World's best international team

[Heath]

I don't think Sweden should be out of this poll, I think they have a pretty good squad, personally.

Rooney is over-rated. Call me a bitter Everton fan if you want, but I can show you a LJ entry before the England-Portugal game saying I hoped he'd get sold. He's good, I won't deny that, but not as good as everyone says. Not that I'm complaining about the huge sum of money Manchester United paid for him.

Bear in mind about Argentina though, the group they were in in the 2002 World Cup wasn't exactly easy. England, Sweden and Nigeria? All good teams.

England constantly don't perform as well as they should though. Beckham and Rooney are over-rated. And I've never particularly liked David James to be perfectly honest.

[Cz]

I don't think Sweden should be out of this poll, I think they have a pretty good squad, personally.

While Sweden are a perfectly good side (and better than some of the teams included in the poll, for that matter) I wouldn't say they were the best in the world. I certainly don't think they'd be able to win a World Cup, anyway.

Rooney is over-rated. Call me a bitter Everton fan if you want, but I can show you a LJ entry before the England-Portugal game saying I hoped he'd get sold. He's good, I won't deny that, but not as good as everyone says. Not that I'm complaining about the huge sum of money Manchester United paid for him.

You know, I actually agree with you on this one. Rooney is highly talented, and is perhaps the most gifted player in the national side right now, but the huge amount of praise he receives is somewhat unjustified, and the suggestion that he's the 'next Pele' is absolutely ludicrous. Occasionally he shoots when a pass would be more appropriate, his temper is always suspect, and he can drift out of games for long periods. The reason he's so popular is that he can always turn on the skill when the cameras are watching. In some league games he can be next to useless, but when it's a major international he's fantastic.

The same could be said of David Beckham. After a dozen lacklustre performances and the press on his back, he pulls off one good move and scores a crucial goal, and he's a media darling again. You'll never see Darius Vassell or Steven Gerrard scoring a last-minute goal to gain us qualification to the World Cup, it's always Beckham or Rooney who plays well when it counts, and their entire careers are based on these sorts of moments. Ask people what they remember about the 2002 World Cup. Chances are they won't say Owen's goal against Brazil or David Seaman's superb reactions to keep us in the lead against Argentina, it'll always be that image of Beckham fluking a penalty past Cavallero and jumping around by the corner flag. It's moments like that that stick in people's minds, and that's why Beckham and Rooney are the most popular players in the side today.

Bear in mind about Argentina though, the group they were in in the 2002 World Cup wasn't exactly easy. England, Sweden and Nigeria? All good teams.

A very good point, but I personally would expect a world-beating team to qualify from this sort of group. Considering that Argentina weren't able to beat England, and Brazil were, I'd say that's a fairly good comparison of the two sides.

On the other hand, that was two years ago, so there's no telling which side is better now. I'm only sticking with Brazil through personal preference (or rather, utter contempt for the Argentine football team).

[tomamar04]

Sweden!?!?!? What?!

In the last 2 tournaments they've lost against Seegal in the last 16, and against Holland in the QF's.

I know you may say that England haven't done much better but;

Euro 96 - If Gazza just got on to the end of the cross....
WC 98 - Campbell had perfectly good goal disallowed
Euro 2000 - Last minute penalty which Phil Neville stupidly gave away
WC 2002 - Flukey goal
Euro 2004 - That Swiss ref must die...

I think England would have stood a good chance of winning both WC2002 and Euro 2004.

By the way, Doc Sark, what are you thinking, if Beckham's that bad on the right and in the centre, what the hell is he going to be like on the left, Beckham must leave the England team. I know Sven and Steve would get alot of stick for it, but he's missed 3 penalties in important matches in the space of a few months, and when was the last time you can truthfully say that Beckham performed for England?

[Doc Sark]

Well it would be a better option than Gareth bloody Barry. Beckham is not a bad player, I never said that. In fact he is one of the best passers/crossers/free-kick takers in the world. I'm a massive fan of Shaun Wright-Phillips and I want to see a proper winger in our national side. Either him or Stuart Downing. If it was the former then Beckham would have to move to accomodate him, playing him in a FREE ROLE, out on the left NOT as a rigid left winger (read posts carefully), he would be fine. Lets face it Beckham does not play right wing for England. Zidane works it well for the French and Ronaldinho for Brazil now while Beckham is not of the same calibre as these great players, his ability to unlock a defence with one pass would make his inclusion an effective one wherever he played in midfield. Sven wouldn't just get stick if we played badly without Beckham, he would lose his job. If you were a Swedish man getting paid £4 million a year, would you risk not playing him even though it could cost you your job? No.

By the way. Beckham performed for England against Wales. "Deliberate" booking aside, he scored a fantastic goal and was a constant threat with his passing.

If Sweden are so bad, why can't we beat them. No win over Sweden since 1969. Lets face it Sweden aren't the best team in the world but are good enough to beat any team in the world on their day. Football is full of what ifs and your statement reminds me of something I posted straight after the game against Portugal, but at the end of day if we aren't good enough to beat teams with clear goals and good defending then do we deserve to win major titles?

[Cz]

Just a quick question, Doc Sark.

Of course as long as Sven is in charge......more chance seeing Darren Byfield win a cap.

Any particular reason for mentioning Darren Byfield? Every time I start a game of Championship Manager, I create a save file where I fight my way up from the lower divisions to Premiership glory. In CM 97/98 I purchased Byfield from Aston Villa and he transformed my side's fortunes in an instant, becoming my top scorer and earning me promotion. Since then it's been a sort of tradition, and he almost always ends up in my side eventually. While he's never been as good as he was in 97/98, I still keep an eye on his career, just out of curiosity.

So I was just wondering why you chose to mention him in particular, or whether it was just a strange coincidence.

[Loony BoB]

In answer to the vague question, Cid's Knights.

Realistically, Brazil, even if the only international soccer team I'd bother watching is England.

EDIT: As for Rugby, definitely New Zealand. Ranked 1st at IRB and the only team who could possibly say they have one up on us right now is South Africa, after they took the Tri Nations, but even then they only one it on bonus points and not games won. If Dingo wants to bring up 'history' then NZ has a hell of a lot more history than Aussie does when it comes to TransTasman victories.

[Doc Sark]

So I was just wondering why you chose to mention him in particular, or whether it was just a strange coincidence.

Lol! I was reading in Shoot magazine (which I will never buy again as it the football publications' equivalent of Heat) that Darren Byfield is dating Jamelia and it tickled me. I wonder if "Superstar" was written for him!!!!

[Psychotic]

i like a lot the way Holland plays football..i always found that way excellent..especially in the Euro 96' deserved to conquer the cup..

I do remember Holland being HAMMERED 4-1 by England in Euro '96

[JseanjohnC]

wut can i say? i am 50% german and i was also born there so of course i have to vote for it! i go there every year! France as well because i speak the language and also visit there often

[tomamar04]

wut can i say? i am 50% german and i was also born there so of course i have to vote for it! i go there every year! France as well because i speak the language and also visit there often

I'm all for patriotism, but Germany have been crap since Euro 96. I know they got to the last World Cup final, but they had a easy group (Ireland, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia) and in the knockout stages they played Paraguay, USA and Korea. The only world class team they played, Brazil, they were humiliated by.