Other AZ Sports Thread 6: Sun Devils, Suns, Lumberjacks, Cardinals, Dbacks, Rattlers, Wildcats, etc.

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rt

The Kinder, Gentler Version
May 13, 2004
96,873
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A Rockwellian Pleasantville
Reading all of the excitement about the new Phoenix Rising stadium and I'm again wondering about the stakes associated with that team. I don't follow soccer. I could not care less about soccer. The Rising seem to be extremely popular locally.

If we ranked all of the professional soccer teams in the world, where would they rank? #250? Or more like #500? Or maybe even more like #750?

It seems like maybe they're the best team in their league but it seems like their league is maybe only 25th to 30th or maybe even 50th in the world?

Any soccer fans here who can help me understand this a little better? Not asking how anyone can be a fan of such an insignificant team. I more asking just how insignificant they actually are. People can love whatever they want to love. I'm not judging. Just asking.
 

Dirty Old Man

Anti-chatter Engine
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Jan 29, 2008
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Reading all of the excitement about the new Phoenix Rising stadium and I'm again wondering about the stakes associated with that team. I don't follow soccer. I could not care less about soccer. The Rising seem to be extremely popular locally.

If we ranked all of the professional soccer teams in the world, where would they rank? #250? Or more like #500? Or maybe even more like #750?

It seems like maybe they're the best team in their league but it seems like their league is maybe only 25th to 30th or maybe even 50th in the world?

Any soccer fans here who can help me understand this a little better? Not asking how anyone can be a fan of such an insignificant team. I more asking just how insignificant they actually are. People can love whatever they want to love. I'm not judging. Just asking.

I sort of follow international soccer, having gotten interested in it about 15 years ago, but I thought this was an interesting question, albeit one without a very clear answer. But, the same group that does political polls here has actually made an attempt. They have the Rising at about #326.

Global Club Soccer Rankings

Now, this does only take into account 25 countries, and there are certainly countries whose top teams (e.g. Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kyiv in Ukraine) would be considered better, and are omitted, but it would sound about right that the Rising are to int'l soccer as, say, a pretty good D-III team would be to American college football. Of course, the global fan base is an order of magnitude larger than any NA sport, so there you go.

Trouble with MLS (and the Rising aren't even in that yet) is, until they start to throw NFL style money at it, it will be decades before the best teams in it could conceivably compete with the teams you see kids running around with jerseys of from Europe. Even now, since they're stuck in CONCACAF (North and Central America region), the best teams they can measure themselves against in anything but exhibitions are the best Mexican teams, which they have not done successfully yet. (The best Mexican team shows up in the above survey at #133) So normally what will happen with teams in leagues like that is, when they do overachieve and develop young players or find a diamond in the rough so to speak, their best players eventually get poached to the 'big clubs'....it would be like - if hockey had started in England and become by far the most popular sport in the world, bar none - McDavid coming up through the ranks, having 1 or 2 good years in Edmonton, and then going to London or Madrid where he can make the really big bucks and compete in the biggest competitions. In fact, most Canadian NHL stars would all end up in Europe, like now the best players from Brazil and Argentina do for soccer.

So to answer your questions "yeah more like #500, and maybe even more like #750", and re the league "maybe even 50th in the world".
 

Tom Polakis

Eternal Optimist
Nov 24, 2008
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Tempe, AZ

Name Nameless

Don't go more than 10 seconds back on challenges
Apr 12, 2017
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Reading all of the excitement about the new Phoenix Rising stadium and I'm again wondering about the stakes associated with that team. I don't follow soccer. I could not care less about soccer. The Rising seem to be extremely popular locally.

If we ranked all of the professional soccer teams in the world, where would they rank? #250? Or more like #500? Or maybe even more like #750?

It seems like maybe they're the best team in their league but it seems like their league is maybe only 25th to 30th or maybe even 50th in the world?

Any soccer fans here who can help me understand this a little better? Not asking how anyone can be a fan of such an insignificant team. I more asking just how insignificant they actually are. People can love whatever they want to love. I'm not judging. Just asking.

As DOM also pointed out: an overachieving soccer team, with raising stars, can massively outperform it's expectations. The best Norwegian team Bodø/Glimt is ranked at 98 at this rating. I assume it's on data from before they sold Jens Petter Hauge to AC Milan, which is rated at 23rd. But those two teams met, and it was a close competition. Which led Milan to buy Hauge of course. This list is tight, tighter than you think, and if you have a team right now with rising stars and in a winning mode, you may be worthy of a position much, much higher than those computer-models or whatever it is would give you.
 

XX

Waiting for Ishbia
Dec 10, 2002
54,886
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PHX
Given the total lack of discipline, bad play calling, and awful losses... I don't know how you keep Kingsbury. Joseph did well with a banged up defense and basically no time of possession (what is it with AZ teams and possession?).
 
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Bondurant

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Jul 4, 2012
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It seems like maybe they're the best team in their league but it seems like their league is maybe only 25th to 30th or maybe even 50th in the world?
Not even that high. Second division leagues in most European countries are superior to USL. Rising has a good following. They are laying the foundation to get MLS here one day. Amazed at how many Rising stickers I see on vehicles out there. I was following the previous clubs, Phoenix Wolves FC and AZ United, but only attended one Rising game thus far. Wolves games at ASU were a fantastic time.
 
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