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Group B - Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Scaly piscine
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Still have Algeria as well of course.
FaaipDeOiad
Hall of Fame Member
Africa only have six because they're hosting it, right? Normally have five.
Still probably one too many.
Still probably one too many.
Goughy
Hall of Fame Member
Every 4 years people talk of the 'rise of Africa.' Right on time, magazines here have front page covers talking about how powerful Africa is. People seem to have a soft spot for African football. There is nothing wrong with that but often it interferes with assessing their ability. They are not, (collectively) as a group, very good.
Over the years I cant count the number of articles I have read on "The rise of Africa", "The Africans are taking over the world", "African Invasion"...etc
Two things about that. a) The numbers dont fit the hype and b) They always seem to focus on sub-saharan Africa and ignore North Africa that is arguably stronger.
Ive always been far more amazed by the efforts of teams from Scandinavia than Africa.
Regarding the 5 spots for S. America. Sure they only get 5 sports but there are only 10 teams in qualifying. When 50% are guaranteed qualification then it is hard to argue that they should have more.
It will never happen but Id combine CONCACAF with CONMEBOL and take a place from Africa and give it to them. Currently 4.5 from 10 and 3.5 from 35. TBH, they could also give it to Europe or a play off game.
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GIMH
Norwood's on Fire
Yeah, I realise that the South American pool is small (will be 5 from 9 next time out, checked the allocation for 2014 after my last post) but quality over quantity. There's a fair chance that all 5 reps from CONEMBOL will make the last 16 - could wind up with just three but at this point Paraguay and Chile are both in with a very good chance.
With that in mind, no idea how good Ecuador are but are they better than the African sides we've seen in this tournament?
That being said I like your idea of CONEMBOL and CONCACAF merging.
I'd probably split the 31 places as follows:
14 Europe
10 Americas
4 Asia/Oceania
3 Africa
Haven't put any thought into it and it's probably completely flawed but that's how I'd do it
edit, on reflection it might be a little unfair. Potentially take away a place or two from Europe and have some global play-offs from all reps for the final spots, would balance things up a bit in terms of quality
With that in mind, no idea how good Ecuador are but are they better than the African sides we've seen in this tournament?
That being said I like your idea of CONEMBOL and CONCACAF merging.
I'd probably split the 31 places as follows:
14 Europe
10 Americas
4 Asia/Oceania
3 Africa
Haven't put any thought into it and it's probably completely flawed but that's how I'd do it
edit, on reflection it might be a little unfair. Potentially take away a place or two from Europe and have some global play-offs from all reps for the final spots, would balance things up a bit in terms of quality
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BoyBrumby
Englishman
As Sean said, I can't see it. Jerry to thump them IMHO.
Personally think Algeria, gash as they obviously are, have more of a chance. They beat the US and a draw, a Slovenian win or an England win by two puts them through.
& qualifying should be worldwide, IMHO. We live in the age of air travel.
Goughy
Hall of Fame Member
Im all for global qualification. Im just not sure on the system. Obviously we dont want England playing Tahiti but on the other hand we dont want borderline teams complaining that they have to jump through hoops that bigger nations dont.
Off the top of my head, Id give all Confederation champs (not Oceania) automatic qualification to the WC as well as hosts and holders. The rest can go in a big pot. As I said, not sure of the best method though.
Off the top of my head, Id give all Confederation champs (not Oceania) automatic qualification to the WC as well as hosts and holders. The rest can go in a big pot. As I said, not sure of the best method though.
Yeah it is hard to envisage how it would work fairly without an awful lot of matches which Europe would never accept.
South American countries like the current system as well I believe, the big league system has apparently been excellent in raising the standards of the nations other than Brazil and Argentina, something which seems aparent in this tournament so far.
South American countries like the current system as well I believe, the big league system has apparently been excellent in raising the standards of the nations other than Brazil and Argentina, something which seems aparent in this tournament so far.
GIMH
Norwood's on Fire
Yeah and thing with the South America thing is it's not got the random interference of a draw. Greece are probably worse than a few European teams who did not qualify this time round but obviously a league could not work in Europe. It's hard to be too critical but ever since Cameroon got to the quarters FIFA have been in love with African teams and yet it's still a massive achievement when one gets to the last sixteen.
In summary, UEFA should adopt aussie's suggestion of inviting Brazil and Argentina to the Euros and the WC should be discontinued
In summary, UEFA should adopt aussie's suggestion of inviting Brazil and Argentina to the Euros and the WC should be discontinued
BoyBrumby
Englishman
Fair shout; not one European team has really lived up to expectations so far (Netherlands have got the results, tbf, but haven't looked like Dutch teams of old) & the lesser SA lights (Chile, Paraguay & Uruguay) all likely to feature in the second stage with their bigger brothers.
Goughy
Hall of Fame Member
Wasnt that the 2006 WC?
The Sean
Cricketer Of The Year
Egypt is a fascinating beast - unquestionably the dominant force in African continental football with an unparallelled record in the African Cup of Nations, yet they virtually never qualify for the World Cup and on the very rare occasions that they have, have achieved nothing.
Goughy
Hall of Fame Member
Yeah, it usually does. Thats why for 2010 SA were involved in WC qualifying tournament as it doubles as Af Nations qual and Angola (host of Af Nations) was involved in Af Nations qual as it doubled as WC qual.
Obviously with 5 places available for WC and 16 places for the Af Nations some teams would qualify for CAF and not WC. That is exactly what Eygpt did before going on to win CAF.
Interestingly, as hosts, SA didnt need to qualify for WC but as they took part for CAF qualifying they ranked 24th in African qualifying. Not exactly supporting their free pass to the WC.