So do I! The most ironic thing is that they let Africa have 6 spots for this WC (their usual five + South Africa qualified as hosts) and ONLY one of their teams made it to the knockout stages in their own continent
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[WC] World Cup 2010 - General Talk Thread (60 Viewers)
- Thread starter Tommy
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I'm guessing it's a UEFA thing. In theory the European team will have to play an American team, but they'll win with incredible ease. Take Bosnia for example: Portugal barely beat them, but if Bosnia have to play T and T or El Salvador, it'll be an easy win. In reality you're just giving UEFA an extra spot.
Ya Western Europe is great. Along with Brazil and Argentina they really are the rulers of football. I wonder if African and Eastern European teams will ever catch up. 
I don't agree with the division because it isn't geographically correct and it hasn't been updated after the cold war. Whoever's been to Czech Republic and Slovenia will tell you that those two have nothing to do with countries like Bulgaria or Belarus. But just to amuse you I will say this:
WC final: 4 (Czechoslvakia twice and Hungary twice)
WC semifinal: 8 (Yugoslavia twice, Soviet Union, Poland twice, Bulgaria, Croatia, Turkey)
On 11 out of the 19 world cups there has been an eastern European team among the top 4.
Africa final: 0
Africa semifinal: 0
I don't think you can really compare the two and put them in the same sentence. The world will expect something big from the African teams and again some eastern European team, like Czech Republic, Russia, Romania, an ex-YU country etc, will create a great generation and at least make the WC semis before an African team does that.
Africa is relatively new to football, they barely had functioning countries back in the 50's and 60's so thats an unfair comparison.
Lets see what the future holds though. I don't see much future for the Eastern European teams, their overrated and supposedly talented players are just a bunch of primadonna chokers. The future for Africa however is bright.
I assume you mean African football here, right?
What do you base that claim on?
I believe that you don't remember the 1990 WC.
Well, Cameroon made the quarters and everybody talked about the potential of the African players and teams. In 1994 the Nigerians were a hit. Everyone liked them but they were unlucky and Baggio eliminated them. Nevertheless it inspired people like Pele and Havelange to predict that an African team will win the World Cup by the end of the century. That's how big that potential was.
The African players, pretty shy I'd say, started making their first steps in Europe. Weah became the player of the season.
1998 came and Africa was expected to shine. The Nigerians did that in the groups. They even eliminated Spain there. But in the knock-outs Denmark comfortably beat them, leaving the next WCs as the chance for the widely expected African domination.
Now the Africans started joining European teams much more than in the past. The Europeans opened their football schools and sent scouts all over the African continent.
2002 comes and Senegal makes the quarters. By now people expected more than quarter finals for Africa, but still, they were "new to football" so more chances were given. 2006 was gonna be the right time to shine.
Almost every big team has an African player. Some have much more than 1. Many African NTs have even players who were born in Europe and played/developed there all their lifes.
2006. Ghana is the only African team that makes the knock-outs and they're eliminated right away.
Drogba, Eto'o and many more are shining in Europe.
2010- Perfect chance. World Cup in Africa.
They're all eliminated in the groups, bar Ghana. Ghana makes the quarters. Same as Cameroon in 1990.
It's been 20 years Fred. We wait for them for 20 years to shine.
What is changing in the meantime that you expect a bright future?
He's joking, trying to wind me up. He knows very well that Nedved, Shevchenko and the likes weren't really primadonas, nor chokers.
I am not joking about African football, though.
What do you base that claim on?
I believe that you don't remember the 1990 WC.
Well, Cameroon made the quarters and everybody talked about the potential of the African players and teams. In 1994 the Nigerians were a hit. Everyone liked them but they were unlucky and Baggio eliminated them. Nevertheless it inspired people like Pele and Havelange to predict that an African team will win the World Cup by the end of the century. That's how big that potential was.
The African players, pretty shy I'd say, started making their first steps in Europe. Weah became the player of the season.
1998 came and Africa was expected to shine. The Nigerians did that in the groups. They even eliminated Spain there. But in the knock-outs Denmark comfortably beat them, leaving the next WCs as the chance for the widely expected African domination.
Now the Africans started joining European teams much more than in the past. The Europeans opened their football schools and sent scouts all over the African continent.
2002 comes and Senegal makes the quarters. By now people expected more than quarter finals for Africa, but still, they were "new to football" so more chances were given. 2006 was gonna be the right time to shine.
Almost every big team has an African player. Some have much more than 1. Many African NTs have even players who were born in Europe and played/developed there all their lifes.
2006. Ghana is the only African team that makes the knock-outs and they're eliminated right away.
Drogba, Eto'o and many more are shining in Europe.
2010- Perfect chance. World Cup in Africa.
They're all eliminated in the groups, bar Ghana. Ghana makes the quarters. Same as Cameroon in 1990.
It's been 20 years Fred. We wait for them for 20 years to shine.
What is changing in the meantime that you expect a bright future?
He's joking, trying to wind me up. He knows very well that Nedved, Shevchenko and the likes weren't really primadonas, nor chokers.
I am not joking about African football, though.