International Football (non-USMNT)

DLew On Roids

DLew On Roids

guilty of being sex
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Billy R Ford said:
Haven't had the US win in that simulator, but after a dozen or so tries I got what you might call my realistic-dream final - Argentina beating Spain to win the Cup.
 
I know people are tired of Spain, but I'd love to see Messi overcome his Barca teammates and really make the case for being the greatest of all time. It's been pointed out that without Messi, Xavi and Iniesta are World and European champions, but without Xavi/Iniesta, Messi hasn't won much with Argentina (senior level at least). As a neutral, seeing him erase the final doubts about his career would be awesome.
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Not to argue with you, but rather to riff off it, I think maybe 25 years ago you'd have a hard time making a case for a player being the GOAT without World Cup success, at least if he played for a major nation, but the difference in quality between the CL and the World Cup is so big now that I don't think it's a realistic barometer any more.  
 
I also wonder if Barca would have won so many trophies recently without Messi.  I suspect they'd have run into the Arsenal disease of recent seasons (not this one) of trying to pass the ball into the net.  Pep would have been running them out in 4-6-0 quite a bit, I bet.
 
Zososoxfan

Zososoxfan

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DLew On Roids said:
 
Not to argue with you, but rather to riff off it, I think maybe 25 years ago you'd have a hard time making a case for a player being the GOAT without World Cup success, at least if he played for a major nation, but the difference in quality between the CL and the World Cup is so big now that I don't think it's a realistic barometer any more.  
 
I also wonder if Barca would have won so many trophies recently without Messi.  I suspect they'd have run into the Arsenal disease of recent seasons (not this one) of trying to pass the ball into the net.  Pep would have been running them out in 4-6-0 quite a bit, I bet.
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I think if we're making that comparison, you have to look at positional replacements. IOW, Xavi/Iniesta replace Messi as a target/striker with the likes of Villa and Torres on Spain, whereas Messi replaces the mighty midgets with what creative midfielders?? Pastore, at best. Don't even get me started on Riquelme.
 
Billy R Ford

Billy R Ford

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Feb 10, 2010
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DLew On Roids said:
 
Not to argue with you, but rather to riff off it, I think maybe 25 years ago you'd have a hard time making a case for a player being the GOAT without World Cup success, at least if he played for a major nation, but the difference in quality between the CL and the World Cup is so big now that I don't think it's a realistic barometer any more.  
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You're right of course, if anything this is one of the frustrating things about comparing someone like Messi or C. Ronaldo to the all-time legends like Pele, Maradona, Cruyff. The World Cup still has the "mystique" of being the ultimate prize, and so many people insist a modern player needs to win it, but it is no longer the greatest actual test of skill- the UEFA Champions League is. So insisting Messi or Ronaldo have to win it to be the GOAT isn't a rational argument.
 
So I know it's a silly thing to think about... but indulge me when I say that I can't get past the idea of Messi slaloming past first Xavi, then Busquets, then Pique, before putting one of his cheeky little chips over the head of the keeper and into the back of the net. Oh yeah, I'd enjoy the hell out of that.
 
 
 
 
 
(And now that I've gotten that out of my system, it's a fruitless argument by me anyway, because the World Cup will write it's own storylines. No one went into South Africa 2010 thinking "Man, you know what I really want to see? How about SPAIN VS THE NETHERLANDS!!!!!" And yet, we got a great match and a great final, because that's what sports is all about.)
 
Mr. Wednesday

Mr. Wednesday

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dirtynine said:
No. You have to have only represented your "first" country at the under-21 level (at most). Then you can make a one-time switch if you file a successful petition. Baloy is Panama for life.
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Close, but you can go above U21.  In fact, you can even represent your "first" country in a friendly and still switch.  The way that a tie becomes permanent is with an A-level appearance in an official competition, meaning a confederation championship or qualifier thereto, or the World Cup or a qualifier thereto.
 
Titans Bastard

Titans Bastard

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Mr. Wednesday said:
 
Close, but you can go above U21.  In fact, you can even represent your "first" country in a friendly and still switch.  The way that a tie becomes permanent is with an A-level appearance in an official competition, meaning a confederation championship or qualifier thereto, or the World Cup or a qualifier thereto.
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And to add on, you can only switch to a country for whom you were eligible at the time you were "provisionally" cap-tied -- i.e. played in the Olympics, U-20 World Cup, or the U-17 World Cup, or the qualifiers for any of those three events.
 
That's why Neven Subotic could play for Serbia, but not for Germany.  When he played at the U-17 WC for the US, he was Serbian-eligible, but hadn't received his German citizenship at the time.
 
soxfan121

soxfan121

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FYI, your new favorite player is Quincy Promes. He was not carded for this because, well, Evra deserved a lifetime achievement boot to the face.
 
soxfan121

soxfan121

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ZLATAN is the Keymaster and Roberto Luongo is the Gatekeeper. 
 
We HAVE to get these two together somehow.
 
nvalvo

nvalvo

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Rogers Park

I found this fascinating. Hypothetical "national teams" for the fifteen largest Spanish autonomous communities. Some of these (Catalonia, Euskal Herria, maybe Asturias) look like they'd be pretty good sides, but I don't know who everyone is, obviously. 
 
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