New Zealand are the next team to Qualify for the World Cup.
They beat New Caledonia 3-0 this morning, which is surprising as imagine many expected it to be more. First time OFC will have a representative at the World Cup (New Zealand) since 2010, when they were the only team to go undefeated the whole Tournament, albeit, just the three Group Games.
New Caledonia go into the Inter-Continental Play-Off
New Zealand are the next team to Qualify for the World Cup.
They beat New Caledonia 3-0 this morning, which is surprising as imagine many expected it to be more. First time OFC will have a representative at the World Cup (New Zealand) since 2010, when they were the only team to go undefeated the whole Tournament, albeit, just the three Group Games.
New Caledonia go into the Inter-Continental Play-Off
Is that against a team from Asia or from South America?
New Zealand are the next team to Qualify for the World Cup.
They beat New Caledonia 3-0 this morning, which is surprising as imagine many expected it to be more. First time OFC will have a representative at the World Cup (New Zealand) since 2010, when they were the only team to go undefeated the whole Tournament, albeit, just the three Group Games.
New Caledonia go into the Inter-Continental Play-Off
Is that against a team from Asia or from South America?
There will be one team represented from each of the Confederations, apart from Europe, and CONCACAF (which'll have two teams)
Four teams will be unseeded, (one of those will surely be New Caledonia), who'll be drawn to face each other in two Semi-Final matches - The two winners of those games, will go on to face a Seeded team, with the winners of those two games going to the World Cup
It means NZ have qualified for a World Cup by playing only 5 games (4 of which they played at home). Beat Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia to qualify. Scored 29 and conceded 1.
Compare that to Asia where teams play a minimum of 16 games to qualify.
It's possible that the Asian team who end up in the Intercontinental play offs and go on to win that, will play 23 games to qualify. Or worse, they could play 23 games, lose the final and not qualify!
New Zealand are the next team to Qualify for the World Cup.
They beat New Caledonia 3-0 this morning, which is surprising as imagine many expected it to be more. First time OFC will have a representative at the World Cup (New Zealand) since 2010, when they were the only team to go undefeated the whole Tournament, albeit, just the three Group Games.
New Caledonia go into the Inter-Continental Play-Off
Be interesting if New Caledonia had to play Old Caledonia, could be close after Old Caledonia losing to Greece yesterday.
New Zealand are the next team to Qualify for the World Cup.
They beat New Caledonia 3-0 this morning, which is surprising as imagine many expected it to be more. First time OFC will have a representative at the World Cup (New Zealand) since 2010, when they were the only team to go undefeated the whole Tournament, albeit, just the three Group Games.
New Caledonia go into the Inter-Continental Play-Off
I went to the game. It took NZ 60 minutes to score the first goal. They certainly didn’t impress. New Caledonia probably the worst football team I’ve ever witnessed live.
Having just (rather sadly) googled it, New Caledonia's captain and record cap holder plays in the 5th tier in France. I don't think they'll be qualifying.
The fifth tier in France is regionalised, as is the 4th tier. In National 2, the 4th tier there are ’trois groupes de 16 équipes, soit 48 au total.’ 48 teams is like 2 English divisions on its own, so equivalent to League 2 and the National League together. A fifth tier player is at best like a player in National North and South in England. However, I believe it to be a lower standard because you cannot compare the standards of Ligue 2 with the Championship, or National 1 with League 1, and so it filters down. Nevertheless ’my team’ here is in National 2 and only lost 1-0 at home to Brest in the cup this season.
New Zealand are the next team to Qualify for the World Cup.
They beat New Caledonia 3-0 this morning, which is surprising as imagine many expected it to be more. First time OFC will have a representative at the World Cup (New Zealand) since 2010, when they were the only team to go undefeated the whole Tournament, albeit, just the three Group Games.
New Caledonia go into the Inter-Continental Play-Off
Be interesting if New Caledonia had to play Old Caledonia, could be close after Old Caledonia losing to Greece yesterday.
