Other Games - 2017/18

[Flamingo Lane]

Just a question, but why would Poland be seeded higher than England?

An even more pertinent question would be how are Poland ranked higher than Spain?

[cdbearsfan]

The big question is how are they seeded ahead of Spain? It'll be the usual farcical World rankings which, ludicrously, include friendlies.

[cdbearsfan]

Oh great minds, Flamingo Lane!

[LeeB]

If we were smart and didn't piss around with 'prestige friendlies', and instead just battered the likes of Latvia or something like we do all the way through qualifying, then we'd probably be top 5 in the rankings and would make life a bit easier for ourselves at tournaments.

[cdbearsfan]

Not sure that's the case. In fact I think playing rubbish teams can adversely affect your ranking even if you win.

You're best to seek out winnable matches against teams who have an artificially high ranking, I think.

It is pretty stupid that friendlies even count, just as it would be stupid if Villa missed out on promotion because we lost a preseason game at Shrewsbury.

[Dave]

If we were smart and didn't piss around with 'prestige friendlies', and instead just battered the likes of Latvia or something like we do all the way through qualifying, then we'd probably be top 5 in the rankings and would make life a bit easier for ourselves at tournaments.

We'd probably get to play someone easy, like Iceland.

[cdbearsfan]

Looking at the seedings, England's chances of getting a decent draw still look pretty good. You really want to avoid having to face another European team AND a South American team, something that has happened to England in four of their last five World Cups. There is only a 9.4% chance of it happening this time, by my calculations. All the South American and most of the European teams are in the top two pots.

[Damo70]

The crazy world of international football. Nigeria win 4-2 away to Argentina (I presume it was played in Argentina, you never know these days) and Wales draw with Panama. I don't think I have ever previously heard of Panama in a football context.

They qualified for the World Cup.

That's all I need. Just watch my comment about never having heard of them in a football context bite me on the arse when they knock us out in the last sixteen.

[UK Redsox]

And now a bit of a soft penalty to Bendtner

Not that it mattered, but surely that's not the way to use the advantage rule.

That's how advantage should be played. I'm not advocating for Rugby Union laws where play can go on for a minute or so. However, 5 to 10 seconds seems reasonable.

[SoccerHQ]

Poland and Swiss hardly play any friendlies. That's why there's always in pot 1 for draws and get decent groups. Wales have also tried it that way last few years.

Really good article about it in the Times a few weeks back.

[SoccerHQ]

The crazy world of international football. Nigeria win 4-2 away to Argentina (I presume it was played in Argentina, you never know these days) and Wales draw with Panama. I don't think I have ever previously heard of Panama in a football context.

They qualified for the World Cup.

That's all I need. Just watch my comment about never having heard of them in a football context bite me on the arse when they knock us out in the last sixteen.

Their best know player was Julio Dely Valdes, he scored a fair few for Malaga in La Liga about 15 years back. Was their coach in their last qualifying campaign.

[cdbearsfan]

The one time I don't want Jedinak to score... 😠

[SoccerHQ]

The one time I don't want Jedinak to score... 😠

Bet on Honduras? They are awful to watch.

[SoccerHQ]

Penalty now. Jedi to step up again...

[cdbearsfan]

The one time I don't want Jedinak to score... 😠

Bet on Honduras? They are awful to watch.

They're not Australian though, are they?

Bastard has scored again. 😣