EPTEnd it with a 92 minute winner and then a goal from inside his own half.
2024 - 2026 Football Thread - Page 97
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Jockmcplop
United Kingdom9808 Posts
End it with a 92 minute winner and then a goal from inside his own half. | ||
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gTank
Austria2604 Posts
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sharkie
Austria18625 Posts
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26535 Posts
On November 19 2025 06:47 Jockmcplop wrote: Absolutely bonkers. End it with a 92 minute winner and then a goal from inside his own half. And a screamer of a winner at that. With a bicycle kick to open. Mental! Comms on the 4th, gonna surely be iconic. You can hear someone going ‘shoot!’ and then ‘he’s done him!’ while the ball is mid flight | ||
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RvB
Netherlands6272 Posts
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DropBear
Australia4399 Posts
On November 19 2025 13:29 RvB wrote: Curacao qualified. 150k inhabitants. Second country from Kingdom of NL to qualify. Suriname (ex colony not part of the kingdom) only has a shot through intercontinental qualifiers. The best part is they play in blue | ||
GTR
51576 Posts
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Bacillus
Finland2035 Posts
What surprised me is that Morocco is currently 11th. I don't think I can name a single of their players right away. I don't really expect them to go toe-to-toe with the top countries for 90 minutes, but are they good enough to make a good run and upset some of the giants if some of the bounces go their way? | ||
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aseq
Netherlands3996 Posts
On November 20 2025 06:03 Bacillus wrote: Saw some world ranking stats on Reddit. There's quite a lot of usual weirdness in it: some steadily good teams seemingly overrated, ranking slow to catch on how good Norway look and so on. What surprised me is that Morocco is currently 11th. I don't think I can name a single of their players right away. I don't really expect them to go toe-to-toe with the top countries for 90 minutes, but are they good enough to make a good run and upset some of the giants if some of the bounces go their way? I can name a few, but that's because there are a fair few traitors amongst them who were born in NL but chose to play for the Moroccan team after taking up precious space in the Dutch youth academy. Just like Algeria , for example, I think they're a decent side that has had the tendency to fall apart in a few moments in the recent past, but are definitely not easy to play against. They beat Spain and Portugal last wc! | ||
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GTR
51576 Posts
moroccan-born players are a bit of a stretch for sure edit: bonou was born in montreal, of all places! | ||
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sharkie
Austria18625 Posts
On November 20 2025 06:03 Bacillus wrote: Saw some world ranking stats on Reddit. There's quite a lot of usual weirdness in it: some steadily good teams seemingly overrated, ranking slow to catch on how good Norway look and so on. What surprised me is that Morocco is currently 11th. I don't think I can name a single of their players right away. I don't really expect them to go toe-to-toe with the top countries for 90 minutes, but are they good enough to make a good run and upset some of the giants if some of the bounces go their way? Do you remember the country that beat - Belgium - Spain - Portugal and drew Crotia in world cup 2022? | ||
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Acrofales
Spain18258 Posts
On November 20 2025 08:21 aseq wrote: I can name a few, but that's because there are a fair few traitors amongst them who were born in NL but chose to play for the Moroccan team after taking up precious space in the Dutch youth academy. Just like Algeria , for example, I think they're a decent side that has had the tendency to fall apart in a few moments in the recent past, but are definitely not easy to play against. They beat Spain and Portugal last wc! How does that make them traitors? There is no Dutch youth academy. There's a whole bunch of football clubs, and the players there don't really owe anybody anything. Ziyech: started as a kid at ASV Dronten and a Heerenveen youth academy that shaped Ziyech. Heerenveen then sold him to Ajax, paying for his education. Ajax then sold him to Chelsea and made a good profit. Mazraoui: Alphen and Ajax. Then Munich bought him, and paid for his education at the Academy. Amrabat Brothers: both trained and became successful at different Dutch clubs, but all of Utrecht, Feyenoord or Ajax got paid plenty for educating them. As did Omniworld and PSV for their continued career developments before they went abroad. There's probably more, but thinking that the Netherlands is somehow entitled to these players playing for their national team because local football clubs trained them in their formative years is absurd. Those clubs made more than good money off those players, as well