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Territorial 
Jack Charlton 
Joined: 25 Nov 2014 Status: Offline Points: 5817 |
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 Posted: 05 Dec 2022 at 3:24pm |
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But "football" is more than just the World Cup Finals which ultimately are designed to find the best international team(s) in the world. Otherwise why have qualification matches to get there and knockout rounds once you have? Surely such a qualfication process should be based on merit and excellence, not some misplaced sympathy for countries which can't cut it otherwise? So that if eg Africa wants extra representation at a Finals, then their leading teams should be required to prove by their performances in Finals that their second-ranked teans deserve the chance to join them. And if these Finals are anything to go by, unless Morocco pull a rabbit out of a hat, then CAF will once again have failed to demonstrate why they deserve even five teams in 2026, never mind eight.
Did the FAI get a shiny big National stadium of its own out if it? A modern national training centre? Decent LOI stadia fit for the 21st century, hosting a noticeably higher standard of domestic football before sold-out crowds every week? Better facilities and greater participation at grassroots level, consistent with a growing and wealthier population? More and better coaches, with the best of them moving abroad to top clubs in top leagues? The (GB-born and developed) Granny Rulers of the Charlton/McCarthy years since replaced by equivalent standard home-grown players? Theres' no doubt ROI gets very impressive crowds for 6 or 8 home international matches every year, and takes great numbers of enthusiastic and welcome supporters to away games etc, but realistically, how many of those are "barstoolers", and/or supporters of Celtic/Man Utd/Liverpool etc? [And before anyone jumps in, I would level pretty much the same criticisms at the IFA/NI, after our glory years of the 1980's etc.] Edited by Territorial - 05 Dec 2022 at 3:25pm |
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Shedite
Jack Charlton
Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Status: Offline Points: 9526 |
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Posted: 05 Dec 2022 at 3:56pm |
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Sounds like I'm in the minority here, but I prefer watching Egypt/Nigeria/Colombia in the WC than Sweden/Slovakia/Ukraine. I watch Sweden/Slovakia/Ukraine on Nations League highlights show 6 times a year.
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dangere_here
Kevin Kilbane 
Joined: 24 Nov 2018 Status: Offline Points: 441 |
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Posted: 05 Dec 2022 at 4:52pm |
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Probably some of the more senior posters on here can explain better but even in my life time, football was exclusively the GAA variety in most of the country outside the traditional cities. The success of the Charlton era in the late 80s early 90s opened up the sport in very rural places where kids were suddenly wearing football jerseys or pretending to be Packie Bonner, which would have been unheard of ten years before in Ballygobackwards. You can argue whether they should have been wearing LOI jerseys instead of Liverpool, but that was the legacy of the Charlton era. Look at the place the chap who scored the winning goal against Germany in 2015 comes from. Back in the day, I doubt anybody there saw a game of association football, let alone played it.
Edited by dangere_here - 05 Dec 2022 at 4:55pm |
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Territorial
Jack Charlton
Joined: 25 Nov 2014 Status: Offline Points: 5817 |
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Posted: 05 Dec 2022 at 5:32pm |
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If it's a trade-off between watching competitive games involving European teams with whom we're familiar, versus new, but third rate, teams from Africa or Asia in uncompetitive or meaningless games, then I am going for the former. Bear in mind, too, that there will be 63 games in this Finals, whereas 2026 will have 80 games i.e. even if every one was a cracker, there simply isn't enough time in the day to keep up with all of them. And that's if they don't stick with the format of 16 groups of 3 teams etc. There is talk now of reconfiguring 2026 to involve 12 groups of 4 teams. This would produce 104 games! So Ivory Coast versus Denmark might be preferable to you over Switzerland versus Denmark, for imstance. But Ivory Coast versus Bolivia, kicking off at the same time as Kenya versus Iraq and New Zealand versus El Salvador, with none of them having any hope of progressing? What would Dunphy have to say about that! 
And I firmly believe it was a combination of Gazza's tears at Italia 90, and the PL/Sky, with all the money that brought in, which first stopped the rot, then turned it round. All of which had something of a a spillove, popularity-wise, in Scotland/Wales/ROI and NI, since the game in those countries has so many links with the English game. But if the game's image has turned round markedly in the period since, it is only the English game which has taken full advantage, for I contend that there has been little or no corresponding practical or physical legacy for domestic football in ROI, whether stemming from developments in England or from ROI's successes in the World Cup or Euro's. Contrast that eg with the success eg of GAA, professional Rugby, Golf or Horse racing over the last 30 years in developing their sports to keep up with the times. Why even Irish Cricket has progressed to Test status! Edited by Territorial - 05 Dec 2022 at 5:39pm |
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Shedite
Jack Charlton
Joined: 09 Dec 2011 Status: Offline Points: 9526 |
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Posted: 05 Dec 2022 at 6:09pm |
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You're picking all the 4th placed teams in your examples there. They wouldn't be in the same groups. And yeah, I'm all for teams like Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, Iran, Costa Rica, Ghana, Ecuador, Senegal, Cameroon all who won games in this World Cup over more Wales, Serbia, Denmark who stunk the place up.
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Territorial
Jack Charlton
Joined: 25 Nov 2014 Status: Offline Points: 5817 |
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Posted: 05 Dec 2022 at 6:55pm |
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I'm not arguing against all those teams you cite admiringly from taking their place in Qatar. But while they may have had some good individual performances which stick in the mind, you overlook the poor performances eg Spain beating Costa Rica 7-0; or Saudi losing to moderate teams like Poland and Mexico. Also the failure of 7 of the 9 even to get out of their Group. More importantly, you seem to overlook that those are the best of Africa, Asia and Central America. How entertaining or interesting do you think the second rate teams from those regions would be in 2026, when a predictable defeat in their first game would effectively render their second game meaningless and send them on their way back home. I fear that eg Qatar this time would provide a closer template i.e. Played 3, Lost 3, Scored 1 Conceded 7 - and that with the benefit of home advantage!
Edited by Territorial - 05 Dec 2022 at 6:57pm |
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Shedite wrote: