SureYes. They sold all their top players and not s very strong side now.
SureYes. They sold all their top players and not s very strong side now.
With Madrid doing their best to help Messi make it back to the finals... I don't think so. Quarters is as far as Uruguay will go anything further would be highly impressive and bruise the egos of Euro snobs so, hopefully they can do it.
Great.French League is not much stronger. It’s a bit better because of the powerhouse PSG.
France is 5 and Russia is 6 in uefa ranking.
Russian teams defeated French teams Nice and Lyon this euro season.
I guess I haven't seen them of late. I usually watch them in AFC competition, and (like pretty much all ME sides) they tend to play 10 man defense, waste as much time as possible, and hope for a 0-0 draw against bigger teams.
I've never seen them come out to play like the did today. It's admirable, but only going to last so long at the WC, their players are very obviously technically deficient.
I still remember that goalie wearing pants
@cgf i never argued RPL > Ligue 1, I said I don’t agree the French League is “much stronger”.
Getting trashed 5-0 is interesting maybe you should try basketball if score is only interesting thing about the sport.
And any instance in which Elneny is needed to build hype, one should question it
I still think we suck, but there have been so many cases, when teams that sucked all of a sudden won it all. Italy looked terrible at WC 1982 start, and then they beat a legendary Brazilian team and won the tournament. And don't forget about Denmark at Euro 1992...
I think many asian countries just lack athleticism to cover for their technical deficiencies to have strong football teams. African players may not be the most skillful, but they compensate by their speed and strength and can still have a decent showing against stronger teams.
You were saying...??
Italy's version of being terrible was three opening-round draws, not 0-5. I can't think of anyone that lost their first game by that much that went on to do anything in the tournament. West Germany in 1954 is the only WC winner I can think of that was blown out at any point during the tournament.
Because of the way they performed in their recent gamesAll the articles I have been seeing are extremely surprised by the result today. I just can't see why everyone is writing Russia off so darn much! Its a solid team and they are hosting
Because of the way they performed in their recent games
For African countries they typically get the best athletes, plus they usually have okay technical development. Middle Eastern teams aren't really very good at either of those things. Unlike East Asian countries that have brought in a lot of European/SA technical staff to help them improve development, for the Arab nations it's largely in house as they can struggle to bring in foreign talent. Arab coaches are not good. There is also little emphasis on the sport (or sports in general) in these countries so it's hard for teams to find and identify young talent. Footballing infrastructure is not good in countries like KSA.
Bad form recently sure. But you got to think the host nation will be up and ready for the tournament opener. It should throw form out the window!
But if they are so weak and get blown out by Russia, then how do they even get through Asia and qualify for the tourny?
i am the only one who was suprised how technial and good passing the saudis had ?
There are only two or three decent Asian teams. Japan/Korea/Iran/Australia are all okay teams, although only Japan/Korea/Australia have been consistently putting players in top five European leagues. Not even sure if Australia counts in this capacity anymore. Outside of those teams Asia is the worst continent.But if they are so weak and get blown out by Russia, then how do they even get through Asia and qualify for the tourny?
There are only two or three decent Asian teams. Japan/Korea/Iran/Australia are all okay teams, although only Japan/Korea/Australia have been consistently putting players in top five European leagues. Not even sure if Australia counts in this capacity anymore. Outside of those teams Asia is the worst continent.
There is no meaningful infrastructure in SE Asia/Indian subcontinent right now. Teams like Vietnam and Laos have dreams of getting players to J-League/K-League level. China spends a ton of money on foreign players, but their infrastructure and talent level is horrible. The ME teams are a little better, but have such poor infrastructure that they can never progress past doormat status on the world stage. I do think that China will improve, but for the forseeable future Japan/Korea/Australia are the only relevant teams on the continent.
Unreal goal, did nothing for us in that game other than give me false hope