Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

Sign Up Now!

FIFA WC 26 - Other Nations LIVE Match Thread ⚽

In what context? We all constantly harp on about how we’re so far behind Japan and Korea. We’re in our own version of the Sputnik Crisis (when the West, especially the US, was scared that the Soviets were at one point beating the US in the Space Race).

Maybe we talk about how countries like China and India aren’t any good but that’s because they really aren’t and stats prove that. I was referring to the Europeans that still underestimate teams like Japan and Senegal because they’re not European or South American. Look at how many people doubted Son Heung-min because he was Korean or Ange Postecoglou because he was Aussie (born in Greece but he lived most of his life here and played for the Socceroos). People accused 433 of buying voters in a poll that said Melchie Dumornay from Haiti was one of the best female players in the world.

Hopefully one day we grow out of this, like how we don’t doubt white rappers or black country singers anymore after Eminem and Darius Rucker got successful, or like how we don’t doubt women in power as more and more women took leadership roles worldwide. But at the moment, we’re still seeing mainstream content creators, pundits, scouts, etc ignore us and doubt us.

Indonesia still relies on diaspora from Australia and the Netherlands to be decent and they still can’t make the World Cup. The other teams are worse and also rely on diaspora or naturalised players from countries like Australia, the US, etc. They absolutely love their football in SEA and I’ve seen that with my own eyes so many times. But they’re still not good at it unfortunately and they still need to upgrade and improve basic infrastructure.
I think all those recent Indonesian Eredivisie based players are going to improve in Asian conditions.

ATM cons in Asia are unfamiliar to them.
 
Leroy Sane scores in the second minute of the match for Germany to give them a 1-0 lead. Florian Wirtz with the assist.
 
Nicolas Pepe scores in the seventh minute of the match for Ivory Coast to give them a 1-0 lead. Yan Diomande with the assist.
 
Piero Hincapie yellow carded in the 43rd minute for Ecuador for a foul, becoming the first player to receive one this match.
 
Nicolas Pepe yellow carded in the 35th minute for Ivory Coast for a foul, becoming the first player to receive one this match.
 
Aleksandar Pavlovic yellow carded in the 44th minute for Germany for a foul, becoming the first Germany player and second player overall to receive one.
 
Four minutes of first half stoppage time in both Ecuador and Curacao's last World Cup group E matches against Germany and Ivory Coast respectively.
 
Germany and Ecuador back underway for the second half, with Germany now kicking from left to right and Ecuador kicking in the other direction.
 
Back
Top