Football: The Winter Break

[Padraig]

1 hour ago, Corvinus85 said:

Ukraine with Portugal and Spain? That's maybe not ideal, though I suppose EURO 2020 showed it can be done. And of course, there is the question of what state will Ukraine be in politically and economically in the next 8 years.

By the way, the Saudi bid is apparently with Egypt and Greece. Turkey may be a better fit for such a bid instead of Saudi Arabia.

I believe Ukraine was added in response to the Russian invasion.  A show of support.  It wasn't in the original design.  It should be relatively easy then for Spain/Portugal to adjust if required.

While Turkey would make sense, it doesn't have a good relationship with any of those countries.  I didn't realise Greece had such good relations with Turkey and Saudi Arabia but apparently they do.

And given the size of Russia (and it has hosted the WC), any bunch of countries can make some sort of logical sense.  A bunch of South American countries aren't that far apart relatively speaking.

While yes, Lukaku.  Poor guy.  That was horrible to see.  I didn't see the Canada game but they can be a lot happier than other countries in this competition (despite not picking up a point).  Belgium did ok today but way too late.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Nations co-hosting tournaments don't have to be bad, if done somewhat sensible.

S. Korea-Japan 2002

The benelux Euros in Belgium and the Neverlands. (2000)

The Alpine Euros in Siwtzerland and Austria (2008)

Or the Eastern Euros in Poland and Ukraine (2012).

I don't think Spain and Portugal co-hosting a tournament makes less sense travelling wise than the 2014 WC in Brazil.

The 2026 WC on the other hand is a joke.

[Spockydog]

7 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Nations co-hosting tournaments don't have to be bad, if done somewhat sensible.

Nations yes. Entire continents no. 

[Kalbear]

7 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Nations yes. Entire continents no. 

THIS IS ANTI-AUSTRALIAN BIGOTRY

[Winterfell is Burning]

15 minutes ago, Padraig said:

And given the size of Russia (and it has hosted the WC), any bunch of countries can make some sort of logical sense.  A bunch of South American countries aren't that far apart relatively speaking.

 

The four countries combined are smaller than Brazil, and the games would be mostly concentrated in the capitals anyway.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

4 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Nations yes. Entire continents no. 

Problem with the US. The 1994 WC was already kinda nonsensical traveling wise. The had 5 Stadiums that were located in close proximity to each other. (NY/NJ, Chicago, Boston (Foxborough actually), DC, Detroit (Pontiac)). Then they had two Stadiums in California. One in Texas and one in Florida.

2026 is upping the stupid again.

[The Sunland Lord]

Uefa is onto Juventus now as well.

 

[The Sunland Lord]

Martinez resigned from Belgium.

[Winterfell is Burning]

58 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Problem with the US. The 1994 WC was already kinda nonsensical traveling wise. The had 5 Stadiums that were located in close proximity to each other. (NY/NJ, Chicago, Boston (Foxborough actually), DC, Detroit (Pontiac)). Then they had two Stadiums in California. One in Texas and one in Florida.

2026 is upping the stupid again.

There were some suggestions to host the games in just one area of the country in Brazil in 2014, but what ultimately decided against it was purely political: the entire country is paying for the tournament, why only some areas get the privilege of having games?

There were also ideas of making the groups being hosted in one area of the country, but the difference in climate would mean teams that got drawn to the areas in the South or Southwest would have too much of an advantage due to much milder climate (playing a game in June at 13:00 in Manaus or Cuiabá isn't a much better idea than to play in Qatar at the same time).

[Corvinus85]

1 hour ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

Problem with the US. The 1994 WC was already kinda nonsensical traveling wise. The had 5 Stadiums that were located in close proximity to each other. (NY/NJ, Chicago, Boston (Foxborough actually), DC, Detroit (Pontiac)). Then they had two Stadiums in California. One in Texas and one in Florida.

2026 is upping the stupid again.

Considering the shit show that is air travel now in the US, I shudder to think how it will be for the WC when you're also adding Canada and Mexico. I'm thinking of planning a driving trip to some of the games in the US. But 2026 is still a far off.

[Rorshach]

43 minutes ago, The Sunland Lord said:

Martinez resigned from Belgium.

Sad for the Belgian golden generation that Martinez was their manager.

By all accounts a nice guy, but really not a good manager, it has to be said.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

32 minutes ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

There were some suggestions to host the games in just one area of the country in Brazil in 2014, but what ultimately decided against it was purely political: the entire country is paying for the tournament, why only some areas get the privilege of having games?

 

Yeah, but now you have a stadium in Manaus, which is of little to no use. I assume there are 1-2 other such WC Stadiums that suffered a similar fate. This is not an enviromentally sustainable approach. Carbon footprint of concrete is not great.

[Spockydog]

1 hour ago, The Sunland Lord said:

Uefa is onto Juventus now as well.

 

Oooooooo, UEFA.

Now they're in trouble. 

[Spockydog]

1 hour ago, Rorschach - 2 said:

Sad for the Belgian golden generation that Martinez was their manager.

By all accounts a nice guy, but really not a good manager, it has to be said.

Watch him get a really good job now. 

[Spockydog]

That Japan goal was quite possibly the finest 30 seconds of football in the tournament. 

[Spockydog]

That didn't go out. 

[Spockydog]

Don't they have sensors in the ball? 

[3CityApache]

Costa Rica 

[Tywin et al.]

I walk away for 15 minutes to take a call and Japan flips the board 2-1 while Costa Rica kicks Germany in the nuts.

@A Horse Named Stranger, maybe you can check out after all.

[BigFatCoward]

My dad was so smug when he got Spain and Germany in the family sweepstake.