Official Football Thread

Game continued, but suspended again because they are pelting the players with stuff from the stands.

So embarassing, I'd be so embarassed if stuff like that was done in my country.

:ninja:
 
Flare-throwing seems to be a staple when one of the former Yugoslav countries play. But that's not the main reason why I'm worried before Norway face Croatia in Zagreb tonight. There are two main reasons:
  • Croatia have come through their generation shift and are currently a very good team. Norway have some promising young players, but we don't have a single established top, top player anymore.
  • Many of the Norwegian players are out of season. We have to rely on those playing abroad, since the Norwegian league football doesn't start until next weekend. March has traditionally been a poor month for our national team (9 won, 7 drawn, 10 lost, and the wins include several wins against weak teams).
 
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Croatia 5 Norway 1. They were one notch better than us in all the important aspects of the game :( we even lose the final 20 minutes 2-1 despite being one man up.

Worse than expected. I need alcohol.
 
Fucking hell. The worst result imaginable. Turkey led through the entire game, then conceded a goal at the stoppage time. No money AND no national pride.
 
Since we're in an international games weekend now, with Euro qualifiers being played as I type, I'd like to ask the following:

What do you think of the extension of the Euros from 16 to 24 teams? I have generally liked the 16-team format a lot. Even the weakest teams are competitive, and the tournament doesn't become too long. Of course, as a Norwegian I see that it increases the chance of seeing my own country participate again, but I'd rather have that happen through the team improving to the level it had 15 years ago. I believe with 8 teams of mid-tier quality, the tournament will get its fair share of dull games.

The number of independent states competing in the qualifiers has not increased that much since the first 16-team tournament either. 47 teams took part in 1994-95, compared to 54 now. I suspect the main reason is TV money. More countries qualified means more TV viewers.

But the question to you, good folk of Maidenfans.com - 24 teams at the Euros, yea or nay?
 
I just don't understand how we can have so many good players yet suck so much. My ideal 11:

Stojković (Maccabi Haifa starter)

Ivanović (Chelsea starter), Subotić (Dortmund starter), Nastasić (Schalke starter), Kolarov (Man City rotation)

Gudelj (AZ Alkmaar captain & top scorer this season), Matić (Chelsea starter)

Marković (Liverpool rotation), Tadić (Southampton starter), Ljajić (Roma starter & top scorer this season)

Mitrović (Anderlecht starter & top scorer this season)​

All of these play in top teams in their leagues, most of them starters, yet they look like a League 1 team when playing together. Just don't know whether it's insane pressure on the players, their lack of motivation or coach incompetence that's the main problem.
 
Who knows.

Serbia has problems with that kind of squad in qualifications. Croatia will qualify, but probably will get kicked in group phase of Championship.
Our defense is Ukraine/Russia and our offense is Barcelona/Real Madrid/Atletico Madrid/Inter.
With that combination we should be able to kick most squad's ass, not be dominated from Mexico on World Cup.

Croatia was eligible for 10 WC/EC tournaments, we qualified for 8 of them. Of those 8, we passed to knockout phase in three occasions. Two out of those three were "golden generation" years (1996 England and 1998 France).

In 1998 we were the best team on the planet, yet we managed to lose the fucking cup by our own mistakes. So it's not only individual players, it's the "size of the team" that counts. Our states are small (eg. balkanske prcije ;)) , our teams are small - in their heads they are always afraid of "big" teams like Eng, Ger, Bra, etc., football federations are corrupted, politics are involved, and generally mentality is not on the level required to be on the winning side even if you have a weaker squad.
 
Dr. Eddies Wingman said:
But the question to you, good folk of Maidenfans.com - 24 teams at the Euros, yea or nay?
Click to expand...

I'd rather stay with 16 teams, partly because of the reasons you mentioned and partly because I hate the whole "four best third-placed teams go to the second round". The outcome of each group should be independent of the others.
 
No to 24 teams.

I'd even revert back CL to 16 teams. Only championship winners.
 
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