Alcibiades Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 With as many qualifying spots as Europe has, its more than possible. Euros tend to overestimate the depth of European soccer. There are quite a few minnows that leak into the World Cup because of it. Some of the playoff countries that are bound to make the tournament are not dominant or very good at all and have no hope to make the knockout stage of the World Cup. For example maybe Bosnia-Herzegovina or Northern Ireland makes the WCFs. I'm pretty sure that the USA or Mexico are better than them.This is right on. USA wouldn't autoqualify out of UEFA like we currently do out of CONCACAF, but I think we usually would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bittersteel Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 This is right on. USA wouldn't autoqualify out of UEFA like we currently do out of CONCACAF, but I think we usually would.Yes. Looking at the groups, a second place finish would be a relatively easy task in most (with notable exceptions, such as the Serbia-France or Italy-Ireland groups), and victories would be expected in a small handful (such as the first two, which feature Denmark and Greece as table leaders.) A lot of it's luck of the draw, really. I think the United States would qualify in any confederation, with South America being the most difficult. The "old" Mexico probably would, as well - and Costa Rica has quietly emerged as a formidable team, despite the '06 debacle. The rest of CONCACAF is garbage. So, three isn't all that outrageous. The most egregious example of FIFA "affirmative action" is Asia, which gets 4 + 1. Yes, there are loads of soccer federations in Asia. But most of them are weak. So now you've got Australia (deserving, but a questionable qualifier in UEFA or CONMEBOL), Japan, South Korea and North Korea (what?) qualified. The fifth team gets a one-off shot against the Oceanic New Zealand Confederation, which is a fairly safe bet. Which means that a confederation in which one (perhaps) team is capable of qualifying in South America has an equal - and potentially - greater number of teams in the tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horus Ex Machina Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Maybe it's me, but I would say that both Korea and Japan are very deserving World Cup sides with very successful domestic leagues and players being now exported as far as Old Trafford. Quite frankly, I was worried that Australia might have been biting off more than they could chew by joining Asia. Of course, at the time, I was under the ludicrous assumption that Asia qualified 2+1 spots. (where did I get that?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Maybe, seeing as it's FIFA's arrangement, they should look at the rankings following every World Cup, and spread it among the different federations based on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celtigo Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I thought FIFA's (perhaps) generous allotment of spots in Asia was an attempt to grow the game. There are a lot of people with a lot of money and easy road to the wallets is to get countries fired up about World Cup berths.Having said that, I don't think 4 spots and a playoff is all that egregious. I'd probably swtich opponents for the playoffs and have the AFC participant play the 4th place CONCACAF team. This ensures New Zealand has no hope against whatever South American team qualifies, but they're jumping to Asia by World Cup 2018, if not sooner (Unless some spoiled Kuwaiti Sheik gets his way) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andriy Czarchenko Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Yes. Looking at the groups, a second place finish would be a relatively easy task in most (with notable exceptions, such as the Serbia-France or Italy-Ireland groups), and victories would be expected in a small handful (such as the first two, which feature Denmark and Greece as table leaders.) A lot of it's luck of the draw, really.Yea I´m sure USA would be expected to win a group with Sweden and Portugal....Also keep in mind the 2nd place finishers go to playoff and the worst doesn´t get even that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celtigo Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Yea I´m sure USA would be expected to win a group with Sweden and Portugal....Also keep in mind the 2nd place finishers go to playoff and the worst doesn´t get even that.Well I wouldn't say the US would be expected to win the group, but we beat Portugal and Sweden in our last two meeting with both of them (admittedly the Sweden game was a B team v. B team friendly) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathis Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Well I wouldn't say the US would be expected to win the group, but we beat Portugal and Sweden in our last two meeting with both of them (admittedly the Sweden game was a B team v. B team friendly)So why even mention it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcibiades Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 So why even mention it?Because it's the only recent basis for comparison with these teams. I think Portugal are beatable by most anyone at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mathis Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Because it's the only recent basis for comparison with these teams. I think Portugal are beatable by most anyone at the moment.I was referring to the comment about Sweden B team vs USA B team. Two reserve teams playing each other is no basis for a comparison between the first 