AVFCforever1991 Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 @ '91: Yup, gateway to the East and all that jazz. Was talking more about their human rights violations. Ahh I get you.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted March 28, 2015 Moderator Share Posted March 28, 2015 Was the whole reason Israel got moved from Asian qualification was so you avoid them being in any group with Palestine? A number of Middle Easter countries don't recognise Israel as a nation and therefore won't play against them. In a not too surprising bit of UEFA/FIFA selling out any sort of principles for a bit of money, the UEFA U21 tournament next year will staged in Israel. Ultimately, I'm guessing the answer to the question of why Israel, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan play in Europe is because they can afford it and it's politically expedient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Surely if israel were to belong to any federation, it would be CONCACAF? /troll 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 (edited) Dutch team to play Turkey tonight in really what is a must win game for them if they want top two: Now I accept they're missing Robben but is that 11 really better than what England put out? I'm one of the few that think Van Gaal did an unbelievable job during the World cup to get them to 3rd place and now they have instead a Hiddink in semi retirement in the dugout suddenly the results become very very average indeed. 1 Cillessen 2 van der Wiel 3 de Vrij 4 Martins Indi 5 Blind 8 Wijnaldum 10 Sneijder 6 de Jong 7 Afellay 9 Huntelaar 11 Memphis Depay No Chris England have a stronger team than that. I agree Van Gaal worked wonders with that team, helped by the brilliance of Robben and RVP as well though Edited March 28, 2015 by PaulC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelVilla Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 They are losing to Turkey right now. Turkey have all eleven players from the domestic league which is quite surprising as there are some good ones in the Bundesliga. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Also have a look at the Italy team currently losing in Bulgaria... I know everyone whinges all the time about the lack of quality England produces but the reality is the other major nations don't have that much greater first 11s, they just occasioningly stumble upon a coach like a Van Gaal or Prandelli that can get them set up to tactically perform above themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Germany and Spain both struggled as well . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Also have a look at the Italy team currently losing in Bulgaria... I know everyone whinges all the time about the lack of quality England produces but the reality is the other major nations don't have that much greater first 11s, they just occasioningly stumble upon a coach like a Van Gaal or Prandelli that can get them set up to tactically perform above themselves. A lot of the other "big" countries have far more strength in depth. We are generally boned if one or two key players don't perform at a tournament for some reason (injury, suspension, loss of form etc) but the teams who win tournaments tend not to have that issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Germany and Spain both struggled as well . Nah, wouldn't include either in that tbh. Germany have just had a hangover from the world cup but their pool is incredible these days and Spain will be back as they produce exceptional young talent annually. I'm more on about Portugal, Holland, Italy etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bose Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I thought Gudjohnson had already retired from Iceland. he can managed another year surely and make the 2016 finals considering the service he's given them? He didn't actually retire, he just thought he wouldn't play another match for the national team - he was out of contract at the time. If we make it to France he'll be there, no doubt about that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I think Israel should be able to play in any federation that will have them. I don't think that the players and in particular the vast majority of its fans [assumption] who take no part in the atrocities committed by its government should be made to suffer because of those actions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I think Israel should be able to play in any federation that will have them. I don't think that the players and in particular the vast majority of its fans [assumption] who take no part in the atrocities committed by its government should be made to suffer because of those actions. Given that most of Western europe are pro Israel in their conflict with Palestine theres no way they would be excluded. Thought Holland were very poor, resorted to 18th century football in the 2nd half with two big men up front. When you look at the attacking options England now have compared to Holland. its a different world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ismail-villa Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Surely if israel were to belong to any federation, it would be CONCACAF? /troll I see what you did there. Brilliant haha! [emoji1] [emoji1] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanoiVillan Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 (edited) Map from Wiki: The blue countries are those that are 'transcontinental', ie. Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The light blue parts are those in Europe, the dark blue parts those in Asia. Traditionally, the decision about 'Europe' or 'Asia' on the part of these countries has been related to where the majority of the population live. By that standard, Russia is European and the others are Asian. What the map also shows is that Cyprus, Israel and Armenia are in Asia proper. Iceland actually straddles two continental plates, so a very tenuous argument could be made that it is 50% North American, but obviously the cultural factor here is important. Culture should really count against Kazakhstan, which is culturally Central Asian, and should qualify in Asia with the other 'Stans' IMO. Edited March 29, 2015 by HanoiVillan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I think Israel should be able to play in any federation that will have them. I don't think that the players and in particular the vast majority of its fans [assumption] who take no part in the atrocities committed by its government should be made to suffer because of those actions. Given that most of Western europe are pro Israel in their conflict with Palestine theres no way they would be excluded. Absolutely. But that wasn't my point. The reason they are playing in Europe is because Asia won't have them. So if Europe excludes them also where do they go next? Africa? What exactly would excluding them achieve? The people want football, the people need football. Give them football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumerican Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 A number of Middle Easter countries don't recognise Israel as a nation and therefore won't play against them. To be fair a lot of Israelis don't recognise Easter either. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 I think Israel should be able to play in any federation that will have them. I don't think that the players and in particular the vast majority of its fans [assumption] who take no part in the atrocities committed by its government should be made to suffer because of those actions. Given that most of Western europe are pro Israel in their conflict with Palestine theres no way they would be excluded. Absolutely. But that wasn't my point. The reason they are playing in Europe is because Asia won't have them. So if Europe excludes them also where do they go next? Africa? What exactly would excluding them achieve? The people want football, the people need football. Give them football. I do agree with you, I thought initially of South Africa and their exclusion because of apartheid but there big difference between that and a country being at war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Croatian wins 5-1 against Norway. Embarrasing result and naive game plan. Martin Ødegaard played the whole match and did well. But we see that the Norwegian keeper and a couple of central players have five months without playing a singe important match. watched the game and maybe was lack of fitness but they put in effort but didnt seem to have any speed at all through the team at least Italy got a draw and left you guys in a decent position still Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villarule123 Posted March 29, 2015 VT Supporter Share Posted March 29, 2015 Scotland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 Gibraltar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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