Fox Broadcaster in the USA recently stated on a podcast that the US Men's National Team would beat all but the top 3 Premier League Teams.
The USMNT lost 0-1 at home to Panama last night.
I didn't need to click on the article to know exactly what dipshit said this.
You have to understand, Alexi Lalas is a fucking joke, and always has been. I can't really think of a UK pundit (footballing wise at least) who is just there to garner an angry reaction from fans, and is himself a reactionary. So like, this is very much the minority of 1 opinion. I wouldn't take it seriously. It's designed to get clicks, nothing more.
I wouldn't defend US pundits at large, but Lalas is the worst of the absolute worst.
That said, uh, tough week for USMNT. Lost to Canada yesterday. It seems fans are starting to realize what I've been saying for years now: this "golden generation" isn't as good as they thought it was. It's a very athletic group, but not one that is particularly technically brilliant or good at breaking sides down. You probably saw them at their best against England in the World Cup, working hard and pressing without causing a lot of danger. But against sides like Panama or Canada, you need to be able to get the ball in tight spaces and play in the opponents third without just knocking it past a defender and running. And they failed at that. They are the Shaun Wright-Phillips of teams. As soon as he went to Chelsea and had teams sit deep, he became completely ineffective.
The US has evolved to where most, if not all of the first XI is playing in decent leagues in Europe. But most of them are role players, or specialty players (again, a lot of great athletes, not a lot of brilliant footballers. Weston McKenie is the best example of this, plays regularly at Juve, but he's there to run around loads, not play football). So there is some progress, albeit a lot of progress from having dual nationals and/or players developed in European academies. But this isn't a team that's going to win a World Cup anytime soon. And for as critical as I can be of USMNT fans, I think everyone knows that. Most of the talk has been about having a good showing at home. And I do still think that's possible because the style of play that their players are geared toward, and the one that Poch likes--high intensity high tempo intense pressing and counter attacking will work better in competitions (particularly in knockout stages) than it will in the CONCACAF Nations League Semi-Final.
But again, this is at best a quarterfinal team. If it wasn't the US of A, they wouldn't be particularly noteworthy (for example if this were Mexico or Canada).
It means NZ have qualified for a World Cup by playing only 5 games (4 of which they played at home). Beat Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia to qualify. Scored 29 and conceded 1.
Compare that to Asia where teams play a minimum of 16 games to qualify.
It's possible that the Asian team who end up in the Intercontinental play offs and go on to win that, will play 23 games to qualify. Or worse, they could play 23 games, lose the final and not qualify!
And they call it inclusion or some other woke nonsense.
It means NZ have qualified for a World Cup by playing only 5 games (4 of which they played at home). Beat Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia to qualify. Scored 29 and conceded 1.
Compare that to Asia where teams play a minimum of 16 games to qualify.
It's possible that the Asian team who end up in the Intercontinental play offs and go on to win that, will play 23 games to qualify. Or worse, they could play 23 games, lose the final and not qualify!
And they call it inclusion or some other woke nonsense.
Don't be silly, this is FIFA we're talking about. They call it a money-making opportunity.
It means NZ have qualified for a World Cup by playing only 5 games (4 of which they played at home). Beat Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia to qualify. Scored 29 and conceded 1.
Compare that to Asia where teams play a minimum of 16 games to qualify.
It's possible that the Asian team who end up in the Intercontinental play offs and go on to win that, will play 23 games to qualify. Or worse, they could play 23 games, lose the final and not qualify!
And they call it inclusion or some other woke nonsense.
Do you hear yourself? You have LITERALLY just been provided with a counter-example of Asian countries that might play 23 times before qualifying. Or do they not count as candidates for 'inclusion'?
It means NZ have qualified for a World Cup by playing only 5 games (4 of which they played at home). Beat Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia to qualify. Scored 29 and conceded 1.
Compare that to Asia where teams play a minimum of 16 games to qualify.
