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carlitosbaez
And for those are laughing about Spain, today possesion of ball almost 75%, 21 shots to goal, Switzerland just 3, one possible penalty to Silva first half, etc...
Swiss won, fine, but as Frank Sinatra sang a long time ago, BEST IS YET TO COME...

Carlitos
Tenerife

PD for you Brue, Chi va piano, va sano e va lontano and After the storm comes the calm, it doesn´t matter what you earn or whatever amigo this is World Cup my friend, have you seen the rest of the teams, Korea, Japan, Gahna, New Zealand, etc?

I see Spain, like some people, to be in the top three with Argentina and Brazil. And then Holland. I saw the highlights, they dominated everywhere but the scoreboard. They'll go through. Relax man, there's still three/four weeks to go.

I loved seeing Switzerland win, but to be honest it was totally undeserved. However, that's all part of the game and Spain can only blame themselves for not scoring and allowing Switzerland to take the lead (Casillas should take a good look at a truly great goalkeeper like Van der Sar to see how to handle such a situation).

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Brue

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Gazza

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Brue
Yeah what happened to Spain anyway? I work with an Irishman and he says that three-quarters of the Swiss team is amateurs or playing D-3. Of course, he's full of it even on a good day.

Utter horseshit

[en.wikipedia.org]

Sorry for wasting your time. Thinking back, he had them confused with Sweden. I'm well aware of Switzerland's ability. And apparently so is Spain!?!??!!!

Where did I say you were wasting my time? My remark was directed at your work colleague, not you.

None of the sides playing in the World Cup would be mostly filled with players of the level he's suggesting.

Gazza, do you have any why the UK doesn't get a team, rather it's "England"? Doesn't this disappoint the poor Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish whose small teams (I assume) wouldn't be able to make the tournament? Always looks a bit medieval and strange when the cross as England's icon...

Next Champion of the World ? URUGUAY of course... we're coming back !!!

yes aralla congratulations for your team !
I hope France will be able to do the same but I doubt it.
yesterday I saw the shadow of Spain, they played like French, very shy...
Germany was impressive, even terrifying...

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cc
Gazza, do you have any why the UK doesn't get a team, rather it's "England"? Doesn't this disappoint the poor Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish whose small teams (I assume) wouldn't be able to make the tournament? Always looks a bit medieval and strange when the cross as England's icon...

I'm pretty sure the last thing they would want would be to share a football team with the English and as an Englishman i wouldn't be too keen myself.

swiss team FULLY deserved their victory as soccer is not a game of numers or statistics except for the score
also defense play is part of soccer game and a good defense playing is part of a good soccer game
that is keeping the ball in the adversary's field for 70% of the time but making wrong decisions in the last 16 meters for 90% of the time is not a good play no matter how cute your touch of the ball is
having said that, spain remains one of the strongest team and a false start is often a "good" start for the "champions"
the only problem here is chile's won over honduras
but spain is going to be a problem for all other teams for the rest of the tournament

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Gazza, do you have any why the UK doesn't get a team, rather it's "England"?

Er, because the UK isnt a country perhaps ?

As for Spain having 21 shots at goal. How many were on target ?

They're the Arsenal of international football. Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, half arsed shot. Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass

All gloss and no undercoat

It's not always true that a good team wins.
I've learned this from selecon Brasileiro in 1982.

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cc
Gazza, do you have any why the UK doesn't get a team, rather it's "England"? Doesn't this disappoint the poor Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish whose small teams (I assume) wouldn't be able to make the tournament? Always looks a bit medieval and strange when the cross as England's icon...

We do all have our own national teams.

There's no real demand in the UK for an 'all UK team'. Never has been. There also isn't a great deal of footballing unity between the supporters of the four countries. We most definitely see ourselves as separate nations in football terms.

International football isn't specifically designed solely by international frontiers but specifically by each FIFA member natio having it's own football association (who then organise their own 'club' level football).
The four oldest Football Associations in the world are the English FA (1863), followed by the Scottish and then the Irish and Welsh FA's (1880). We've all had our own separate identities long before the sport became a global game and before FIFA was founded. (The FAI (Football Association of Ireland) which represents the Republic of Ireland were formed when they broke away from the IFA in 1922 when Ireland split into two nations)

Northern Ireland have qualified for the World Cup three times (1958,1982 and 1986). On the first two occasions reaching the last 8/12. We were the smallest side ever to qualify until Trinidad & Tobago made it in 2006, so we've done more than OK and are still usually in the top 30-40 in the world. Scotland have qualified for almost every World Cup since 1974. Wales qualified only once (1958) when they reached their quarter finals, but theyve come close on a few occasions since.

Each member country of the UK has its own national league and therefore it's own national team. As long as club football across the UK is organised separately, there's no real logic in having a UK team.

Personally, while I'd support a UK team if it existed, I dont want one. I like the fact that we have our own footballing identity, even if the chances of us doing much damage in world terms these days (despite occasional high profile victories in recent years against the likes of Spain, England, Denmark etc) are few and far between. I'd far rather have that than an all-UK team or (even worse) an all-Ireland team.

