Football (Soccer) Thread

[Zoupa]

The whole "I love Mason Greenwood, he's a great guy" thing.

[Syt]

Oof Italy. At least Germany has the dignity of qualifying (and then bowing out early more often than not). I made my peace with our team having had its magical years 2006 - 2014.

Speaking of big teams not qualifying. German sports TV DSF in 200s had the slogan "Mittendrin statt nur dabei" (right in the middle instead of being just there). For the 2002 World Cup they had this ad: "Mittendrin statt nicht dabei" (right in the middle instead of not there).





(Small print says 'Holland - Vizeweltmeister 1974, 1978', to really rub it in.)

I don't think we'd do this with Italy or even England ... our "big" rivalry remains with the Dutch. Less vitriolic than it used to be, thankfully.

[Norgy]

Spurs hired De Zerbi. I'll be switching allegiances, I can't support this guy.

There is room in the Languish Forest camp. 

Of course, it means you will have to live with our big lump of a reserve striker Lucca, who's better on Instagram than with his feet. I think the only way he can monetise those feet is on OnlyFans.
He was selected by Gattuso for one of the Norway matches.

Which may be why Italy fails again. Bosnia-Hercegovina is of the tradition of Yugoslavian teams, good on the ball, skillful. Now with some tactical skill too.

[Norgy]

I don't think we'd do this with Italy or even England ... our "big" rivalry remains with the Dutch. Less vitriolic than it used to be, thankfully.

It comes back to the 1974 World Cup, does it not? Both teams were sure they were the best with Beckenbauer and Cruyff on each side. It was West Germany's to win, and the Netherlands' to lose. The German players said the Dutch were arrogant in their playstyle. This was the era of "total football", no-one really knew where 14 Cruyff played on the field. West Germany was known for "machine football", as in that their players never gave up.

The spitting incident of Italy 1990 springs to mind, with Rijkaard just losing the plot completely against Rudi Völler. I am fairly certain Völler was a complete asshole.

Neighbours are neighbours, you'll always want to outdo them. National pride is a strange thing. Speaking of which, it has been some time since Norway played Sweden or Denmark.

Norway did, however, play the Netherlands in a friendly. That did not end well.

[Syt]

There's also the whole WW2 thing. I had a Dutch coworker, and she said her dad (who was a kid during WW2) didn't talk to her for years after she married a German.

[HVC]

I approve of the hatred of the dutch. As martha would say, it's a good thing. 

[Syt]

The spitting incident of Italy 1990 springs to mind, with Rijkaard just losing the plot completely against Rudi Völler. I am fairly certain Völler was a complete asshole.

I think that was the last really bad incident (Rijkaard was nicknamed the llama afterwards in Germany). It's been more of ribbing each other since the 2000s-ish.

[Syt]

Was just checking, Italy has really gone downhill since their last World Cup win (much like Germany ... )

[Norgy]

Mate, the Axis was defeated, deal with it. 

Italian football does not produce amazing revenue compared to the EPL. That means less put into youth development.
It did not suffer so much from the dominance of a few clubs before, but after the 1980s and 1990s when the Serie A was almost alone in dominating Europe, other countries changed their approach.

Developing players.

Italy now has fewer wealthy owners, as it is a constant case of recession.

Italian players never used to play abroad in Europe. Now half of the Azzuri play in England. I think in Germany's case, it is more of a blip than a constant.
You have very good players.

I think part of my diagnosis is based on watching FC Midtjylland when it comes to Denmark. There was hardly a Dane in the side.
I see kids running around with Haaland shirts from Manchester City's vast apparatus of marketing, which leads me to think that football players nowadays are mostly nomads. Wages, club first and nation second.

[Duque de Bragança]

I approve of the hatred of the dutch. As martha would say, it's a good thing. 

Also, no Toronto apocalypse as in Selecção vs Azzurri.

Sweden really gamed the system with their League of Nations performance;
2 points in the WC qualifiers, so 16 less than Italy.