It's possible that the Asian team who end up in the Intercontinental play offs and go on to win that, will play 23 games to qualify. Or worse, they could play 23 games, lose the final and not qualify!
And they call it inclusion or some other woke nonsense.
Don't be silly, this is FIFA we're talking about. They call it a money-making opportunity.
Fox Broadcaster in the USA recently stated on a podcast that the US Men's National Team would beat all but the top 3 Premier League Teams.
The USMNT lost 0-1 at home to Panama last night.
I didn't need to click on the article to know exactly what dipshit said this.
You have to understand, Alexi Lalas is a fucking joke, and always has been. I can't really think of a UK pundit (footballing wise at least) who is just there to garner an angry reaction from fans, and is himself a reactionary. So like, this is very much the minority of 1 opinion. I wouldn't take it seriously. It's designed to get clicks, nothing more.
I wouldn't defend US pundits at large, but Lalas is the worst of the absolute worst.
That said, uh, tough week for USMNT. Lost to Canada yesterday. It seems fans are starting to realize what I've been saying for years now: this "golden generation" isn't as good as they thought it was. It's a very athletic group, but not one that is particularly technically brilliant or good at breaking sides down. You probably saw them at their best against England in the World Cup, working hard and pressing without causing a lot of danger. But against sides like Panama or Canada, you need to be able to get the ball in tight spaces and play in the opponents third without just knocking it past a defender and running. And they failed at that. They are the Shaun Wright-Phillips of teams. As soon as he went to Chelsea and had teams sit deep, he became completely ineffective.
The US has evolved to where most, if not all of the first XI is playing in decent leagues in Europe. But most of them are role players, or specialty players (again, a lot of great athletes, not a lot of brilliant footballers. Weston McKenie is the best example of this, plays regularly at Juve, but he's there to run around loads, not play football). So there is some progress, albeit a lot of progress from having dual nationals and/or players developed in European academies. But this isn't a team that's going to win a World Cup anytime soon. And for as critical as I can be of USMNT fans, I think everyone knows that. Most of the talk has been about having a good showing at home. And I do still think that's possible because the style of play that their players are geared toward, and the one that Poch likes--high intensity high tempo intense pressing and counter attacking will work better in competitions (particularly in knockout stages) than it will in the CONCACAF Nations League Semi-Final.
But again, this is at best a quarterfinal team. If it wasn't the US of A, they wouldn't be particularly noteworthy (for example if this were Mexico or Canada).
Oh i'm well aware of Alexi Lalas. Absolute clown and eternal defender of anything America does in sports.
Thinks commercials during the game will be a good thing, hates promotion relegation, wanted the super league to happen, etc.
It means NZ have qualified for a World Cup by playing only 5 games (4 of which they played at home). Beat Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia to qualify. Scored 29 and conceded 1.
Compare that to Asia where teams play a minimum of 16 games to qualify.
It's possible that the Asian team who end up in the Intercontinental play offs and go on to win that, will play 23 games to qualify. Or worse, they could play 23 games, lose the final and not qualify!
And they call it inclusion or some other woke nonsense.
Don't be silly, this is FIFA we're talking about. They call it a money-making opportunity.
Fox Broadcaster in the USA recently stated on a podcast that the US Men's National Team would beat all but the top 3 Premier League Teams.
The USMNT lost 0-1 at home to Panama last night.
I didn't need to click on the article to know exactly what dipshit said this.
You have to understand, Alexi Lalas is a fucking joke, and always has been. I can't really think of a UK pundit (footballing wise at least) who is just there to garner an angry reaction from fans, and is himself a reactionary. So like, this is very much the minority of 1 opinion. I wouldn't take it seriously. It's designed to get clicks, nothing more.
I wouldn't defend US pundits at large, but Lalas is the worst of the absolute worst.
