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African teams at World cup | Gone
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But I'm not making that argument that they are better, i'm making the argument that they need more places.
In Asian qualifying, they play an 8 game round and a 10 game round to qualify. In African qualifying, they play knockout rounds before a group stage where only the top team goes through.
But they don't need to have the places automatically, why not a qualifying mini world cup to test the stadiums and test the teams
Would UEFA get eight teams through that? I doubt it. But if they did, they'd deserve it
But I'm not making that argument that they are better, i'm making the argument that they need more places.
In Asian qualifying, they play an 8 game round and a 10 game round to qualify. In African qualifying, they play knockout rounds before a group stage where only the top team goes through.
But they don't need to have the places automatically, why not a qualifying mini world cup to test the stadiums and test the teams
Would UEFA get eight teams through that? I doubt it. But if they did, they'd deserve it
I also feel that on the whole they lack a real footballing intelligence. There are a few who are right up there but usually no more than 1 maybe 2 per team, which is not enough.
UEFA qualifying is being cut down anyway.
CAF/CONCACAF/CONMEBOL/AFC qualifying is currently twice as long as UEFA's and needs to be cut down
I think that's a good idea, somewhat similar to having a lot more playoff places.
I think UEFA would get at least 5-6 of those
Such as? Tunisia's performance wasnt that convincing
Ivory Coast, Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana ?
Should I link the world cup wikipedia or is the point that a world cup should broadly represent teams from around the world clear?
Didn't someone here said that the reason all the African teams go out is because they aren't cynical enough?
Senegal just went home because of too many yellow cards.
Senegal just went home because of too many yellow cards.
Which is nothing to do with being cyncial reallly... maybe none of those came from cynical fouls... (can't remember personally)
It is Portugal, they love to call up super old players and this is Ronaldo so who knowsSeriously? At 41?
I think he'll play the next one in Qatar and that's it.
Not touching this one.
You can do as many pointless things as you wish.
I just wish they could still do 3 group matches with 48 teams. It'll suck for so many teams coming for two games only...
I agree, they will need to streamline the qualifcation system. You don't need to spend 2 and a half years playing qualifiers if it's a 48 teams world cup.
What's going to happen in Concacaf with Mexico, US and Canada all automatically in? As much as I like the 10 team Commebol group they will probably have to split it into two groups of 5 if seven teams are getting through.
Sometimes i watch African football teams and think they play a bit like the Pakistani cricket team. Loads of talent, inconsistent performances, lack of coaching, letting themselves down with the basics at times, a big splash of ego, and no doubt corruption at the top.
good call. "but they have physicality, at least"Overall lack of talent and quality, structural fatal flaws, and plenty of bad luck
Tunisia and Egypt were just bad teams outright. Morocco fell due to the lack of a goalscorer, as they were arguably the better team in all 3 games, yet managed to finish last. Also bad luck with the own goal vs Iran and the hilarious stonewall penalty they were denied against Portugal
Nigeria got drawn with Croatia and Argentina. Also lack of a scorer, again
Senegal...sheesh. They also had big structural flaws(no goalscorer and a poor keeper above all, but also a complete lack of quality in CM) but still should have been enough against even an more flawed and limited team like Japan. They ultimately went out because they picked up more yellow cards than Japan. Essentially they went out because Sanchez had the bright idea of saving a goal with his arm 4 minutes into Colombia's opener against Japan
Tunisia and Egypt were just bad teams outright. Morocco fell due to the lack of a goalscorer, as they were arguably the better team in all 3 games, yet managed to finish last. Also bad luck with the own goal vs Iran and the hilarious stonewall penalty they were denied against Portugal
Nigeria got drawn with Croatia and Argentina. Also lack of a scorer, again
Senegal...sheesh. They also had big structural flaws(no goalscorer and a poor keeper above all, but also a complete lack of quality in CM) but still should have been enough against even an more flawed and limited team like Japan. They ultimately went out because they picked up more yellow cards than Japan. Essentially they went out because Sanchez had the bright idea of saving a goal with his arm 4 minutes into Colombia's opener against Japan
Good call, but at least they're good dancers, physical 'beasts' and have large genitalia...
