Comments for World Cup weariness at http://www.wsc.co.uk , comment 0 to 7 out of 7 comments http://www.wsc.co.uk Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:32:13 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3883/38/#pc_1010 Im not at all sure that Nigeria as they are now could bank on beating any of Slovenia, Slovakia, or especially Switzerland. - Dalef65 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:11:02 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3883/38/#pc_1009 I would like to respond to Ronny Delgado............. I wouldnt go calling Turkey a small country matey,or they might just give you a massive welcome to hell...!!!! Also Trini and Toba sounds like one of those makeover fashion programmes you get on Channel 4. In principle you have some good points just a bit suspect on the delivery maybe.. Peace - Dalef65 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:04:42 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3883/38/#pc_993 Like anybody who visits this site, I am first and foremost a football fan. And as a football fan, I cannot think of anything more wonderful than the World Cup. One whole month of football with 64 games involving most of the best players in the world and 32 teams who undoubtedly deserve to be there. When the World Cup is compared against other tournaments, surely they have no rival. Ian's challenge on lack of quality could go on to damage the Euro's from 2016 (when it is expanded to 24 teams) and the Champs Lge has become a big switch off/bore to anybody but 'fans' of the 'english' big 4. I am sure that the World Cup was better in some ways in the olden days but if we returned to just 16 teams I doubt whether England could bank on being there; and for the sake of a perceived loss of quality, I would much rather have a World Cup with England in it as opposed to the alternative. And I guess if I was a Scotland fan I would be arguing for an increase to 64 teams. Or maybe 128 - stuartjsaunders Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:45:08 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3883/38/#pc_985 I've got a feeling that the team Ian supports failed to qualify for South Africa. Here's something to ponder over: Nigeria might fail to qualify (with Tunisia topping the group). So we might have Slovenia or Slovakia instead of Nigeria, and the prospect of Switzerland at the World Cup. Maybe the whole shebang would be greater fun if Europe lost a few places. If that means we'd miss on the delights of France or Portugal missing out, well, good for the fans, and toughies for FIFA and the corporate sector. - G.Man wants a hyphen Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:33:21 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3883/38/#pc_984 Would we ever have seen the likes of Angola, Trini & Toba, Togo, North-Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Turkey, etc etc on the World Cup stage when it would still have been with only 16 teams? It is easy to bash the 32-team tournament when you support a big country. It definitely benefits the smaller countries for whom going to a World Cup is as good as winning it for the biggies. - Ronny Delgado Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:22:27 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3883/38/#pc_982 Whilst agreeing wholeheartedly with the contents of Ian's article I wish to point out that here in Australia our qualification to successive tournaments has now guaranted the growth of the game in Oz and engendered enormous support for soccer per se. It has also meant that if the Kiwi's manage to defeat Bahrein in November it will cause enormous amounts of angst in the Shaky Islands. For ambivalence will perhaps creep into the national psyche and threaten the hegimony of rugby in NZ: now wouldn't that be nice! - robeth Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:40:40 +0100 http://www.wsc.co.uk/content/view/3883/38/#pc_980 >Since 1998, all the big teams have been there Netherlands in 2002? Personally I still love the World Cup and have no problem with the 32 team format.I think it demonstrates the way the game has developed in the last 30 years all over the world that there are fairly 32 competitive teams to take part. >Sadly gone are the days of the 16-team tournaments of the 1970s, >packed with quality players and memorable games Like El Salvador in 1970, Zaire and Haiti in 1974? And how about the ridiculous double group stage of the '74 and '78 World Cups? Nostalgia aint what it used to be... That said, I do agree entirely about the sudden change to a seeded draw for the European Play-Offs. Wonder what the reaction would have been if England were hoping to scrape into the 2nd place in Group 6. And the expansion of the Euros from 16 to 24 teams from 2016 id just so wrong, not only because decreases the value of the group matches by allowing 3 out of 4 to qualify from most groups but pads out the tournament with mediocrity. - t.j.vickerman Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:40:18 +0100