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© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Portugal, France book World Cup tickets; Dutch miss out
By GRAHAM DUNBAR GENEVA©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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goldorak
Imo all these teams shouldn't be playing each other. Have them play intercontinental play-offs against 4th & 5th from Africa, Concacaf & Asia and see who qualify.
Switzerland in particular had won their 9 pool games before this morning's match including their home game against euro champs Portugal, no doubt they're quality.
smithinjapan
Sorry for the Dutch, but glad the other teams mentioned in the headline got through.
therougou
I think their group was rather weak other than Portugal, but yeh they've proven their quality in recent years. Italy and Croatia shouldn't have to go through this playoff either.
If they expand the world cup to 48 teams, they should bump UEFA spots up to at least 20, but current rumors say they will only bump them up to 16 and will give AFC 8.5 spots, which is ridiculous. They talk about India and China, but what you'll get instead is a bunch of grass-rolling middle eastern teams.
TigersTokyoDome
It's funny isn't it. Teams such as Switzerland having to play off and Holland not even making the playoffs, and England fans are having yet another moan about the style of how we qualified. England didn't lose a single game, only drew twice, and conceded 3 goals, yet the media and supporters are expecting something akin to Brazil's 1970 side.
therougou
Lets not forget the 2 time defending South American champions as well. I'm not a fan of Chile's style but still it's crazy they missed out.
TigersTokyoDome
rougou, Chile not making it is huge news. That final qualification day today was crazy. Alexis Sanchez is not having a very memorable year.
Jimizo
To be honest, I'm not sure what gives the English press and fans more pleasure - gushing about a great performance or ripping the back out of them. I'd probably say the latter.
goldorak
@ttd, reckon it's pretty much the same in all so called 'football nations', at least in western europe.
Bagging/ ripping into our players, the style of play etc is very much ingrained in our culture tbh i.e if our boys don't put 4 goals each time they play the likes of Slovenia, Bulgaria, Sweden etc they're fair game.