That said, uh, tough week for USMNT. Lost to Canada yesterday. It seems fans are starting to realize what I've been saying for years now: this "golden generation" isn't as good as they thought it was. It's a very athletic group, but not one that is particularly technically brilliant or good at breaking sides down. You probably saw them at their best against England in the World Cup, working hard and pressing without causing a lot of danger. But against sides like Panama or Canada, you need to be able to get the ball in tight spaces and play in the opponents third without just knocking it past a defender and running. And they failed at that. They are the Shaun Wright-Phillips of teams. As soon as he went to Chelsea and had teams sit deep, he became completely ineffective.
The US has evolved to where most, if not all of the first XI is playing in decent leagues in Europe. But most of them are role players, or specialty players (again, a lot of great athletes, not a lot of brilliant footballers. Weston McKenie is the best example of this, plays regularly at Juve, but he's there to run around loads, not play football). So there is some progress, albeit a lot of progress from having dual nationals and/or players developed in European academies. But this isn't a team that's going to win a World Cup anytime soon. And for as critical as I can be of USMNT fans, I think everyone knows that. Most of the talk has been about having a good showing at home. And I do still think that's possible because the style of play that their players are geared toward, and the one that Poch likes--high intensity high tempo intense pressing and counter attacking will work better in competitions (particularly in knockout stages) than it will in the CONCACAF Nations League Semi-Final.
But again, this is at best a quarterfinal team. If it wasn't the US of A, they wouldn't be particularly noteworthy (for example if this were Mexico or Canada).
Oh i'm well aware of Alexi Lalas. Absolute clown and eternal defender of anything America does in sports.
Thinks commercials during the game will be a good thing, hates promotion relegation, wanted the super league to happen, etc.
sorry, didn't know he has transgressed the bounds of the United States. I'm very sad to hear that.
Fox Broadcaster in the USA recently stated on a podcast that the US Men's National Team would beat all but the top 3 Premier League Teams.
The USMNT lost 0-1 at home to Panama last night.
I didn't need to click on the article to know exactly what dipshit said this.
You have to understand, Alexi Lalas is a fucking joke, and always has been. I can't really think of a UK pundit (footballing wise at least) who is just there to garner an angry reaction from fans, and is himself a reactionary. So like, this is very much the minority of 1 opinion. I wouldn't take it seriously. It's designed to get clicks, nothing more.
I wouldn't defend US pundits at large, but Lalas is the worst of the absolute worst.
That said, uh, tough week for USMNT. Lost to Canada yesterday. It seems fans are starting to realize what I've been saying for years now: this "golden generation" isn't as good as they thought it was. It's a very athletic group, but not one that is particularly technically brilliant or good at breaking sides down. You probably saw them at their best against England in the World Cup, working hard and pressing without causing a lot of danger. But against sides like Panama or Canada, you need to be able to get the ball in tight spaces and play in the opponents third without just knocking it past a defender and running. And they failed at that. They are the Shaun Wright-Phillips of teams. As soon as he went to Chelsea and had teams sit deep, he became completely ineffective.
The US has evolved to where most, if not all of the first XI is playing in decent leagues in Europe. But most of them are role players, or specialty players (again, a lot of great athletes, not a lot of brilliant footballers. Weston McKenie is the best example of this, plays regularly at Juve, but he's there to run around loads, not play football). So there is some progress, albeit a lot of progress from having dual nationals and/or players developed in European academies. But this isn't a team that's going to win a World Cup anytime soon. And for as critical as I can be of USMNT fans, I think everyone knows that. Most of the talk has been about having a good showing at home. And I do still think that's possible because the style of play that their players are geared toward, and the one that Poch likes--high intensity high tempo intense pressing and counter attacking will work better in competitions (particularly in knockout stages) than it will in the CONCACAF Nations League Semi-Final.
But again, this is at best a quarterfinal team. If it wasn't the US of A, they wouldn't be particularly noteworthy (for example if this were Mexico or Canada).
Oh i'm well aware of Alexi Lalas. Absolute clown and eternal defender of anything America does in sports.
