I would not be surprised, Holly. Our national team is going through a rebuilding phase but I hope they find each other in the group matches and get a good result.[/QUOTE]
Sadly I think we peaked in the qualifiers and this is the only way we will score against Germany.
Well, I will be going to 3 Copa America games here in the States, so that should be fun. I have to say that I am looking forward to 2018. A lot of national team super powers from this past world cup and recent ones are not strong as they used to be, imo. So, that should make an interesting world cup...
YourValentine · Member since
You are lucky, greasercat. It's next to impossible to get tickets for the UEFA cup unless you pay hundreds on the black market. I hope Christian Pulisic will play for the USA, he is amazing and only 17 years old!
@Holly - I hope you are right, lol
greaserkat · Member since
I had a fried who put himself down for the lottery to buy tickets for the Euro Cup, as he will be there for the summer, but of course he did not get in. Yeah, Pulisic looks promising. Given that my parents are from Mexico, I also root for the Mexican team, so I have been following Chicharito closely at Bayern Leverkusen. I hope to possibly make it to Germany next year to catch a Bundesliga game...
Mr.Jingles · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]greaserkat wrote:[/b]
Well, I will be going to 3 Copa America games here in the States, so that should be fun. I have to say that I am looking forward to 2018. A lot of national team super powers from this past world cup and recent ones are not strong as they used to be, imo. So, that should make an interesting world cup...[/QUOTE]
I really wanted to go see the USA Vs Colombia game at the SF Bay Area. My sister lives there.
Which games are you going to?
greaserkat · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Mr.Jingles wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]greaserkat wrote:[/b]
Well, I will be going to 3 Copa America games here in the States, so that should be fun. I have to say that I am looking forward to 2018. A lot of national team super powers from this past world cup and recent ones are not strong as they used to be, imo. So, that should make an interesting world cup...[/QUOTE]
I really wanted to go see the USA Vs Colombia game at the SF Bay Area. My sister lives there.
Which games are you going to?[/QUOTE]
I wanted to go to that one too, but won't be able to make 5 hour drive from LA to Santa Clara.
I'll be going to Brasil vs Ecuador, Colombia vs Paraguay, and Mexico vs Jamaica
Holly2003 · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]YourValentine wrote:[/b]
@Holly - I hope you are right, lol
[/QUOTE]
Beginning to wonder now. In the last 17 games we have won 10, drawn 5 and lost 2. We are unbeaten in the last 11 games and we finished top of our qualifying group. Quite remarkable really for such a small country. Of course, Germany are still favourites but we might cause a surprise or two in the group. Best of luck YV. Hope your team plays well and let's hope the tournament is a peaceful one.
YourValentine · Member since
Holly, Germany lost 1:3 vs Slovakia last Sunday. so we are worried.
Yes, let us hope the games are peaceful aand nobody gets hurt...
brENsKi · Member since
Holly, count yer blessings fella...you could be in a group with Italy, Belgium and Sweden!!! - oh fuck!!! - we're fecked
and while we're at it...just exactly how often do England keep getting "easy groups" yet still fail spectacularly?
Sebastian · Member since
I think that's more of a recent trend, really. Back in the 20th century, England were more often than not in difficult groups.
brENsKi · Member since
France 1960.............Did not enter
Spain 1964..............Did not qualify
Italy 1968...............Semi-finals
Belgium 1972........Did not qualify
Yugoslavia 1976.....Did not Qualify
Italy 1980 .............Group Stage
France 1984........Did not Qualify
Germany 1988....Group Stage
Sweden 1992.....Group Stage
England 1996......Semi-finals
Belgium/Netherlands 2000....Group Stage
Portugal 2004.....Quarter-finals
Austria/Switzerland 2008..Did not qualify
Poland/Ukraine 2012....Quarter-finals
failed to qualify at all - 5x
didn't get out of groups - 4x
qtr finals - 2x
semis - 2x (one of which as host)
that's an abysmal record for ANY supposed football giant
Sebastian · Member since
I'm not denying that - I'm questioning your 'easy groups' point.
1950: Considering only the first could go on to the semis, being in the same group as Spain is *not* an easy group.
1954: Belgium and the host ... not the trickiest of groups but not the easiest either.
1958: Austria (third placed in the previous tournament), Soviet Union (with Yashin et al) and ... well, you know, that little team known as bloody Brazil! Not an easy group at all.
