Confederations cup 15th-30th june

Turtwig · 17-06-2013 2:21am

Stephen Alkins comment on the Spain Tahiti game.
"God bless them!":D

RTE were fapping over Spain in the post match analysis. Talking about Uruguay as champions or some nonsense, if that Uruguay had played Spain the game may have been a lot tighter. Uruguay were woeful at times. Second goal was terrible defending and I feel sorry for Pedro. His run was the right thing, Cesc never spotted it instead he was able to feed Solado when that option should have been easily cover. Strange game footy.

Also, I loved K'nex when I was younger, still like it but not as much. Thanks for providing me with a genuine a laugh out loud moment at 2 am in the morning.:D

Cypher_sounds · 17-06-2013 4:38am

01 Casillas
03 Pique Booked
15 Ramos
17 Arbeloa Booked
18 Alba
08 Xavi (Martinez - 77' )
10 Fabregas (Cazorla - 65' )
16 Busquets
06 Iniesta
11 Pedro (Mata - 81' )
14 Soldado

Substitutes
12 Valdes
23 Reina
02 Albiol
05 Azpilicueta
19 Monreal
04 Martinez
20 Cazorla
21 Silva
22 Navas
07 Villa
09 Torres
13 Mata

This has got to be the best intrenational squad ever!

Look at that bench, I reckon the team on the bench could beat their actual first team. Embarrassment of riches.

larchielads · 17-06-2013 4:50am

Cypher_sounds wrote: »

01 Casillas
03 Pique Booked
15 Ramos
17 Arbeloa Booked
18 Alba
08 Xavi (Martinez - 77' )
10 Fabregas (Cazorla - 65' )
16 Busquets
06 Iniesta
11 Pedro (Mata - 81' )
14 Soldado

Substitutes
12 Valdes
23 Reina
02 Albiol
05 Azpilicueta
19 Monreal
04 Martinez
20 Cazorla
21 Silva
22 Navas
07 Villa
09 Torres
13 Mata

This has got to be the best intrenational squad ever!
and even alonso wasnt there tonite:eek:
Look at that bench, I reckon the team on the bench could beat their actual first team. Embarrassment of riches.

and even alonso wasnt there tonite

Rekop dog · 17-06-2013 4:58am

I think it's probably the best squad I've seen in my lifetime but thought the actual starting X1 was better a few years ago when the likes of Villa Torres and Puyol were at their peaks.

larchielads · 17-06-2013 5:03am

cassilas

arbeloa

pique----ramos----alba

bootskates

iniesta

xavi

pedro

mata

soldado

reina

azpilicueta

martinez----albiol----monreal

alonso

fabregas

navas

cazorla

silva

villa

thats some squad, have a jiggle about lads to see what 2 sets of teams u come up with

Giruilla · 17-06-2013 10:10am

Do people honestly find spanish football entertaining? they'll need to bring in a 'shot clock' after a while if everyone starts playing like this.

miralize · 17-06-2013 10:54am

I may be biased here, but hopefully Montoya takes at least a backup RB position in the squad for the national side. As long as Alves is playing ahead of him domestically though, I dont see it happening.

Andersonisgod · 17-06-2013 10:57am

miralize wrote: »

I may be biased here, but hopefully Montoya takes at least a backup RB position in the squad for the national side. As long as Alves is playing ahead of him domestically though, I dont see it happening.

He's had a very strong under 21 championship. Personally I think he will eventually make it as first choice at Barcelona and, eventually, Spain.

dfx- · 17-06-2013 11:28am

Giruilla wrote: »

Do people honestly find spanish football entertaining? they'll need to bring in a 'shot clock' after a while if everyone starts playing like this.

The national side? Extremely entertaining. very much so. If everyone could play like this, they would - but they can't.

Headshot · 17-06-2013 11:31am

dfx- wrote: »

The national side? Extremely entertaining. very much so.

No not most of the time, 2nd half last night for example.

Simpsons soccer is the best way to describ it

DenMan · 17-06-2013 11:38am

Best of luck to the lads from Tahiti tonight in the Confederations Cup against Nigeria! They are 138th in the FIFA World Rankings and qualified as winners of the Oceania Nations Cup. It is the first time they have ever qualified for a FIFA tournament. Best of luck boys!!!

