World Cup Qualifiers (CONMEBOL) October 5th and October 10th

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Aaroncpfc said:

This media hype for Messi because of a performance against Ecuador is all a little cringeworthy.

So are Ecuador the equivalent of San Marino or Gibraltar? Jesus wept.

[Dave]

14 minutes ago, Blue said:

So are Ecuador the equivalent of San Marino or Gibraltar? Jesus wept.

Didn't say they were. But they're no France or Germany. If he scored a hat trick against one of them at a major tournament when they were behind then I'd understand the fifa fuckboy generation going mad about his performance.

[Guest]

Just now, Aaroncpfc said:

Didn't say they were. But they're no France or Germany. If he scored a hat trick against one of them at a major tournament when they were behind then I'd understand the fifa fuckboy generation going mad about his performance.

Ecuador were at the last world cup and away games are never easy in South America. Especially in Quito. They may have fielded a weaker team but were still probably tougher to beat than most of the opponents he faces in La Liga anyways.

What does surprise me though is how badly Ecuador bottled it. They had 12 points by round 4 of these qualifiers and since have only gathered 8. Lost every game in 2017.

[Batard]

Chilean schadenfreude can only mean one thing ... Peru made the playoffs. 

[Guest]

I actually find it incredible that Peru is 2 matches away from the world cup and Panama have qualified. Imagine if we draw in the groups. We'll see Luis Tejada vs Miguel Araujo. Are we going to see Universitario vs Alianza Lima in Russia? 

[El Profesor]

13 hours ago, Cicero said:

Qualifying was the first step. Now Sampaoli has 9 months to figure out how to make this team tick 

And I think he might. I´ve mentioned this before, Argentina reminds me of Brazil in 2002. A talented team that struggled to qualify but could end up winning the World Cup. 

Sampaoli´s had a hard time and made some bad decisions, but Argentina was under huge pressure and he´s a great coach. With time to work with this team and to implement his ideas I believe Argentina will arrive much stronger in Russia. 

Brazil, on the other hand, looks poised to another major disapppointment. The results have been good but I´m not convinced by this team, the football played is not that impressive. The midfield composed by Casemiro, Renato Augusto and Paulinho is physically strong but lacks creativity and our forwards often themselves isolated. Unfortunately, I don´t see Tite making an effort to find alternatives. He seems set on those players and completely blind to alternatives. It won´t end well for us.

[6666]

On 10/6/2017 at 11:28 AM, 6666 said:

Chile and Peru will fall out with Argentina and Paraguay taking their places in my opinion.

Argentina to beat Ecuador, Paraguay to beat Venezuela, Uruguay to beat Bolivia, Peru & Colombia to draw or Colombia to win, Brazil to beat Chile.

Well, nearly got it all right. Paraguay bottled it at home against Venezuela. Chile's lack of talent in defence didn't seem to matter in the past but it seems to have caught up with them.

[Guest]

I did say Paraguay weren't shoe ins.

People seem to forget Venezuela won in Asuncion in the last qualifiers, and with how dodgy Paraguay have been at home, it was always possible.

[Carnivore Chris]

Argentina with Messi in these qualifiers:- 6 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss

Argentina without Messi:- 1 win, 4 draws, 3 losses

Good on him, it would be a big loss to not have Messi and the Argentine fans in the next world cup. You want to see the big nations and big players in it since it only happens every 4 years.

 

 

2 hours ago, El_Loco said:

And I think he might. I´ve mentioned this before, Argentina reminds me of Brazil in 2002. A talented team that struggled to qualify but could end up winning the World Cup. 

Sampaoli´s had a hard time and made some bad decisions, but Argentina was under huge pressure and he´s a great coach. With time to work with this team and to implement his ideas I believe Argentina will arrive much stronger in Russia. 

Brazil, on the other hand, looks poised to another major disapppointment. The results have been good but I´m not convinced by this team, the football played is not that impressive. The midfield composed by Casemiro, Renato Augusto and Paulinho is physically strong but lacks creativity and our forwards often themselves isolated. Unfortunately, I don´t see Tite making an effort to find alternatives. He seems set on those players and completely blind to alternatives. It won´t end well for us.

