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***The Official World Soccer Thread***

Discussion in 'Other Sports Forum' started by first&goal, Apr 12, 2008.

  1. Tone_E

    Tone_E Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    I think we should start a discussion regarding the wonderkids of the game, meaning young an upcoming talent.

    I have listed as the next top prospects, that all seem to be linked to a club as well;

    Gervinho (Ivory Coast) - linked with Arsenal
    Nasri (France) - Man Utd interested - trying to rework with current squad Arsenal.
    Neymar (Brasil) - Linked Real Madrid (deal almost done)
    Ganso (Brasil) - Linked with AC Milan and others
    Sanchez (Chile) - linked with Barca

    Of all the kids mentioned, really like Neymar's game and pace. He is skillful and fast, and can truly become a great player. Of all the players above, I'd take Neymar, but it is a tough choice between Ganso and Nasri.

    Who would you take?
     
  2. Skull Destroyer

    Skull Destroyer Well-Known Member

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    Not a bad list. Personally I think once you hit 22/23ish you are to old to be considered a wonderkid. You have become either a star, role player or bust but your potential should be pretty much on its way to being fulfilled. Pass if you are with a club in like Belgium or Ukraine and are about to make it on the big scene

    My list would be :
    Neymar : probably the most potential but I can see him turning out to be a robinho. Worst attitude. He missed a couple pks for santos so the coach took his pk duties away from him. Next game earns a pk, disobeys all orders, yanks the guy assigned to shoot, and of course blows the pk. Coach isnt all that pleased and subs him out. Neymar hissy fit ensues. Next day they fire the coach to keep him happy. Come on.
    Paulo Henrique (Ganso) : just a stud in the middle. Could be a kaka type player.
    Javier Pastore : with palermo but probably not for much longer. Palermo want something like 45 mill for him.
    Eden Hazard : was ligue un player of the year at just 20. will be moving to a big club soon
    Toni Kroos : returned to munich last year after looking really impressive on loan to leverkusen. 18 caps as a 21 year old for germany is impressive
    Iker Muniain : some people call him the spainsh wayne rooney. I dont know about that. At 18 years old he has 9 goals and 5 assists in la liga not bad.
    Miralem Pjanic : with lyon scored the goal that knocked out real madrid in last years champs league. Has a pretty wicked shot
    Romelu Lukaka : chelsea have been looking at him for forever it seems. Says he wants to be the next drogba. 18 years old, 31 belgium league goals, been capped 9 times
    Mario Gotze : why would dortmund let go of their best cm to madrid after winning the bundesliga. Because they have Gotze already to fill in. 6 goals and 15 assists this season as a 18 year old. just turned 19 with 6 caps
    Luc Castiaignos : 15 goals for feyenoord this year. Signed with inter for next season. 18 years old
    David Alaba : 18 year old munich player that has spent most of his time on loan. Sent in the cross earlier this month vs Germany for austria that led to a goal. Will be great in the middle but has the pace to play on the wing.
    Christian Erikson : dutch player of the year at just 19. best dane in some time.
    Juan Iturbe : called the next messi. absolutely killed it at the u20 south american championship. will be playing for porto next season
    Gylfi Sigurdosson : best name. has tons of experience already, killer shot with 10 goals from the midfield last season.
    Douglas Costa : looked really good for shahktar in the champs league last year, especially vs roma.
    Kyriakos Papadopoulos : need a defender, is the youngest player ever in the greek league and was an important part of schalkes team last year.

    I wish i knew more about players in south america but I don't really ever get to see any league games from there sorry.

    There are so many more that you have probably already heard of that are 21 are younger :
    Pato, Gareth Bale, Thomas Mueller, Stevan Jovetic, Bojan, Andre Schurrle (just scored his first national team goals last month), coutinho, another head case Mario Balotelli, Andrea Poli, Danny Welbeck, David De Gea and Sergio Asenjo, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, Lukman Haruna, Sergio Canales, Phil Jones, Jack Rodwell, Jordan Henderson just got bought for 20 mill, Thiago, Federico Macheda, Jonjo Shelvey, Conner Wickham, Daniel Sturridge, Georginio Wijnaldum, Wojciech Szczesny, Josh Mceachran, Kyle Walker, Luuk de Jong, Eduardo Salvio, Ryo Miaichi, Alex Chamberlain, Cesar Azpilicueta, Yaya Sanogo, Franco Zuculini, Alan Dzagoev, Tomas Necid, Gael Kakuta, Sotiris Ninis, Levan Kenia, Xherdan Shaqiri)
    All of these player will be at worst the second or third best players (if not already) on their team and make significant international contributions. That is a skull destroyer guarantee.
     
