OFFICIAL thread. FIFA Confederations Cup, Brazil 15-30 June.

[turienzo's lovechild]

When was the last tame any one of them (or Venezuela, Ecuador or Peru) got to a WC quarter final? I don't recall any of them doing it.

in the last world cup 4 of the 8 quarter finalists were south american....chile were also in the second round

 

[hans kraay fan club]

No, no it wasn't. It was the BIGGEST reason, but not the ONLY reason. I'm fairly sure they weren't interested in seeing if they could beat the Solomon Islands thirty TWO-nil this time round, and flying many of their players half the way round the world to do it.

From the FFA web site:

That's a pretty big reason to be in the AFC right there.

Okay, I take it back. There were TWO reasons. World Cup qualification and MONEY.

 

[Dancing Sock]

in the last world cup 4 of the 8 quarter finalists were south american....chile were also in the second round

And quite a few got past the groups in 2006 too...

 

[joeinbrighton]

When was the last tame any one of them (or Venezuela, Ecuador or Peru) got to a WC quarter final? I don't recall any of them doing it.

Paraguay made the quarter-finals in the last World Cup when they lost to Spain. Albeit, they bored their way to the last 8. Colombia have made some improvement in recent years and could stand a chance of emulating them next summer.

 

[Simster]

in the last world cup 4 of the 8 quarter finalists were south american....chile were also in the second round

Ah, true. But the last time before that, that a South American team apart from the big two got to the last 8 was in 1978 when Peru managed it. 35 years ago.

Okay, I take it back. There were TWO reasons. World Cup qualification and MONEY.

And RELEVANCE to 1,000,000,000 people. And PROPER competition in non-world cup iterations.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

Ah, true. But the last time before that, that a South American team apart from the big two got to the last 8 was in 1978 when Peru managed it. 35 years ago.

surely what they're doing recently is more important than the 80's/90's? football moves quickly. Asian football was pretty much irrelevant before 2002 and african football has only really been taken seriously since the 90's (three quarter finalists EVER). I think South America should have 4.5 places (thats the same as Asia and less than Africa...South America is clearly stronger).

 

[Durlston]

Should be a cracker tonight between Brazil and Italy.

Brazil to win 3-1 (14/1) and Fred (5/1) first goal.

 

[ATFC Seagull]

Anyone else finding the commentary a split second ahead of the picture? Or can Johnathan Pearce just read a game that well?

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Horrible dive and goal. About time players were punished in retrospect.

 

[Durlston]

It really is shaping up to be a great tournament.

High-scoring matches, the top strikers all on form (Fernando Torres, Javier Hernandez, David Villa, Mario Balotelli, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Fred), some amazing goals, the crowds very enthuastic with natural noise and not those stupid vuvuzelas, no England to get depressed about and the possibility of a very competitive final between arguably the two best sides in the world - Brazil v Spain.