Do we deserve World Cup Football?

[Kildareman]

Unlike all the major countries in Europe, no make that the world, we contribute very little towards the footballing future of our country.

The people of France deserve to be in the Finals as they help their federation to nurture and groom young talent to be able to play at the standard needed to perform on the world stage.
They do this simply by supporting their national league.

If they copied the age old irish tradition of investing in a foreign league then they would soon be down to the same level of our league.

We leave it to the dedicated few on very limited finances to bring our kids to the next level. We leave it to our federation, the FAI, to finance grassroots football while we fund the English FA by millions every year and then complain when we fail.

And then we have the audicity to think to ourselves that we are the best supporters in the world.

[tricky_colour]

France are cheats Ireland are not, hence we deserve to be there and they don't

[elroy]

Unlike all the major countries in Europe, no make that the world, we contribute very little towards the footballing future of our country.

The people of France deserve to be in the Finals as they help their federation to nurture and groom young talent to be able to play at the standard needed to perform on the world stage.
They do this simply by supporting their national league.

If they copied the age old irish tradition of investing in a foreign league then they would soon be down to the same level of our league.

We leave it to the dedicated few on very limited finances to bring our kids to the next level. We leave it to our federation, the FAI, to finance grassroots football while we fund the English FA by millions every year and then complain when we fail.

And then we have the audicity to think to ourselves that we are the best supporters in the world.

Today of all days, you post crap like that, Im not sure if you are trying to wind us up or what. But i for one am seriously hurting after last night and for someone to post something like that above today is a joke. Im too wrecked and too deflated to even put up an reasoned argument (which i easily could) to what you posted but please have you no clue.

[Kildareman]

I know that im probably wasting my time with this question as most of the people concerned dont even know that this forum exists.........:(

[jebus]

Nope, if we deserved to be there we'd be there, simple as

[Innishvilla]

Unlike all the major countries in Europe, no make that the world, we contribute very little towards the footballing future of our country.

The people of France deserve to be in the Finals as they help their federation to nurture and groom young talent to be able to play at the standard needed to perform on the world stage.
They do this simply by supporting their national league.

If they copied the age old irish tradition of investing in a foreign league then they would soon be down to the same level of our league.

We leave it to the dedicated few on very limited finances to bring our kids to the next level. We leave it to our federation, the FAI, to finance grassroots football while we fund the English FA by millions every year and then complain when we fail.

And then we have the audicity to think to ourselves that we are the best supporters in the world.

French soccer gets an average of 21,000 at league matches in the premier division - from a population of 65,000,000. Irish league games average about 1,500 per game from a population of 4,000,000 - do the maths on average more of the Irish population go to watch Soccer in Ireland than French do in France.

It is all well and good saying invest in grassroots - we just will always be tight on numbers and players. We are punching so high above our weight in soccer (and other sports to). But it disgusts me to hear some one say we don't deserve to be at the world cup...

France are at the world cup and deserve to be there because when the final whistle went at the end of extra time they had won the match - however that came about - don't get me started on that...
But to say we didn't deserve to be there for any other reason.

[OneRedArmy]

What does "deserve" exactly mean?

A bit too deep and meaningful for my current state of mind, which is a bit more primeval, but good luck with the thesis.

[daz22]

Unlike all the major countries in Europe, no make that the world, we contribute very little towards the footballing future of our country.

The people of France deserve to be in the Finals as they help their federation to nurture and groom young talent to be able to play at the standard needed to perform on the world stage.
They do this simply by supporting their national league.

If they copied the age old irish tradition of investing in a foreign league then they would soon be down to the same level of our league.

We leave it to the dedicated few on very limited finances to bring our kids to the next level. We leave it to our federation, the FAI, to finance grassroots football while we fund the English FA by millions every year and then complain when we fail.

And then we have the audicity to think to ourselves that we are the best supporters in the world.

your talking through your hole, this has nothing got to do with what occurred last night!!!