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  3. giovafin

    giovafin Rossonero

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    I'd take Ganso over Neymar but just for a little bit. About Neymar, great talent but a troublemaker for what I've read. IMO Brazilian young players generally create more hype than others because they have the ability to produce great players and every young talent is expected to be the 'next Pelé'.

    I was going to mention the Danish kid from Ajax, Christian Eriksen (YouTube Highlights) as an interesting young talent but Skull D beat me to it.

    BTW I don't know if Jack Wilshere is still considered a prospect but I like him a lot, the kid has good ball control, technique, passing ability and good vision.
     
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  4. Tone_E

    Tone_E Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Thanks for the great list Skull. Def. going to have to check a few of those guys out.

    - Palermo does want $45M for Pastore, if not more.
    - Bale could be a great player. He single handedly beat Inter, so he's already in my good books.

    It is interesting that such a long list didn't include Stephan El Shaarawy. He is an 18 year old Italian footballer (born and raised but father is Egyptian, hence the name) and can be something special. A fast attacking midfielder with that can make clever passes and has playmaking ability. He may even find himself to AC Milan's first squad, especially if AC doesn't land Cesc or Montolivo. I wasn't able to find much video on him though.

    Here is a vid of his: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF6RbipzsZI
     
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  5. Skull Destroyer

    Skull Destroyer Well-Known Member

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    I knew milan had guys like Strasser and Merkel but I had no idea who El Shaarawy was. That goal @35 secs was dirty. Good call.

    I threw Wilshere in there because he is still just 19. Definitely already established though playing more games for Arsenal than any other player last season.

    Arsenals first three games @newcastle, Liverpool and @Manu with champions league qualifiers in between. Tough.
     
  6. Tone_E

    Tone_E Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Well, the deal is everything but finalized. Should be any day now that we hear the terms. It will more than likely be $6M and 50% ownership of Merkel to Genoa.

    I liker Merkel a lot for the record.
     
  7. emeraldfin

    emeraldfin All I've got is insane

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    Basing this on what I've seen from each player

    Gervinho (Ivory Coast) - Big fan of Gervinho. Not only has speed and power, but also has an end product. Whomever get him from Lille will get a very under-rated player.
    Nasri (France) - Again big fan of Nasri. Very good passer of the ball, makes fantastic breaks from midfield and can take over a game if given the opportunity. Dont see him being sold to United, although they badly need him.
    Neymar (Brasil) - Haven't see enough of him TBH
    Ganso (Brasil) - Same as Neymar
    Sanchez (Chile) - Always like a skillful winger and he's a good finisher also. Supremely talented and very tough to defend against. I think a move to Barca would be a better move than one to England.
     
  8. Tone_E

    Tone_E Season Ticket Holder Club Member

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    Here's a quick look at Neymar. Check out the 1:00 mark.

    [video=youtube;NscDh332iWc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NscDh332iWc[/video]
     
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  9. emeraldfin

    emeraldfin All I've got is insane

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    I've seen highlights of him, but not enough to warrent an opinion about his overall play, teamwork, etc. Looks like a very skillful player no doubt, but Youtube video's tend to only show the good side.

    Any decent young players coming through from the Italia league? Not even going to act like I know alot of whats happening in Italy at the moment.
     
  10. alen1

    alen1 New Member

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    Agree on all points. Arsenal is said to be in contract negotiations with Gervinho; I hope that goes through. Loved watching him.
     
  11. giovafin

    giovafin Rossonero

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    Tone_E likes this.
  12. Paul 13

    Paul 13 Chaotic Neutral & Unstable Genius Staff Member

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    Anybody see that Honduras vs Mexico game last night? Hand of God from Chicharito? Can't find the replay that showed the angle from behind him, but his arm was away from his body when he made the turn towards the goal, and it clearly goes off his arm. doesn't really matter, Mexico was going to win anyway (already up 1 - 0 at that point). Sets up for big game on Sunday. Mexico vs USA.