Mint Sauce · 17-06-2013 11:41am

DenMan wrote: »

Best of luck to the lads from Tahiti tonight in the Confederations Cup against Nigeria! They are 138th in the FIFA World Rankings and qualified as winners of the Oceania Nations Cup. It is the first time they have ever qualified for a FIFA tournament. Best of luck boys!!!

At 29/1 could be worth a checky 50c bet.

DenMan · 17-06-2013 11:44am

They only have one professional player in the squad. He became the first player ever to leave Tahiti. He plays his club football in Greece. I'd say it's a very exciting time for the tiny little island in the South Pacific. Well done to them. It's a tremendous achievement! They have been listening to tapes with huge crowds to help them get used to playing in a much larger stadium!

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/fifaconfederationscup/story/2013/06/16/sp-confederations-cup-tahiti-nigeria-preview.html

Cypher_sounds · 17-06-2013 11:51am

miralize wrote: »

I may be biased here, but hopefully Montoya takes at least a backup RB position in the squad for the national side. As long as Alves is playing ahead of him domestically though, I dont see it happening.

Also I'd like to see Inigo Martinez slot into the cb position once Puyol hangs up his international boots. Been impressed with Martinez anytime ive seen him play last season for RS, solid cb for a 22 year old i rate him higher than Albiol at the moment.

miralize · 17-06-2013 11:54am

Cypher_sounds wrote: »

Also I'd like to see Inigo Martinez slot into the cb position once Puyol hangs up his international boots. Been impressed with Martinez anytime ive seen him play last season for RS, solid cb for a 22 year old i rate him higher than Albiol at the moment.

Hes supposedly also in line to replace Puyol at Barcelona this season. Been impressed with him too.

roanoke · 17-06-2013 12:20pm

Any word on who Nigeria are starting with? The rumour is that Spain are going to rest their entire team for the game v Tahiti. I could imagine Uruguay and Nigeria doing the same or similar.

Turtwig · 17-06-2013 12:22pm

roanoke wrote: »

Any word on who Nigeria are starting with? The rumour is that Spain are going to rest their entire team for the game v Tahiti. I could imagine Uruguay and Nigeria doing the same or similar.

Why would the do that when winning guarantees qualification?

Gbear · 17-06-2013 12:23pm

Headshot wrote: »

No not most of the time, 2nd half last night for example.

Simpsons soccer is the best way to describ it

I suppose the point is to win and not to entertain.

If Cavani had scored that header the game might've been more enjoyable for longer because Spain couldn't just pass the ball around the back 4.

What I'd say is that Spain's style is very entertaining when they're pushing forward. It's just that generally they blow teams away and usually rest on their laurels so that games with Spain in them often get boring.

SlickRic · 17-06-2013 12:28pm

it's not Spain's fault the games can be boring as a spectacle.

from the purists' point of view, yes, their play I'm sure has people exploding with excitement as we've seen on this thread.

but, the games often drag for the not-so-purist, and particularly those who don't support Spain. you can respect what they're doing, and I do, but the dominance of possession, while not really creating a host of chances, often produces games that are kinda shíte.

i don't understand what could be controversial about that point.

it's the opposition's fault for not being good enough, but it doesn't change the fact that the games can be boring.

Giruilla · 17-06-2013 12:54pm

I've seen Spain take a short corner kick and have the ball passed backwards 3 or 4 times to their goalkeeper before a single pass forward. Horrendous precedent to have in football.

They're a fantastic team to watch when needing a goal, but their 'sterile dominance' when drawing and ahead makes for awful games.
I know not every team can play like this now, but almost every team nowadays wants to copy the Spanish model..

SlickRic · 17-06-2013 1:14pm

Giruilla wrote: »

I've seen Spain take a short corner kick and have the ball passed backwards 3 or 4 times to their goalkeeper before a single pass forward. Horrendous precedent to have in football.

why?

it's actually smart tbf.

they're a bunch of midgets apart from Pique and Ramos really. why not keep the ball and wear out the opposition's legs more instead sometimes?

almost every team nowadays wants to copy the Spanish model.

they really don't.

did you not hear? the German 'model' is all the rage now

Rekop dog · 17-06-2013 1:15pm

I've got an out there suggestion for people who find them boring especially serial offenders like Headshot ect- don't watch their games. Why would you spend your free time watching something you're not enjoying?

