National teams (Brazil, Italy, Argentina etc.)

[Djalminha]

I think the reason why the were passing the ball around in the last 2 minutes was greating towards the italien players and media. Also did you notice all the signs in the stadium saying "2-2 tia italia" this is nordic humor when it is the best...

The hold danish country is laughing at these pathetic italians and their medias....

[dramor]

italy can't whine about anything they played bad this Euro and got elimated and that is that. if they thought they deserved to go through they shouldn't have wasted so many points

[hari]

not only loosing points they were on the verge of loosing with that smashing comeback by sweden and against danes also everybody can see that danes were the better team.. so this exit of course they deserved it.

[dramor]

for italy's sake i hope they don't take this to hard and try to recover from this blow as soon as possible since competition is always nice (altough if italy will be elliminated again i will be laughing my ass off )

[A.Houston]

I think we all hoped they'd recover from the WC and turn out a better team...but they did the same thing and blamed everyone else for their premature exit. I guess with Trap at the helm that was difficult to change their style of play. Lippi is a brilliant manager, hopefully he'll bring out the best of the Azzurri. I'm just dumbfounded. Del Piero? C. Zanetti? Camoranesi? Camoranesi hasn't had a good season since the first half of the 02/03 season. Sheesh. If anything Cassano's reputation came out shining.

[Anton]

the anoying thing is the press might end up saving trapas job like for instance look at korea - they used the excuses that we were done by the refs - but they should have looked at the crap coaching - and then trapatoni escaped the sack - same thing is heppening here again - another excuse for trapa to hide behind!!

[HasanTristan]

Wake up call, Trapp's ass is fired allready and he is being replaced by Marcello Lippi.

[tsapa]

In football world there was an expression:"Strong clubs=Strong national team".
Today it's not the same.Let's take for example: Spain,Engalnd,Germany,Italy and Brazil. IMO Spanish league is the strongest from those mentioned above, but they have the weakest national team, why????
And "strong clubs=strong natinal team" sounds very logical to me.
If players play their games and have training sessions with Ronaldinho,Ronaldo,Beckham, etc....(there are a lot of great players in Spanish league), they should rise their playing level, but they don't....What's the problem? I don't think that Germany has better (or more experienced) players than Spain in each position, but their national team is stronger (in my opinion).
And this topic is not about Spain only (it's just an example), the same thing is Italy team, they are not like in early 1990's, and they have very strong football league......In contrast Brazil , I don't follow their national league, but their national team is great...And all their players play in Europe.
I can't explain it, maybe you can.....

[hari]

i think the talent has always been the same but it is the dedication and inspiration towards ur nation is wht u really need when playing.... u can see it from the performances of serbia & montengro during the WC qualifiers....

[Feliuk]

Yes and no.

If you look at FIFA's ranking only Brazil are stronger of the teams you have mentioned.
Normally rankins are rubbish when comparing teams from different continents, but when they are in the same continent it's a much fairer view.
IMO Spain,Engalnd,Germany,Italy could beat each other on the day nothing really separates them.Obviously I'm a bit biased being Spanish!!
Currently I think
Germany are still rebuilding and not a good team.
England live on too much Hype and still have a lot to prove.
Italy are also rebuilding and getting stronger.
Spain...well same as always politics interferes always.
Brazil have always had good footballers and them playing in Europe more over the last 20 years has meant they have the Brazilian flair, but more european control. (not sure if control is the word I'm looking for, maybe discipline is better?)

The same with African countries and even Australia.
These have improved IMO because they could always play football but had no real footballing discipline.
Most players or a lot anyway now play in Europe and that brings the discipline

[tsapa]

Originally Posted by Feliuk

Yes and no.
.........
The same with African countries and even Australia.
These have improved IMO because they could always play football but had no real footballing discipline.
Most players or a lot anyway now play in Europe and that brings the discipline

Exactly my point, although these countries don't have strong leagues (clubs) their national teams improved (they "learnt" in Europe). I agree. And the question is:"Why european national teams didn't?". They have a lot of "teachers"- south american players which are more technicials than european. I understand that it's not exactly as I express myself, but you got the point....
You are absolutely right about discipline- without discipline you'll never get good results....

[zepp]

I don't think that politics have a saying in the performance of National teams. When a player goes with a National team to a World Cup, wants to do his best. The only Spanish title was won with a Bask, a guy from Navarra, 2 Catalonians and 3 Galicians on the field... Not the most "Spanish" team we could line up, don't you think?

I think performance has to do with a lot of factors and you cannot explain it just with a reason like politics, stereotypical traits, talent or luck...

[Ricardo]

I think its to do with the influx of foreigners in the spanish league over the years. Look at some of the best players over the years:

RM: H.Sanchez, Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, R.Carlos, Beckham

Barca: Ronaldhino, Deco, Saviola, Laudrup, stoickov, Romario, Koeman

Depor: Bebeto, Mauro, Makaay, Andrade

Just an example of some world class players, some of which could win a game on their own.

Spain need match winners, and a strong defence
The only big profile players we have are Raul, Xavi,Casillas, Alonso and maybe Torres, of which Raul and Xavi might not even b fit for the tournament.

I know u dont win tournaments just with big names, but I believe u need big characters aswell as gifted players. Desire is also vital. I think sometimes Spain have been too relaxed and maybe a bit cocky... that has been their downfall many times.

The politics thing I dont know.. Buts its no secret that Spain has always been a divided country... whether that affects the players... I dont know!

[Donato]

I'd put Italy, Portugal, France, Czech Republic and Serbia Montenegro as the top current euro teams...

Brazil are just a law unto themselves

England are totally over-rated
Spain flatter to decieve
German can play well but tend to be too reliant on certain players, but they do have some youth coming through

[HasanTristan]

Originally Posted by hippykid

I'd put Italy, Portugal, France, Czech Republic and Serbia Montenegro as the top current euro teams...

Brazil are just a law unto themselves

England are totally over-rated
Spain flatter to decieve
German can play well but tend to be too reliant on certain players, but they do have some youth coming through

What about Argentina??