    [video=youtube;tuSfh93lZkI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuSfh93lZkI[/video]
     
  13. Skull Destroyer

    Skull Destroyer Well-Known Member

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    LETS DO THIS
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  14. dolfan32323

    dolfan32323 ty xphinfanx

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    what a first half... the backline for the US just looks out of sorts with Cherundalo out
     
  15. dolfan32323

    dolfan32323 ty xphinfanx

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    and right on cue a Mexican goal... COME ON! :angry:
     
  16. Paul 13

    Paul 13 Chaotic Neutral & Unstable Genius Staff Member

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    that was some of the worst defending I've seen from a US side in a long long time. I was watching on the mexican channel (which was aweful coverage btw) and the starting lineups had the US playing a 442. Except it looked to me that Goodson is it? was playing in the middle of either a 3 man back line or a 5 man back line? Either way, it was aweful, he was atrocious. Losing Cherundolo must have had an effect. To me it's Donovan, Dempsey and Edu and then the rest of the guys are pretty much average at best. Howard was also terrible tonight. A far cry from how he played my England side last year :pity:

    And don't get me started on the number of Mexican fans vs US fans there... to think I was gonna go with my kids... :shifty:
     
  17. daphins

    daphins A-Style

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    I'd throw Bradley in there. He's been really solid IMO and has a future on the men's team. Was really glad to see Edu step it up..maybe he'll finally assume his mantle as the future of US soccer.
     
  18. TotoreMexico

    TotoreMexico Your retarded

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    Mexico
    4 - 2

    That was easy:thumbup:
     
    giovafin and given to fly like this.
  19. Skull Destroyer

    Skull Destroyer Well-Known Member

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    You guys are confusing Adu with Edu. Adu played great, its nice to see an American attacker actually try to run at defenders. Edu should be starting over Jones who is a walking yellow card that cant pass. Also i think Bedoya should never be starting. Bornstein shouldn't even be in the squad. It will be nice to get Holden back and I wouldnt mind seeing Spector play as a midfielder. He is an awful fullback but showed promise in the midfield. If we keep up this crap defending with really only Tim Ream to try again we might as well play better in the midfield or expect more games like this and spain passing us off the pitch.
     
  20. Paul 13

    Paul 13 Chaotic Neutral & Unstable Genius Staff Member

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    I'm not a fan of Bradley at all, but I guess he's better than nothing. His decisions in the midfield as part of the buildup are sometimes agonizing. There was one time he'd just crossed the midfield stripe going diagonally, the Mexican player is behind him and he decides to full stop and bring the ball behind him. Naturally, he loses the ball by being tackled and it leads to a break for the opposition. He's not going to out-pace Mexico, which I understand, but at least move the ball on. Surely, the first goal was solid. But I give most of that to a quality cross by Adu and poor defending by Mexico.

    Yes, Adu... I didn't know there was an Edu :shifty: I'll say one thing about Jones, at least he's an enforcer and knows his place. :lol: The way he threw Chicharito around was refreshing. If only he could improve the remaining 90 percent of his game.
     
  21. giovafin

    giovafin Rossonero

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    Great goal by Dos Santos.

    [video=youtube;WUL0pLkRFZE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUL0pLkRFZE[/video]

    :yes:
     
  22. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    Mexico beat the US at their own game.

    But the organization was terrible. I thought they needed 2 backs after the WC...Now I think they need 3 new starters and possibly 4 total.

    Since the US began to take Soccer seriously (1994)..they have 3 Gold Cups and Mexico has 5. They had a chance to even the Gold Cup score at 4-4, and didn't. They are now 8-5 vs. Mexico in the last 10 years.

    You have to be disappointed, but Mexico was better. Dos Santos was sensational. Chicharrito will be a star for a long time.

    At least we have an Adu sighting.
     
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  23. Topdawg13

    Topdawg13 New Member

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    Riots erupt after famed Argentine club relegated

    -Link- [​IMG]



     
  24. alen1

    alen1 New Member

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    Damn. River Plate is a legendary club. Very sad.
     
