International sports bar

[StCapps]

instead of this letting garbage North American and Asian teams take spots from actually good soccer teams, just because they finished fourth in a garbage region or whatever.

So what you are saying is that second-tier nations should never get the opportunity to improve?
Reaching the finals is a massive boost both in public interest (therefore future players) and financial rewards.
The USA would give even less of a shit about soccer if they had not had all the easy qualifications. Instead, they are now ranked 30th in the world so would make your ''best teams in the world'' standard.
Football is a forward-thinking sport. That's why the world cup is second only to the Olympics in terms of worldwide viewing figures and football is the richest sport by far.
Your love for the football elite's status-quo would stifle the game and it would stagnate into an irrelevant little regional sport like ice hockey.

The diversity is our strength schtick is not why the sport is so popular at all, or why the Olympics are popular, that's just a dumb reason you like them, and are projecting on everyone else.

It forces them to step their game up to even qualify is an incentive to improve, allowing to qualify while being shit encourages stagnation.

[Montegriffo]

Italy will get another chance. In fact that might have been the first time they'd not qualified.
You can be sure the humiliation will bring them back stronger than ever.
In the meantime, Panama has had a massive boost to the game and were ranked 51st when they qualified so they weren't bums at the time.

At the end of the day, they qualified and Italy didn't. You couldn't even beat a sub-par Spain.

[StCapps]

Italy will get another chance. In fact that might have been the first time they'd not qualified.
You can be sure the humiliation will bring them back stronger than ever.
In the meantime, Panama has had a massive boost to the game and were ranked 51st when they qualified so they weren't bums at the time.

At the end of the day, they qualified and Italy didn't. You couldn't even beat a sub-par Spain.

Spain just choked, choking happens sometimes. Germany choked too, that doesn't mean they were that sub-par, they just went cold. Italy probably would have choked too, that doesn't mean they shouldn't have qualified though. They actually played good in the qualifying, until it was all on the line in a two game series, then they choked. But they shouldn't have to play for it when far shittier teams qualify in regions that are weak and doing shit in the qualifying.

[Speaker to Animals]

Seems to me soccer players have to choke themselves, and then fall on the field like they were injured by a guy who was fifteen feet away from them.

Hockey players just drop to the ice because the other guy slammed a fucking club into his throat.

Critical difference when comparing the sport of hockey with the child's game of soccer.

[StCapps]

Soccer is ultimate choke sport too, easier to choke in soccer than any other major team sport. Lowest scoring single game playoff structure is the biggest reason why.

[Speaker to Animals]

I take that back. If Donkey Kong and Starcraft can be "sports", then so can soccer. It's just a sport for children and those guys who just can't make it in the gym.

[Fife]

[Montegriffo]

Italy will get another chance. In fact that might have been the first time they'd not qualified.
You can be sure the humiliation will bring them back stronger than ever.
In the meantime, Panama has had a massive boost to the game and were ranked 51st when they qualified so they weren't bums at the time.

At the end of the day, they qualified and Italy didn't. You couldn't even beat a sub-par Spain.

Spain just choked, choking happens sometimes. Germany choked too, that doesn't mean they were that sub-par, they just went cold. Italy probably would have choked too, that doesn't mean they shouldn't have qualified though. They actually played good in the qualifying, until it was all on the line in a two game series, then they choked. But they shouldn't have to play for it when far shittier teams qualify in regions that are weak and doing shit in the qualifying.

Germany certainly were sub-par. They turned up with one of the youngest teams in the competition (only Nigeria had a lower av age).
They lost to Mexico and South Korea without scoring a goal and crashed out in the group stage.
Germany and England sent young teams with their eyes more on 2022 than 2018. That's why everyone was so surprised by England's success.

[StCapps]

Italy will get another chance. In fact that might have been the first time they'd not qualified.
You can be sure the humiliation will bring them back stronger than ever.
In the meantime, Panama has had a massive boost to the game and were ranked 51st when they qualified so they weren't bums at the time.

At the end of the day, they qualified and Italy didn't. You couldn't even beat a sub-par Spain.

Spain just choked, choking happens sometimes. Germany choked too, that doesn't mean they were that sub-par, they just went cold. Italy probably would have choked too, that doesn't mean they shouldn't have qualified though. They actually played good in the qualifying, until it was all on the line in a two game series, then they choked. But they shouldn't have to play for it when far shittier teams qualify in regions that are weak and doing shit in the qualifying.

Germany certainly were sub-par. They turned up with one of the youngest teams in the competition (only Nigeria had a lower av age).
They lost to Mexico and South Korea without scoring a goal and crashed out in the group stage.
Germany and England sent young teams with their eyes more on 2022 than 2018. That's why everyone was so surprised by England's success.

Sub-par for Germany is not as bad as the result indicated, it was more of a choke, than playing to expected performance. Germany getting bounced in the Group Stage was far more surprising than England getting an easy run and doing better than expected.

[Montegriffo]

Don't let Hastur hear you say that England had an easy route to the semi-final.