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World Cup 2018 Qualifiers

glorygloryeze said:
FWIW, I also found that mid-90s Norway team boring often, but boy were they effective and i found them very intriguing - especially when they bamboozled Brazil in that last group game of 1998! Generally, i had a lot of respect for that side and Egil Olsen, but long-term he was quite regressive in how he used Norway's squad then i felt; they have not had such pool of talent for years and i think he could have utilised them better. But as i say, they were very effective.

Anyone who likes the game knows you need these type of 'minimalistic' teams to keep the teams who do try to play good football/have genuinely good footballers honest and keep them (and perhaps football in general) evolving.
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Egil Olsen was the perfect coach for a national team. Tactically very good, and very pragmatic. He picked the best player for each position/task/tactic, and not those who where considered the best players overall. He was brilliant at finding the best players for how he wanted to play. As long as players did the job he asked them to do, they won. He analyzed every opponent to death, and told the players what weaknesses they should exploit. That lead to the legendary comment just before a game vs England, where he told the players to remember not to underestimate England :)
 
Kandi1977 said:
Egil Olsen was the perfect coach for a national team. Tactically very good, and very pragmatic. He picked the best player for each position/task/tactic, and not those who where considered the best players overall. He was brilliant at finding the best players for how he wanted to play. As long as players did the job he asked them to do, they won. He analyzed every opponent to death, and told the players what weaknesses they should exploit. That lead to the legendary comment just before a game vs England, where he told the players to remember not to underestimate England :)
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Indeed; where is Olsen now? My lasting memory of him was the coach that took Wimbledon down...did his reputation never recover after that?
 
BTW, i keep forgetting to ask: why is Southgate picking Jake Livermore?
Serious question: what does he bring in his role when compared to other english midfielders in his position, basically can you see the logic of it?
 
Kandi1977 said:
He had the Norwegian national team twice after that, but only as interim coach. Works as a pundit for Norwegian television now.
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Not quite, he was interim coach for a couple of months before being handed the reins permanently. He was then the national team coach until the FA fired him / he resigned (depending on whether you believe Olsen's or the Norwegian FA's official story) ahead of two decisive fixtures in the qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. It didn't end on the best of terms, unfortunately, the man is of course an absolute legend in Norway, whether you agree with his views on football or not.
 
Robben with a great goal vs Sweden. 2-0 up, but they need 5 more to get 2nd place. Janssen has done well so far.
 
Swiss 1 down to Portugal, should be a decent 2nd half. Swiss have won every game they've played so far but still aren't guaranteed qualification, a draw will do tonight though.
 
Kandi1977 said:
Robben with a great goal vs Sweden. 2-0 up, but they need 5 more to get 2nd place. Janssen has done well so far.
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Was a great goal the 2nd one, the pen was jammy as fudge though ;) Looked like that was him bowing out.

Vince, crushing lack of pace aside, did do OK sticking his arse about, dunno why they subbed him at half time for that lump they bought on. Very odd.
 
glorygloryeze said:
So what? We can all pick loads of teams in every one of the last 20 odd years of world cups or Euros who were brick; Greece for one.
I don't see why NI have been singled out here. As i say, if they are brick, how brick are the other teams in their group
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I think Kandi was posted to Belfast during the Troubles. Either that or he's been served a dodgy Guinness in his local at some point.
 
When we finally had some games that mattered they delivered great drama.

USA have failed to qualify after losing to bottom side Trinidad and Tobago. Both Honduras and Panama came from behind to beat Mexico and Costa Rica respectively. USA looked set for a playoff match against Australia until an 87th minute goal from Panama got them to their first World Cup ever.

Messi single handedly dragged Argentina through. Paraguay couldn't even beat lowly Venezuela when everything was set up for them. Chile missed out on the playoff spot on goal difference. Had Chile not protested against Bolivia fielding an ineligible player they would have got that playoff spot as they drew with Bolivia while Peru lost in games that were later given as 3-0 wins.
 
That will go down as one of Messi's greatest moments.

Guardian write up:

Argentina conceded after just 37 seconds in their must-win game against Ecuador, but Lionel Messi came to the rescue as his side booked their place at next summer’s World Cup.

The No10 hit a brace in the first half in Quito and capped off a stellar performance as he completed his hat-trick with a stunning chip over keeper Maximo Banguera just after the hour mark.

Romario Ibarra stunned the away fans – and perhaps all of South America – as he nodded on a ball lofted high into the danger area and sloppy defence from Argentina allowed the Ecuadorian space to slot it in past Sergio Romero in the opening minute.

But Messi, who is now the all-time leading goalscorer in South American qualifying, played a deft one-two with Angel di Maria to level things up after 12 minutes and then put his side in front eight minutes later with a strike from just inside the box.

Ecuador continued to press in search of an equaliser as Argentina failed to kill the game off, allowing the home side to attack well into the second half.

