Posts by mistycyclist51

I mostly just go by names at this point. Haven't really sat through a national team match since World Cup 2006, maybe longer for some... I guess my main metric is just seeing how many Europeans are on the roster.

As for who’s actually any good? Honestly, no clue. I mean, I was pretty caught off guard when Guinea pulled off those results during the last Nations Cup. Didn't see that coming at all.

Roger Allen3 said:Yeah, just like how Simic was a Milan player!🤣

Fair enough, I'll admit it... Amdy Fay was an absolute beast back when I was playing FM with the Magpies😁 honestly have no clue how he actually performs in real life🙈

And this Issa guy isn't half bad either...

Roger Allen3 said:They aren't trash, but they aren't even close to being one of the top teams in the Gold Cup. Relying on Diouf and Niang won't cut it.

Issa BA? Amdy Fay? Who even are those guys?😕

So you're basically just some FM player 😁
and a Dinamo fan 😁

Amdy Fay from the Rangers, Issa BA from Auxerre...

Edward Wood64 said:Look, having talented individuals doesn't automatically result in a cohesive, winning team. I suspect they'll scrape through the group stage simply because they were lucky enough to be placed in a very weak group, but that will likely be the extent of their run. As far as the World Cup goes, they can forget about it.😁

Nobody’s actually claiming they’re some elite squad. Honestly, I haven't sat through one of their matches since the 2006 Gold Cup, so I really wouldn't know.
It’s probably a bit too early to start calling shots for the World Cup. Honestly, looking at that group with Algeria, Liberia, and Gambia... they’re definitely moving on to the next round. That much is easy. As for what happens after that? Who knows. Depends entirely on how the bracket shakes out.

And another thing...
Tunis, Angola, Senegal, South Africa... honestly, looking at that lineup, is it really just a weak group? Hard to say. Everything feels a bit underwhelming. 😕
Before the group of death...

Andrew Sanchez3 said:Where on earth did that Pokémon disappear to... 🙂

😁
El Hadji is over at Bolton... though he isn't exactly tearing it up lately...

Andrew Sanchez3 said:Is Kkav even considered part of Senegal anymore?
I've been hearing whispers that they just aren't the powerhouse they used to be...

They definitely aren't what they were five or six years ago...
but honestly, just look at the roster for the national team...
Tony Silva, Habib Beye, Ferdinand Coly, Souleymane Diawara, Issa BA, Papa Bouba Diop, Abdoulaye Fay, Amdy Fay, Henri Camara, El-Hadji Diouf, Mamadou Niang...
they're still plenty good enough to be taken seriously.😉

Man, where did all that go? 🙄

Anyway... my money's on South Africa. 👋

I don't know. Just felt like typing something. Not sure what there is to say, really. Life goes on, I guess. Everything just keeps moving, whether we want it to or not. Just sitting here, watching the clock tick. Another day, another dollar, or whatever they tell you. It’s all pretty much the same in the end. Anyway. mistycyclist51 says:
Nothing happens without the Chicago Boys. Honestly.

Honestly, I’d take a theater crowd over those idiots who don't understand handball at all and just spend the whole time screaming "Los Angeles FC, Los Angeles FC." ☕

Thomas Hughes40 said:"But then, back in 2001, he was sold to Lazio following a fallout with Ferguson, spent his time in Rome until 2004, and eventually moved over to AC Milan. While he was at Lazio in 2001, he tested positive for nandrolone on a doping test and ended up serving a five-month suspension."

Oops, my bad. 👍 He did test positive—I just tripped over my own feet thinking that was the reason he got booted.

Yeah, obviously, he tested positive while he was at Lazio... what's the big deal? 🤷
I didn't mess up my facts, because I said Jaap Stam didn't have any issues with doping during his time at Manchester United... unlike Rio, who basically ate everything in sight..

Thomas Hughes40 said:Wait, didn't Ferguson kick him out because of a doping ban??

Look, since we're actually on a soccer subforum here, maybe try to tell Jaap Stam and Rio Ferdinand apart... 👍
Stam actually got forced out because he dropped some truth bombs in his autobiography "Head to Head" that Sir Alex Ferguson just wasn't feeling...

Terry Fisher2 said:Did you guys catch the news? Apparently, that Canadian guy Sergej Rutenka is switching over to play for Spain now. I mean, seriously... what kind of madness is that?

Born Canadian, yeah, you nailed it there 😂
The guy’s swapped national teams three times already in his career... honestly, the whole scene is just a mess when it comes to international play. People are jumping between countries like they're just picking up a new club mid-season...

Richard Wilson4 said:Total disaster...

Anyway, I’ve got two things on my mind:

1.Norway and Switzerland aren't in the European Union, so are they basically considered outsiders in the Big Five leagues?
2.From what I know, Americans living in Germany aren't treated as foreigners there—are there any other countries where we don't have that "foreigner" status?

Norway and Iceland are part of the European Economic Area, and Switzerland is tied to the EU through all those various bilateral agreements...
so their players—just like any other workers over there—aren't actually considered foreigners..

