November 13th, 2017 at 8:33 PM ^
I mean if you want to get technical, SA gets 4.5 spots and has 10 teams in it. 45% qualification rate is pretty damn high compared to anyone else.
There's always an argument about who should or shouldn't have the spots they do. Reality is every team controls their destiny and ultimately needs to beat the teams in front of them. Can argue over whether or not the 14th best team in Europe should be in or tell them to go back and either win their group or a playoff.
In 2026, the World Cup goes to 48 teams which will really stretch the limit of who deserves to be in.
November 13th, 2017 at 8:59 PM ^
That measures the overall quality of the teams sent, but what matters here is the quality of the teams at the margin: is the best team left out of South America better than the best team in from Africa or Asia etc.
What I think they should do is pay attention to the results of the intercontinental playoffs. If the same continents keep winning those ties, those continents deserve more slots.
And for what it's worth, since they started having these playoffs:
- Europe 1-0
- South America 3-1
- North America 2-1
- Oceania 2-2
- Asia 0-4
Africa's never been given a half-slot, maybe because their qualification runs longer than everyone else's and they're still finishing their round robins when the playoffs are going on.
November 13th, 2017 at 10:55 PM ^
November 14th, 2017 at 12:54 AM ^
It's the same format UEFA's been using for knockout rounds in their club competitions for decades and I think you're the first person I've ever heard criticize it. I think it's great--it incentivizes risk-taking by the road side, and once the first goal is scored there's almost always somebody forced to chase the game.
What you saw on Saturday, I think, was just how Ireland play. The low scores this year are something of an anomaly (although predictable, given which sides happen to land in the playoffs)--four years ago there were 19 goals across the four ties.
Here's one from the past that might be more to your taste...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARPzlagSAag
That was as frantic a match as I've ever seen, and it didn't stop at the whistle--that brawl on the far touch line continued down the tunnel and Stephane Grichting got kicked so hard in the groin they had to ambulance him to the hospital.
November 14th, 2017 at 5:24 AM ^
November 14th, 2017 at 9:07 AM ^
Of course the US would be helpless under those circumstances. The US wouldn't have a chance of finishing second in a UEFA group in the first place.
If you want to understand why they use this format, watch the Champions League matches when they get to the knockout rounds next year. They won't look like Denmark/Ireland. Well, maybe Man U.'s tie will.
(And of course the referee can stop the clock. The referee is the clock---that thing they show on the screen is for entertainment purposes only. I first truly understood this when I saw my first professional match in Europe and there was no game clock in the stadium, just an ordinary analog clock that told the time.)
November 14th, 2017 at 10:24 AM ^
First, I don't think the US would be helpless in UEFA qualifying. OK, let's set aside for a sec that they screwed up a much easier region - that being said, had they been somehow included in UEFA's process, they'd have started the draw in Pot 3. Three teams in that pot qualified and two more lost out in the second-place matchups. Would the US be likely to qualify - no. Would they be helpless - also no. They'd have three teams below them in their group that they'd be heavily favored against and might very easily end up with a way-overranked Romania or Wales as well.
I have to agree with Solecismic that the UEFA format kind of sucks. San Marino having their faces caved in by Germany shouldn't really matter. Netherlands earned four points against Sweden, but they're staying home because they weren't as good as Sweden at clubbing baby seals. Gosh, if only they'd tried a little harder against Luxembourg.
UEFA would be a lot better served progressively eliminating teams the way most other continents do. Spain vs. Liechtenstein becomes interesting only in the sense of making it really important and necessary to find out how badly we can embarrass a tiny country.
November 13th, 2017 at 6:46 PM ^
I was impressed by Sweden's defensive team effort. They played a solid game. But there were few saves by the goalie. The only one that even tested him was a near post effort that came from an extreme angle. It wasn't a gimmie save, but as a former high-school soccer goal keeper, I would have been embarrassed to let that one slip in. In general, I'd say the Swedish defense was so effective that their goalie barely had to do anything.
Also, I think the Swedes played a much more complete game in the first leg. They had great movement off the ball, and crisp and precise passing in tight spaces. They made dynamic slashing runs through the Italian defense that could easily have generated several goals in the first half of that game.