Is anyone genuinely surprised? Think they were all very underwhelming.
Relative to their status I thought Iran and South Korea but the African teams to shame.
Relative to their status I thought Iran and South Korea but the African teams to shame.
Allow me.
Shut the feck up if you don't know what you're talking about.
Senegal have decent quality throughout their team, your boy at the back and they also had Gana and Kouyate who are decent enough midfielders in the premier league. Arfican teams probably do lack quality playmakers like Nigeria had with Okocha in the 90s. Now they have Mikel who barely scores or assists a goal a season.
I agree the anamoly of Colombia losing to Japan unbalanced the group and Senegal were unlucky there.
If Morocco could keep Herve Renard until the next WC cycle, I think they have the ability to renew some players if we take into account a lot of them come from the youth teams from France, Belgium or Netherlands and play at a very decent level, similar to the Algeria situation, the problem is always related with the constant switch of managers.
Well I tipped Morocco to get out of the group so I didn't expect them to be a total bust as they do have talented players particularly in the midfield area.
Problem was just losing to Iran even if they were better than expected. I do wonder if they'd got the 3 points whether that would've changed the menality v Portugal and particularly Spain.
Senegal won opener and then just tried to draw the other two games instead of continuing to be positive.
No guarentee they'll be in next WC. You mentioned Algeria. Completely bombed in qualifying despite having Mahrez, Slimani, Bentaleb, Brahimi, Ghoulam and Feghouli as regulars. Frustrating as that is so much talent and I enjoyed watching them in 2014 when they pushed Germany in last 16.
Problem was just losing to Iran even if they were better than expected. I do wonder if they'd got the 3 points whether that would've changed the menality v Portugal and particularly Spain.
Senegal won opener and then just tried to draw the other two games instead of continuing to be positive.
No guarentee they'll be in next WC. You mentioned Algeria. Completely bombed in qualifying despite having Mahrez, Slimani, Bentaleb, Brahimi, Ghoulam and Feghouli as regulars. Frustrating as that is so much talent and I enjoyed watching them in 2014 when they pushed Germany in last 16.
How many spots they have for 2022? 4 or 5?
Anyway I trust the North African teams to be more reliable on this type of competition, even if they might not look so explosive or exciting.
The problem is the lack of continuity regarding their managers and the ego from some players who all think they are Messis or Ronaldos playing for their countries.
It was staggering in the Senegal game how unintelligent they were at attacking and keeping the ball when they needed a goal.
All their team needs is someone with a brain to match the athletic prowess and skill/talent they have.
All their team needs is someone with a brain to match the athletic prowess and skill/talent they have.
Bad year for African teams, Ivory Coast should have qualified and alteast Nigeria or Senegal should have made the QF. Disappointing considering the amount of talent at disposal.
How??? The moment the draws came out Nigeria were doomed and Senegal's best case scenario was a Belgium/England meltdown in the R16
Neither of those teams had anywhere near the talent to be expected to make it that far. Both did well, Senegal could have done better against Japan and Colombia but Mané wasn't great and they were down to relying on Niang, who has zero end product. Their playing style maximized their strenghts and hid their weaknesses somewhat, but it was too energy consuming to keep it up for the whole 90 minutes and ultimately relied on a bunch of flawed, unreliable attacking players and one genuine star who simply wasn't in form
The simple truth is none of the African teams was particularly good. And they all had some bad luck going against them.
Nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with game management at the highest level. African (and Asian) teams aren't typically strong on this despite the talent they may have at their disposal.
