OT: FIFA World Rankings came out
USA went up a spot since last month to #28...I guess some progress is better than no progress, even if it's minimal. But, since the Euro is coming up in a few days, who do you guys have winning it? Any matchups you are looking forward to? This is a pretty slow day, so I figured some of the soccer fans out there would like to share what country they are going for.
For once I won't have to sit at the edge of my seat and pull my hair during a soccer game, since US won't be playing. But I can kick back, relax and watch some good European soccer.
I'm just looking forward to seeing more of Messi. Sh-tty Time Warner chose not to make Barca's last 3 games available to us local viewers and I missed all of his exploits in them. F-ing Time Warner.
Not in Euro 2012?
Think Argentina and Messi will have a difficult time winning this one....you know since they are in South America and all.
Not to laugh too much at your expense, but I really did laugh out loud in the office at this one. Anyway, I've seen Messi in person (Arg at USA at the Meadowlands) and I'll be at the Brazil Arg game at the Meadowlands this Saturday. He is truly amazing to watch in person and I can't wait.
Good times.
[I should just delete my original comment and your responses but my FAIL deserves to be saved for posterity.]
Does Antarctica have a squad?
I would have picked the squad from Mars to win, however, Dantonio has picked the red planet clean of its most talented athletes.
Their road form is terrible--they really struggle at high gravity.
Damn SEC won't let them host.
New Zealand. The only undefeated team in the 2010 World Cup.
It's all good. Aren't you pretty new to being a soccer fan? I think you made a thread last year asking what teams you should watch.
I don't blame you for wanting to see more of Messi. He is like Denard in that way.
I still don't get it. Messi isn't listed in the Top 40 Euro 2012 players. WTF?
http://espnfc.com/us/en/blogs/Euro2012top40players
I really, really hope so...
No, just having some fun at my own expense.
to England being eliminated and therefore, once again, not winning a major international tournament.
There isn't a fan base on EARTH more out of touch with reality than English soccer fans.
I have Notre Dame fans on line two. They'd like a word...
can at least point to a history of greatness. What the eff has England won? A controversial World Cup on home soil nearly 50 years ago and that's it. They haven't even been to another major championship final.
How overrated are they? The United States has as many top 3 World Cup finishes as England--1.
This is the first thing that popped into my mind. Well played sir.
I am an England soccer fan (and family is from there) and I would say the fan base is pretty realistic for the most part. I can't tell you the last time any of my fellow fans thought we had a chance at the world cup or Euro despite the fact that many times we had the talent to do so.
If you look at the talent England has had over the years (this euro being an exception) they have consistently fielded teams that should have challanged for the title, yet performed very poorly. Whether it be that the coaching has been terrible or the boys just can't gel and perform under the pressure that comes playing international soocer I don't know, but they have been crap the past few decades. I just wonder why it is you think that the fans don't see that and look at each international tournament with impending doom, because that is what it has been like for a long time amongst the fans.
"If you look at the talent England has had over the years (this euro being an exception) they have consistently fielded teams that should have challanged for the title, yet performed very poorly."
What talent? You've just made my entire point. If they had the talent they'd have performed much better in these tournaments. It's one thing to have a bad tournament or bad decade, but it's been a bad 80 years outside of 1966.
is abysmal, especially as respects technique. There's a relentless emphasis on work rate and "positive attitude" at the lower levels--not that hard work isn't important, but it can't be the primary screening tool in a youth program.
I hope you're not serious. What talent? How about Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Michael Owen, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole etc etc etc. The problem with England (again, with the exception of this euro) has never been talent and if you think it has, you don't know anything about soccer. As I said in my post, I'm not sure what the issue has been, but it hasn't been talent.
The main point of my post was the remark about fans. I am sitting here wondering how many English soccer fans you could possibly know. Most fans of English soccer have not expected anything from the national team in decades and this year is no exception. The fact that you think otherwise tells me you have no idea what you are talking about.
the worst list of any 50-million-plus country in Europe. (OK, maybe not Turkey.)
England fans, and, worse, the soccer institutions in the country, think that this list is the equal of a similar list from Spain, Italy, Germany, France. And as long as they continue to think that, they will continue to lose. They don't understand why they lose, so they can't fix it.
keep in mind I'm not talking about these players today, I'm referring to them 8-12 years ago. On that list you have two of the best mid-fielders in the world at that time in Gerrard and Lampard; questionably the best free kick taker in the world; two of the best center backs in the world and a world class striker along with a very good RB in A. Cole.
Lok at their success on their club teams and say they weren't talented. If you think they weren't, I have to say you don't know much about soccer. I'm saying the talent was there, but for some reason when they played as a team they stank. To say they had no talent is ingnoring the facts and using the results and hindsight to formulate your opinion.
My main point was this...England soccer fans have not expected a good result from their national team in decades. Regardless of who was on the pitch or who was managing the team our fan base is about as pessimistic as it gets. That was the point I was making to the original dillusional poster who claimed my fanbase was dillusional.
This wasn't hindsight; it's been my opinion, and the opinion of many, many people on the continent, throughout.
