Football (Soccer) Thread

[alfred russel]

We get them back by keeping them out of the World Series and Super Bowl.

Well we did establish the World Baseball Classic

I do not so much care about the club sport angle but it is a tad annoying the US goes out and reaches the finals of an international tournament only to be told it did us zero good.  Meh.

But we suck. If Spain reaches the finals of some baseball tournament, it probably happened because the tournament wasn't very important. If we win that South American tournament (Copa Americana?), I would think that would be important, but the last time I think we lost every single game.

[The Larch]

In other news, Porto defeated Atlético Madrid 3-0, another club in steep decline.

For Atlético to be in steep decline, they should have been high at some point in recent memory. 

When Gil y Gil had his way 

Not even then were they big.  They had one glory season, in which the got the Spanish League and Cup, and that was it. 

[Valmy]

But we suck.

No we don't.  We are awesome.  You are simply brainwashed by Euro propaganda.

[Admiral Yi]

Et tu Yi?

Quit yer belly aching and man up.

[The Larch]

Which rinky dink tourney did we come in second again?

Confederations cup.  All the winners of the tournaments came together to play a tourney.  We had beaten Mexico to win the Gold Cup of CONCACAF so we were there representing North American and its little brothers, Spain was there as they won the Euro and we beat them.  Is it really rinky dink when the winners of the biggest tournaments were all there?  Buncha BS is what that is.

FIFA has the nasty habit of inventing bogus tournaments to fill their coffers every now and then, and the Confederations Cup (former King Fahd Cup) is one of them. They have no history, prestige or tradition, and are usually badly placed in the international calendar, so few people give a crap about them. The world cup for clubs gets the same treatment, and the intercontinental cup loses prestige year after year.

[Zanza]

I think it's coffers, not coffins, Larch. Although the latter is a funny image too. Vampire Blatter sucking for money.

[The Larch]

I think it's coffers, not coffins, Larch. Although the latter is a funny image too. Vampire Blatter sucking for money.

You get the idea. 

[Sahib]

But we suck.

No we don't.  We are awesome.  You are simply brainwashed by Euro propaganda.

Well you have the chance to prove the naysayers wrong in the summer 

[Valmy]

Well you have the chance to prove the naysayers wrong in the summer 

Algeria will never know what hit them!

[Octavian]

Which rinky dink tourney did we come in second again?

Confederations cup.  All the winners of the tournaments came together to play a tourney.  We had beaten Mexico to win the Gold Cup of CONCACAF so we were there representing North American and its little brothers, Spain was there as they won the Euro and we beat them.  Is it really rinky dink when the winners of the biggest tournaments were all there?  Buncha BS is what that is.

FIFA has the nasty habit of inventing bogus tournaments to fill their coffers every now and then, and the Confederations Cup (former King Fahd Cup) is one of them. They have no history, prestige or tradition, and are usually badly placed in the international calendar, so few people give a crap about them. The world cup for clubs gets the same treatment, and the intercontinental cup loses prestige year after year.

Heck Denmark won it in 1995 and nobody gave a damn or saw the matches. Instead we were still frustrated over the fact that we hadn't qualified to the 94 world cup.

[Iormlund]

We get them back by keeping them out of the World Series and Super Bowl.

Well we did establish the World Baseball Classic

I do not so much care about the club sport angle but it is a tad annoying the US goes out and reaches the finals of an international tournament only to be told it did us zero good.  Meh.

But we suck. If Spain reaches the finals of some baseball tournament, it probably happened because the tournament wasn't very important. If we win that South American tournament (Copa Americana?), I would think that would be important, but the last time I think we lost every single game.

Do we even have a baseball team?

[Valmy]

Do we even have a baseball team?

No.  But if you still had your Empire you would be the greatest Baseball powerhouse on the planet...well actually you would probably dominate every major sport.  Pity.

The only two Euro countries that compete are the Italians (there is a small region of the country where it became popular while we were there in WWII) and the Netherlands (thanks to their Carribean islands)

[Jacob]

The three international titles that count are: Champion's League, Euro Cup and World Cup. The rest (Intercontinental, Mundialitos and so on) just don't involve enough quality contenders or cause as much high blood pressure in fans and players. You can put the blame on a lack of tradition, bad timing during the season or whatever, but in the end teams wander on the field as if they were playing a friendly and viewer ratings are not nearly close enough to a CL, WC or EC because they know it.
I guess it is kind of hard to explain to a foreigner, but Spain completely shuts down when the national team plays on a WC or EC. And I do mean completely. That didn't happen on however that tourney in SA was called (hell I didn't even know we were playing until well into the game).

Anyway, being so hard to win is precisely what gives the WC its appeal (though the EC is actually harder because there are hardly any crappy teams involved).

I'd say that the South America cup, whatever it's called, matters as well - about as much as the Euro.

[Admiral Yi]

No.  But if you still had your Empire you would be the greatest Baseball powerhouse on the planet...well actually you would probably dominate every major sport.  Pity.

If Spain still had its empire our gallant leathernecks never would have taught the locals to play beisbol.

[Jacob]

It's rinky dink if everyone thinks it's rinky dink and only sends their fat kids to play.

Exactly