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The 2013-2014 Football Thread

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For those who missed the thrilling climax to CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying, it came down to the wire but Mexico have qualified for a playoff with New Zealand - thanks to the USA.

Mexico lost to Costa Rica 2-1, and at the same time USA (with a reserve squad on the pitch) were playing out the closing minutes of a 2-1 loss to Panama. As things stood, Panama was set to slip ahead of Mexico and qualify for its first ever world cup...but then two injury time goals snatched a win for the USA and as a result Mexico squeaks ahead of Panama into fourth place, having qualified for the playoff despite having won only two of their ten group games! I'll be rooting for the Kiwis when they head to the Azteca next month. ;)

USA finished very strongly, winning 7 out of 10 of their hex group matches to top the group and earn the most favorable seeding for the WC draw in December. Klinsmann & co will be feeling confident about their campaign and now simply need to focus on picking the squad for the finals.
 
Fizzoid said:
So England qualify by winning their group and are off to Brazil. The media are already reporting there's less expectation on the team than in previous tournaments, so presumably people will expect them to do better ;)
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That might be a very good thing.:)

As if by complete contrast the Belgium media has gone completely off the scale. It's like they have already won the cup, any talk about doubt is shouted down by the rabid mob.:(

I remember how this can go terribly wrong Netherlands team were in EC88 winners, and the hype was high for the WC 1990. The team just coudn't handle the pressure and fell apart.:eek:
 

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Happybunny said:
That might be a very good thing.:)

As if by complete contrast the Belgium media has gone completely off the scale. It's like they have already won the cup, any talk about doubt is shouted down by the rabid mob.:(

I remember how this can go terribly wrong Netherlands team were in EC88 winners, and the hype was high for the WC 1990. The team just coudn't handle the pressure and fell apart.:eek:
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So Belgium are the new England eh? They'll be wheeling out all the old players next for a special TV feature and be constantly talking about the spirit of 1980 before it's discovered Fellaini has been sleeping with EBJT's wife...
 
oscillatewildly said:
But you are friends now
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They are pretty happy with the USA, for once. ;)

Anyway I had a Kiwi housemate once, and as such support New Zealand.

EDIT: Suarez flops outrageously in the recent Uruguay-Argentina WC qualifier and wins a penalty. It's a horrible dive, though such things are often looked at differently in South America...and surely people in England don't mind when Argentina get shafted by a cheat goal? ;) Suarez has curbed his diving in England somewhat, but it's clearly part of his DNA.
 
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swiftaw said:
Looking at the 8 teams who will make the UEFA playoffs as listed by September's FIFA rankings. Now, I believe they will be seeded using FIFA's October rankings meaning that they could be some change between Sweden, France, and Ukraine, but I think it's pretty safe to say that Croatia, Portugal, and Greece will be seeded and Romania and Iceland won't be. I really hope France remain unseeded - I'd love to see a France vs Portugal playoff so either France or CR7 gets to stay home next summer.


Croatia 10
Portugal 11
Greece 12
Sweden 22
---------------
France 25
Ukraine 26
Romania 31
Iceland 54
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So, the October rankings have been released:



Portugal 14
Greece 15
Croatia 18
Ukraine 20
---------------
France 21
Sweden 25
Romania 29
Iceland 46

So Ukraine leapfrogs into the seeded side of the draw, whereas France remains unseeded.

Also, since the October rankings will determine which 7 teams (along with Brazil) will be seeded in the main tournament draw we now know these teams will be:

Spain 1
Germany 2
Argentina 3
Colombia 4
Belgium 5
Uruguay 6* (Assuming they beat Jordan in the playoff, else it'll be Netherlands 8)
Switzerland 7

This means that the Netherlands (probably), Italy, and England will all be unseeded and will be in the same group as one of the seeds above (I guess everyone will hope for the Switzerland group).
 
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pachyderm said:
Usa...?
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13th if I recall, and thus unseeded. In a perfect world, we could end up in a group with Switzerland and avoid sharing it with the bigger unseeded teams. Otherwise, our chances of winning our group would be pretty small.

The group stage should be interesting, some of the unseeded teams are obviously strong so hopefully we'll see some tight matches.
 
Meanwhile, a couple of little bits of Hull City housekeeping...

You may remember the dispute with West Yorkshire Police and their handling of our away fixture at Huddersfield Town last season - well, the results of the independent review were published yesterday and came up with a number of recommendations for WYP's future conduct that they've agreed to adhere to. Their Chief Constable also states...

...I wish to apologise on behalf of West Yorkshire Police to all supporters and those who rightfully raised concerns on their behalf, for any upset or inconvenience caused.

Well, it's a start. However, nowhere in the review does it accept that there was no evidence whatsoever to support the Police's claim that our supporters were a risk to the public and the restrictions imposed upon us where necessary. This has led to a rather ace official statement from the club...

...we continue to fundamentally disagree with the views of both West Yorkshire Police and Northumbria Police that there were legitimate safety concerns surrounding this match. As a result of West Yorkshire Police’s erroneous view, the fact remains that both Hull City and Huddersfield Town fans suffered serious inconvenience and unwarranted disruption to the enjoyment of what was a crucial fixture in our pursuit of promotion to the Premier League. Not to recognise this error would seem to us to be a serious failing of the report and one that does not fundamentally demonstrate that West Yorkshire Police were wrong in characterising Hull City fans as potential hooligans.