I find them very entertaining personally and think people who don't are more into the drama element of the game than appreciating things like technical brilliance, which is fine but its not like someone is tieing you down and forcing you to watch them, so yeah don't constantly subject yourselves to things that bore you, seems daft to me.

citytillidie · 17-06-2013 1:39pm

Rekop dog wrote: »

I've got an out there suggestion for people who find them boring especially serial offenders like Headshot ect- don't watch their games. Why would you spend your free time watching something you're not enjoying?

I find them very entertaining personally and think people who don't are more into the drama element of the game than appreciating things like technical brilliance, which is fine but its not like someone is tieing you down and forcing you to watch them, so yeah don't constantly subject yourselves to things that bore you, seems daft to me.

Maybe people were watching it in the hope of another result like this
http://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/confederationscup/southafrica2009/results/match=66213/report.html

Andersonisgod · 17-06-2013 1:47pm

Giruilla wrote: »

I've seen Spain take a short corner kick and have the ball passed backwards 3 or 4 times to their goalkeeper before a single pass forward. Horrendous precedent to have in football.

They're a fantastic team to watch when needing a goal, but their 'sterile dominance' when drawing and ahead makes for awful games.
I know not every team can play like this now, but almost every team nowadays wants to copy the Spanish model..

And why wouldn't they want to copy the Spanish model? No side has won 3 major international tournaments in a row until this Spanish side did. They've been lauded the world over for their brand of football and rightly so.

I never understand people who say they don't enjoy Spain's brand of football or simply don't appreciate the brilliance of it. That first half performance was exhilarating, the second half a masterclass of controlling a game. Just imagine the hours, days, weeks, months and years of hard work that those Spanish players have put in to perfect their craft. 15 years ago it would have been unimaginable that a side so physically small could not only be one of the best teams in the world but the best team ever. Just stop and think for a moment how hard each Spanish player would have had to work to overcome the big man prejudice that has been prevalent in football for so long. Yes there have been outstanding small players before Spain but never so many in a single side. That some posters would rather praise players who haven't worked as hard to developing the technical aspects of their game, who are instead blessed with great size or pace rather than giving the due respect to players who have put in the effort to become masters of their craft, frankly it baffles me. This Spanish side, this culture forged at Barcelona, has changed football, as football fans we should be delighted that it's the players who work the hardest at perfecting their game that are getting their just rewards.

klose · 17-06-2013 2:29pm

Spain can be boring at times to watch like v france in the euros last summer for example but last night was fairly spectacular, theres nothing any team can really do by the time a player goes to pressure a spanish player on the ball hes already after passing it to someone else. Its easy on the eye and extremely efficient and pays dividends. Last night was the best ive seen em, was delighted seeing em take proper corners too for once. They could well go on to be dominent for many years with the players they have at their disposal and their youth teams looking equally as good. Think germany are the only team who are remotely close to em

Richard Hillman · 17-06-2013 2:42pm

Spain when they need a goal: YAAAAY!

Spain when they are 2-0 up: ZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

The pace of their play drops significantly after they go a goal up. They might as well be bringing the ball into the corner to waste time.

Giruilla · 17-06-2013 2:50pm

Richard Hillman wrote: »

They might as well be bringing the ball into the corner to waste time.

Yeah, I don't see the difference between doing this and passing it around their back four + CM in their own half constantly is. Yet one is greeted vitriolically and booed while the other is deemed 'pure' football.

I know there's massive difference there skill wise, but from an entertainment point of view they're essentially the same thing.

Omackeral · 17-06-2013 2:58pm

For all the people moaning about Spain just knocking it about... It's up to the other teams to figure out how to stop them. Why change a thing when it's winning tournaments non stop!??!

I don't get the hate for it at all. The feigning injury part of their game is disgusting, everything else is amazing. Sometimes you would like to see them take a few blasts at goal rather than pass it in but if I were a Spanish fan, I'd be delighted to play keep the ball while coasting 2-0 up.

tolosenc · 17-06-2013 3:05pm

Gbear wrote: »

I suppose the point is to win and not to entertain.

The Trappatoni philosophy, so.

It's amazing that hoofing it long and trying to get something is so despised, yet passing it around your back 4 for 75 minutes is revered. Neither are particularly entertaining. Give me Italy or Germany any day.

Gbear · 17-06-2013 3:08pm

tolosenc wrote: »

The Trappatoni philosophy, so.

It's amazing that hoofing it long and trying to get something is so despised, yet passing it around your back 4 for 75 minutes is revered. Neither are particularly entertaining. Give me Italy or Germany any day.