 

I don't agree that they have the talent of Brazil from 2002 personally Ricardo as that team was immense. Other than Messi, I think Argentina lack the REAL stars. I don't even regard Dybala one of these, atleast not yet.

Back then you had Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos, Cafu...

What I will say though is that Argentina do have a lot of very good players and if they work hard and Messi can really up his game like never before, then Argentina have a chance in the next tournament. It's also got to note that Argentina, going into the 1986 world cup, didn't make it easy for themselves and it took a late 82nd minute goal in their last qualifier game(scored by Peru's current manager Ricardo Gareca, and against Peru ironically) to get them through to that world cup, which in the end they went on to win. So you can't rule out a team as the tournament itself is very different and has proven the case throughout history.

I personally see Spain, Germany, France and Brazil as being bigger favourites than Argentina in Russia next year, although after that, Argentina have as good a chance as anyone.

[SirBalon]

[Smiley Culture]

Columbia and Peru effectively match fixing to both qualify. Interesting to see if there's any action taken. 

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Smiley Culture said:

Columbia and Peru effectively match fixing to both qualify. Interesting to see if there's any action taken. 

And explain to me how we were match fixing if a draw would have knocked both peru and colombia out should Chile and Paraguay both have won?

[SirBalon]

23 minutes ago, Blue said:

And explain to me how we were match fixing if a draw would have knocked both peru and colombia out should Chile and Paraguay both have won?

A game is played by minutes and the minutes are controlled by the bench.

I personally don't think anything was a fix because they're big words, but what's for sure is that in the final minutes of the Peru versus Colombia game the bench knew what was happening elsewhere and they played those minutes out in the same manner many years ago Germany v Austria did in a World Cup.

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

A game is played by minutes and the minutes are controlled by the bench.

I personally don't think anything was a fix because they're big words, but what's for sure is that in the final minutes of the Peru versus Colombia game the bench knew what was happening elsewhere and they played those minutes out in the same manner many years ago Germany v Austria did in a World Cup.

That's not match fixing though. That's tactical play. If you know the other results with 5 minutes left and both are happy with the result, it's normal to do what they did.

At the end of the day, it's not our fault Chile and Paraguay didn't get a result. There was nothing agreed prior to the match. Then and only then could action have been taken.

Germany and Austria weren't punished but instead they changed the rules.

[SirBalon]

2 minutes ago, Blue said:

That's not match fixing though. That's tactical play.

Match fixing for me is something that's premeditated and no way did Peru and Colombia go out to fix a draw!  I don't believe that for a second seeing how the game panned out.  I don't subscribe to that!

But what's for sure is that in the final minutes it was embarrassing because both teams renounced playing football in the conduct it should be played which is to win.  With that final sentence you call it tactical and I call it cheating the teams that didn't qualify.

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Match fixing for me is something that's premeditated and no way did Peru and Colombia go out to fix a draw!  I don't believe that for a second seeing how the game panned out.  I don't subscribe to that!

But what's for sure is that in the final minutes it was embarrassing because both teams renounced playing football in the conduct it should be played which is to win.  With that final sentence you call it tactical and I call it cheating the teams that didn't qualify.

Well Chile have no place to complain. They did this the last qualifying cycle...

 

[SirBalon]

7 minutes ago, Blue said:

Well Chile have no place to complain. They did this the last qualifying cycle...

 

So what you're saying is that it was tit-for-tat?

In that case you're both cheats.  One done it first and now you've benefited yourselves by cheating and not playing football in the spirit it should be played in.  I'm saying that in terms of knowing what's going on elsewhere.

But then again, if Arsenal needed a draw to win a Premier League title, I wouldn't blame Wenger for shutting up shop and being conservative (which is dangerous in itself).

Listen mate...  I couldn't give a damn how it turned out because it doesn't concern me in the least.  But I would be sympathetic to a Chilean if he went on about it in the same manner as I would be if Peru had suffered the same feat.  You can't control this type of thing and what's for sure is that it's impossible to prove.  One team was shielding any advance while the other one was passing the ball between the backline.  Embarrassing yes, illegal? I'd like to see someone prove it!

[Guest]

To be fair mate, after waiting 35 years, I'd take embarrassing just to get back to where we belong!