This is a lazy stereotype. African and Asian teams aren't typically good at game management because they typically don't have enough quality players with experience at the highest level of the game. Plain and simple. What happened in Russia is a fluke, it's unlikely to happen again. But the simple truth is there's a reason why so few African and Asian players play consistently for the likes of Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, etc, and it's not down to racism or discrimination(that won't prevent those clubs from signing Nigerian Pelé). Beyond the 5 already playing for biggish clubs(salah, mane, koulibaly, benatia, son) was there someone else that looked like he belonged at a big club?
Considering that Nigeria lost to the corpse of Argentina I think they would be disappointed not to qualify.
They still lost to a team with Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Di Maria, Dybala and Banega. Meanwhile, they were playing Obi Mikel as an "attacking" midfielder and their best player is Musa
Nigeria weren't so bad. They lost to arguably the best team in the tournament so far in Croatia. The Iceland win was impressive and the Argentina game was a battle to the end.
I have to say that I completely agree with the poster above arguing that Europe should have far more places in a 48 team world cup. Wales reached the semis of the last European championships and finished 3rd in their qualifying group because the group had 4 strong nations in it, all at a level to add to a world cup.
Back to the African teams' lack of success, there always seems to be some drama between the association and star players when it comes to the African teams. Like rumours of Salah refusing to play for Egypt in this world cup. Rumours of pay disputes or players flying economy while association heads large it up in first class.
It's hard to compete with nations who have fantastic togetherness and team spirit when that sort of nonsense is hanging over the teams.
I also think the current generation of African players is far weaker than 10 or 20 years ago. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Senegal have all had fantastic generations of players that are far better than any current African team.
Back to the African teams' lack of success, there always seems to be some drama between the association and star players when it comes to the African teams. Like rumours of Salah refusing to play for Egypt in this world cup. Rumours of pay disputes or players flying economy while association heads large it up in first class.
It's hard to compete with nations who have fantastic togetherness and team spirit when that sort of nonsense is hanging over the teams.
I also think the current generation of African players is far weaker than 10 or 20 years ago. Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Senegal have all had fantastic generations of players that are far better than any current African team.
Lesser European and South American sides like Denmark and Sweden or Ecuador and Paraguay don't necessarily have footballers playing consistently for the very top clubs bar the odd player every now and then, at the same time have arguably less technical players than the likes of Nigeria and Morocco or even Japan and South Korea, yet these lesser sides typically progress further in major tournaments. For whatever reason they always seem to just do it when it matters and the same cannot be said about African and Asian teams.
I call it lack of game management and some call it no footballing intelligence which I don't agree with, but whatever that is the stereotype that African and Asian players aren't good enough to be competitive at the highest level needs to stop.
Why so aggressive?
How are paraguay, sweden, ecuador or denmark consistently competitive at the highest level exactly? Paraguay and Ecuador didn't even qualify. Denmark? The luckiest team in the tournament so far, only went through thanks to Perù shooting their dicks off. Sweden had to go through netherlands and Italy to qualify. And their game management against germany sure was amazing, wasn't it?
I don't think it's a stereotype about the players as individuals so much. Africa produces some supremely talented players, which is undeniable. As for "football intelligence" it's a bullshit term anyways that means nothing and is completely unquantifiable, so it's not worth the time of day discussing that.
I think it's mostly a negative stereotype about the teams and how the talented individuals function as part of it. And results make it hard to argue that there isn't some merit to it, although it's hard to point out out the reasons why. What I'm seeing is that while African teams most often perform on par with their qualities , they also seem to very often under-perform while they hardly ever over-perform.
I can't tell you if it's a tactical/coaching problem, or mentality problem or simply down to luck or whatever. For example South Korea, a relative newcomer to the sport in terms of national popularity, managed to reach the semi finals of a WC (albeit in their own country) yet in all the years of World Cups we've never seen an African team make it to the semis and we've seen teams far, far more talented.
Bad example. South Korea got to the SF thanks to Blatter. Ghana went one Suarez save from the SF in 2010. Cameroon lost to england in extra time in 90, Senegal to Turkey in 2002(Turkey in fact beat the koreans without even trying in the 3rd place final, which i know, it normally doesn't matter, but still)