the former Yugoslavian states were included. Even San Marino and Andorra are quite recent entrants in the qualifying event. So actually we've had a massive influx of teams, which quite conveniently coincided with an expansion of the World Cup/European Championship. If we didn't have that many places up for grabs, our current group format wouldn't be feasible, and then we'd have a severe case of overcrowding. And that is one of the reasons I think the the UEFA won't complain about the smaller teams as they act as a kind of justification of the many WC places they get. As for your comment about passion and interest, I think that's a very bold statement to make. Having seen the euphoria of the Asians during the 2002 World Cup, or even the fantastic support of African teams, I'm not that convinced we have a given right to have proportionately more teams qualify. From a strictly moral point of view obviously. On a sidenote, what do you make of e.g. Israel, Azerbaijan or even Russia competing in the Euro zone?
Uncle Albert Posted 3 April 2009 Posted 3 April 2009 I'm glad teams like San Marino, Andorra and others want to try and qualify for the World Cup. I wonder how much it means to their fans when they get drawn in a group against the likes of Germany, England and France? They are garunteed to play some of the biggest teams in Europe and travel to 7 amazing countries over 2 years to watch their nation play. Why would people want to take that away from a small nation like that?
Finnegan Posted 3 April 2009 Posted 3 April 2009 I don't fundamentally disagree with you, Shen, in fact I think our hearts are ultimately in the same place. But what you're implying would take change to fix and I don't think that's probably all that realistic. The World Cup and the European Championships are growing because there's money in it, UEFA is growing because there's money in it and the fixture lists are expanding because there's money in it. I just don't want to see nations that have already been given this opportunity then become frozen out and denied their right to compete because the larger countries don't deem them worthy of competition.
Ultra Posted 3 April 2009 Posted 3 April 2009 As long as 80000+ muppets turn out at Wembley to watch pub teams like Andorra, the powers-that-be will be happy to retain the current system.
TrickyTrev Posted 3 April 2009 Posted 3 April 2009 As long as 80000+ muppets turn out at Wembley to watch pub teams like Andorra, the powers-that-be will be happy to retain the current system. True that. Again can people stop pretending they are in this competition for the sake of their fans. Andorra is a tax haven of 30,000 people ffs, not a country.
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