  25. giovafin

    giovafin Rossonero

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    In some site I read something like "Riots outside River's Monumental stadium will make Vancouver look like a Disney adventure" :no:

    Yeah, sad day for River Plate fans, one of the great clubs of South American football has fallen.
    Just FYI, relegation in Argentina is based on results over three years, or six "short" seasons.
     
  26. alen1

    alen1 New Member

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    That's such a great chip. Great touch.
     
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  27. steveincolorado

    steveincolorado Spook, Storme & Pebbles

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    When I first saw that, I was like WOW, what a fricking goal. The home crowd was going nuts......lol
     
  28. BigDogsHunt

    BigDogsHunt Enough talk...prove it!

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    Hey, heard some news about upcoming London Olympic's and host England wants an all British squad or something to that effect, in addition to rest of UK forming their own?

    Any details? Am I understanding this correctly?
     
  29. Dolphins1Beatles

    Dolphins1Beatles Ziggy Stardust

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    Funny: http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog...s-loss-to-U-S-on-players-getti?urn=sow-wp2852

    After the match, North Korea manager Kwang Min Kim shocked the congregated press by revealing that his side isn't just the youngest team, but they are also the only team in the tournament that's been struck by lightning.

    Is that why they all have the same haircut? Or does Dear Leader force it upon all North Koreans? I feel bad for them. That is the best sports loss excuse ever though.
     
  30. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    this is too good.

    Armando Salguero: "Coach, you lost to the patriots again and you couldn't stop Wes Welker for most of the day, you are having issues stopping the big play, how will you address this?"

    Coach Tony Sparano: "Well, Armando, I don;t want to offer any excuses..we lost the game..but truth be told, the entire team was struck by lightning at Friday's practice. Next question.."
     
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  31. BlameItOnTheHenne

    BlameItOnTheHenne Taking a poop

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    Davie

    :sidelol: :sidelol::sidelol::sidelol::sidelol:
     
  32. Dolphins1Beatles

    Dolphins1Beatles Ziggy Stardust

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    "Yes, it went right through the Nick Saban Memorial bubble. Piece of crap."
     
  33. emeraldfin

    emeraldfin All I've got is insane

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    It will be the English national team playing under the name Great Britain. Scotland, Wales and NI want no part of it and have asked their players not to play if it materializes.

    Fans went completely ape **** after it. The River players had to spend the night in the heavily guarded stadium for fear they may be killed.
     
    BigDogsHunt likes this.
  34. Skull Destroyer

    Skull Destroyer Well-Known Member

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    Pretty much. Bale still wants to play though. Said something alone the lines Wales doesn't exactly make the finals of a lot of tourneys and would like to play while he has the chance. Wales FA was not stoked.
     
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  35. finyank13

    finyank13 Reality Check

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    The past 2 games I have actually had a chance to watch is this one, and the Spain one.....I think I will stop watching games from now on.....
     
  36. Section126

    Section126 We are better than you. Luxury Box

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    well, that game against Spain, the US played their B team and got hammered.

    That is part of the problem. I would play our very best in all of those friendlies versus top squads. familiarity can only help.
     
  37. Paul 13

    Paul 13 Chaotic Neutral & Unstable Genius Staff Member

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    Well, that is the way the Olympics are, all athletes play under the Union Jack flag. there have been times when I've wondered what kind of world cup team could there be as well under the united flag? Putting a Kenny Dalglish on the squad would have been nice back in the late 70s early 80s? Or a Ryan Giggs? I don't see why they can't do it for the Olympics? What's the big deal??
     
  38. steveincolorado

    steveincolorado Spook, Storme & Pebbles

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    Could you have imagined George Best playing in Olympics?
     
  39. Frayser

    Frayser Barstool Philosopher

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    Bradley needs to go and we really need to find talent on defense, particularly at left & right back. I personally love the 4-2-3-1 lineuep we ran and think it would be absolutely lethal with Jozy up front and Donovan, Dempsey, and Adu behind him. But that sort of aggressive lineup puts a lot of pressure on the back six. Young Bradley has been a nice surprise and very solid on both ends of the field, though he'll have an occasional bad half here or there. But our defense is just awful right now.
     
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