I agree Europe cannot expect the World Cup to fit in with their league arrangements ALL the time. It already is a global game it just needs to share its favours based on football credentials not money. If only! is the answer sadly because the game is already dominated by money as we can see all too clearly in the Premier League as the billionaires take it over.
It’s a World Cup I like the fact that players abilities get tested in different environments. There's always issues with how governments are treating their people I recall watching a documentary about the WC in S Africa and how just around the corner from the razzmatazz of a World Cup there were people living in tin cans. Why did the US get the World Cup…they still do the death penalty and they certainly weren’t a nation rich in football culture…even today football aka soccer isn’t their number 1 game. etc etc looking forward to the WC personally…so long as there are no Vuvuzelas, I think it will be fine.
A quick breakdown of summer leagues who had players in the 2018 World Cup Europe Austrian League: 1 Croatia, 1 Korea Serbian League: 2 Serbia Croatian League: 2 Croatia, 1 Switzerland Polish League: 4 Poland Romanian League: 1 Panama Bulgarian League: 1 Poland, 1 Iceland Slovakian League: 1 Panama Danish League: 2 Denmark, 1 Sweden, 1 Iceland, 1 Peru Swedish League: 1 Iceland, 1 Costa Rica, 1 Iran Norwegian League: 1 Iceland Finnish League: 1 Egypt Icelandic League: 1 Iceland North America Liga MX: 1 Argentina, 2 Uruguay, 9 Mexico, 1 Japan, 6 Peru, 1 Panama MLS: 3 Mexico, 2 Colombia, 1 Sweden, 2 Peru, 5 Costa Rica, 5 Panama Costa Rican League: 7 Costa Rica, 1 Panama Panamanian League: 3 Panama Honduran League: 1 Panama Guatemalan League: 1 Panama South America Brazilian League: 3 Brazil, 2 Uruguay, 1 Colombia, 3 Peru Argentine League: 4 Argentina, 3 Uruguay, 2 Colombia Uruguayan League: 2 Uruguay Colombian League: 3 Colombia, 1 Peru, 1 Costa Rica Chilean League: 1 Panama Peruvian League: 5 Peru, 1 Panama Paraguayan League: 1 Colombia Asia Chinese Super League: 1 Brazil, 2 Belgium, 1 Portugal, 1 Korea, 2 Nigeria J-League: 8 Japan, 5 Korea, 2 Australia K-League: 12 Korea, 1 Australia On top of that, the following clubs all lost three players: Boca Juniors, River Plate, Independiente, LAFC, Club America, Tigres, Pachuca, Veracruz, Urawa Red Diamonds, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Ulsan Hyundai, Deportivo Saprissa, Alajelense
Now do the winter leagues. It's not even remotely comparable. None of the South or Central American leagues count either, as they'll overlap in both. That leaves you with three Asian countries, some **** European ones and about 50 players.
It is comparable, though, for the simple reason that for decades football tournaments have been scheduled to suit a handful of European leagues - namely the English, Spanish, Italian, French and German leagues, which by coincidence also helps out the Dutch and Portuguese leagues - and everyone else is on their own For an obvious recent example, remember that Russia's run to the Euro 2008 semis took place in the middle of the Russian season, yet not a single pundit bemoaned the fact the tournament was taking place in the middle of their season, just like no pundits bemoan how Danish or Swedish teams often look knackered in the Champions League as their English/Spanish/German/Italian/French opponents were in pre-season training while they were in the business end of their domestic season It's like the moaning about Qatar being a winter World CUp, somehow ignoring the fact that the 2010 and 2014 tournaments just so happened to be taking place in winter, but because it;s summer in Western Europe that obviously means it is in South Africa or Brazil
Qatar is a joke World Cup. They bought it. They also said that it wouldn't have to move to the schedule that it's now on. It's a very small dictatorship run by scumbags and it's insulting that it's being played there.
South Africa bought their WC, which really was a joke as the entire bidding process for that one was geared to making sure they got it so FIFA saved face...which the rest of the world appreciated when the vuvuzelas piped up. Seriously, who bribes somebody for something they already have in the bag? It's like tipping a bus driver £5 to drop you off at your stop In terms of the World Cup being hosted by a dictatorship, 1934 and 1978 are genuine examples of a dictatorship hosting the tournament, and I wouldn't be quick to rule out the 2026 tournament also being hosted by a dictatorship one way or another...
Ben Foster apologises to Spurs fans for wasting time. He admits he wasted more time against us than any other club. Tosser.
