The_Rev Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Depends on how Brazil organise the competition. If they are feeling devious they might arrange it so that Spain have to travel 1000 miles between every fixture while they stay in Rio for the entire tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 2, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 2, 2012 Regardless of underhand behaviour, I think Spain's biggest problem in 2014 is the location. 84 years of history is against them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 80 years of history was against them in South Africa though. Didn't mean shit then. I think the law of averages will get them sooner or later though, three in a row was a huge deal because it is so difficult to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 2, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 2, 2012 So who was going to win the first African world cup, an African country? History wasn't against them. South Africa was a first. No-one from Europe has ever gone into Brazil or Argentina's back yard and come away with anything. Even Brazil have only ever managed once to come to Europe and win it ('58). History says Europe and South America tend to win in their own territory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 But before people just changed the statement slightly. No European country had ever won a world cup played outside of Europe. Now it's no European country has won in South America. If one wins in 2014 then people will just find some other thing that has yet to be broken to talk about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Depends on how Brazil organise the competition. If they are feeling devious they might arrange it so that Spain have to travel 1000 miles between every fixture while they stay in Rio for the entire tournament. its already been arranged which groups will play where, Brazil wont play in Rio until the final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted July 2, 2012 Moderator Share Posted July 2, 2012 Well all I originally said was the locaton is their biggest problem and I still believe that's the case. If they go to Brazil and win the world cup then it'll be the greatest achievement ever in football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 They were lucky against Germany in 2008 and a shocking performance by Howard Webb in 2010 helped them. Shouldn't De Jong have been sent off really early in the game? I think the hardest part of the question is judging different eras and how you define best or what the question actually means. Is the question: Would Brazil 1970 beat Spain 2012, or were Brazil 1970 more dominant in football back then compared to how dominant Spain are now? If it's the former, the current Spain team are the best ever in my opinion. If it's the latter, any England team between the 1880s and WW1 would probably have a decent arguement for being the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Can I claim that I discovered Xavi? When I started to play FM I always bought him from Barcelona as they never wanted to keep him. And that was before he became as good as he is now. I think I'm destined to be a scout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS-T Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I discovered Balotelli on FM (signed him on loan for Villa.) I was shocked when I found out he was black When Barca had Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Deco what was Xavi doing? He wasn't really talked about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RunRickyRun Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Can I claim that I discovered Xavi? When I started to play FM I always bought him from Barcelona as they never wanted to keep him. And that was before he became as good as he is now. I think I'm destined to be a scout. Sorry mate. I signed him on Championship manager (before FM - think it was 97/98 version) but converted him to a central defender :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 When Barca had Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Deco what was Xavi doing? He wasn't really talked about. he was starting every week with Deco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I discovered Balotelli on FM (signed him on loan for Villa.) I was shocked when I found out he was black When Barca had Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Deco what was Xavi doing? He wasn't really talked about. Serious question; how old are you? Xavi was a teenage prodigy when he first broke into the Barcelona team aged 18-19 and has been very highly rated ever since. Balotelli has been a high profile first team player since he was about 17 and about as famous as Wayne Rooney was at that age. When did you discover he was black? When he signed for City? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurtsimonw Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Yeah Xavi has played 30+ games in 12 of the last 13 seasons going back to when he was 19. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS-T Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I discovered Balotelli on FM (signed him on loan for Villa.) I was shocked when I found out he was black When Barca had Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Deco what was Xavi doing? He wasn't really talked about. Serious question; how old are you? Xavi was a teenage prodigy when he first broke into the Barcelona team aged 18-19 and has been very highly rated ever since. Balotelli has been a high profile first team player since he was about 17 and about as famous as Wayne Rooney was at that age. When did you discover he was black? When he signed for City? I had heard of Xavi but he wasn't really talked about like he is now and he must have been about 26 or something. I just saw him as an average squad player. I signed Balotelli before he was famous in real life. I found out he was black through Google and when he was first being talked about at Inter Milan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Under other nationality on FM didn't Ghanaian give it away lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Heard a few people mention the total football Dutch side of the mid 1970s. No chance, they didnt win anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pelle Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Can I claim that I discovered Xavi? When I started to play FM I always bought him from Barcelona as they never wanted to keep him. And that was before he became as good as he is now. I think I'm destined to be a scout. Sorry mate. I signed him on Championship manager (before FM - think it was 97/98 version) but converted him to a central defender :oops: Well, I meant CM but thought there'd be some who hadn't heard of it... I did mean CM, just don't know why I wrote FM. I had him as playmaker, so I'm still the man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I had heard of Xavi but he wasn't really talked about like he is now and he must have been about 26 or something. I just saw him as an average squad player. Really? The guy has been in the Barcelona team since he was a teenager, he has been a full Spanish international for more than ten years. He has always been seen as the Spanish Paul Scholes as far as I am aware. and shows the quality that Xavi was showing even as a youngster. Of course Barcelona have been getting more press recently as they have been winning so much but I am reading your comments as you think the world only noticed Xavi was world class on the same day that you did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted July 3, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted July 3, 2012 I get the feeling TRS-T didn't realise the world spread beyond the shores of the Uk until a few years ago... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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