Re-emergence of the lesser nations?

peeve · 17-10-2002 2:04pm #1

Wales beat Italy, Macedonia hold England, Faroe Islands unlucky to draw with Scotland, then scare the mighty(world cup finalists) germans in their own backyard....lowly switzerland humble the irish...are we seeing a re-emergence of the lesser nations? Were the achievements of South Korea and Senegal down to luck? Are the bigger nations suffering from a world cup hangover?

peeve · 17-10-2002 2:06pm

Or am i going crazy?

Sposs · 17-10-2002 2:38pm

yep your crazy

Nah agree with ya ,i think it's just that so called smaller nations are not just rolling over to bigger countries anymore and more and more are starting to believe that they can actually get a result against stronger teams.

Congoose · 17-10-2002 4:22pm

The lesser nations are improving but that doesn't fully explain the kind of results they've been getting. I think the bigger nations aren't nearly as strong as they were even ten years ago.

Italy were beaten by a better Welsh team. Wales have come on alot, but there's no way they would have been any match for the Italy team of USA '94 or before.

Kone · 17-10-2002 4:22pm

and it's great to see it happening too!

Gelmir · 17-10-2002 4:39pm

b****x! wait till Italy hockey Wales 5-0 in the return leg. That'll put a stop to any renaissance in Welsh soccer

MisterAnarchy · 17-10-2002 4:44pm

The standard of football has dropped rapidly in recent years.
If you have a good defence and organise your team well now it is difficult to lose .
Most countries will try and pass their way to goal .
If you pack the box as the lesser nations are doing and mark tightly then the passing options are reduced .
To overcome the tight marking you need players capable of dribbling and beating a man to free up space.
In todays game these players are few and far between.
How many Irish players can beat a man .Duff alone.
Most of the european international matches are awful to watch bar Spain and France.
Oh for the days when Maradona would leave 5 men on the flat of their asses.

smackbunnybaby · 17-10-2002 5:40pm

i think its down to the lesser countries exporting their players to foreign leagues.they are being exposed to a better standard of football each week.for example teams like senegal(and this goes for most african nations) all play week in week out in the french league.

slovakia looked very impressive going forward against england and looked physically stronger.last night was the same,switzerland were strong players,no push overs.alot of the emerging nations are reaching a very respectable standard of football and when you get to this standard it takes a creative player to make the difference to break them down.at the moment too many average players are being produced in the leading nations.

mike65 · 17-10-2002 6:39pm

The gap is plainly narrowing, partly because of standards rising in lesser nations but also because players with the major nations are playing ever more football, its rare you get a fully fit sqaud of quality footballers these days.

Mike.

peeve · 17-10-2002 7:12pm

But isnt it better that the gap is narrowing? Ya, i agree that the standard of the matches is falling but that's due to the number of matches that international players play...i never thought the day would come when i'd be complaining that there was too much football..i would gladly reduce the number of games for better matches. But back to the point,i'm delighted that the lesser teams are improving..come on,who likes watching san marino 9-0? It's just not fun anymore!

Re-emergence of the lesser nations?

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