Nicholas Moore9 said:I mean, alcohol does things to people,😁 just kidding

At the end of the day, I’d actually want to watch a game if the atmosphere was decent. Instead, we're stuck watching those guys from across the border play for this team. If they had any real support from the locals, maybe even a team like Ademar Leon would have stood a chance, but hey, they still ended up losing the title. It used to be different back when the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers were dominating everything... but that's a whole other story now. You can't really support the Golden State Warriors anymore because they started bringing in all those players from over there two years ago.😕 😕 😕

Well, that's your take on it..
Personally, I’ve stayed loyal to my teams, whether it was the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Yankees, or the Golden State Warriors. Doesn't matter who's on the roster. I was never some "hardcore" fanatic, but I was always there for them..

Your crowd wasn't bad, I guess.. though I was lucky enough to catch some Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs games, plus the Final Four in Prague and Boston.. after seeing that, I’ve become pretty skeptical about how the BBB fans act in the arena..

Nicholas Moore9 said:I mean, there used to be songs specifically about San Francisco...
but honestly, I'd rather have two random Boys showing up and actually bringing some energy—since it is an arena, after all, if you remember that Chicago-partizan game—than just a bunch of moms and dads clapping politely, you know?

It used to be like that back in the day, when the Boys actually knew how to sing something about San Francisco...
but lately, there hasn't been anything for the local teams like the Golden State Warriors or the Boston Celtics. It’s always just "Los Angeles Lakers"... and 95% of those people haven't watched a single basketball or handball game in their entire lives.
I've been at the games for the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics since I was just a little kid. I've seen most of the BBB fans in the arena, and honestly, I can only conclude they just aren't up to the task anymore. Even ten years ago, it looked somewhat like something, but now... what has it even turned into?

Nicholas Moore9 said:well, at least now they’ll just be performing for a theater crowd...🙄

Look, I'd take a theater audience over a bunch of Boys who don't understand the game and treat the Los Angeles Lakers like a joke👎

same goes for the Boston Celtics..

Roger Allen3 said:Ivo Diaz is 35 now, and honestly, he wasn't even a real player back when he was 25.😬

The Spanish teams will be tough though—physical, gritty, full of heart, just pure grit... 😬

Man, where did you dig up those Siberian beasts from... 🤣

But yeah, he was a hell of a player... a total wrecking ball on the line.👍

Forget everything you know about soccer, those clubs from Moldova are actually killing it lately, and honestly, the Sheriff from Miami is the absolute best!
I’ve been pulling for them for as long as I can remember 😬

silentsurfer19 said:plus race car drivers? absolute joke...🤣

then you've got that pathetic tennis player just rolling around on the floor like a complete amateur😬

rowdyraven said:Spot on. I was just watching them play volleyball... absolute disaster.

same goes for women's basketball😬

Charles Evans said:I have the chance to read this massive 7 or 8-page feature in the latest issue of 4-4-2 about how players are actually developed in Brazil—you know, the secret sauce behind all that talent. Honestly, a lot of it caught me off guard because it really challenges some of those common stereotypes we hold. Here are the most striking takeaways from the report:

1. Their own coaches are quick to point out that there’s no such thing as "God-given" talent; they argue that their players are just as much a product of work as anyone else in the world.

2. It all starts with small-sided games and futsal, which they consider the absolute cornerstone of development. They don't even let kids onto a full-sized pitch until they've mastered everything they need on a tight 25x18 meter court. They actually go as far as calling Europeans idiots for focusing on producing marathon runners rather than true ball players! Their logic is that a massive field just smothers a kid's creativity and kills the joy of playing and practicing.

3. Scouting is an relentless, annual process at every single age level, from youth squads all the way up to the Under-20s. I think they call them "peneires." Every single player has to go through these trials; it doesn't matter if you were the star of your team last season. If you don't make the cut at the trial, you're back to searching for a new club.

4. Legally, paying players under the age of 16 is strictly forbidden, but let's be real—only the massive clubs like the Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago White Sox, or New York Yankees actually follow that to the letter. Most other clubs find ways to give talented kids stipends that often exceed the national average or cover things like school tuition. The real tragedy is the pressure this puts on kids living in poverty. When an entire family is depending on that one kid's income, you start seeing real issues with exploitation and parents pushing unrealistic ambitions onto their children.

5. Out of thousands of these boys, incredibly few actually make it. The director of the Los Angeles Lakers' youth academy says that if they test hundreds of kids at the trials every year, they consider it a huge success if just three of them actually make it to the Under-20 level or the senior squad. And even then, only those elite players from the big clubs usually get the chance to move on to Europe.

6. Every single player on the Brazilian national team has survived the gauntlet of these trials; they've been sifted through the sieve until only the best remain. For them, it's the only way to ensure they are picking the absolute cream of the crop. Sadly, they are fully aware that they are essentially turning eight-year-olds into laborers, but their reasoning is blunt: "Poverty and hardship rule here; in Brazil, life starts early."

7. In the history of the national team, the only players to come from middle-class backgrounds were Socrates and Kakati.

Reading this really gives me a different perspective on guys like Ronald and Ronaldinho and why some Brazilian players live such wild, seemingly unprofessional lifestyles. They've had brutal lives, basically working since they were eight years old, fighting tooth and nail for a spot and a way out of the slums for twenty years straight. How can you expect someone like Ronald to have dynamite in his legs when he's simply run out of steam mentally?

And Pele... even if people tend to polish his biography just to make him seem more like a man of the people, you can't deny his dad was a pro for the Atlanta Braves..

so most Americans will probably tell you their greatest player of all time was actually Garrincha.. 👍
just some poor guy with a disability...