Jump to content

World Cup Qualifying General Talk


maqroll

Recommended Posts

That's not the irony. The irony is that they mahoosively benefitted from those playoffs becoming seeded as soon as Platini realised France were going to be in them. They hadn't been seeded until the week before the draw. And now that the playoffs are seeded, France are complaining that theirs is an unfair situation. Which it is, but it literally couldn't happen to a more deserving team :D As hard as it is to believe, this actually has nothing to do with Ireland :D

I'm not sure that that's actually true, Bri.

The 2006 playoffs were seeded on exactly the same basis, the FIFA World Rankings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's not the irony. The irony is that they mahoosively benefitted from those playoffs becoming seeded as soon as Platini realised France were going to be in them. They hadn't been seeded until the week before the draw. And now that the playoffs are seeded, France are complaining that theirs is an unfair situation. Which it is, but it literally couldn't happen to a more deserving team :D As hard as it is to believe, this actually has nothing to do with Ireland :D

I'm not sure that that's actually true, Bri.

The 2006 playoffs were seeded on exactly the same basis, the FIFA World Rankings.

It is true and I remember it vividly. Google can provide a plethora of articles to that end. Here is an ESPN article with direct quotes from Blatter saying "We have decided to seed the draw". Here's a blog from the period that makes reference too with the same comments from Blatter. That they've now made a rod for France's back is just toooo sweet :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neither actually says that though.

The ESPN article says "There had speculation that the eight best second-placed teams in Europe's nine groups would all be thrown into one pot."

The blog entry (from two weeks later) then claims that it was a change, which has no basis in fact.

Considering that

* the previous round was seeded and drawn according to the World Rankings (with no mention made of it in the cited documents)

* the previous instance of a UEFA playoff was seeded according to World Ranking

Absent a specific statement from FIFA that it wasn't going to be seeded, the only reasonable expectation was that this time would be seeded.

What most likely happened is: lazy (too lazy to wikipedia the 2006 draw) journo sees that France and Portugal could end up in the playoffs, sees nothing in the documents regarding seeding, writes article musing about a France-Portugal playoff. Thus is born an urban legend.

In any event, the claim that they hadn't been seeded until a week before the draw is demonstrably false. The Blatter quotes (which do not in any real way support your claim) are in the ESPN article dated 29 September, three weeks before the draw.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You're slightly playing silly beggars there though Levi if I may say. There is clear tense in Blatter's quote that 'we have decided' to seed. The inference being that it wasn't the case up to that point. Anyhoo I'm only using those articles as supplementary to the fact that I remember it being reported widely in the UK & Irish media at the time that the situation had changed on the whim of UEFA.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Komdu á íslandi !!!

 

:thumb: Nice work BOF!

 

Google translate a bit too precise there though! It would be more appropriate to say "Áfram Ísland!"  :)

 

Can't wait for the match tonight. As an Icelander and a Villa fan it's not often I get to see much glory. Hopefully things are changing on both grounds though!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:thumb: Nice work BOF!

 

Google translate a bit too precise there though! It would be more appropriate to say "Áfram Ísland!"  :)

 

Can't wait for the match tonight. As an Icelander and a Villa fan it's not often I get to see much glory. Hopefully things are changing on both grounds though!

Google !?!?! How do you know I'm not fluent in Icelandic :ph34r: *cough*
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll be cheering on Switzerland as much as Iceland, just in case you need a helping hand. No harm getting 2 results just 'to be sure to be sure' :P

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Desperate for a Bosnia win tonight. Never been so nervous about a team/game I have no affiliation to. Also hoping Romania do the business against Estonia and get 2nd place behind the Netherlands.

 

Looking forward to the feast of international games over the next 8 hours.

Edited by Voinjama
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Desperate for a Bosnia win tonight. Never been so nervous about a team/game I have no affiliation to. Also hoping Romania do the business against Estonia and get 2nd place behind the Netherlands.

 

Looking forward to the feast of international games over the next 8 hours.

Helped massively by Turkey having a tricky tie.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...
Â