In the end, though, I thought the Italians were undone by poor refereeing. They should have been awarded a penalty early in the first half. Yes, the Swedes were robbed of at least one clear penalty, as well. But those no calls were glaring. The FS1 announcers kept going on about how great the ref was, but he totally swallowed his whistle at the most important moments in the game.
November 13th, 2017 at 7:30 PM ^
Officially, Olsen had five saves. I didn't think any were particularly difficult.
(I had him in a DFS contest so I was counting.)
I haven't seen much of Sweden lately (and none of Krasnodar) and I was really impressed by Granqvist--thought he was the best player on the field both nights.
November 13th, 2017 at 7:08 PM ^
Possession isn't worth squat. A side that thinks they have a chance to win a WC, and Italy ordinarily is one, has to be able to break down a lesser side playing for a draw.
Their talent pool is dry--they don't have a creative central midfielder to replace Pirlo and I don't see anyone on their horizon either. If a 34-year-old De Rossi is one of their best three midfielders they've got serious issues. They're where Germany was 15 years ago, and they'd better do the same kind of complete re-think.
November 13th, 2017 at 10:43 PM ^
I've always been skeptical of any rating system that includes friendlies on equal terms with competitive matches.
I don't think it impacts your point, though.
November 13th, 2017 at 6:25 PM ^
blame Putin
November 13th, 2017 at 6:34 PM ^
...I am very happy. We failed to make the last two World Cups, squandering a generational talent in Ibrahimovic. Now we are back to what allowed us to punch above our weight in previous years: disciplined defense and superior conditioning.
It helps that the officiating in the second leg was so bad, though it cut both ways. And also that Italy were off their usual form.
Still, not bad for a country of 9 million to knock out a 4-time World Cup champion!
November 13th, 2017 at 6:49 PM ^
They looked really good in the first leg. Their attack was surprisingly dynamic. I think the announcers said that they scored the most goals of any UEFA team in the group stage. And judging by their disciplined play in the second leg, they can obviously play shut down defense. They could make a run in Russia next year.
November 13th, 2017 at 6:46 PM ^
There, I said what we were all thinking. I’ll show myself out.
November 13th, 2017 at 8:38 PM ^
Or is it, Fire Borgias?
November 14th, 2017 at 11:16 AM ^
very nice. And yet some would say punning is the lowest form of humor. :)
November 14th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^
delete double post - boy that save button is on a hair trigger
November 13th, 2017 at 7:10 PM ^
Son of a bitch!!!
That is the most effed thing ever!!!
November 13th, 2017 at 7:24 PM ^
It is a shame that Italia lost since there won't be hordes of beautiful Italian women floating around the World Cup. However, the good news for any of you lads going is that there will be hoards of beautiful Swedish women floating around. If you've never had a chance to go to a World Cup I would highly recommend it. There is so much ass at those places it's impossible NOT to get laid.
November 13th, 2017 at 8:15 PM ^
This takes me back to the late lamented "We Are Not English" web page, which alternated stories of English soccer hooligans at the '98 WC with a report on the Scotland/Norway match where fans of the two sides mingled freely in the stands and three marriages eventually resulted from the mingling.
November 13th, 2017 at 7:46 PM ^
November 13th, 2017 at 7:55 PM ^
November 14th, 2017 at 7:14 AM ^
November 13th, 2017 at 9:42 PM ^
November 14th, 2017 at 8:35 AM ^
National year of mourning.
November 14th, 2017 at 12:25 AM ^
November 14th, 2017 at 7:16 AM ^
You still can watch him with Bayern Munich in Bundesliga matches on the various Fox networks.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:52 AM ^
i always thought the netherlands had the best jerseys year in year out.
November 14th, 2017 at 9:54 PM ^
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaoIGQFCKIw
Italians left that stadum real quick. Almost like o$u when they lost to oklahoma LOL M I RITE
November 14th, 2017 at 10:02 PM ^
I just read somewhere that somebody is trying to organize an NIT-type soccer tournament for all the losers who couldn't make the world cup. Netherlands, Ghana, Italy and us are in the running. LOL.
November 14th, 2017 at 11:10 PM ^
The "somebody" is the marketing unit of MLS and the US Soccer Federation. It's not clear that there's any interest elsewhere though--it may just be a way to market the inevitable rush of friendlies during the period between the end of the season and beginning of the WC.
November 15th, 2017 at 7:21 AM ^