[Archived] WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS LIVE ON YOUTUBE- Legal

[Tom]

Yes he is. Just taken a corner

Well he still didn't score

[Giant]

Correct, Vucinic did. Simon came on as a sub.

[Tom]

Correct, Vucinic did. Simon came on as a sub.

Is he the guy that played for Juve that we wanted a few years back?

[Giant]

Best place to follow all this World Cup stuff is official FIFA site. www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/matches/index.html

Is he the guy that played for Juve that we wanted a few years back?

I think he is.

[DE.]

From the Beeb:

GET INVOLVED

Alan Murray: "If Venkys were running San Marino football, they'd have had 10 managers during the last hour!"

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Keep checking the game on Sky, Wales are running Scotland ragged

All in their two-thirds of the pitch. Both teams creating the same amount of chances that half. We just stood off them.

FFS, 1-1.

[Stuart]

He's done well there the lad

Considering he's not playing

Blimin' commentators

[Tom]

Snodgrass what an absolute fool

Scotland trail 2-1 thanks to him

[DE.]

good old Scotland.

[Tom]

So is Strachan an appalling manager or is Rhodes not as good as Rovers fans think?

[cn174]

They'd do well to put him on, you know to score a goal or something.

[Jock]

Glad, Strachan is an awkward little git. Started Cov City's demise.

So is Strachan an appalling manager or is Rhodes not as good as Rovers fans think?

Strachan is rubbish.

[DE.]

So is Strachan an appalling manager or is Rhodes not as good as Rovers fans think?

The first one.

[Amo]

If Venky's owned San Marino they'd have changed managers twice before half-time.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

So is Strachan an appalling manager or is Rhodes not as good as Rovers fans think?

He came on after 87ish mins. The fact that Kenny Miller came on instead of him originally proves Strachan isn't a very good manager.

[Robbo]

These sort of threads are unhelpful. I'm more than happy that I'm unable to watch any of Scotland's matches over here.

[Audax]

USA leading Honduras Costa Rica in a blizzard..1-0, Half Time... Mexico lead Honduras 2-0 until the 78th minute and Honduras scored twice to knot it up. USA/CR 2nd half has begun.... Referees met, they are thinking about stopping the game.... match continued, USA minutes away from taking it 1-0.

Congrats to the Fins, drew Spain at Spain 1-1.

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San Marino got bombarded alright, I group them with Faroe Islands and Andorra, both whom get respectable looking results from time to time but San Marino always seems to get routed, today a bit worse than usual.

ELO ratings... http://eloratings.net

Faroe Islands #157

Andorra #189

San Marino #202 See their recent results: http://eloratings.net/San_Marino.htm ,

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[LeChuck]

So is Strachan an appalling manager or is Rhodes not as good as Rovers fans think?

Rhodes has absolutely no chance at international level until he starts contributing to team play.

His reputation is distorted by the transfer fee. He's still a lower league striker adapting to the Championship. Hopefully being behind Kenny Miller will put things in perspective for a few people. Strachan is no mug.

[Lathund]

Strachan is good for a soundbyte though, which is surely the measure of what makes a manager good?

One of my favourites:

"Gordon, can we have quick word please?"

"Velocity"

Sadly that one isn't in here though, but enjoy it anyway

[Joar]

There is just no point to San Marino as a footballing nation. One win in their 20+ years of existence. In games like this their players don't even come past the half way line. It's pathetic. They shouldn't be in a competitive group because they aren't competitive - it isn't their fault, but FIFA needs to review the situation because it's just embarrassing for them.

I love the novelty national teams. Why shouldn't these happy amateurs from the likes of Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and the Faroes be allowed to go out there and play against the best? Good national teams have slipped up against these nations before (for example Liechtenstein beating Switzerland), so it is at least a test of professionality. Anyway I would've jumped at the chance to play against the big players if I were from one of those nations.

[DE.]

I love the novelty national teams. Why shouldn't these happy amateurs from the likes of Andorra, San Marino, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and the Faroes be allowed to go out there and play against the best? Good national teams have slipped up against these nations before (for example Liechtenstein beating Switzerland), so it is at least a test of professionality. Anyway I would've jumped at the chance to play against the big players if I were from one of those nations.

