Official Football Thread

Eddies Wingman said:
he's no good for managing a national team.
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Ah that's something else. But who is? E.g. Van Gaal didn't qualify either for the World Cup with Holland but he is a great club coach, great for international football. International football I see as a broader term than only for countries.
 
Well, I think the English tend to use the term "international" mostly when talking about national teams, and that they use "continental" or "Europe" when referring to European tournaments, or leagues outside the British isles.

Am I right, Albie?


PS: Man  City - Tottenham 0-1. Well done Spurs!
 
Eddies Wingman said:
Well, I think the English tend to use the term "international" mostly when talking about national teams, and that they use "continental" or "Europe" when referring to European tournaments, or leagues outside the British isles.

Am I right, Albie?
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Pretty much, yes.
 
I can agree with the term European football, but not with continental football (when continent refers to mainland Europe only). Premier League clubs play in European tournaments.

"International club football" might be the clearest term, somewhere in the middle of all our different perspectives.
 
He is. :D

"England has made three contributions to global culture: Football, Shakespeare and Rik Mayall."
 
Van Gaal get the traditional beer shower in Berlin (great place to feier the Meisterschaft!  :D ), because Bayern are the champions in Germany.

A few days earlier Van Gaal told the media that he didn't want all this beer on his suit, he didn't want to stink the whole evening in the restaurant.

But the players don't care and throw beer on him (Van Bommel does it very unexpectedly, be sure not to miss this, great replay as well!). Van Gaal was prepared and wore some kind of training suit. The comments are in German, entertaining stuff in my opinion. :)

Here goes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF5tsBriBiY

Some trivia about the Dutch trio in Bayern München:

1. Louis van Gaal is first Dutch coach to win the title in Germany.
2. Mark van Bommel is the first Dutch captain to win the title in Germany.
3. Van Gaal won his seventh national title (3 with Ajax, 2 with Barca, 1 with AZ Alkmaar, 1 with Bayern)
4. Van Bommel also won his seventh national title (4 with PSV, 1 with Barca, 2 with Bayern)
5. Arjan Robben won his fourth title, each of them in a different country (1x PSV, 1x Chelsea, 1x Real Madrid, 1x Bayern).
 
So, it is all over in the big leagues. Today we can congratulate Internazionale and Barcelona as league champions, both by slender margins (one and three points, respectively).

Fascinating that so many of the big leagues have been decided on the last day this season!
 
Doesn't the World Cup start in like 10 days or so? It sucks being in the U.S where soccer (futbol) coverage is so limited.
 
Onhell said:
Doesn't the World Cup start in like 10 days or so? It sucks being in the U.S where soccer (futbol) coverage is so limited.
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I read a while back that the three countries that had brought more tickets than anyone else were South Africa (obviously), England and the USA. So if the world cup has got them going - enough, incidentally, to actually buy more tickets than the English - why should the coverage be so poor?
 
Because if 1 in 20 people from the USA was interested, that would be the equivalent of 1 in 3 English, or 1 in 4 of the UK.
 
True, when you look at it like that. But for all it's hype it generates in England, we may only actually get 1 in 3 (or more like 2 in 5) genuinely really looking forward to it. If England do well, interest will gather pace.
 
As it will in the US, but to be honest, I think 1 in 20 is unlikely. I can't tell you for sure but hey, it was just an example. Population size counts.
 
Well done Inter! Their solid defense brought them the title. I saw that coming, being impressed by that quality before the quarter finals started. I still hoped Bayern could do it. Alas.

Now it's time for some statistics:

José Mourinho is the third coach who won the most important prize in European club football (European Cup I or Champions League, in Dutch it's Europa Cup I), with 2 clubs. Now he wants to set a record with Real Madrid doing it three times.
         
1. Ernst Happel: the EC-1 with Feyenoord (1970) and HSV (1983)
2. Ottmar Hitzfeld: the CL with Borussia Dortmund (1997) and Bayern München (2001)
3. Mourinho: won the CL with FC Porto (2004) and Inter (2010)

Only 6 clubs (the most coming from a certain country I live in  B)  ;) ) have won the triple (League, National Cup and the most important European Cup).

Celtic (1967)
Ajax (1972)
PSV (1988)
Manchester United (1999)
Barcelona (2009)
Inter (2010)
 
Forostar said:
José Mourinho is the third coach who won the most important prize in European club football (European Cup I or Champions League, in Dutch it's Europa Cup I).
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You mean the third coach to win it with more than one club? Because I'm quite sure there are more than two who have won the cup before  :D

Nit-picking aside, I think it was an entertaining final. Since I don't have very warm feelings for either club (neither negative nor positive), I could just enjoy the football at face value, and there was a lot of good football in that final.

I remember when Man Utd sent Inter crashing out of the Champions League a couple of seasons ago, the Old Trafford crowd was singing at Jose Mourinho "You're not special anymore". Well, it seems he is special again ... he might very well be the one who brings Real Madrid their tenth title.

Now, time to start looking forward to the World Cup. Still haven't decided what teams I'll root for, since Norway are not there.
 
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