World Cup: 2018 WC Qualifiers Part II

[Chloraflora]

Wut?

Our youth level teams have been doing very well this year, so maybe it's not as far-fetched as it may seem! We'll see if they can develop in the next few years.

 

[Deficient Mode]

If by "very close to winning" you mean make a semifinal or something, yeah I guess it could happen. Their U21 players are nice and talented but not even the best in that age group, and they still need a lot of pieces to come together to actually be one of the heavy hitters.

Still funny to see anyone hyping them with how that hype has paid off for them in the past.

 

[YNWA14]

England is going to be a real threat moving forward so I think it would be better to come to terms with that and maybe give them their dues especially with how their youth is developing. They've endured more than enough over the years...I think having more and more top NTs is a good thing. I only hope the Netherlands can get back there.

Like I'm not sure how you can discount their youth that way after the historic year they've had.

 

[Deficient Mode]

It's not discounting their youth to be skeptical that youth success will translate to senior level success. You'd have to go back a long way to find a u20 or u17 WC winner that won a major senior title with any of the same players. The U19 Euro tournament is only a slightly better indicator, but even there it's usually one or two key players at most from a single Spanish winner last decade. Many of the best players eligible for the u20 or u19 tournaments this year were playing at the U21 Euros instead.

I'm happy English fans have cause for optimism, but at this point it's naive to expect their youth players to develop and come together as well as this Belgian generation has, much less as well as France, Spain, Brazil, or Germany. Germany just won the Confederations Cup with a backup squad and the U21 Euros, and no one is using those minor/youth tournament wins to hype up their World Cup or Euro chances.

 

[Bures Elbow]

England is going to be a real threat moving forward so I think it would be better to come to terms with that and maybe give them their dues especially with how their youth is developing. They've endured more than enough over the years...I think having more and more top NTs is a good thing. I only hope the Netherlands can get back there.

Like I'm not sure how you can discount their youth that way after the historic year they've had.

That youth needs to continue to develop via key playing time with their clubs over the next 5 years, and that is a highly questionable thing. There are A LOT of examples of great young generations going to waste due to this, who didnt evolve and get experience at key moments which stunted their progression.

Portugal won two back to back u20 world cups in 89 and 91 and only a handful of those players accomplished anything, and that was only at Euro 2000, a decade later.

Holland was amazing in the U21 Euros in both 2006 and 2007 but then look at them now...barely any of those players made it ( Drenthe, Maduro, etc)

I can go on.

 

[maclean]

England is like the Leafs in hockey, a couple good young players and people are already handing them the cup

 

[darko]

you don't try a tackle in that situation sorry, i've seen worst things on a pitch. Try to get over it!

I've seen worse things too ... yet that was a clear dive and a bullshit penalty.

 

[flyingkiwi]

Good luck tonight Australia! If you make it and NZ don't I'll dust off my father's nationality for the WC.

 

[Savi]

These teams don't look like they belong at the WC

Also one of the Ozzies should have been sent off within the first 2 minutes. Lucky for him it's an Argentinean ref who won't give red cards unless there's blood or broken bones.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Australia have been poor ever since they won the Asian Cup and their squad is weak however they are still outplaying Honduras (in a sense) which says it all and should stop Arena's nonsense on how tough CONCACAF is...

 

[Bures Elbow]

I cant believe the world cup is going to expand to 48 teams...8 from Asia and 6 from Concacaf, with New Zealand automatically qualifying now basically.

It's going to be painful.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Jedinak scores on a free kick (edit: took a deflection off Honduras defender on the penalty spot)

Honduras actually have to play now

I cant believe the world cup is going to expand to 48 teams...8 from Asia and 6 from Concacaf, with New Zealand automatically qualifying now basically.

It's going to be painful.

Agree, AFC will be way over represented, and before being accused of being pro-UEFA the extra 3-4 spots UEFA get won't add too much quality either, in this edition it would include both Ireland's for example

 

[Savi]

Bad free kick takes a weird deflection and rolls in. Sums up this game perfectly.

Amazing how the US couldn't finish higher than this Honduras team. You have to be a special kind of bad to accomplish that IMO.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Also I'll take another shot at FIFA here, don't know the exact details but read Honduras couldn't afford a chartered flight direct to Australia and they had to fly commercial on economy class making 1-2 stops. You would think FIFA with all their money would at least pay for transportation in these playoffs, for both sides, its chump change for that organization

 

[HajdukSplit]

Penalty to Australia, handball in front of the ref, easy call

 

[HajdukSplit]

Jedinak scores, Honduran keeper guessed right and got his fingers on it but it still went in, hard to see Honduras scoring one let alone 2

 

[Savi]

I don't think they even attempted a shot on goal so far. I can't believe this team can go within a game of reaching the WC

 

[HajdukSplit]

Another penalty for Australia and another easy decision, Honduras completely collapsed after conceding

Jedinak joins Eriksen with playoff hattricks, of lesser quality of course

 

[darko]

Good luck NZ.

 

[Chloraflora]

Re the England talk, I’m optimistic but I have no expectations. It’s been awhile since there was anything worth getting excited over for us. Even the “golden generation” I couldn’t warm to because many of them were so dislikable (I had a hard time cheering for the likes of Ashley Cole, John Terry, Steven Gerrard etc).

 

[HajdukSplit]

Now I got that freakin Men at Work song stuck in my head

 

[Evilo]

Re the England talk, I’m optimistic but I have no expectations. It’s been awhile since there was anything worth getting excited over for us. Even the “golden generation” I couldn’t warm to because many of them were so dislikable (I had a hard time cheering for the likes of Ashley Cole, John Terry, Steven Gerrard etc).

That's pretty much it. There are reasons to be optimistic but no expectations please.

 

[Evilo]

And remember Spain were all time losers before going on a rampage

 

[cgf]

Re the England talk, I’m optimistic but I have no expectations. It’s been awhile since there was anything worth getting excited over for us. Even the “golden generation” I couldn’t warm to because many of them were so dislikable (I had a hard time cheering for the likes of Ashley Cole, John Terry, Steven Gerrard etc).

I can't blame any english fans for being excited by their youth after a year of triumphs like this one.

But there's certain voices in german football who love to panic and are already talking about how our NT will be unable to keep up with the english after Russia. Which would be absurd even if the german youth development model didn't result in more late bloomers like Stindl, Sane, Dahoud & Weigl, who didn't crack any youth NTs until after breaking into their clubs' senior teams.

 

[sabremike]

Australia have been poor ever since they won the Asian Cup and their squad is weak however they are still outplaying Honduras (in a sense) which says it all and should stop Arena's nonsense on how tough CONCACAF is...

The teams aren't the best, but the tough part is playing on pitches that are unplayable in third world countries with crowds throwing bottles, batteries, bags filled with urine and anything else they can get their hands on at you. Oh and also the most incompetent officiating on the planet (see Panama making the World Cup on a phantom goal). And don't forget every match ending up being turned into an alley fight.