1962: Hungary (they were still good despite Puskas playing in Spain at the time) and Argentina ... not an easy group. Not an ultra-difficult one either (that'd be the one containing Spain with the aforementioned Puskas plus Di Stefano, plus Mexico and the two eventual finalists).
1964: No groups phase as qualifiers were playoffs.
1966: Uruguay, France and Mexico. Not the most difficult opponents but not the easiest one either.
1968: Home nations. Again, not the trickiest but not the easiest either.
1970: A relatively good Romania (granted, it wasn't West Germany, but it wasn't Bulgaria either), a relatively powerful Czechoslovakia (they'd win the Euro six years later and part of the line-up was already there) and that little team known as fucking Brazil from bloody 1970!
1972 [Qualifiers]: Easy group indeed. But they didn't fail spectacularly ... they fell in the second round to eventual European and World champions West Germany. Nothing to be ashamed about.
1974 [Qualifiers]: Wales was easy but Poland was not. Considering only the first of the group would qualify, it wasn't an 'easy group.'
1976 [Qualifiers]: Two relatively easy ones plus eventual champions. So no, not an 'easy group,' though I agree it wasn't quite the 'group of death' either.
1978 [Qualifiers]: Two easy teams plus a very strong Italy (the era of Zoff, Rossi, Bettega, etc). Considering only one would go on to the World Cup finals, it was not an 'easy group' by any means.
1980: A powerful (though not by any means super-power) Spain, a strong (though not by any means super-power) Belgium plus the team that would win the World Cup two years later (in what I consider to have been the most difficult campaign ever). Not an easy group by any means.
1982: A super easy one, an average one and bloody France (with Platini), and they still managed to be first in the group. Their disappointing performance came later, but being eliminated by West Germany and leaving the tournament undefeated is still not precisely a massive failure.
1984: Easy group indeed, despite Denmark being quite good at the time, but I'll concede this one.
1986: I'll concede this one as well, since the group was fairly easy and they did struggle a bit.
1988: A relatively good Ireland (though not by any means a superpower) plus the eventual winners and runners-up. Not an easy group at all.
1990: Relatively easy and they did seem to struggle a bit, so I'll concede that one.
1992: France (with Papin et al), hosts Sweden (with one of their best teams ever) and eventual champions... not an easy group at all.
1994 [Qualifiers]: I'll concede that one as well, despite Netherlands being there ... but you'd have expected England to easily beat Norway and ... well, surprise!
1996: I'd agree it was relatively easy despite the Netherlands again. But England were the hosts and two from each group went on to the next round, plus neither Scotland nor Switzerland were too hard at the time. However, losing in the semis to eventual champions Germany (on penalties, mind) is not a catastrophic performance.
1998: Easy group indeed.
2000: Easy group indeed, at least on paper. It was a huge embarrassment for both England and Germany to lose that way.
2002: Group of death, with two powerful teams (though not superpowers) and one of the best Argentinas of the post-Maradona era.
2004: Easy group indeed. France were there, but half of the group qualified to the next round so... yeah, fairly easy.
2006: Fairly easy group again.
2008 [Qualifiers]: Ridiculously easy group yet they indeed failed spectacularly. No way to excuse this blunder.
2010: Yep, fairly easy group again.
2012: Not an ultra-difficult group but not the easiest one either.
2014: Easy group on paper, but yeah, it was quite embarrassing. The day they lost to Uruguay (and were mathematically out of the competition even before playing their third game) was my birthday, and I was in Shrewsbury wearing a Welsh flag on my shirt - loads of locals commented on how my friends and I were 'honorary Uruguayans', which we absolutely were!
2016: Easy group indeed, so if they fail to qualify it's gonna be so humiliating. Perhaps Wales can uncharacteristically give them a good ol' crushing (with Bale scoring a hat-trick)... that'd be interesting, though not very probable :p
Anyway, to sum up: England have indeed been very disappointing on major tournaments, but I completely disagree they had 'easy groups' in the 20th century; 21st... yeah, indeed.
YourValentine · Member since
England will not win a tournament for 50 more years because of the alleged 3rd "goal" in the 1966 final. Call it the German curse ;-)
brENsKi · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]YourValentine wrote:[/b]
England will not win a tournament for 50 more years because of the alleged 3rd "goal" in the 1966 final. Call it the German curse ;-)[/QUOTE]
i would concur. but on the same basis, how long before France win anything again after Thierry Henry's disgraceful bit of basketball against Ireland?
YourValentine · Member since
Absolutely! They shalt not win anything for 100 years!