[O'Shea's Boot]

Nope, if we deserved to be there we'd be there, simple as
pretty much agree with that although the manner of defeat stinks

[antrimgreen]

What a load of tribe we have posted here, ffs lads are you right in the head. We were robbed by officials we played the better all game and it was a quailfing game so off course we deserve to be in with a FAIR chance to qualify. We at LEAST deserved a chance at a penalty shoot out to decide our faith. So proud of that performance last night. Well done to all the players that wore the shirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Morbo]

Nope, if we deserved to be there we'd be there, simple as
Thats a pretty simple argument, the only thing separating the two teams was one awful decision, how does one terrible decision prove France were more deserving?

[Straightstory]

Classic Irish football irony/paradox just illustrated by first outraged listener on Liveline. Disappointed by Henry, he claimed to be a 'big Arsenal fan'!! That's the problem right there.

[irishultra]

Well when England failed to qualify for 2008 european cup they start questioning their national league, now Scotland is doing the same. However Ireland doesn't know where to look since we hardly develop our own players. I'm not saying this campaign warranted a post mortem but it does seem strange that when the national team is on decline the state of the national league is not mentioned. In the long run with English Leagues investing more in other foreign players then Irish players will find it increasingly hard to play at the top level there.

I think there is some truth in what you say. However whatever about we, that squad deserves to be there.

[as_i_say]

What does "deserve" exactly mean?

A bit too deep and meaningful for my current state of mind, which is a bit more primeval, but good luck with the thesis.

As Clint Eastwood once said, "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it":mad:

[irishultra]

well its true, woulda should coulda but we didn't and ultimately thats what it comes down to.

[soccerboy]

of course we deserve to be there,to me it seems a bit of a farce that ireland play france for a place in the finals....as do bahrain and new zealand!i know fifa want to develop the game worldwide but this is bull****,both these teams will finish bottom of their group and more than likely not register a single point,who would the fans rather see there,i know who i would!!

[irishultra]

sweden. ibrahimovic will be missing on the world stage this summer :(

[bennocelt]

sweden. ibrahimovic will be missing on the world stage this summer :(

thats a joke, right?:(

[irishultra]

well ibrahimovic would be more renowned than any irish player so im sure fans will miss out on him not playing next summer.

[SkStu]

Ibrahimovic is class - the sort of player you want gracing a WC.

[Deckydee]

Unlike all the major countries in Europe, no make that the world, we contribute very little towards the footballing future of our country.

The people of France deserve to be in the Finals as they help their federation to nurture and groom young talent to be able to play at the standard needed to perform on the world stage.
They do this simply by supporting their national league.

If they copied the age old irish tradition of investing in a foreign league then they would soon be down to the same level of our league.

We leave it to the dedicated few on very limited finances to bring our kids to the next level. We leave it to our federation, the FAI, to finance grassroots football while we fund the English FA by millions every year and then complain when we fail.

And then we have the audicity to think to ourselves that we are the best supporters in the world.

Pity this site cant hand out yellow cards for posts like this (some sites do)

[irishultra]

Why? We have a domestic league which nobody in the great irish sporting nation cares for. I don't think the op is unfair. I happen to think the people of Scotland for example deserve to get to world cup because of their commitment to their national league despite being on the same landmass as one of the greatest leagues in the world.

[peterc1992]

Nope, if we deserved to be there we'd be there, simple as

So we outplay a team way superior to us for 1 and a half matches and get oudone by a poxy goal that shouldny have been and we are out...I understand that we should have taken our chances adn that france are a stronger team hence they will bring bigger playrs to south africa but we wanted it more and we deserved it far more than them

[Fixer82]

We at LEAST deserved a chance at a penalty shoot out to decide our faith.

woah woah woah I don't want no penalty shoot-out determining whether i'm gonna be a Protestant or a Catholic.... :)

[Jofspring]

So we outplay a team way superior to us for 1 and a half matches and get oudone by a poxy goal that shouldny have been and we are out...I understand that we should have taken our chances adn that france are a stronger team hence they will bring bigger playrs to south africa but we wanted it more and we deserved it far more than them

I think some people are missing the point. Nobody is saying Ireland didn't derserve to go through last night, they did. What people are trying to say is in the grander scheme of things France invest a hell of a lot more in their youth and developing their game from within. As do most the top countries (and some weaker ones too). We are being past out by countries with half the money we have (i ain't saying we are rich or anything) and half the resources we have all because these countries look at the bigger picture. They look ahead, not just in the here and now. They teach players how to play very well technically from a very young age. We have failed to qualify for two world cups (2006, 2010) and 2 euro (2004, 2008) in the last 7 years. That comes down to more than Henry screwing us last night.

