The Beautiful Game Thread

[TripleCrown9]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Galatasaray won their league, so you know what that means!

Spoiler

[LionsFanNJ]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Its an election year, so Berlusconi is all in on convincing the Italian public Ancelotti is coming back to Milan. This is despite what Ancelotti says on taking a year off.

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

I couldn't find that old book thread, so I'll just leave this here.

Thirty-One Nil: On the Road With Football's Outsiders, A World Cup Odyssey by James Montague is a very entertaining read.

The author travels to all parts of the globe from the start of World Cup 2014 qualifying through the end. Some really interesting stuff in there including travelling with Palestine, a bunch of stuff about Bob Bradley's time in Egypt, historical ramifications of Croatia/Serbia, etc. He not only has access with team officials, but he also blends in with the supporters to get their perspective on things. Highly recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Thirty-One-Nil.../dp/1408158841

[dubcity]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Losing track of all of the U20/21 tournaments...

[KG]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Cool tribute to Pirlo posted by Juve (minus the PES sound effects)<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qv8i_qz21JU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[jvalverde88]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

I know the rule of thumb is to pay no mind to the FIFA rankings but can someone explain to me how Romania and Wales are ranked 8th and 10th respectively in the new FIFA rankings?

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

I know the rule of thumb is to pay no mind to the FIFA rankings but can someone explain to me how Romania and Wales are ranked 8th and 10th respectively in the new FIFA rankings?

Here's the thing though - this month's rankings determine the pots for the UEFA World Cup qualifying draw. Basically the FIFA rankings say "It's better to not qualify for the World Cup than it is to qualify for the World Cup and lose there." Hilarious.

http://www.espnfc.us/world-cup-qualifying-uefa/story/2492551/wales-and-romania-seeded-in-world-cup-qualifying-draw

Poland's decision to play a friendly against Greece on Tuesday lowers their coefficient to condemn them to pot 3. If they had not arranged the friendly they would have been in pot 2, but instead Bosnia-Herzegovina are in the higher pot

LOL

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Here are the pots:

http://sport.stv.tv/football/international/1324350-scotland-confirmed-in-third-pot-for-world-cup-2018-qualifying-draw/

Clearly recent European championship qualifiers have a huge impact on these. Faroe Islands beats Greece twice and they're suddenly in Pot 4. I'm rooting so hard for Romania/Austria/Northern Ireland/Faroe Islands/Moldova/San Marino.

[jb12780]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Fun fact: Moldova is most drunk nation per capita in the world.

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[Tovarich]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Fiji are in the Olympics next summer because New Zealand were banned hours before the final for using a player from South Africa in the semifinal.

[Bruins]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Fiji are in the Olympics next summer because New Zealand were banned hours before the final for using a player from South Africa in the semifinal.

This is curious, as the player (Deklan Wynne) has already appeared twice for the full national side, as well as just recently playing in the U-20 World Cup;

[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Shenanigans afoot. New Zealand went against OFC's agreement to all vote for Blatter in the recent election.

[jb12780]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Shenanigans afoot. New Zealand went against OFC's agreement to all vote for Blatter in the recent election.

That's awesome.

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[ImTellinTim]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Fox is playing Bundesliga on FS2, FS+, and Fox Soccer 2 Go. SMH.

[dubcity]

Re: The Beautiful Game Thread

Fox is playing Bundesliga on FS2, FS+, and Fox Soccer 2 Go. SMH.

Unless NASCAR truck series practice preempts it ...