as having them play for the club for more time than most people stick with a job, before moving abroad to earn more money. I don't see you complaining that Xavi Simons should play for Spain or France because that's where he was trained. Or that Davids and Seedorf should've played for Suriname because that's where they were born (for that matter, Luuk and Siem de Jong should play for Switzerland, I guess?) The narrative that these players owe the Dutch team their fealty is disgusting. Firstly because they don't owe the Dutch national team anything. They are individual human beings. Secondly, and this might speak more to your fervent nationalism, playing for the national team is an honour and a privilege, not an obligation. And if these players don't want to "uphold the Dutch honor" in the national colors, we really shouldn't want them to either. | ||
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26535 Posts
On November 20 2025 17:10 Acrofales wrote: How does that make them traitors? There is no Dutch youth academy. There's a whole bunch of football clubs, and the players there don't really owe anybody anything. Ziyech: started as a kid at ASV Dronten and a Heerenveen youth academy that shaped Ziyech. Heerenveen then sold him to Ajax, paying for his education. Ajax then sold him to Chelsea and made a good profit. Mazraoui: Alphen and Ajax. Then Munich bought him, and paid for his education at the Academy. Amrabat Brothers: both trained and became successful at different Dutch clubs, but all of Utrecht, Feyenoord or Ajax got paid plenty for educating them. As did Omniworld and PSV for their continued career developments before they went abroad. There's probably more, but thinking that the Netherlands is somehow entitled to these players playing for their national team because local football clubs trained them in their formative years is absurd. Those clubs made more than good money off those players, as well as having them play for the club for more time than most people stick with a job, before moving abroad to earn more money. I don't see you complaining that Xavi Simons should play for Spain or France because that's where he was trained. Or that Davids and Seedorf should've played for Suriname because that's where they were born (for that matter, Luuk and Siem de Jong should play for Switzerland, I guess?) The narrative that these players owe the Dutch team their fealty is disgusting. Firstly because they don't owe the Dutch national team anything. They are individual human beings. Secondly, and this might speak more to your fervent nationalism, playing for the national team is an honour and a privilege, not an obligation. And if these players don't want to "uphold the Dutch honor" in the national colors, we really shouldn't want them to either. People get a bit strange on this. Identity is a complex, multifaceted thing. For every second generation immigrant who feels 100% national affiliation with where they’re born, you’ll have some who more of a split identity, sometimes 3 or more ways. Or even 100% with the country of their forebears. Some Irish are still mad that Jack Grealish and Declan Rice for switching their allegiance back to England. I mean they can still feel connection with their Irish heritage, but jump at the chance to play for England. You just have to hear them speak, I often jokingly wind people up by claiming nationality is entirely defined by accent and you don’t get much more English than those two :p It’s doubly galling given the Irish team frequently grabs players from the North who played youth football or friendlies for us. Not something I’ve an issue with myself, but pick a lane! I will say I dislike players playing for nations they obviously don’t have much connection with. It’s one thing if you’re connected and aware of your heritage and make that call. You do hear about folks who weren’t even aware they were eligible for x nation and get headhunted. How connected can you be to something you didn’t even know? I’m not a huge fan of naturalisation for folks who come as older adults, but that’s way less common in football than in the likes of rugby or cricket. As my posting would generally indicate I’m not massively nationalistic or jingoistic, but I mean the idea of international sport is our best blokes or blokettes versus yours. | ||
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RvB
Netherlands6272 Posts
