OT - is today the biggest mismatch in world soccer history?
Spain v. Tahiti, at 3pm ET today. Spain has won its last 3 major competitions (two Euro's and one WC), which no other team has ever done. Core of this team had a 35-game unbeaten streak 4 years ago (the USA, oddly, snapped that), and currently has something like a 27-game unbeaten streak.
Meanwhile, Tahiti fields a total of ONE professional player, the rest are amateurs. Tahiti's total population is like 150,000 or something.
It's being called the greatest mismatch in the history of major international football competitions. The burning question is -- does Spain score at will (Tahiti's own coach expects over 20 goals for Spain), or, does Spain just score enough (5 to 8) then back off and play catch.
In England and Germany, the culture is to respect your opponent by playing your hardest -- meaning, keep scoring; because if you back off, you have disrespected him. In South America and the US, we have the opposite approach.
What say you? I think the final will be 10-0. And 7-0 at halftime.
EDIT: Clairvoyant me. Final was, indeed, 10-0.
scantily clad co-eds and see what happens.
Well if they were playing England, I would imagine the English team would revolt against their coach at halftime, take the jet and crash land on a deserted island where they will start a colony with the scantiliy clad native co-eds.
I think you're thinking of the French. They rather like having fights during practice, starting a mutiny against their coach, and receving varying levels of playing bans. All while at a major competition. Just ask Patrice Evra and Nicolas Anelka.
Ah. Well then, in that case, carry on:
Futbol Lingerie League.
I also was really glad to see Tahiti score in their opening game, seemed like their main goal coming into the tournament.
Maybe 99%. It was over 90% in the first 10 min versus Uruguay and I think it ended in upper 70%s. And Uruguay has a few world class players.
I don't think it will be that high because 1) Spain isn't playing its normal lineup and 2) everyone involved knows this game is a joke and they're going to go at half-speed.
I'd be shocked if Spain starts many of their normal players. Even then, anything less than 10-0 would mean that Spain spent the second half playing keep away. Shit, they do that to good teams (spend the second half playing keep away, I mean.)
Spain is going to be sitting Casillas, their goalie. Everyone else will be starting. Andres Iniesta has been quoted as saying that Spain will be playing their hardest, otherwise it would be an insult to Tahiti. But yes, 10-0 first half is not out of the question, and Spain will be using all three of their reserves at halftime, but even then, a 15-0 or 20-0 final score is not out of the question.
Doesn't really matter who they sit when they have a 'bench' that includes the likes of Silva, Cazorla, Mata, Torres, Valdes, Villa, Martinez.
When a guy makes Spain's (or Brazil's) national team, do they automatically take away all but one of his names?
No. Those were all last names. I can think of one guy off the top of my head they call by his first name in Spain, "Xavi" Xavier Hernandez, Barca's midfielder
It won't matter too much today, but against normal competition there is a key difference - the Spanish starting eleven has been playing together forever (since it's drawn almost entirely from just two teams - Barcelona and Real Madrid), which is where its excellent chemistry comes form. The backups are talented, but they don't have the same cohesion.
This must be how Tahiti will feel.
The European World Cup qualifiers have some teams (e.g. San Marino) that are ranked well below Tahiti, and the most lopsided game so far has been 8-0. I think Spain will score 2 or 3 early goals and then go into their preferred ball-control mode, and the final will end up somewhere between 6-0 and 9-0.
Depends on what lines they're offering, that 500-1 is probably the moneyline on Tahiti to win outright but they may not have a moneyline for Spain to win. If you bet the points Spain would have to win by whatever the line was (-7.5 for instance would mean that Spain has to win by 8 or more goals for your bet to win).
You'd make $0.50.
If you bet on Spain, you'd have to bet $500 to win $1. Probably not 500-1, but then again, I don't bet on sports a whole lot.
Spain's gonna blow this game somehow, and I'm going to turn my $1000 bet into $500,000.
...nah.
Realistically I'm saying 12-0
biggest soccer mismatch of all time would have been my team vs. "the purple team" in a match held in 1992. Those losers had no chance.
It was either Spain or Brazil that played North Korea at the last world cup, that was probably as much of a mismatch, but still go Tahiti. That Tahiti/Nigeria match could have been a lot closer, I thought Tahiti should have had two more goals and Nigeria could have easily had two less goals (first one was a double deflection and the third was a fumble by the Tahitian keeper). Granted Nigeria did dribble the ball over the end line three or four times with a wide open net infront of them.
Hopefully we get to see more of this sometime this tournament:
Tahiti vs Spain is the bigger mismatch. The North Korea team had some players who played professionally in Japan and South Korea.
Sorry for the DP.
No way. Greatest upset in soccer history
Tahiti 1
Spain 0
I will NOT be picking this game in streak for the cash. 7+ goals or any other result? I'll pass.
I get creeped out thinking about sure thing wins and greatest upset in the history of [insert sport] on a Michigan Blog just a few years since The Horror ruined my first ever trip to Aspen.
I don't know, Lloyd, the French are assholes
Manchester and Chelsea are club teams, not countries, so they cannot play in the world cup Or am I missing something here
That last sentence...can't be serious. Right? Right?
'murica.
I'm clueless about soccer. I thought any team was eligible for the World Cup, not just country teams.
Oy. I guess that's why I was laughed at when I asked my friend what country is that when he had a Chelsea jersey on.....
If you don't follow it, your question is not surprising. Even if it took me aback for a second.
Think of soccer as two universes - club soccer and national soccer. They are independent. So the Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona world is like the NBA except each major country has its own league. (Germany, Britain, Spain and lesser leagues in Mexico, US, Brazil etc). So the "NBA" teams play not only in their own leagues for normal play, but 'cross league' in major tournaments. So it would be like the top teams of NBA Germany playing top teams of NBA England. Those are tournaments you hear of like Champions League.
Now completely independent is the World Cup - and its simple to understand. It is when we split up the NBA players into their country's teams and match them up as in the Olympics.
On a related note I think soccer players have the most brutal schedule of any sport. Which is why many seem to peak in late 20s/early 30s. (not all, but many) If you are a top notch player, playing for a top notch team, and for a country who advances to World Cup you pretty much are going 11 months a year if you include exhibitions. No chance to recharge or any 'off season' for these cats.
On a related note I think soccer players have the most brutal schedule of any sport. Which is why many seem to peak in late 20s/early 30s.
Soccer players do have brutal schedules, but athletes in pretty much all sports peak at those ages. Generally speaking, muscle recovery slows down after the late 20's.
Same thing applys to soccer. Man U, Chelsea, Barca, Real Madrid are considered to be one of the best team in the world but don't play in FIFA sanctioned events because they're a club team just like Spurs/Heat in the NBA.
I dont know how bad Tahiti really is, but they must have won their region's championship last year to qualify for this tourney, right? Australia used to compete in their natural group for World Cup Qualifying against some of the other island nations. They would often win vs the worst teams by scoring 10-20 goals per game. They finally petitioned FIFA to move to the Asian group.
Their region is Oceania. it's bad.
Asia has Japan, S.Korea, Australia, and Iran, all with pros playing in Europe.
Oceania has...no one.