I dont see whats so strange about an England team having a cross (of St George, their patron saint) on their national flag. It shouldnt be anything else (and certainly not the Union Flag). Quite a lot of countries of Christian origin have crosses, and Moslem countries tend to have crescent moons on theirs. Religious symbolism on a national flag is no big deal as far as I'm concerned.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-06-17 15:13 by Gazza.

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andy js

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cc
Gazza, do you have any why the UK doesn't get a team, rather it's "England"?

Er, because the UK isnt a country perhaps ?

As for Spain having 21 shots at goal. How many were on target ?

They're the Arsenal of international football. Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, half arsed shot. Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass

All gloss and no undercoat

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. I watched their match against Poland, and they looked VERY polished. I hadn't picked them to win the Cup, but I could definitely see why they were a favorite to win it. I feel bad for them in their loss - as bad for them as I do for the English team. The US did NOT deserve to come away with a tie in that match, and I'm in the US!!! Thankfully both my teams are still looking strong - I have Netherlands over Germany in the final.

Thank you Gazza. Great explanation and an interesting piece of football history.

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

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VoodooLounge13
I have Netherlands over Germany in the final.

So do I

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Keep On Rolling

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VoodooLounge13
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. I watched their match against Poland, and they looked VERY polished. I hadn't picked them to win the Cup, but I could definitely see why they were a favorite to win it.

Poland isn't playing in the World Cup.

Greece suck.

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andy js

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cc
Gazza, do you have any why the UK doesn't get a team, rather it's "England"?

Er, because the UK isnt a country perhaps ?

It is, actually (England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland aren't 'countries' in the true sense of the word). Its not like you can have an 'English' passport.

We're just in a privileged (and unique) position in terms of our status in the football world because we formed the first four football associations and developed the sport before any international governing bodies were set up.

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Rolling Hansie
Thank you Gazza. Great explanation and an interesting piece of football history.

+1

- Doxa

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Gazza
It is, actually (England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland aren't 'countries' in the true sense of the word). Its not like you can have an 'English' passport.

Explain.

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Gazza
We're just in a privileged (and unique) position in terms of our status in the football world because we formed the first four football associations and developed the sport before any international governing bodies were set up.

Yeah, that is historically and culturally (in terms of football) justified unique position. Of course, if the logic would be applied to the rest of teh world we might be watching matches like Toscany vs. Texas, Katalonia vs. Bavaria, etc.

- Doxa

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andy js

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Gazza
It is, actually (England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland aren't 'countries' in the true sense of the word). Its not like you can have an 'English' passport.

Explain.

We're not individual 'sovereign' nations with our own independent parliaments (although 3 of us have our own local assemblies). We're all integral parts of one nation (or rather, a kingdom). Same passport, currency, government, national identity etc. England hasn't been a sovereign state since 1707.

The main reason why the UK (or rather GB & NI) doesn't have a football team in the Olympics (even though GB & NI compete as a united team in other Olympic sports) is purely down to an agreement between the four home football associations. The fear is that if we compete in the Olympics as one nation in a football tournament, there would be pressure put on FIFA to have us compete as a unified team in other FIFA and UEFA sanctioned competitions.

Having four member votes in FIFA and UEFA instead of one gives the UK more power than they would otherwise have in world football. For example, up to the early 70's the President of FIFA was English and one of the senior vice-Presidents was Northern Irish.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-06-17 17:54 by Gazza.

Great explanation Gazza, it's a historically defined 'fact'.

Anyway, I would like to see Ireland being unified and having one Irish team. It's also a separate isle. I'm against religious symbols on national flags. State and religion should be separated imo, so that the flag covers the whole (religiously diverse) content (a Dutch saying which seems apt to me in this context).

What´s your favourite anthem?

I love the French one and the one of Russia.
Goosebumps every time though I don´t understand
a single word.

thanks for the answer, Gazza--makes sense to me now in that the football clubs there pre-date FIFA. Nice to know there's some concern for authenticity in representation which I suppose hasn't lasted within the national leagues, where the teams bring in star players from around the world (as professional teams in the US do).

a moving and poignant piece about England's only World Cup winning Captain, the much missed and incomparable Bobby Moore:-

[observer.guardian.co.uk]

BRAZIL BRAZIL BRAZIL

But I'm really afraid of Germany and Argentina.

France--Mexico started

Whats your choice???

under the boardwalk---down by the sea

>Great explanation Gazza, it's a historically defined 'fact'.

Youre welcome

>Anyway, I would like to see Ireland being unified and having one Irish team.

And like most people who live here, I dont.

>It's also a separate isle.

Sharing the same geographic landmass is irrelevant. Its comprised of two different countries.

>I'm against religious symbols on national flags. State and religion should be separated imo, so that the flag covers the whole (religiously diverse) content (a Dutch saying which seems apt to me in this context)

Its no one else's business but the people who live there.

France: mexico----0:1

under the boardwalk---down by the sea

France is my pick