[SirBalon]

5 minutes ago, Blue said:

To be fair mate, after waiting 35 years, I'd take embarrassing just to get back to where we belong!

I understand you and to be honest, when the final whistle went in all the South American stadiums, I was happy for you because I love your enthusiasm for your country.  But I did think it was embarrassing the way it was played out and I don't think there was any need for that type of show.

But in terms of "where we belong"...  Hmmmm...  There's no such thing as that!  You haven't qualified in decades because you weren't good enough and that's the end of it.  You're either good enough or you're not!  You don't see the Italians saying they should be in the World Cup right now!  Their press have said that it was impossible against this present Spain and that the end table was actually flattering to them.  I like that type of mindset mate...  When you aren't good enough, you don't belong amongst the good.

How many World Cups have Peru participated in?

[HK85]

Happened here that kind of stuff. Not sure anything came of it. Also nothing wrong with it. 

[Guest]

We have been in 4 world cups. Whether we were good enough is up for debate but I think the point was that we weren't among the 5 best in South America and thus weren't going to compete. 

Some teams will take embarrassing or not. Chile have been an embarrassment of a side off the pitch for the last 3 years and they kept winning. I don't think they cared (until now!)

It's incredible too. Last year I had us as eliminated and now we're in 5th! Haha

[SirBalon]

4 minutes ago, Blue said:

We have been in 4 world cups. Whether we were good enough is up for debate but I think the point was that we weren't among the 5 best in South America and thus weren't going to compete. 

Some teams will take embarrassing or not. Chile have been an embarrassment of a side off the pitch for the last 3 years and they kept winning. I don't think they cared (until now!)

It's incredible too. Last year I had us as eliminated and now we're in 5th! Haha

What's for sure is that Peru have a rich history in terms of some amazing players in the past.  I am happy that Peru have a great chance to be in there...

But like I said...  Good enough is showing you're good enough on the pitch via results.

I'm not Latin American, so I don't understand the bad feeling many South American countries seem to have for Chile.  I don't have enough knowledge on that although I am fascinated that it's almost a blanket sentiment.

[Cicero]

Argentina's only goals during qualifiers for the past 11 months have come from Messi or been involved with Messi. 

Yet you have imbeciles like below who have a powerful personal vendetta that refutes the simple fact that Messi is carrying a bunch of has-beens and instead suggests it is down for Messi not being a leader. 

Classic Teso

 

Quote

 

as for messi! quit excusing that spineless midget! One thing has been proven, he aint a leader like maradona. 

Messi and argentina have lost THREE finals and people have the audacity of puttingmessi in the same category as pele andmaradona his numbers and achievements are all because of the barcelona system.

 

the only difference is thatMaradona single-handedly won trophies for Argentina, unlikeMessi. i fucking knew it that Sampioli would fail.

 

messi is irrelevant. He will never be as great asMaradona and shouldnt even be mention in the same category! why has he failed with the national team?

 

Messi WILL never be as clutch asmaradona.

 

 

 

 

[SirBalon]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

Argentina's only goals during qualifiers for the past 11 months have come from Messi.

Yet you have imbeciles like below who have a powerful personal vendetta that refute the simple fact that Messi is carrying a bunch of has-beens and instead suggests it is down for Messi not being a leader. 

Classic Teso

 

 

Maradona is my ultimate football idol (forgetting his character which is despicable)...  But to compare the two is beyond stupidity!

Everyone went on about when Argentina won the World Cup in 1986 (Mexico) and how he won it on his own.  That team was a very good team indeed!  He was the star of the show, but then again someone always has to be in any outright victory, be it more or less.  In his case (Maradona), we're talking about one of the indisputable greatest players, if not the greatest of all time.  It's natural for him to have been the star!

Comparing him to Messi is ridiculous and what's for sure is that this present Argentina side is much more unbalanced than the 86 side.  I know because I lived through that one all the way through and what it evolved into which was a better team but a fading drug laden Maradona, hence no great feats.

What Messi has achieved is beyond dispute.  What he's evolved into by taking his side on his shoulders is paramount to legendary status even for his country alone.

 

[Guest]

Chile has presented a complaint to FIFA about Peru and Colombia match fixing.

Biggest sore losers in football. They didn't do their job, this is on them not us.