It was a moment of brilliance which proved to be the difference. The Argentina talisman took the ball in space about 40 yards out from goal, weaved his way to the edge of the box and was able to lob Banguera – six yards off his line – as he lost his balance and fell to the floor.

Argentina were looking in danger of not making the 2018 World Cup in Russia going into the final group games, following a torrid campaign in which they had only scored 16 goals in 17 games.

Low points were numerous, and a 2-0 loss to Bolivia in March saw the end of Edgardo Bauza’s short stint as boss as Jorge Sampaoli took the reins.

Since then, three draws put Argentina on the brink of not making the World Cup for the first time since 1970. They then travelled to Quito – a place where they have not won since 2001 – but bagged all three points to guarantee a trip to Russia.
 
Jordinho said:
When we finally had some games that mattered they delivered great drama.

USA have failed to qualify after losing to bottom side Trinidad and Tobago. Both Honduras and Panama came from behind to beat Mexico and Costa Rica respectively. USA looked set for a playoff match against Australia until an 87th minute goal from Panama got them to their first World Cup ever.

Messi single handedly dragged Argentina through. Paraguay couldn't even beat lowly Venezuela when everything was set up for them. Chile missed out on the playoff spot on goal difference. Had Chile not protested against Bolivia fielding an ineligible player they would have got that playoff spot as they drew with Bolivia while Peru lost in games that were later given as 3-0 wins.
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Suck on that Donald.
 
So, the current African Champions Cameroon, Concacaf Champions USA and South American Champions Chile have failed to qualify to the World Cup while Asian Champions Australia need a playoff with Honduras. Only European Champions Portugal have qualified to the World Cup but still needed the last group match to qualify. Don't think all the regional champions have struggled to qualify to the World Cup in the past like this.

Special mention to Iceland, the smallest nation ever to qualify to the World Cup. Remember, Iceland were the smallest nation to play in Euro and now they have qualified to the World Cup as well. The football world and neutral fans all should support Iceland in the World Cup. With only a population of around 330,000, it is amazing how they have managed to put together a team good enough to play in Euro and World Cup. They even humiliated England in Euro2016 ! They really put bigger nations like Scotland, Netherlands and even Wales to shame. Remember, Wales have never qualified to the World Cup since 1958 despite having many good players like Rush, Giggs and Bale over the years.

Credit also to Egypt, the biggest under achievers of African football, for qualifying to only their third ever World Cup and their first since 1990. Egypt have won the most(7) African Cup of Nations but strangely always struggle to qualify to the World Cup.
 
Jordinho said:
When we finally had some games that mattered they delivered great drama.o

USA have failed to qualify after losing to bottom side Trinidad and Tobago. Both Honduras and Panama came from behind to beat Mexico and Costa Rica respectively. USA looked set for a playoff match against Australia until an 87th minute goal from Panama got them to their first World Cup ever.

Messi single handedly dragged Argentina through. Paraguay couldn't even beat lowly Venezuela when everything was set up for them. Chile missed out on the playoff spot on goal difference. Had Chile not protested against Bolivia fielding an ineligible player they would have got that playoff spot as they drew with Bolivia while Peru lost in games that were later given as 3-0 wins.
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Not surprisingly, the Americans have now failed to play in any major tournaments in Russia. They boycotted the 1980 Olympics and have now failed to qualify to the 2018 World Cup. Frankly, was expecting the Americans to do something to undermine the World Cup in Russia, either to boycott it or call for it to be taken away from Russia. Instead, they have now failed to even qualify, albeit in a strange manner, with them losing to the weakest team in the group, Panama getting a dubious goal and Honduras coming from behind to beat Mexico.

Argentina did well to qualify via the last qualifying match, with Messi scoring the hattrick. But Argentina really have no business to struggle like this. They didn't even look like scoring in most of their previous matches despite having many quality attacking players like Messi. Embarassingly, only Bolivia scored fewer goals than Argentina among the 10 nations. But the South American World cup qualifying group are too tough as well, with each team having to play a total of 18 matches. They really should divide the 10 teams into 2 groups of 5 teams each.
 
Spurs7891 said:
Not surprisingly, the Americans have now failed to play in any major tournaments in Russia. They boycotted the 1980 Olympics and have now failed to qualify to the 2018 World Cup. Frankly, was expecting the Americans to do something to undermine the World Cup in Russia, either to boycott it or call for it to be taken away from Russia. Instead, they have now failed to even qualify, albeit in a strange manner, with them losing to the weakest team in the group, Panama getting a dubious goal and Honduras coming from behind to beat Mexico..
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Yeah ......i just imagined the 230 athletes they sent to Sochi.:rolleyes:
 
ricky2tricky4city said:
Yeah ......i just imagined the 230 athletes they sent to Sochi.:rolleyes:
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When it comes to major tournaments with international appeal, it only refers to Summer Olympics and the World Cup. Most of the world don't even know or bother about the Winter Olympics ! Not even the media would remind you about the past Winter Olympics, host cities or their greatest athletes !
 
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