football: the beautiful game

[Kasper]

well if you look at it that way no one from the world cup squad should ever play for england again (; except for, i guess, hargreaves.

well, except that Hargreaves is Canadian and shouldn't be playing for England anyway...

[superdupersang]

why does that matter?

both parents are english, and just because he was born somewhere doesnt make you of that nationality. certainly not in the uk, but its different elsewhere.

nationality is ultimately who you want to be.

besides canadians have a crap football team.

he might as well be the king of football

(i have no knowledge of canadian football and their standards)

[RobbertJan]

^this is true, i hate countries like quatar buying brazilian players for their '' national'' squad, but in canada, their is no way you're gonna ever be able to make it to a decent tournament for national teams, and if hargreaves parents are from uk then it's allright.

[superdupersang]

also, japan buys new zealanders for their national rugby team.

having said that, where do you draw the line?

are foreign coaches for the national side acceptable?

on another note, hope spurs beat chelsea in the fa cup replay.

berbatov for march player of the month i say

[Tisswat]

Canada sounds like the perfect job for Guus Hiddink.

[evisu 2000]

don't hate, sir bobby managed the vancouver whitecaps once.

[polishmike]

anyway, will beckham play for england again?

i would have said no way after the world cup, but man of the match preformances cannot be overlooked.

Honestly, I think you have to be an idiot to bring Becks back to the national team. Lennon should be playing every game and when he's injured it should be SWP. McClaren is a poor manager and I can't believe the money he gets for his poor coaching. He has to pick his players and stick with them, there is talent there but he can't use it. The only reason England is not complete shit is the defense, but it's just a matter of time for McClaren to fuck that up too.

Either way club football is so much better than internationals.

[RobbertJan]

^ club football is best except for the world cup, however crappy the level, there is nothing better then to sit with your friends in a pub that is packed with people watching your countries match and totally living in that moment, singing, hating on the ref, celebrating the victory all night or crying at the defeat with all those people, the best soccer experience!

[Kasper]

why does that matter?

both parents are english, and just because he was born somewhere doesnt make you of that nationality. certainly not in the uk, but its different elsewhere.

nationality is ultimately who you want to be.

besides canadians have a crap football team.

he might as well be the king of football

(i have no knowledge of canadian football and their standards)

Owen Hargreaves holds the distinction of being the only England player in history who has neither lived, nor played club football, in England.

from wikipedia

he wasn't just born in Canada, his parents immigrated here. he lived here all his life until he moved to germany to play for Bayern, he never lived a second of his life in england (he was actually eligible to play for all 4 home nations) . and you should hear him speak, absolutely nothing english there. while i can understand that for a player of his quality, playing for Canada wouldn't have been very fulfilling, i'm generally disgusted by 2nd, 3rd etc generation immigrant playing for their country of origin of which they often have no real connections to. Croatia and Italy are some of the countries that have / are doing this a lot. under the criteria of having British ancestry, something like 60% of canadians would qualify to play for one of the 4 nations, a little ridiculous don't you think???

[polishmike]

^ club football is best except for the world cup

From my experience, I was at the final in Berlin last year and also at the CL final in Istanbul in 05, the show is totally different. In the world cup you have some people that like football and some that are there for the party. In champions league you have real supporters who follow the club everywhere and the atmosphere is unbelievable.

I was also talking about the level of the game. It's always better to watch a team that plays together every week than a national squad who meets for 10 days every 3 months.

[superdupersang]

so polish mike

who would you have in your english team, on current form, for a match tomorrow?

1. Robinson

2. G Neville

3. R Ferdinand

4. J Carrahger

5. A Cole (?)

then lennon, gerrard and a defencive mid and right wing

then rooney and defoe

[polishmike]

First, I would have every Man Utd player available hoping that they will all get hurt during the game

I would have Foster or Carson in goal

Neville Rio Terry(Carra if he can't play) Cole

Lennon Carrick Lampard Downing

Rooney Crouch

But you can always put Woodgate for Terry, Richards for Carrick, Gerrard for Fat Frank, SWP for Lennon, Defoe for Crouch and Joe Cale for Downing when he's fit. Unfortunately they can't play with 5 midfielders so it has to be 442 but when you have wingers that are fast and can cross I don't see why not play Crouch. Also I don't see how he can play Gerrard and Lampard in the middle together. If he really wants Gerrard to play he can always play on the right on in the hole. There has to be a defensive midfielder and I would start playing Richards as much as possible. That kid is the future.

[RobbertJan]

what btw would be you guys best eleven of all time?

it's hard but i'd go for:

Smeichel

Beckenbauer Krol Maldini

Maradonna Gullit Zidane Di Stefano

Garrincha Pele Cruijf

coach: Cruijf

[evisu 2000]

yashin

cafu moore maldini

beckenbauer

maradona zidane best

crujiff

cantona di stefano

[polishmike]

Carragher

Carragher Carragher Carragher Carragher

Carragher Carragher Carragher Carragher

Carragher Carragher

[evisu 2000]

i underestimated you, thinking your team would be composed of dalglish, rush, sounness, heighway, hansen, clemence etc. (:

[polishmike]

If I would make one I don't think there would be a Liverpool player in it.

It would also be pretty hard for me to pick only 11, it would have to include Beckenbauer, Puskas, Garrincha, Best, Platini, Maradonna, Stoichkov, Zico, van Basten, Charlton, Moore, Klinsmann, Meazza, Batistuta, Di Stefano, Boniek, Eusebio, Cruyff, Matthaus. and many more.

I think Yashin was the best goalie but there are also Banks, Pfaff, Trautmann, Zoff, Schmeichel.

[superdupersang]

[evisu 2000]

anyone else see paul robinson today...

[hamham3001]

Manu 4 Bolton 1.. good shit rooney.. finally a better game from him..

[RobbertJan]

cronaldo was great last night! so was barca, and valencia lost so good times atm(H)

as for psv:S fucking losing to ajax atm, sneijder with a fantastic goal...

[Tisswat]

1-5.. Ouch!

For the record.. I really do hope PSV beats Liverpool. But with Alex and Kone injured, I suspect they might take a beating.

[nairb49]

credit to everton today, arsenal is really getting me down.

[RobbertJan]

yeah i don't see psv having a chance against l'pool.....

[RobbertJan]

http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1499509,00.html

very good article on ronaldinho, fun read!

[RobbertJan]

btw: predictions for the upcoming EC qualifying matches:

I think Holland will trash Romania and Slovenia

that is if van Basten will finally get out the best 11, not the players he personally likes best......

[superdupersang]

man u vs chelsea

fa cup and champinos final.

wanna put money on it?

[RobbertJan]

to close to call....

[polishmike]

man u vs chelsea

fa cup and champinos final.

wanna put money on it?

wow, you really think that chelsea can beat the mighty blackburn and united will be able to sneak a win against watford who won only 3 games this season?

[RobbertJan]

i'm so ashamed right now.....

holland just stole the victory in fucking slovenia of all places.....with a shot from 30 metres out that got touched 3 times and went in.....