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World Soccer XV: Diver Down

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Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

Now, when they say a ref is from, say Uzbekistan, does that mean that when he's not doing the occasional Asia Cup? or World Cup qualifier in Asia, that he's working in whatever soccer league Uzbekistan has? Because that would seem like a major step down, and in that case, you'd want some of the smaller/poorer country officials doing a lot of those warm up matches from the weeks leading up to the World Cup so they get used to international level play again.
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

Terrierbyassociation said:
I'm obviously talking about the USA. I am criticizing the process, not the results with the refs. They should be picking the best ones period, not picking guys who are untested or who are not reffing in decent leagues.
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Just to clarify, are you calling MLS a decent league? And are you saying MLS referees are better than the ones we are seeing in the World Cup?

American bias is one thing, but saying MLS is a step above the leagues in Belgium, Uruguay or even Africa is kind of crazy.
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

JohnN said:
Just to clarify, are you calling MLS a decent league? And are you saying MLS referees are better than the ones we are seeing in the World Cup?

American bias is one thing, but saying MLS is a step above the leagues in Belgium, Uruguay or even Africa is kind of crazy.
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...Africa leagues are a joke. The MLS is far above them.

The MLS is a better league than Belgium and Uruguay.
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

bronconick said:
Now, when they say a ref is from, say Uzbekistan, does that mean that when he's not doing the occasional Asia Cup? or World Cup qualifier in Asia, that he's working in whatever soccer league Uzbekistan has? Because that would seem like a major step down, and in that case, you'd want some of the smaller/poorer country officials doing a lot of those warm up matches from the weeks leading up to the World Cup so they get used to international level play again.
Click to expand...

Referees belong to national federations like our USSF. The federation assigns referees, so yes a referee from Uzbekistan probably works games in the Uzbek league. FIFA referees are also assigned by confederations or FIFA itself to international games.

Refereeing soccer does not, in my opinion, require you to "get used" to international play. If you have the talent and the mindset to referee at the highest level, you could referee three or four international games a year and do great. For the Uzbek referee to work some Uzbek league games, AFC Champion's League games, Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers is better "training" than working MLS games all season.
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

Terrierbyassociation said:
...Africa leagues are a joke. The MLS is far above them.

The MLS is a better league than Belgium and Uruguay.
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Check out Club World Cup and Copa Libertadores results. I personally don't think MLS clubs would be as competitive in those competitions as African and Uruguian teams.

MLS can barely afford to sign marginal foreign talent. With current spending, MLS teams wouldn't break the top half of the Egyptian, Belgian or Uruguian leagues and would do no better in the CAF or AFC Champion's League than they do in the CONCACAF one.
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

There's an implicit assumption (in the face of repeated posting of evidence to the contrary) that the best refs officiate in the best leagues. I know that Coulibaly was a disaster in the U.S. game, but the fact is, refs aren't somehow born with a birthmark signalling that they have what it takes to officiate a World Cup game. The best you can do is to keep bumping guys up a level and see if they can hack it. Well, Coulibaly hacked it at the ACN (which, considering the level of play at the top of African football, clearly is more probative of his readiness than the vast majority of domestic leagues, European included). So FIFA bumped him up to the World Cup. Sadly, there he was found wanting, but there wasn't any way to know that would be the case beforehand.
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

JohnN said:
Check out Club World Cup and Copa Libertadores results. I personally don't think MLS clubs would be as competitive in those competitions as African and Uruguian teams.

MLS can barely afford to sign marginal foreign talent. With current spending, MLS teams wouldn't break the top half of the Egyptian, Belgian or Uruguian leagues and would do no better in the CAF or AFC Champion's League than they do in the CONCACAF one.
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I think the top teams may be better than the top ones in the MLS because of the salary cap, but I think the league on a whole is far better than you give it credit for.

Imagine if the top talent was stacked among two teams in the MLS. I bet that team could compete and do well in the Club World Cup and Copa Libertadores.
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

Terrierbyassociation said:
I think the top teams may be better than the top ones in the MLS because of the salary cap, but I think the league on a whole is far better than you give it credit for.

Imagine if the top talent was stacked among two teams in the MLS. I bet that team could compete and do well in the Club World Cup and Copa Libertadores.
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Yes, but how could a top-flight league survive and keep any sort of international credibility, much less grow into a global brand, if it were dominated by only 2 (or 4) teams? ;)
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

Craig P. said:
There's an implicit assumption (in the face of repeated posting of evidence to the contrary) that the best refs officiate in the best leagues. I know that Coulibaly was a disaster in the U.S. game, but the fact is, refs aren't somehow born with a birthmark signalling that they have what it takes to officiate a World Cup game. The best you can do is to keep bumping guys up a level and see if they can hack it. Well, Coulibaly hacked it at the ACN (which, considering the level of play at the top of African football, clearly is more probative of his readiness than the vast majority of domestic leagues, European included). So FIFA bumped him up to the World Cup. Sadly, there he was found wanting, but there wasn't any way to know that would be the case beforehand.
Click to expand...


Didn't Coulibaly make a mess of things at the end of the ACN final?
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

Terrierbyassociation said:
I think the top teams may be better than the top ones in the MLS because of the salary cap, but I think the league on a whole is far better than you give it credit for.

Imagine if the top talent was stacked among two teams in the MLS. I bet that team could compete and do well in the Club World Cup and Copa Libertadores.
Click to expand...

I know we are just talking opinions, so facts don't matter, but do you have any evidence to back up your claims of MLS superiority? I've listed competitive tournaments, not exhibitions on home soil, where foreign teams show themselves to be better than MLS ones. MLS teams need to be able to beat CONCACAF and Mexican teams before we start talking about Belgium and Uruguay.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_CONCACAF_Champions_League
 
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Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

JohnN said:
I know we are just talking opinions, so facts don't matter, but do you have any evidence to back up your claims of MLS superiority? I've listed competitive tournaments, not exhibitions on home soil, where foreign teams show themselves to be better than MLS ones. MLS teams need to be able to beat CONCACAF and Mexican teams before we start talking about Belgium and Uruguay.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_CONCACAF_Champions_League
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There is also an intense Anti-American bias among the refs from Mexico on down. :) At least that's what my eyes seem to tell me. ;)

JK.

If you look, both MLS teams are very competitive. DC United just misses out on advancing out of the group. Crew lose by 1 goal to a team that loses in the semis to the eventual champions, also by one goal.
 
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Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

I wonder if the North Korean soccer team will be put in prison for that egg they laid versus Portugal?
 
Re: World Soccer XV: Diver Down

Man, how do you score a goal like Villa's first one and then dink that penalty like he did?

Sergio Ramos has girl hair:
images_pictures_players_sergio-ramos1.jpg


Xavi spends too much time on his hair:
xavi.jpg


If I'm Vicente Del Bosque, I have to be telling some of my players (Xavi in particular) to shoot the **** ball when they get the chance, and reminding Ramos that he's a defender and he doesn't need to be getting himself up to the penalty spot in open play.
 
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