and they proved it on the pitch...
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2019...friendly-game/
Don’t mind him at all declaring for Nigeria but if he’s considering declaring for England due to 5 year residency then he can f@@k off. Shocking mercenary behaviour and wouldn’t want him near our squad if it doesn’t work out.
International sport is becoming Club sport.
Team Ireland, Team GB etc.
Soccer not quite as bad as rugby yet but getting there
Agree with that. Could be worse though. The world number 5 chess player - who has won the Olympiad (=World Cup) three times for Armenia, his home country - switched to the United States earlier this year because they were paying him more. In fact, of the top five Americans - which you'd imagine would be their squad for the next Olympiad in July if it goes ahead - four have played in the Olympiad for other countries.
So football still has lower levels it can go to
You'd be surprised
Another good example of the heart of international sport being a bit rotten here:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/taekwondo/56981800
The ball is round and has many surprises.
The 'taekwondo transfer market'...
They've tightened up the rugby rules a lot recently actually. I think football is actually more flexible in terms of nationality changes now after the recent changes.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
Anselmo Garcia McNulty called up to the squad.
A serious continental feel to this squad now. Great to see players selected from Spanish and German clubs!
Getafe, Seville, Monchengladbach, Schalke and Wolfsburg now represented in the squad. Zefi off to Inter Milan soon as well I think, not beyond possibility that he could get into the Under 21s before the campaign is over when you see that Ferguson has apparently only missed this camp through injury.
The restrictions on UK transfers caused by Brexit and the lack of sufficient quality structures in Ireland will make this a more common theme in future I suspect.
Keane O'Shea Given Best Smallbone
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
For the record, chess is the national sport in Armenia. It's state funded and a compulsory subject in schools. So this is a huge deal for them and as such worth a mention. Is it comparable? Not directly - but I was using it an an example to show that football isn't as bad as other sports. Though maybe it's getting there.
Yes, world chess is the problem in this case of course.
Irelands' No. 2 board player for the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig, 1960, was Michael Littleton, a colleague of mine, and he told me in excruciating detail about his exhausting physical preparation regime for six months before the tournament. It's a sport all right, and you need to be fit.
I don't know if it's a sport as such - although I've played 5-6 hour games at a high level (Champions League equivalent) and been fairly wrecked after, so I know what it can take out of you. And I know I'd probably be a slightly better player if I was fitter too!
I think the physical activity debate over whether it's a sport or a game takes away from the real question, which is whether it deserves funding (which is the key practical difference), and I think it does.
Though this is all very much off topic now!
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