That's why those teams that are able to do that are real champions indeed. Brazil, for example, or the French team some years ago.

The New Football Forum (?)
 

@ August:
The teams are national teams, players of different league teams, even from different countries - nationality counts. The teams have to fight for a place with the last 32 through regional competitions. After a preliminary round 16 countries will make the final round.

For instance, your country, the USA, is doing extremely well and is fourth on the FIFA ranking. It qualified and will have to play on June 12th against the Czechs, one of the strongest teams in the world. On June the 12th it meets Italy, a team that according Johan Cruijff cannot win from others, but others can lose from them. Finally they encounter Ghana on June 21st.
For more info: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

Winning the World Cup, even reaching the final round, creates a lot of prestige for a country, improvs its standing in the world and has an demonstratable and substantial positive effect on the economy of the participating countries and the psychological well being of the population.

I personally will be thoroughly sick and depressed if Holland will be kicked out in the primaries and extremely irritant and haunty if Holland will win the World Cup.
Almost as important as winning the World Cup is for us to beat Germany; we see that as a revanche for the German assault on Holland in the Second World War and the loss of the World Cup Final in 1972 against that same country...
:D

Wild stuff, thanks for the info guys.

Re: The New Football Forum (?)
 

It'S a tribal thing, yes, but two days ago there was a nice docu on TV about the effects on the economy, and the strange sharing of costs between FIFA and the hosting nation. The economical effects are very short-living, and their intensity is exaggerated. For the hosting nation it is more costs than benefits, economically and financially. The finacial benefit is with FIFA, almost exclusively. The finacial burden is the bigger for the hosting nation the earlier it'S team is being kicked out.

It is a common habit to implore the economical long-lasting effects for the better, but if one is looking at the real monetarian numbers of past championships, there is little truth in it, the authors concluded. the real big business is done by FIFA only. And as we see in the selling mode for tickets this time in Germany, the greed and ambition of FIFA's staff members in high ranking positions does not seem to know any limits. :down: Many Germans feel disgust for the way the business side is handled while we are the hosts. There also have been several scandals already that before not many would have expected from a Grman host. But what is that old saying again: money does not stink...

BTW, we did not assault the Netherlands in WWII. On our way to France they happened to lay in our way and so we just rolled over them relatively desinterested and there was not much the Dutch could do about that :D That's where the feelings of revenge are coming from, admit it! :-j the same motto was revived in that soccer slogan some years ago: "Wir fahren zur WM - ohne Holland!" :lol:

If England should win it, it'll top off a nice coup de grace after getting the rugby and then the ashes... :up:

Oh look...
http://stuarthughes.blogspot.com/flyingpig.jpg

The rugby world cup I presume? You did worse than my lot (Scotland) this year in the 6 nations ;)

NO!ABSOLUTLY NOT NO!I Have to put up with enough b******s about football on the telly.NO!

DONT LOWER THE TONE!

:damn: :damn: :damn: :damn: :damn: :damn: :damn:

Re: The New Football Forum (?)
 

Liar, your grandfather stole my mothers bike...
That trauma can only be healed by Holland beating Germany somewhere in the final round...
:D

Re: The New Football Forum (?)
 

I wonder what the bigger trauma is. The invasion of Holland in WW2 or the fact that Queen Beatrix had a German father and that she, just like her mum, married a German...

:D ;)

Come on Skybird. :roll:

Re: The New Football Forum (?)
 

On your way to France, as you say, 31.598 german soldiers died in the Netherlands.
There should be more, but we surender after the bombardments on Rotterdam, after which the Germans threaten to bomb other citty's.

PS: the 31.589 are the soldiers died between 1940 and the end of the war 1945.

And all that just for Abraham's mom's her bike...

There is obviously very black humour brought in by Abraham and me. Not good to try to bring that down by acid morals. Because black humour in the relation between Dutch and Germans in the present is much better than the religious and sometimes serious aggressiveness between their fans and ours. I never liked this serious attitude of aggression between German fans, and Austrian, British and Dutch fans. Soccer is not WWII, nor is it an opportunity to take revenge, or demand justice for historical events. It'S a game, not more. If Germans and Dutch would go into the stadium in a seriously well-meaning attitude on display - it would mean to turn the sports into something political. And that is the worst option of all, I think.

Re: The New Football Forum (?)
 

OK Gizzmoe.
The biggest trauma is losing the Final in 1974.
The second biggest trauma is the WW II.
We realise that our monarchy is basically German, and is at least 75% allochtone (=German).
Won't prevent us from beating the **** out of Germany when Oranje happens to meet Germany in the final rounds - which is unlikely, by the way...
:D

Re: The New Football Forum (?)
 

So little trust in your team?

Re: The New Football Forum (?)
 

You obviously missed my opening post of this thread (or didn't grasp its consequences). Here are the highlights again:
No misunderstanding possible!
:D