Roiling football blather

[crackerjack]

uruguay down to 10 and argentina just scored - an obscure sub just brought on too - maradona vindicated!

 

[baboon2004]

wasn't really a football fan in 78, but 86 was horrific. RIP Jock Stein though - any significance the football may've had was overshadowed.

Nothing could be as painful as 94, anyway. Paul Bodin, you.....big twat.

Argentina scored....shit.

Who the fuck is Bolatti? I swear he wasn't even on the initial team sheet! Maradona, you devious bastard.

 

[don_quixote]

all eyes were on argentina uruguay, but the real drama was in north america, where, with honduras winning 1-0 against el salvador, costa rica were cruising into the world cup 2-0 up against the usa. however, the us hit back with a goal in the 72nd minute and then a last minute equaliser to break costa rican hearts!!

well done honduras!!

(and well done slovakia!)

now come on bosnia, slovenia and ireland. show them seeds who means business!

 

[crackerjack]

just looking at this....http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/15/world-cup-2010-qualified-play-off.....africa has fewer teams than last time, despite hosting. how the fuck does that happen? and asia/oceania has 5? again, htf?

(apologies to dq who i know said something along these lines a a while back)

 

[crackerjack]

This is like a bad hip hop press conference.

"You lot take it up the arse," were Diego Maradona's words to the press immediately after his team secured a place at next year's World Cup finals. It was almost adding injury to the insult when he scanned the room and added, "if the ladies will pardon the expression". Looking increasingly Botox-ridden, the angry yet victorious Argentina coach was somehow able to raise a nervous chuckle from those on the receiving end of the abuse.

I'm more and more convinced Argentina will win next year and everything we thought we knew is wrong.

 

[don_quixote]

are you sure? africa have 6 teams this time round and they had 5 last time.

the difference this year is that africa usually have all their qualification wrapped up by now.

 

[don_quixote]

oh and i think you're confused. afc have 4.5 as per usual, but this year australia have qualified in afc and not ofc.

 

[crackerjack]

are you sure? africa have 6 teams this time round and they had 5 last time.

the difference this year is that africa usually have all their qualification wrapped up by now.

oh, i that case no, i'm not sure the guardian must have just listed definite qualifiers (SA, Ghana, IC) and play-offs (none as yet), but the link is broken and i can't be arsed looking again now.

haven't aus become a permanent part of asia group? thought there was some re-jigging cos they kept being knocked out by south american teams in the play-offs

 

[don_quixote]

pot A:
south africa
brazil
england
spain
germany
italy
argentina
france (if not france, portugal, if not portugal, holland)

pot B:
ghana
paraguay
cote d'ivoire
chile
ecuador/costa rica
cameroon/gabon
tunisia/nigeria
algeria/egypt


pot C:
holland
denmark
switzerland
slovakia
serbia
3 from russia/ukraine/portugal/ireland/bosnia/slovenia/greece

pot D:
north korea
south korea
japan
australia
usa
mexico
honduras
bahrain/new zealand

this isn't confirmed at all. it's just a guess.

 

[crackerjack]

pot A:
south africa
brazil
england
spain
germany
italy
argentina
france (if not france, portugal, if not portugal, holland)

pot B:
ghana
paraguay
cote d'ivoire
chile
ecuador/costa rica
cameroon/gabon
tunisia/nigeria
algeria/egypt


pot C:
holland
denmark
switzerland
slovakia
serbia
3 from russia/ukraine/portugal/ireland/bosnia/slovenia/greece

pot D:
north korea
south korea
japan
australia
usa
mexico
honduras
bahrain/new zealand

this isn't confirmed at all. it's just a guess.

so if Portugal or Holland are edged out of Pot A by France, they drop down to Pot C? Is Pot B reserved for Africa and S. America?

 

[baboon2004]

i think the rule is (and has been in the past) no more than 2 european teams in any group.

 

[don_quixote]

no... france won't be edged out because they reached the world cup final in 2006 and the group stage in 2002. this far exceeds what portugal and the netherlands achieved. their world ranking isn't low enough to spoil that. i meant if france do not qualify then whoever qualifies in their place will bottom feed into pot c

they try and spread the associations across the groups as much as possible.

also, teams to look out for:
usa - amazing progress at the confederations cup. they beat spain!! don't see them properly getting past the second round though.
serbia - yeah they beat france to qualification, but their team looks quite tasty. i get the feeling there could be quite a few 'breakthrough' players in their team as well - like with russia at euro 2008. quarter finals.
ghana - the time has come for an african nation to make a real impact. semi finals i reckon.

 

[crackerjack]

no... france won't be edged out because they reached the world cup final in 2006 and the group stage in 2002. this far exceeds what portugal and the netherlands achieved. their world ranking isn't low enough to spoil that. i meant if france do not qualify then whoever qualifies in their place will bottom feed into pot c.

sure, I understood that. I just assumed if you're in the running for pot a but just fail to make it, the natural place to land is pot b. baboon's explanation sounds good. did i dream it, or were previous world cup groups draws incredibly complicated, cos they had european teams spread across the top 3 pots, but couldn't have more than 2 in any single group.

 

[mixed_biscuits]

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[don_quixote]

bit nonplussed about the case for that. keepers perogative to clear debris from his area. i realise what the rules are, but that implies gamesmanship in leaving them in his area.

 

[don_quixote]

ok i understand it blew into his area during the move. so maybe i'm a bit off on that

 

[baboon2004]

great season so far - will have to start catching a few more of the games in full. united look edgy, chelsea's aura is starting to slip, and yet they're still the teams to beat. liverpool seem to be returning to the usual business of being also-rans.... really, really hope Arsenal can clinch it this year. With Arshavin, wouldn't bet against it.

 

[don_quixote]

i really hope arsenal can do it. i hate to hear arsene wenger getting stick in the press, because i tend to think he's a good egg.

 

[baboon2004]

i really hope arsenal can do it. i hate to hear arsene wenger getting stick in the press, because i tend to think he's a good egg.

absolutely - he shows great integrity to his footballing principles, and the (semi?)rapprochement with fergie is one of the cutest things ever. Tbh, the stick he gets in the press is probably nothing compared to the vile chants at Old trafford...

 

[crackerjack]

He's also funnier than all the other managers combined. His crucifixion pose at Old Trafford was the shot of the season.