It's the other 15 minutes of the most magnificent quality that people talk about.

It's not Spain's fault that 15 minutes is usually all that is required.

Andersonisgod · 17-06-2013 3:10pm

tolosenc wrote: »

The Trappatoni philosophy, so.

It's amazing that hoofing it long and trying to get something is so despised, yet passing it around your back 4 for 75 minutes is revered. Neither are particularly entertaining. Give me Italy or Germany any day.

Ever notice how teams don't pass it around the back for very long against Spain? That's because of Spain's aggressive pressing game doesn't allow them to. Ever notice why not many teams press against Spain? Because they are afraid Spain will pick holes in them if their press isn't absolutely perfect. Maybe if teams had the same confidence in their own ability on the ball as Spain do, the confidence to win the ball back like Spain have and put in the work to become as technically brilliant as Spain are at all age groups then you can bet other teams would play the way Spain do, they just can't.

Giruilla · 17-06-2013 3:59pm

Andersonisgod wrote: »

Ever notice why not many teams press against Spain? Because they are afraid Spain will pick holes in them if their press isn't absolutely perfect.

I'd say thats actually more to do with them not having the strength and endurance Spain show to be able to do that to be honest...
They do try it, they just can't keep it up.

Andersonisgod · 17-06-2013 4:18pm

Giruilla wrote: »

I'd say thats actually more to do with them not having the strength and endurance Spain show to be able to do that to be honest...
They do try it, they just can't keep it up.

I agree Spain's strength and endurance is very impressive but it's also having the confidence to press as a team. It's having the confidence in your teammates to press with you, that the midfield and backline will also move up the pitch and that your defenders can handle a 1 vs 1 situation if needs be. It's also having the confidence in your ability, in that if you do win the ball up the pitch, you wont just lose it 5 seconds later.

Meglamonia · 17-06-2013 4:21pm

What do ye reckon tonight?6 or 7 nil would be my guess but could be over estimating how bad Tahiti are.

dsmythy · 17-06-2013 4:28pm

Well New Zealand beat Tahiti 3-0 and 2-0 recently so maybe slightly less.

Amirani · 17-06-2013 4:35pm

Chile Under 20s beat them 7-0.

Rekop dog · 17-06-2013 4:47pm

Probably the weakest team to ever play in a official International competition. Imagine Spain could do them for about 15 if they wanted to but doubt they'd embarrass them.

Richard Hillman · 17-06-2013 5:10pm

Rekop dog wrote: »

Probably the weakest team to ever play in a official International competition. Imagine Spain could do them for about 15 if they wanted to but doubt they'd embarrass them.

Unfortunately I think they will. Hopefully Mr Del Bosque will have a word with them. There is no problem in racking up a score of double figures but if they start taking the piss out of them by teasing them with the ball, it will be a bad situation. I think there are players in the Spanish team that will enjoy humiliating them.

dfx- · 17-06-2013 5:23pm

Headshot wrote: »

No not most of the time, 2nd half last night for example.

Simpsons soccer is the best way to describ it

There were still some exquisite football. Soldado could've had two more so it wasn't being kept at the back. The building and evolving of the triangles for 90 minutes is crushing..

Gbear · 17-06-2013 5:27pm

Aside from the intentional humiliation aspect, there's a chance for players to pad out their international goal tally.

If Torres plays he'll have a chance to climb a few places although scoring the 25 odd goals needed to reach David Villa is probably not that likely.:pac:

17-06-2013 5:46pm

tolosenc wrote: »

The Trappatoni philosophy, so.

It's amazing that hoofing it long and trying to get something is so despised, yet passing it around your back 4 for 75 minutes is revered. Neither are particularly entertaining. Give me Italy or Germany any day.

No his philosophy is not to lose

17-06-2013 5:52pm

Headshot wrote: »

No not most of the time, 2nd half last night for example.

Simpsons soccer is the best way to describ it

XAVI HOLDS IT......HHHHHhHOLDS IT!!!!

MarkY91 · 17-06-2013 6:15pm

find it so funny how people are moaning about the greatest international team of all time :L

Mint Sauce · 17-06-2013 7:45pm

I'm thinking do we totally write of Tahiti. They won one of the OFC games 9 or 10 nil, and Nigeria only arrived yesterday following flight and payment issues.

I'm not convienced they are as bad as people make them out.

Its not the first time there has been a giant killing at an international event.