International Thread Part Trois

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Tintin said:
I thought this was a good story

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/nov/17/fara-williams-football-homeless
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Yes, I found out about an England player who was/had been homeless from an article last year. It's amazing that she felt so ashamed she couldn't let people know. It made me realise that everyone is actually a couple of small accidents and circumstances away from the gutter. Although I was sad for her, it helped me appreciate the richness and relative safety of my life.
 
Apparently Wales are ranked above England at 9th. Pleased for Wales and how they may qualify for their first big tournament since the 50s and I know we are not a truly top side anymore, but how exactly is this correct. Even if we failed miserably at the last WC, we did qualify and are in line to qualify easily for the Europeans. Must be some very strange points system used.
 
fran-MLs little camera said:
Apparently Wales are ranked above England at 9th. Pleased for Wales and how they may qualify for their first big tournament since the 50s and I know we are not a truly top side anymore, but how exactly is this correct. Even if we failed miserably at the last WC, we did qualify and are in line to qualify easily for the Europeans. Must be some very strange points system used.
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The rankings take an average over time that favours competitive matches highly.

Friendly matches are worth so little that drawing against Belgium in a qualifier is worth more points than beating Republic of Ireland in a friendly for example.

Wales don't play friendlies as they know that it will drag down their average.

England played friendlies against Republic of Ireland and Italy and failed to win either thus losing points from our average.

Every team is aware of the system and Wales and Romania are just two of the teams that are taking advantage.
 
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The rankings take an average over time that favours competitive matches highly.
Friendly matches are worth so little that drawing against Belgium in a qualifier is worth more points than beating Republic of Ireland in a friendly for example.

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As it should be. England are more about making money than rankings, so they won't be too unhappy with this.
 
fran-MLs little camera said:
Apparently Wales are ranked above England at 9th. Pleased for Wales and how they may qualify for their first big tournament since the 50s and I know we are not a truly top side anymore, but how exactly is this correct. Even if we failed miserably at the last WC, we did qualify and are in line to qualify easily for the Europeans. Must be some very strange points system used.
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As long as we live in a world where Spain and France aren't even in the top ten, and below England in the rankings, it's a worthless system. Infact, as long as England are in the top ten teams in the world, that ranking system has no credibility. I know Spain have had a nightmare last tournament, but come on. I could come up with a more accurate top ten by taking a rough guess based on my little knowledge of players and recent tournament results.
 
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