11's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andriy Czarchenko Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Well I wouldn't say the US would be expected to win the group, but we beat Portugal and Sweden in our last two meeting with both of them (admittedly the Sweden game was a B team v. B team friendly)But that´s the point, Denmark and Hungary are leading the group with one of Sweden and Portugal almost certain to miss. That "weak" European group´s 4th team is probably better than CONMEBOLs 4th team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horus Ex Machina Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Yea I´m sure USA would be expected to win a group with Sweden and Portugal....Also keep in mind the 2nd place finishers go to playoff and the worst doesn´t get even that.Still, with 13 spots minnow do creep in who could be easily beaten by the USA or Mexico and usually aren't ovely competitive in the tournament overall. I give that Europe will have some of the best teams in the World Cup but they'll also have a few of the worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon AS Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Still, with 13 spots minnow do creep in who could be easily beaten by the USA or Mexico and usually aren't ovely competitive in the tournament overall. I give that Europe will have some of the best teams in the World Cup but they'll also have a few of the worst.And despite 13 qualifying spots, countries like the Netherlands, France and England occasionally miss out on World Cup qualification. The only "minnows" that qualified for the 2006 World Cup were Switzerland, and they finished first in their group (ahead of France) to make it to the knock-out stage.Not sure which team could be called a "minnow" in 2002, maybe Belgium but their team then was probably quite a lot better than what it is now, something that is equally true for Austria in 1998. I'm too lazy to go further back (plus at some point in the past we get a very different qualifying setup), but really, it's quite difficult to qualify from Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celtigo Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 But that´s the point, Denmark and Hungary are leading the group with one of Sweden and Portugal almost certain to miss. That "weak" European group´s 4th team is probably better than CONMEBOLs 4th team.uh thats Argentina right now and my point was that the US being the favorite or co-favorite in that group is hardly a crazy idea. Due to history and lack of exposure, there are many who think the US team's ability hasn't changed since 1980. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celtigo Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Just saw the replay and the US did do quite a bit of diving with the additional ridiculous theatrical rolling around on the ground afterward. It was a little embarrassing to be honest. In their defense, after Donovan was handed a yellow when Alonso did the exact same thing, they might have thought that was the way to go with this Ref. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andriy Czarchenko Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 uh thats Argentina right now and my point was that the US being the favorite or co-favorite in that group is hardly a crazy idea. Due to history and lack of exposure, there are many who think the US team's ability hasn't changed since 1980.Meant CONCACAF sorry. :dunce: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celtigo Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Meant CONCACAF sorry. :dunce:Ah you'll get no argument from me then. Stripping CONCACAF of their playoff spot wouldn't get me up in arms and we only have it thanks to Jack Warner's shady manuverings (watch the US land in the 4th spot).In defense of CONCACAF qualifying, Central American away games in tropical conditions and rundown fields with horrific crowd conditions can be tougher trips than the the talent level down there would suggest Playing at the Azteca in front of 105,000 screaming Mexicans at altitude and in heavy smog is no walk in the park either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isis Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Just saw the replay and the US did do quite a bit of diving with the additional ridiculous theatrical rolling around on the ground afterward. It was a little embarrassing to be honest.I'm glad somebody noticed that. But for a neutral it was just one of many things that made the game hilarious. I was quite shocked that there was no rolling around from Spain. I guess they were a bit short on time. :) And Fabregas looks like Stripe from Gremlins with that ridiculous hairdo. :lol: I think it might be going a bit far to call Spain the best team in the world, FIFA rankings or no, just look at who they've been playing in the past few years. A few decent sides but mostly dross. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horus Ex Machina Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 They did win Euro. But then again, so did Greece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman of the North Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 FIFA needs to stop taking a page from the NBA, where calls against big names (countries in this case) never seem to happen with the same kind of frequency they do for smaller nations.And if Jorge Larrorinda ever refs a US game again at any level, we should lodge a protest before kick off.He did overlook a clear penalty to Spain when the US was leading with just one goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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