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Old 23-06-2014, 07:33
Xela M
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Strainge one isn't it. Maybe Europeans are completely dismissive of Asian teams, so don't view them as enough of a threat to the world order to care how they are performing. The quickness to pounce on African teams has been very telling....people wanted to rll out the old cliches about African teams lacking organisation and so on. The past rwo days have really unpended the storyline though.
Errr.... Maybe because all African teams at this World Cup lost their opening games or drew 0-0 in quite an unconvincing fashion. Plus, Cameroon were shockingly terrible. African teams used to show a lot of promise and often progressed to the next round, so it looked surprising. I agree that most teams recovered and were much better in their second games.

There are only two Asian teams at this World Cup and both are very weak, so of course no one expects anything of them. Aside from in South Korea where there were disgusting referee decisions in their favour, they never showed any promise.
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Old 23-06-2014, 10:46
Pee
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I don't know when these halcyon days of African football supposedly were, but there was Morocco in 86, Cameroon in 90, Nigeria in 94 and 98, Senegal in 2002, and Ghana in 2006 and 2010 that qualified from their groups. simply having more than one team do it this time can justifiably be seen as progress in that regard. we just don't have any top teams, but that shouldn't be held against us. if you take away all the real superpowers of international football (Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Netherlands, even Portugal and England), who else just produces generation after generation of top footballers? countries like Sweden, Bulgaria, Romania, Belgium, Croatia etc only produce one great generation every so often, and no-one ever asks why such countries haven't gone on to win the World Cup

Spain, England, and Bosnia are already out. Portugal, Russia and Greece are likely to join them, and Italy, Switzerland, and Croatia all could well be eliminated this week too. where's all the hand-wringing and naval-gazing about European football?
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Old 23-06-2014, 10:48
whedon247
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you make a good point about african teams outdoing euro B level teams.

but of course lots of europeon teams will go out in group stage as there is more of them than other nations.
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Old 23-06-2014, 11:26
orange_crush
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Errr.... Maybe because all African teams at this World Cup lost their opening games or drew 0-0 in quite an unconvincing fashion. Plus, Cameroon were shockingly terrible. African teams used to show a lot of promise and often progressed to the next round, so it looked surprising. I agree that most teams recovered and were much better in their second games.

There are only two Asian teams at this World Cup and both are very weak, so of course no one expects anything of them. Aside from in South Korea where there were disgusting referee decisions in their favour, they never showed any promise.
Iran, Japan and South Korea are all Asian. Also Australia represent the Asian zone having defected from Oceania in 2006.



As for the Africans, I think Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Algeria will qualify. Of those I think Ivory Coast will go on to reach the QF by beating Costa Rica, and then their run will be stopped by the Dutch in the last 8.
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Old 24-06-2014, 21:55
BigFoot87
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Ivory Coast are doing their best to screw this up!
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Old 24-06-2014, 23:09
BigFoot87
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Aghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Sighs.

Nigeria? Algeria? Its up to you now.
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Old 25-06-2014, 09:40
whedon247
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african teams still show lack of discipline imo, poor fouls commited at poor times. is that fair? hope it doesnt come accross as stereotypical.

ivory coast manager cost them imo, you go 1-1 and take off drogba and gervinho, dorgba i understand ebcause they have bony on pitch and hes old. but gervinho? you know you are gonna get space to counter attack greece,dont take off your best dribbler/runner! it was his sub replacement who slowed down and messed up the 3 on 2 counter attack i think.

but then i guess until better facilities the top managers wont go to africa.

hopefully nigeria make it to next round
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Old 25-06-2014, 10:29
ihatemarmite
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Algeria are doing ok, especially for a team from a country in difficult circumstances.
Ghana vs Germany was the game I've enjoyed the most so far. Ghana would probably have qualified from quite a few of the other groups.
Ivory Coast seem to have gone backwards. Couldn't believe they chose Drogba over Bony last night.
There's no money in African football - what money there is doesn't find its way to the right channels if you get my drift. No infrastructure. Terrible pitches. Patchy coaching. West and North Africa produce some very good players but few really good teams.
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Old 25-06-2014, 15:08
mancitybean
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It was always going to be rather difficult for any nations at this World Cup who aren't from the Americas.
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Old 25-06-2014, 15:13
Insanium
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There are only two Asian teams at this World Cup and both are very weak, so of course no one expects anything of them. Aside from in South Korea where there were disgusting referee decisions in their favour, they never showed any promise.
The Asian zone has 4 qualifiers. South Korea, Iran, Japan and Australia
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Old 25-06-2014, 21:56
lightblues
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It was always going to be rather difficult for any nations at this World Cup who aren't from the Americas.
This ,every match for them is a home match
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Old 25-06-2014, 21:59
lightblues
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I'm very disappointed , I was hoping for a better display from the African teams , too many egos and financial wrangles sow seeds of discord within squads, there's no hope for a team who is not 'together' especially against the the sides from the Americas and top European sides
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Old 25-06-2014, 23:48
Makosi's pants
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I'm very disappointed , I was hoping for a better display from the African teams , too many egos and financial wrangles sow seeds of discord within squads, there's no hope for a team who is not 'together' especially against the the sides from the Americas and top European sides
I would say that definitely applies to Cameroon and perhaps Ivory Coast, but since the first matches Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria have all seemed like cohesive units. Like others, I want to see African football achieve more on the world stage, but there are rays of light.

