**** 2018 WORLD CUP THREAD ***

counter example wrote:

Next time somebody will tell that teams such as France, England or Belgium are "filled with african mercenaries", show them this picture (it lists the number of player born overseas for each country in the WC) :

https://i.redditmedia.com/BYzZpCW8DtsYao8DYYiY_47pE3TXKrrqXRZGfB1VMms.jpg?fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&arh=2&w=960&s=91c8dfb7c175d03340e71d725b8def0a

These teams have, in fact, have the least number of players born abroad. These countries don't need to import anything, they just have to look in their suburbs. Football in Europe is NOT an upper or even middle class sport. Most of the time, you don't have to "PAY for PLAY".

In fact, you could even tell that most african teams are filled with mercenaries. Look at Morrocco, their whole team was born either in France or the Netherlands. You have to remember that most of these players decide to play for the country of their parents simply because they weren't good enough to make the team in the European country of their birth . It is for most of them, a DEFAULT choice.

(yes, there is also a financial aspect, as in Football, nationalty somewhat defines your marketability, wages and transfer prices, English players are notoriously overpriced in the market).

In 2014, Algeria made it to 1/8 (for the 1st time) with a team where players were all almost born in France.

There are 1 million Algerians in France, and 50 millions in Algeria. How did they ended up with a team filled with player coming exclusively from the (much) smaller pool ?

It is very easy : better infrastructure, better coaching, better nutrition, better talent detection, better anything you want

another point of counterpoint wrote:

counter example wrote:

Next time somebody will tell that teams such as France, England or Belgium are "filled with african mercenaries", show them this picture (it lists the number of player born overseas for each country in the WC) :

https://i.redditmedia.com/BYzZpCW8DtsYao8DYYiY_47pE3TXKrrqXRZGfB1VMms.jpg?fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&arh=2&w=960&s=91c8dfb7c175d03340e71d725b8def0a

These teams have, in fact, have the least number of players born abroad. These countries don't need to import anything, they just have to look in their suburbs. Football in Europe is NOT an upper or even middle class sport. Most of the time, you don't have to "PAY for PLAY".

In fact, you could even tell that most african teams are filled with mercenaries. Look at Morrocco, their whole team was born either in France or the Netherlands. You have to remember that most of these players decide to play for the country of their parents simply because they weren't good enough to make the team in the European country of their birth . It is for most of them, a DEFAULT choice.

(yes, there is also a financial aspect, as in Football, nationalty somewhat defines your marketability, wages and transfer prices, English players are notoriously overpriced in the market).

In 2014, Algeria made it to 1/8 (for the 1st time) with a team where players were all almost born in France.

There are 1 million Algerians in France, and 50 millions in Algeria. How did they ended up with a team filled with player coming exclusively from the (much) smaller pool ?

It is very easy : better infrastructure, better coaching, better nutrition, better talent detection, better anything you want

Well, it is a fact that half or more of the players playing on the French team who were born in France are not indeed French. Why is it such a problem for some to understand that? The Morocco team was not filled with French or Dutch. They were filled with Moroccans who were born in France or Holland. The Senegal team does not have Frenchman playing on their team, they have Senegalese playing on their team that were born in France. You can go on down the list. Rakitic is a Croatian who was born in Switzerland and is playing for Croatia. Milos Veljkovic is a Serbian who was born in Switzerland who is playing for - you guessed it..Serbia! Makes sense doesn't it? You have Xherdan Shaqiri. He was born in Kosovo and is a Kosovo Albanian. He is however not playing for Kosovo nor Albania, but he is playing for Switzerland. He is still Albanian. Do you see how this works?

another point of counterpoint wrote:

counter example wrote:

Next time somebody will tell that teams such as France, England or Belgium are "filled with african mercenaries", show them this picture (it lists the number of player born overseas for each country in the WC) :

https://i.redditmedia.com/BYzZpCW8DtsYao8DYYiY_47pE3TXKrrqXRZGfB1VMms.jpg?fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&arh=2&w=960&s=91c8dfb7c175d03340e71d725b8def0a

These teams have, in fact, have the least number of players born abroad. These countries don't need to import anything, they just have to look in their suburbs. Football in Europe is NOT an upper or even middle class sport. Most of the time, you don't have to "PAY for PLAY".

In fact, you could even tell that most african teams are filled with mercenaries. Look at Morrocco, their whole team was born either in France or the Netherlands. You have to remember that most of these players decide to play for the country of their parents simply because they weren't good enough to make the team in the European country of their birth . It is for most of them, a DEFAULT choice.

(yes, there is also a financial aspect, as in Football, nationalty somewhat defines your marketability, wages and transfer prices, English players are notoriously overpriced in the market).

In 2014, Algeria made it to 1/8 (for the 1st time) with a team where players were all almost born in France.

There are 1 million Algerians in France, and 50 millions in Algeria. How did they ended up with a team filled with player coming exclusively from the (much) smaller pool ?

It is very easy : better infrastructure, better coaching, better nutrition, better talent detection, better anything you want

Well, it is a fact that half or more of the players playing on the French team who were born in France are not indeed French. Why is it such a problem for some to understand that? The Morocco team was not filled with French or Dutch. They were filled with Moroccans who were born in France or Holland. The Senegal team does not have Frenchman playing on their team, they have Senegalese playing on their team that were born in France. You can go on down the list. Rakitic is a Croatian who was born in Switzerland and is playing for Croatia. Milos Veljkovic is a Serbian who was born in Switzerland who is playing for - you guessed it..Serbia! Makes sense doesn't it? You have Xherdan Shaqiri. He was born in Kosovo and is a Kosovo Albanian. He is however not playing for Kosovo nor Albania, but he is playing for Switzerland. He is still Albanian. Do you see how this works?

post nups wrote:

another point of counterpoint wrote:

Well, it is a fact that half or more of the players playing on the French team who were born in France are not indeed French. Why is it such a problem for some to understand that? The Morocco team was not filled with French or Dutch. They were filled with Moroccans who were born in France or Holland. The Senegal team does not have Frenchman playing on their team, they have Senegalese playing on their team that were born in France. You can go on down the list. Rakitic is a Croatian who was born in Switzerland and is playing for Croatia. Milos Veljkovic is a Serbian who was born in Switzerland who is playing for - you guessed it..Serbia! Makes sense doesn't it? You have Xherdan Shaqiri. He was born in Kosovo and is a Kosovo Albanian. He is however not playing for Kosovo nor Albania, but he is playing for Switzerland. He is still Albanian. Do you see how this works?

Because if they were born in France they are indeed French. It isn't hard to understand - it's fact.