Thinks commercials during the game will be a good thing, hates promotion relegation, wanted the super league to happen, etc.
sorry, didn't know he has transgressed the bounds of the United States. I'm very sad to hear that.
Yeah he was annoying Alan Shearer in the 90s. At the time I thought he was a bit of a clown but he was a half decent player
Comments
Fox Broadcaster in the USA recently stated on a podcast that the US Men's National Team would beat all but the top 3 Premier League Teams.
The USMNT lost 0-1 at home to Panama last night.
Good luck with that.
They beat New Caledonia 3-0 this morning, which is surprising as imagine many expected it to be more. First time OFC will have a representative at the World Cup (New Zealand) since 2010, when they were the only team to go undefeated the whole Tournament, albeit, just the three Group Games.
New Caledonia go into the Inter-Continental Play-Off
Four teams will be unseeded, (one of those will surely be New Caledonia), who'll be drawn to face each other in two Semi-Final matches - The two winners of those games, will go on to face a Seeded team, with the winners of those two games going to the World Cup
Compare that to Asia where teams play a minimum of 16 games to qualify.
It's possible that the Asian team who end up in the Intercontinental play offs and go on to win that, will play 23 games to qualify. Or worse, they could play 23 games, lose the final and not qualify!
In National 2, the 4th tier there are ’trois groupes de 16 équipes, soit 48 au total.’ 48 teams is like 2 English divisions on its own, so equivalent to League 2 and the National League together.
A fifth tier player is at best like a player in National North and South in England. However, I believe it to be a lower standard because you cannot compare the standards of Ligue 2 with the Championship, or National 1 with League 1, and so it filters down.
Nevertheless ’my team’ here is in National 2 and only lost 1-0 at home to Brest in the cup this season.
You have to understand, Alexi Lalas is a fucking joke, and always has been. I can't really think of a UK pundit (footballing wise at least) who is just there to garner an angry reaction from fans, and is himself a reactionary. So like, this is very much the minority of 1 opinion. I wouldn't take it seriously. It's designed to get clicks, nothing more.
I wouldn't defend US pundits at large, but Lalas is the worst of the absolute worst.
That said, uh, tough week for USMNT. Lost to Canada yesterday. It seems fans are starting to realize what I've been saying for years now: this "golden generation" isn't as good as they thought it was. It's a very athletic group, but not one that is particularly technically brilliant or good at breaking sides down. You probably saw them at their best against England in the World Cup, working hard and pressing without causing a lot of danger. But against sides like Panama or Canada, you need to be able to get the ball in tight spaces and play in the opponents third without just knocking it past a defender and running. And they failed at that. They are the Shaun Wright-Phillips of teams. As soon as he went to Chelsea and had teams sit deep, he became completely ineffective.
The US has evolved to where most, if not all of the first XI is playing in decent leagues in Europe. But most of them are role players, or specialty players (again, a lot of great athletes, not a lot of brilliant footballers. Weston McKenie is the best example of this, plays regularly at Juve, but he's there to run around loads, not play football). So there is some progress, albeit a lot of progress from having dual nationals and/or players developed in European academies. But this isn't a team that's going to win a World Cup anytime soon. And for as critical as I can be of USMNT fans, I think everyone knows that. Most of the talk has been about having a good showing at home. And I do still think that's possible because the style of play that their players are geared toward, and the one that Poch likes--high intensity high tempo intense pressing and counter attacking will work better in competitions (particularly in knockout stages) than it will in the CONCACAF Nations League Semi-Final.
But again, this is at best a quarterfinal team. If it wasn't the US of A, they wouldn't be particularly noteworthy (for example if this were Mexico or Canada).
Christ almighty.
Thinks commercials during the game will be a good thing, hates promotion relegation, wanted the super league to happen, etc.
If I were a cynical sort, I might suspect Messrs. Blatter and Platini of bunging around some brown envelopes to get themselves off the hook.