The Nigerian coach is I believe, the first native african to take a team to the second round of the WC (?). And it's a crucial point, because he has been one of the biggest advocates for Africans to manage African teams, insead of second rate European managers. Imagine if he had failed to succeed? In the long run, his success has been just as important for the future as the way the players have played.
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Old 26-06-2014, 19:54
Alrightmate
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What I've found so frustrating about these African teams is that they appear to have players with incredible talent.
But they lose so many goals with the stupidest of mistakes and are often completely disorganized.

I don't understand why their managers and coaches can't instill some discipline into them and make them concentrate and think. Because you can see the talent in many of these players.
They never fail to disappoint.

I'm annoyed with them because the ability is there, but they seem to piss all that talent away by being so careless in matches.

Come on Nigeria and Algeria. prove me wrong. I want you to.
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Old 26-06-2014, 20:02
BigFoot87
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I see that Ghana imploded off the pitch before today's game. All the talk will be about that instead of the fantastic goal they scored.

Too many egos and not enough organisation, even on the pitch. They did well to equalise vs USA, danced on the pitch to celebrate, then switched off and conceded from a corner in injury time. Just too sloppy, it wouldn't be so bad if they didn't have the talent in their team to do better.
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Old 26-06-2014, 20:08
Alrightmate
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I also notice that they often ruin their chances by being too greedy.
So many times I've seen their players get into great positions in the box, clear positions where they're in space, only for the player on the ball who has little chance of scoring just take a wild shot at goal.

It's as if they see the goal and they just don't want to pass it to anyone else, and want the glory all for themselves.
That's just simply not good teamwork.
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Old 26-06-2014, 23:08
Boxfresh
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Not quite sure why nobody wants to give Africa credit, and always look for the negatives.

For the first time that I recall, two African nations have progressed into the round of 16 (Nigeria and Algeria). Considering they don't have anywhere as many representatives as Europe in the group stages, that's an excellent reurn.
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Old 26-06-2014, 23:25
BigFoot87
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Not quite sure why nobody wants to give Africa credit, and always look for the negatives.

For the first time that I recall, two African nations have progressed into the round of 16 (Nigeria and Algeria). Considering they don't have anywhere as many representatives as Europe in the group stages, that's an excellent reurn.
I've already stated that I want them to do well. But, its annoying given the talent in their squads that they aren't doing better. Even more so with the off-pitch nonsense which seems to pop up more often that not. God knows what kind of performance Ghana would have put in today without all that drama.

I'm pleased for Algeria. They've shown they can play exciting football. Russia (IMO) have not and therefore don't deserve to be in the next round. Nigeria have played good stuff and gave Messi & Co a bloody good game, I hope they do that again against the French.
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Old 26-06-2014, 23:33
DUNDEEBOY
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Shockingly I am going to give Algeria some credit I thought they were really well organised in getting the result they needed.

They are the best of the African teams by some distance.

However both African teams will probably get thrashed in the next round
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Old 27-06-2014, 03:45
diesel cliq
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Top 10 african teams

Algeria
Nigeria
Ivory coast
Ghana
Burkino faso
Senegal
Mali
Egypt
Tunisia
Zambia

The rest are turgid. Yes im looking at you cameroon. Disgraceful. Assou ekotto etoo and song are gits
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Old 27-06-2014, 04:15
Pee
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They are the best of the African teams by some distance.

However both African teams will probably get thrashed in the next round
no, they're not.

no, they won't
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Old 27-06-2014, 05:17
Alrightmate
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Strainge one isn't it. Maybe Europeans are completely dismissive of Asian teams, so don't view them as enough of a threat to the world order to care how they are performing. The quickness to pounce on African teams has been very telling....people wanted to rll out the old cliches about African teams lacking organisation and so on. The past rwo days have really unpended the storyline though.
That's a ridiculous assumption to make.
Believe me, speaking for the England team you won't find harsher critics than the English themselves. I dare say it's a similar situation with other European national teams too.

Personally speaking I've offered criticism in this thread about the disorganization of African teams because I truly see the potential there and believe that they're seriously underperforming below their abilities as individuals.
It's not about raking up cliches, it's based purely on what has been displayed in this tournament.

Sometimes people criticise something not because they want to pounce on something, as you say, but in the case of African football teams because they genuinely appreciate what's good there and simply want them to improve.
Sometimes criticism is designed to merely give something a kick up the arse.

And in regards to your assumption that they get criticised because people see them as a threat, quite the contrary, I'd absolutely love to see the African teams being more of a threat.
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Old 27-06-2014, 08:57
celesti
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Shockingly I am going to give Algeria some credit
They'll be overjoyed when they hear they've got your approval at last. Public holiday in Algeria this day every year.
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Old 27-06-2014, 09:47
whedon247
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i could see algeria vs germany being tight at first, if germany dont get a goal early could be interesting.

as for nigeria france i might put money on a potential upset, although i thinkf rance have a good enough squad to go all the way.
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Old 27-06-2014, 12:06
Pee
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if it's an open game, as I think it will be, then we'll give France some problems with our pace and directness and COULD be good enough for the upset. whatever happens, it's just great to see us being decent on the world stage again, and that's not really happened since 94-98. we should get better over the next couple of years too once a few of our U17 World Championship winners from last year (Kelechi Iheannacho and Musa Yahaya are the main ones to look out for) graduate to the main squad
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