I'll grant you Michael Owen, during those rare windows when he was healthy. I'd have granted you Rooney, too, if you'd put him on your list.
No one outside of England and an America flooded with Fox Soccer's endless procession of English announcers broadcasting EPL games would have ever considered Gerrard and Lampard "two of the best midfielders in the world"--fine players but Zidane or Baggio or Matthaus or Xavi they were not. Or John Terry one of the best center backs in the world, or Ashley Cole as a world-class player, or David Beckham as anything more than a talented striker of a stationary ball.
And I don't know what to say about a list that includes Paul Scholes.
And even they don't think they have much of a chance of getting out of their group, what with the managerial mess over the past six months and all the injuries that have struck their squad.
I'm too lazy to search for said that England hadn't had a truly competitive team for a major championship since the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
I'm picking Holland to win Euro. I think they are a better team than the squad that made the WC Final and as long as they can stay healthy (I'm looking at you RVP and Robben), then the Oranje should be in good shape to get out of the Group of Death and have a strong tournament.
Basically, any game in Group B. Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal.
Group of Death that is, feel somewhat bad for Denmark...they are just a bone for the rest to pick their teeth with.
People seem to forget that Denmark is ranked NINTH in the world, one spot ahead of Portugal. This is clearly the group of death, but I certainly don't think Denmark is going to get blown out of the tournament.
FIFA's world rankings are about as pointless as pre-season football rankings.
I tend not to trust anything that might have Sepp Blatter's involvement.
Denmark has a great squad, I'm picking them to beat Portugal, tie NED and slip through. Their gritty and although Sorenson is old he still makes some incredible saves. Thier mid field attack is strong, Bendtner (Arsenal fans will hate me) is solid.
Of course they don't have the squad NED has, but I think Robben, RVP, will be a bit worn down.
Bendtner is a different player for his country than he is for Arsenal. I was always hoping it would translate (I'm an Arsenal supporter), but it never panned out and I can't wait for him to be shipped off to Germany. However, his countryman, Christian Eriksen, that's the player I'm looking forward to seeing. I think he has a big chance to shine and make an ame for himself.
Denmark has a lot of past good luck to work off after winning a Euro tournament they didn't even qualify for.
(I actually think Portugal is the worst team in that group, by the way. Probably the most overrated team in the world as far as I'm concerned.)
Portugal is incredibly overrated. The only threat that team has is Ronaldo taking off his pants, which he seems to do with alarming frequency.
I think Germany will win it all, but at the same time they may not get out of their group (they're with Portugal, Denmark and Nederlands, the proverbial Group of Death). Germany has one of the best GK's (Neuer), 2 of the best Defenders (Lahm and Badstuber), arguably the second deepest MF behind Spain (Schweinstiegger, Kroos, Ozil, Khedira, Gotze, et al.), and one of the best frontlines (Gomez, Podolski, and Mueller).
Aside from Germany, Spain is of course the prohibitive favorite, with the likes of the Netherlands, England, France, Spain, and Italy as the other traditional powers in the tournament. I expect England to exceed expectations and I don't expect much out of Italy. France will be a Wild Card as they are one of the most talented teams, as well as one of the most dysfunctional.
I agree. I like Germany and Spain (bold pick with Spain, I know) to go far, but I am rooting for Germany. I would be funny to see another France meltdown. I think Italy will fall flat.
I'm tipping Germany to win. I don't think Spain will win this one because of the infighting between the Real and Barca players and because they will be missing David Villa. For all the possession Spain has had under Del Bosque, they've struggled to score a lot too. You take a key element of the scoring out of this, and I think you're going to see some struggles.
I like Germany for all the things Genzilla said, but also because the German players seem to just rise to the challenge when they play for the national team. There's something about the Germany kit that gets the most out of their players. I think they have guys like Özil, Khedira, and Müller who have matured since the last international competition as well as great veterans like Lahm, Klose, Poldi, and Schweinsteiger. I disagree that they have a great defense, but I think it's good enough to get them this European Championship.
I think you hit on the biggest difference between Germany and most of the other big name national teams. The Germans WANT to play and play hard for their NATION. They don't seem to be out there for themselves or to rep their club side or any other reason. The guys want to win big tourneys for the glory of the German nation. I can respect that, and I think it brings out the best effort from the team. The complaining and infighting on the other teams is always present and distracting.
I look forward to the German Holland game. No love lost there... those are always fun.
Winner of that match takes all IMO.
France has some personnel issues (the defense is sketchy at the moment) but their team chemistry seems much improved under Laurent Blanc. They're now on an undefeated run of 21 matches.
Agree 100%. France has improved and seems to have outgrown some their personal issues with coaching and chemistry. Center back is huge issue.
They've been hit with the injury bug at defensive mid the past couple games but have a good amount of depth there.
The main difference between this team and the WC team, other than a now-functional coach, is youth and depth. Domenech was always playing the older guys like Henry and Blanc has called up many new young players.
Watch for surprises from the French.
/end of rant about my favorite team
PS: I still hate Italians. Zidane is my homeboy.