San Marino have won a single match in 20+ years of football (1-0 Vs Lichtenstein, in a friendly), and never won a competitive match. They've lost their last 51 games. They hold the European record for not scoring in consecutive games, going 20 games without scoring between 2008 and 2012. I have no issue whatsoever with them existing to play in friendlies against teams like England, but it's inappropriate and embarrassing for them to be playing in competitive matches. It makes a mockery of competitive international football being a higher standard of playing.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Rhodes has absolutely no chance at international level until he starts contributing to team play.

His reputation is distorted by the transfer fee. He's still a lower league striker adapting to the Championship. Hopefully being behind Kenny Miller will put things in perspective for a few people. Strachan is no mug.

I get what you're saying but Kenny Miller currently plays for the Vancouver Whitecaps and has scored 3 times in 15 league games. He's absolutely shocking, can't hold the ball up either, misses easy chances that Rhodes would usually bury and should be nowhere near the Scotland team. 95% of Scotland fans would agree.

San Marino have won a single match in 20+ years of football (1-0 Vs Lichtenstein, in a friendly), and never won a competitive match. They've lost their last 51 games. They hold the European record for not scoring in consecutive games, going 20 games without scoring between 2008 and 2012. I have no issue whatsoever with them existing to play in friendlies against teams like England, but it's inappropriate and embarrassing for them to be playing in competitive matches. It makes a mockery of competitive international football being a higher standard of playing.

Doesn't Francis Jeffers have an England cap?

Teams like Faroe Islands have pulled off some relatively impressive results in the past, it's great for their fans and the nation as a whole.

[DE.]

San Marino are very far below the Faroe Islands in the rankings so it's a little harsh to group them in the same category as just "minnows". Faroe Islands are at 153, San Marino at 207. Compare the records of of both teams and there's a noticeable difference. The only reason they get compared is because they're two of the poorer teams in the overall qualifying rounds, it'd be more practical to compare San Marino to Andorra, Kyrgyzstan and the Cayman Islands (all of whom are above San Marino).

[Daniel Louis Grabko (Dan)]

It makes a mockery of competitive international football being a higher standard of playing.

I can't agree with this perception at all. The World Cup may be the greatest sports spectacle in the world, but the top club teams in the world play consistently higher quality football than any nation in the world, in my humble opinion. I would be in favour of a more tiered World Cup Qualifying though for each federation, in much the same way the FA Cup is run.

Teams with the lowest FIFA ratings in each regional federation should play a pre-qualifying round before the WC Qualifiers proper. It would do the double duty of allowing these lower ranking nations to play more competitive matches they would have a better chance of winning, as well as raise the quality of play of all the qualifying matches played in the final round of qualifying. You could have group of the lowest ranking nations playing each other home and away with the best 2 moving on to play in the qualifiers proper.

It would also benefit in the sense that the number of matches required to be played in the final qualifying round would be reduced, helping with the fixture list strain on the top players of the top nations. Who wants to get injured playing San Marino in a near walk over match when you've got the Champion's League or FA Cup or something in a couple of weeks? If that player was getting ready for Italy or Germany instead, there is a whole other sense of it "being worth it" and "playing for your country."

[DE.]

I can't agree with this perception at all. The World Cup may be the greatest sports spectacle in the world, but the top club teams in the world play consistently higher quality football than any nation in the world, in my humble opinion. I would be in favour of a more tiered World Cup Qualifying though for each federation, in much the same way the FA Cup is run.

Teams with the lowest FIFA ratings in each regional federation should play a pre-qualifying round before the WC Qualifiers proper. It would do the double duty of allowing these lower ranking nations to play more competitive matches they would have a better chance of winning, as well as raise the quality of play of all the qualifying matches played in the final round of qualifying. You could have group of the lowest ranking nations playing each other home and away with the best 2 moving on to play in the qualifiers proper.

It would also benefit in the sense that the number of matches required to be played in the final qualifying round would be reduced, helping with the fixture list strain on the top players of the top nations. Who wants to get injured playing San Marino in a near walk over match when you've got the Champion's League or FA Cup or something in a couple of weeks? If that player was getting ready for Italy or Germany instead, there is a whole other sense of it "being worth it" and "playing for your country."

TBF I didn't say I agreed with that perception, Dan, it just amuses me when people trot it out - especially when England play the likes of San Marino in competitive matches. Fully agree with your post.