Football (Soccer) Thread

[FunkMonk]

This got me a few odd looks at work when I laughed out loud. Courtesy The Guardian's Barry Glendenning, about England/Switzerland:

FATIGUE BLAMED FOR FAILURE OF WELL-PAID ELITE ENGLISH ATHLETES, MANY OF WHOM
ARE ASKED TO PLAY FOOTBALL AS OFTEN AS TWICE A WEEK

[Josephus]

LOL

[Josquius]

It sounds funny but...its true. Playing at the top of your game does take it out of you. And then they've training too.

[Ed Anger]

I enjoyed Spain spanking the Yankee pigs.

[Zanza]

Germany is winning against Azerbaijan. That will almost seal the qualification campaign for the Euro 2012 for Germany.

[Josephus]

Canada v USA today.

[FunkMonk]

I enjoyed Spain spanking the Yankee pigs.

Revenge for 1898. 

USA ! USA ! USA !

[Josquius]

Liverpool are buying Henderson for 20 mil it seems.
On the one hand...our good young player being stolen by the big boys. Where have I heard that one before?
On the other...he wasn't THAT great. And 20 million is a lot....

[Valmy]

Canada v USA today.

Maybe if they let Canada play on skates they wouldn't suck so hard.

[HVC]

Canada v USA today.

Maybe if they let Canada play on skates they wouldn't suck so hard.

It was once explained to me that the reason that canada sucks in soccer is that most of our immigrant from soccer playing nations live in the east, but our training facilities are in BC so if you're good at soccer you have to be willing to pull up stakes for very little money and move out west. don't know if it's true, but it makes sense.

[Josephus]

Canada v USA today.

Maybe if they let Canada play on skates they wouldn't suck so hard.

It was once explained to me that the reason that canada sucks in soccer is that most of our immigrant from soccer playing nations live in the east, but our training facilities are in BC so if you're good at soccer you have to be willing to pull up stakes for very little money and move out west. don't know if it's true, but it makes sense.

Nonsense. Maybe 50 years ago. But most of our players are now professionals playing abroad.

The Americans are just better than us cause they put a lot more money into their program than we do. Canada warms up against Equador. USA warms up against Spain. 'nuff said.

[Valmy]

Nonsense. Maybe 50 years ago. But most of our players are now professionals playing abroad.

The Americans are just better than us cause they put a lot more money into their program than we do. Canada warms up against Equador. USA warms up against Spain. 'nuff said.

Canada needs to beat those Caribbean and Central American teams and finish 3rd behind Mexico and the USA.  For the most part they fail to do that.

[HVC]

Canada v USA today.

Maybe if they let Canada play on skates they wouldn't suck so hard.

It was once explained to me that the reason that canada sucks in soccer is that most of our immigrant from soccer playing nations live in the east, but our training facilities are in BC so if you're good at soccer you have to be willing to pull up stakes for very little money and move out west. don't know if it's true, but it makes sense.

Nonsense. Maybe 50 years ago. But most of our players are now professionals playing abroad.

The Americans are just better than us cause they put a lot more money into their program than we do. Canada warms up against Equador. USA warms up against Spain. 'nuff said.

But even to get to the point of being good enough to play abbroad you need youth training, which is out west, isn't it? (i mean the "really good" federation paid facilities that is) So it still culls our really promising but poor youth.

[Josephus]

Toronto and Montreal have some pretty decent facilities. Not sure about Montreal, but Toronto now has a youth academy where they start training teens with potential. But granted this is a fairly recent project.
The Americans sucked as well until the early 80s when massive funding in the soccer infrastructure was started.
But Valmy's right...there's no reason not to finish third but we always fall behind Jamaica or even Trinidad. I think last gold cup we lost to Guadaloupe.

[Admiral Yi]

What exactly is "the soccer infrastructure"?

I figured we stopped sucking so fiercely in the 80s because soccer became a mainstream sport at the high school level around then.