OT: Who in the World Cup do you root for now?

Submitted by Helloheisman on
With the United States being out of the World Cup, does anyone have an alternative option at hand? Do you go based on family lineage, favorite player(s), or favorite style of play? Of course if you're a citizen or dual citizen of another country it goes without saying. This is really weird for me, as my whole life the USMNT has been in every World Cup. Me? I'm hoping my boys from the Emerald Isle can pull off an upset of epic proportions to make it through the Euro playoff. Being Irish-German, it feels to cheap to throw my hat in for Germany.

1 percent

October 12th, 2017 at 9:14 AM ^

Where the hell you read that?

I'm not professing myself to be a big fan of anything and I havent seen anyone do that in here ... hell im not a "big fan" of US Soccer. I am a big fan of my grandpa so given the opportunity I'll root for his home country as opposed to one that doesnt mean anything to me.

If that's okay with you, anyways.

Zoltanrules

October 11th, 2017 at 11:40 PM ^

All they have is the canal and soccer. They declared a freaking national holiday when they made the Cup. Yeah I know they took the last spot from the US, but we didn't deserve it.

truferblue22

October 12th, 2017 at 10:20 AM ^

Including getting a phantom goal and having a substitute kick a live ball that rolled to him on the sidelines 50 yards into the stands!

 

We definitely don't deserve to be there, but still CONCACAF pisses me the hell off. 

thenasr

October 11th, 2017 at 11:48 PM ^

My parents are Egyptian immigrants and my dad was literally the biggest Egypt Football fan ever. He lost his battle to cancer last year and I know he helped Egypt make the penalty kick to clinch their first World Cup bid since 1990.

Even if the US made it, I'd probably root Egypt over them in honor of my dad.

Seth

October 12th, 2017 at 12:18 AM ^

France. I lived there for a time, got introduced to WC soccer (and PSG) while there, and it would be nice to have some sporps team that does something other than pop my soul dong. Plus you get to yell "Go Blue!" a lot, sorta.

ALLEZ LES BLEUS!

 

socalwolverine1

October 12th, 2017 at 12:24 AM ^

The best soccer tournament in the world is NOT the World Cup, but Champions League, the annual tournament of the best of the best of the Euro leagues, where all star teams with the best players in the world compete. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the Euro leagues, they are organized by country (English Premier League, La Liga (Spanish League), Bundesliga (German League), French League, Italian League, etc., and their teams are comprised of the very best players in the world...leagues of all star teams full of world class players who play together for nine months. The Champions League tournament, which also lasts nine months (concurrently with the regular Euro Leagues), skims the top two or three teams from each Euro League and they battle it out once a month (home and away) to determine who is the best of the best, in a bracketed tournament that is similar to March Madness, except it lasts nine months.

The. Best. Soccer. In. The. World. = Champions League  

stephenrjking

October 12th, 2017 at 12:40 AM ^

EDIT: Deleted my first paragraph, which responded to a snooty post with more snootiness.

We know what the CL is, socal. We know how the sport is structured. The people who don't either skipped the thread or only came here long enough to post a "soccer stInks" comment.

Sides, there are CL threads posted on the regular ("for those who are unfamiliar with MGoblog...")

TrueBlue2003

October 12th, 2017 at 1:56 AM ^

in the world because it doesn't carry the same global weight as the WC. 

It does not allow for an entire Asian host country to rally around its underdog team to make the semis (S Korea).

It does not allow for South American countries whose players leave for greener ($) pastures in Europe to actually represent their home countries.

It does not start with 200+ countries representing six continents.

I'm sure fans of the clubs that make the CL (many of which are there every single year) prefer the CL, but for the rest of the world, it's the WC.

The WC might not be as high quality of soccer as the CL, but it is the best tournament in the world because of who many people care about it and share in the excitement.

Other Andrew

October 12th, 2017 at 4:05 AM ^

It's not as good a tournament because:

-It's every year, so therefore lacks the intenstity of a tournament held only every four years

-The same few teams compete every time. The last eight finalists were: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Juventus

Yes, there are only certain teams that truly have a chance to win the World Cup, but here's the list of the last eight finalists: Brazil, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Argentina.

socalwolverine1

October 12th, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^

Agree it's the best soccer, and for me that makes it the best tournament, too.

My point is, most of the fair weather American soccer "fans" who get excited once every four years to support the US team are unaware that Champions League even exists, and add to that the US team has never been very good; and the fact that it has made it far into the brackets of the World Cup a few times is more related to having an easy draw and playing a "park the bus" style of sitting back defensively and counter-attacking to occassionally upset a legit team. It's a strategy that can be used by an inferior team to force a low scoring game and hope to win 1-0, but it's a boring game to watch. Watch Champions League this year when teams like Real Madrid and Paris St. Germaine get into the semi's, and you'll see quality of play a level above any World Cup team.

Let me also say this: we live in an increasingly dangerous, polarized world where extreme nationalism is on rise, and for me, I am less interested in supporting sporting events like the Olympics and World Cup for the reason that they help underscore the mantra of nation against nation ("us versus them"). Having the World Cup in Russia in 2018 is eerily reminiscent to me of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, where authoritarian regimes put lipstick on a pig to promote their political ideologies.

snarling wolverine

October 12th, 2017 at 1:08 PM ^

For those of you unfamiliar with the Euro leagues, they are organized by country (English Premier League, La Liga (Spanish League), Bundesliga (German League), French League, Italian League, etc., and their teams are comprised of the very best players in the world

Since we seem to be on a pompous/pedantic tangent, I'll just note that there is no such league called "French League" or "Italian League" but Ligue 1 and Serie A, respectively.

Da Fino

October 12th, 2017 at 6:59 AM ^

I lived in Ireland and was there for Henry’s handball. That’s my team and like the OP, I hope they can win this home-and-away. I’m also a quarter Flemish so my backup has always been Belgium.

Da Fino

October 12th, 2017 at 9:12 AM ^

The good: High quality of life, beautiful country, nice laidback people, great sports (hurling and rugby especially).

The bad: Can be expensive and the weather can really suck for extended periods.

All in all it was a great place to live.  I'd recommend it if you can make it happen.

bacon1431

October 12th, 2017 at 8:24 AM ^

Italy (hopefully they win their playoff) and Poland. Grandmaon my mom’s side is from Italy and my grandma on my dad’s side was from Poland. Always root for the African teams to do well too.