That's them told, then. :p

One other little tidbit, this time relating to the 'No To Hull Tigers' campaign - it would seem that the matter has been discussed by the FA Council, as their meeting minutes make mention of the fact that any change to our playing name requires their full approval. Good to note that that's the case, and hopefully when the time comes for them to make their decision they'll listen to the opinions of supporters.
 
Hull City supports have a lot on their plate these days Jaffa. :eek: The police have hardly covered themselves with glory. As for the name change, is there any precedent of the FA council scuppering a proposed name change due to fan protests or any other reason for that matter?

Meanwhile, Liverpool looked sloppy today. Hardly top-o-the table form. To be fair, breaking down a team that puts 9 men behind the ball for more than half a game is not easy. But giving up a goal to such a team is inexcusable. Liverpool are lucky not to lose. A really frustrating result from Liverpool's point of view. That is a match that a title contender would have won.

Oh, and Suarez won a penalty but didn't dive today. Mark that one on your calendar. ;)
 
Lord Blackadder said:
As for the name change, is there any precedent of the FA council scuppering a proposed name change due to fan protests or any other reason for that matter?
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They're quite a rare occurrence, the last I can think of off the top of my head was a few years ago when Stevenage Borough gained promotion to the Football League and dropped 'Borough'.

However, about 10 years ago York City tried renaming themselves to "York City Soccer Club', with the idea that the US would throw its support and wealth behind the club. They even had a new crest made...

yorkcity2002.jpg

...which appeared on the shirts for a single season. The black and white checks were down to the chairman owning a motor sports team or something. I'm not 100% sure if it went before the FA before the owner was ousted and common sense prevailed, however.

Back in the early 1980s Coventry City mooted changing their name to Coventry Talbot (they were sponsored by car makers Talbot at the time), but this was rejected by the FA - a slightly different set of circumstances granted, as rules expressly prohibit team names including the monikers of sponsors.

I suppose the biggest backlash against a name change (and more) came about when Wimbledon became the MK Dons, and we all know how that turned out. :(
 
Seems like there isn't much in the way of precedent for Allam's proposed change...you certainly don't want to be lumped in with MK Dons!!!

I feel like Liverpool's draw today is the beginning of the inevitable decline where we sink towards our ultimate finishing position of 5th or 6th. More evidence suggesting that we'll stumble against the top teams...

Arsenal were impressive today. Their league campaign continues to look strong.
 
Oh wie ist das schön! :D


Hertha wins deservedly against Gladbach (!) and is placed 4th now. Today is a good day.
 
Well after the High points of International games it's back to the grind of the Eredivise.

Well it looks like many teams are not trying to win this Saturday.;)

Go Ahead Eagles 2 Feyenoord 2

Morally this is a Feyenoord loss, but because Ajax also couldn't win, it's not so bad.

Twente 1 Ajax 1

This was a match that Ajax really needed to win to get some distance on PSV.

SC Heerenveen 2 Vitesse 3

This was the match of the Saturday, Vitesse won it in injury time.

Sunday

Groningen 1 PSV 0

PSV really can't seen to find any sort of form, today they had plenty of possession but failed to score.:eek:

PEC Zwolle 6 ADO Den Haag 1

This more than made up for all the missed chance in the others matches. There was only one team on the pitch playing football.:D

The Stand

1 FC Twente 19
2 PSV 18
3 PEC 18
4 Ajax 18

The difference in places is due to goal difference.
 
The UEFA world cup playoff draw is official:

Sweden v Portugal
France v Ukraine
Greece v Romania
Iceland v Croatia

Underdogs Iceland will be facing a Croatia team in disarray...a pretty good draw for Iceland. France should be able to beat Ukraine, though given the way they got into (and played at) the last World Cup I think they deserve to sit this one out.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
The UEFA world cup playoff draw is official:

Sweden v Portugal
France v Ukraine
Greece v Romania
Iceland v Croatia

Underdogs Iceland will be facing a Croatia team in disarray...a pretty good draw for Iceland. France should be able to beat Ukraine, though given the way they got into (and played at) the last World Cup I think they deserve to sit this one out.
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This for me is the draw of these playoffs.
 
I haven't seen any Croatia match since the Europe Cup, but there, I liked them and would have liked to see some more of them.

Is it possible, that, if Sweden wins against Portugal, that they will be in the German group again? Hm, though I'd like Sweden, I do not know what to think of this :eek:

@ tweetie: would not have bet, that Hertha would win against (!)Gladbach(!), before the match. Goes very well for you a while now.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
Both teams are being touted as one-man affairs, so naturally this will be seen as Zlatan v Crispy Ronaldo. Maybe they should just play a 1 v 1 match (with goalkeepers, I guess) and dispense with the other 18 players? :D
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Just the two of them, barechested and sealed in a steel cage. If you're in any way serious about football you'll make it happen, FIFA.
 
Cox Orange said:
@ tweetie: would not have bet, that Hertha would win against (!)Gladbach(!), before the match. Goes very well for you a while now.
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Yes! It's unbelievable, Jos Luhukay is the perfect match for us. Decent squad with the right teamspirit and coach = good times!
Next matches are Bayern, Schalke and Hoffenheim though. Hopefully we can get away with 1-3 points. Bayern having CL ambitions and may be tired and Schalke has serious injury-problems so hopefully we can steal some points here and there. :D


Hope Mainz gets up again sooner than later!
 
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