[Stuttgart88]

You're not comparing like with like there though. There are a whole host of factors mitigating against football in Ireland - many self-inflicted. Just because a huge economic powerhouse where football is the undisputed no.1 sport invests more in football than we do doesn't mean they deserve it more. I'd argue that our team last night deserved it more because they played so well despite, not because of, their country's football infrastructure.

[Jofspring]

You're not comparing like with like there though. There are a whole host of factors mitigating against football in Ireland - many self-inflicted. Just because a huge economic powerhouse where football is the undisputed no.1 sport invests more in football than we do doesn't mean they deserve it more. I'd argue that our team last night deserved it more because they played so well despite, not because of, their country's football infrastructure.

I agree they are a much bigger country with better resources and football is the no.1 sport but i'm not necessarily saying they deserve it more but that until we have the right structures in place in the long run countries that do will leave Ireland behind. There are countries with less than Ireland that are improving all the time with a lot of promise in the future. Ireland despite the small bit of progress in the senior team as a whole just seem to be in limbo. We aren't even competing well at underage level anymore which is a sad thing to see.

[GalwayRed]

I think we do deserve world cup football yeah. Yes there a lot of people who don't follow the national league but they still passionately follow Ireland.
Just because some people follow manchester united or liverpool instead of shels or cork or derry doesn't mean they dont deserve to see their national team in a world cup. We can pretty much get at least 50000 fans to any home international and we always bring a great travelling support.
I wish more people did support the national league but they dont and this soon after the france game is not the time to be arguing about it.

[Acornvilla]

I think we do deserve world cup football yeah. Yes there a lot of people who don't follow the national league but they still passionately follow Ireland.
Just because some people follow manchester united or liverpool instead of shels or cork or derry doesn't mean they dont deserve to see their national team in a world cup. We can pretty much get at least 50000 fans to any home international and we always bring a great travelling support.
I wish more people did support the national league but they dont and this soon after the france game is not the time to be arguing about it.

how dare you make perfect sence at a time like this!!:eek:

[NeilMcD]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/1116/1224258923337.html

How stupid an article this is now. It was stupid at the time and it is even worse now.

[Fixer82]

I think that article is as much of an attack on stephen Ireland as anything else. Will be interesting to see what Humphries writes now.

I've always liked his writing but this was a wee bit negative for my liking

[Kingdom]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/1116/1224258923337.html

How stupid an article this is now. It was stupid at the time and it is even worse now.

That should be his death-knell now for writing about football. He's been taken over by Malone for Ireland soccer, and Duggan is streets ahead with GAA.

Cheerio Tom.

[Innishvilla]

We are being past out by countries with half the money we have (i ain't saying we are rich or anything) and half the resources we have all because these countries look at the bigger picture.

I'm not so sure about this I'm trying to think of a country with a population of 4 million where soccer is the not the most popular sport that has a better record/standard than us...
The 31 teams (left out SA - population 48 million) qualified for the world cup have an average population of 49 million people... most of those countries soccer is the number one sport... of the qualified teams 2 have a smaller population than Ireland and 1 has about the same. New Zealand is about the same and of course soccer is not the most popular sport, but can you compare European qualifying with Oceanico/play off. The other two are Uruguay and Slovenia. Credit to both of them, but on the balance you cannot expect a country the size of Ireland (as much as we'd love to) to be qualifying regularly for world cups especially when they are seeded in the third pot for Europe and there is a second round of seeding for the play-offs...

[Stuttgart88]

Cheerio Tom.
Good riddance would be more like it.

[smasher]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2009/1116/1224258923337.html

How stupid an article this is now. It was stupid at the time and it is even worse now.

I agree. But what does one expect from Humpty Dumpty. He consistently lauds other sports over football and also saw no wrong in what RK did in Saipan.
Would'nt worry about him. Trying to sell newspapers, I expect.