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Originally posted by hausmusic Why would you say Olympics is a bad tournament? there were hardly any goals in the first few rounds of the euro. 4-2 thats impressive you can't really say the reason why Portugal lost is because they played bad . Iraq totally desearved it. And I think since its an under 23 squad the players are at their prime. Who wants to watch slowass figo??

it's a bad tournament because

- it's at the start of the season when the players aren't still on their best phisically, some are even in the preparation for the national leagues
- apart for the african teams which have been consistent in previous olympic tournaments, there are only 3 decent "favourites": argentina, italy and portugal (though we proved yesterday we're no way challenging for a medal lol)
- the teams are weird. under 23 only compete in the olympics, there are no such thing as other under 23 competitions. the 3 over 23 players are usually b-team players that weren't picked for the european championship

and yes iraq played well but still one of the reason we lost was cause we played like absolute shit.. did you watch the game? half of the team didn't seem to make any efforts to win the ball, the defense was horridly apathetic, there were unjustified aggressions, the attack didn't work as whole, only individualities showed up once in a while..

and players are at their prime around 25-30 years, when maturity and experience meet physical condition

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sempre contra a corrente do jogo

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Originally posted by paranoik0 well, he played like shit. maybe it's because of the lack of fitness but he didn't seem to run at all or have any confidence (though he wasn't as bad as frechaut ). dunno how is he going to play at sporting, but probably going to struggle for a first team place unless he improves his form very soon and yeah appiah's goal against italy was great

Fitness and confidence have been his biggest problem at Newcastle this past year. I only hope he finds his form back with Sporting Lisbon, I think it was the best place we could have loaned him really as he already knows everyone there and it's where he made his name. I just wish we had loaned him there last summer.

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Originally posted by hausmusic Why would you say Olympics is a bad tournament? there were hardly any goals in the first few rounds of the euro. 4-2 thats impressive you can't really say the reason why Portugal lost is because they played bad . Iraq totally desearved it. And I think since its an under 23 squad the players are at their prime. Who wants to watch slowass figo??

I dunno, you can't really compare the olympics with euro04.

Im sorry but the olympics football tournament is the most mickey mouse football tournament out there for me. As stated the selection rules just seem random (u23's only but your allowed 3 over 23's aswell - ok!) and its at the most inconvienent time possible for most footballing nations.

That said it is fantastic that the Iraqi side got a win for their people, but I can't see what portugal are gaining by entering a team in the first place.

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Originally posted by TJM That said it is fantastic that the Iraqi side got a win for their people, but I can't see what portugal are gaining by entering a team in the first place.

simple, we win very few medals each olympics (usually just one gold and couple of bronzes), a football team is always a fair chance of getting one

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sempre contra a corrente do jogo

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Originally posted by paranoik0 simple, we win very few medals each olympics (usually just one gold and couple of bronzes), a football team is always a fair chance of getting one

Yeh fair play, but it does cut into the start of the season for most nations which makes it really inconvenient for a lot of teams.

I'm sure ul bounce back and do well in the tournament. U should be ok if swiss bwanker urs meier is over there

paranoik0 the thing is only some players are at their prime at 25-30… under 23 they are physically and skill wise as good at they get. The only improvements they make after that is game sense and leadership.
Despite what the media wants to say about players. At that level all of them should be good or they wouldn’t play for their National side. It's not like Portugal is sending the local YMCA team to the Olympics, every single player is signed with a prestigious club and they are ALL professionals. And the last I checked it takes a team to win a game. The game lasts 90 minutes - one or two players, I don’t care if its Pele, won't be the only ones playing the entire game.

I don't like it when people try to make excuses for their teams. It's part of the game. If everyone played like robots it wouldn’t be a good game. So stop making excuses and accept the fact that Olympics or no Olympics start of the season or end... the level at which 99.9% of the players are at is as high as you are going to go. So even though a few famous players are missing doesn’t make the tournament bad at all.

The game is about the team not the individual.

Are you joking. I can not belive there is someone defending this tournament saying it is good. This tournament is not good for the reasons paranoik stated before. Also just because they are young does not mean that they are at the prime of their carrer. They are still learning the game.

Another thing is yes I would want to see Figo and other stars play instead of these people. I follow football really well and many leagues too and I could not name half of some of these squads players and who they played for. Most of the players either play reserve or are on youth teams.

Im begining to think Hausmusic does not know his footy.

Come on now I know my footy.

Read what I wrote. I take back the part where I’m saying that under-23 they are at their prime. Agreed, that they are at their prime over-23 depending on the players.

So what your saying is you rather watch a boring ass 1 - nil Greece game, which is technical with all experienced players (who have already established themselves and their worth)... than a spectacular 4 - 2 game between raw young talents trying to make a name for themselves.

Ok I guess we differ in our view of a good game and/or tournament.

I know quite a bit about football thank you very much. And even if I didn’t know that much I would still consider this tournament worth just as good as any other.

Yes sure you must know a lot about football since you only watch the stars the media selects. How unconformist of you I applaud your spirit of the game.

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Originally posted by hausmusic I know quite a bit about football thank you very much. And even if I didn’t know that much I would still consider this tournament worth just as good as any other. Yes sure you must know a lot about football since you only watch the stars the media selects. How unconformist of you I applaud your spirit of the game.

You sound like Sepp Blatter, do you enjoy the Confederations Cup as well? How about the Gold Cup you enjoy it when Canada plays Martinique?

The best way to follow young up-and-coming talent is to watch international U-21 games, as each country rotates their youngsters and there is plenty incentive for them as that is one of the best ways to become recognised if you're not getting regular games for your club or you play for an unfashionable lower division side.

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How about the Gold Cup you enjoy it when Canada plays Martinique?

OKAY OKAY Canada sucks. We have snow 8 months of the year give us a break. lol One day Canada will be in the top 10 and England will suck.

ROoney sucks