On November 20 2025 17:10 Acrofales wrote: How does that make them traitors? There is no Dutch youth academy. There's a whole bunch of football clubs, and the players there don't really owe anybody anything. Ziyech: started as a kid at ASV Dronten and a Heerenveen youth academy that shaped Ziyech. Heerenveen then sold him to Ajax, paying for his education. Ajax then sold him to Chelsea and made a good profit. Mazraoui: Alphen and Ajax. Then Munich bought him, and paid for his education at the Academy. Amrabat Brothers: both trained and became successful at different Dutch clubs, but all of Utrecht, Feyenoord or Ajax got paid plenty for educating them. As did Omniworld and PSV for their continued career developments before they went abroad. There's probably more, but thinking that the Netherlands is somehow entitled to these players playing for their national team because local football clubs trained them in their formative years is absurd. Those clubs made more than good money off those players, as well as having them play for the club for more time than most people stick with a job, before moving abroad to earn more money. I don't see you complaining that Xavi Simons should play for Spain or France because that's where he was trained. Or that Davids and Seedorf should've played for Suriname because that's where they were born (for that matter, Luuk and Siem de Jong should play for Switzerland, I guess?) The narrative that these players owe the Dutch team their fealty is disgusting. Firstly because they don't owe the Dutch national team anything. They are individual human beings. Secondly, and this might speak more to your fervent nationalism, playing for the national team is an honour and a privilege, not an obligation. And if these players don't want to "uphold the Dutch honor" in the national colors, we really shouldn't want them to either. I agree with your overall point but the football clubs also benefit from the institutional setup of the Netherlands. So I think they owe the country, and by extension the national team, somewhat. But certainly not enough to damage their own careers or deny them the opportunity to play a world cup. Only Ziyech, Mazrioui and maybe Amrabat had a good shot to be selected for our national team. And even for them its questionable if they'd play consistently. Yet at Morocco they can/could make a difference. Edit: Thinking about it some more I think you underestimate how much support football gets. Professional clubs get public subsidies. Clubs in the amateur divisions would not exist without all the community support. Dutch football players benefit from this immensely as evidenced by the amount of good players coming through the system. In a sense it's similar to education where it's publicly funded and in return some of the gains that accrue to individuals in the form of higher wages are then taxed via a progressive tax system. On the other hand there's the personal freedom you mention where people should be free to live their lives as they want. For me that's the most important argument. Regular people who move to a different country to work are not called traitors even though they've benefited from Dutch society. Nobody even cares. So why would this be different. | ||
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WombaT
Northern Ireland26535 Posts
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aseq
Netherlands3996 Posts
On November 20 2025 17:10 Acrofales wrote: How does that make them traitors? There is no Dutch youth academy. There's a whole bunch of football clubs, and the players there don't really owe anybody anything. Ziyech: started as a kid at ASV Dronten and a Heerenveen youth academy that shaped Ziyech. Heerenveen then sold him to Ajax, paying for his education. Ajax then sold him to Chelsea and made a good profit. Mazraoui: Alphen and Ajax. Then Munich bought him, and paid for his education at the Academy. Amrabat Brothers: both trained and became successful at different Dutch clubs, but all of Utrecht, Feyenoord or Ajax got paid plenty for educating them. As did Omniworld and PSV for their continued career developments before they went abroad. There's probably more, but thinking that the Netherlands is somehow entitled to these players playing for their national team because local football clubs trained them in their formative years is absurd. Those clubs made more than good money off those players, as well as having them play for the club for more time than most people stick with a job, before moving abroad to earn more money. I don't see you complaining that Xavi Simons should play for Spain or France because that's where he was trained. Or that Davids and Seedorf should've played for Suriname because that's where they were born (for that matter, Luuk and Siem de Jong should play for Switzerland, I guess?) The narrative that these players owe the Dutch team their fealty is disgusting. Firstly because they don't owe the Dutch national team anything. They are individual human beings. Secondly, and this might speak more to your fervent nationalism, playing for the national team is an honour and a privilege, not an obligation. And if these players don't want to "uphold the Dutch honor" in the national colors, we really shouldn't want them to either. Eh, players like Ziyech and Amrabat took up spaces in the Dutch National Youth squad (U-15, U-19, etc). You could easily argue the Dutch national team from some generation would have had more time together if those players don't drop out later for different countries. And I think Xavi should absolutely play for the country where he grew up/was born/has the most affiliation with. Which one that is, I don't know, and it might not be so easy to determine if a kid has moved all over the place. But I generally dislike players having a choice, just like I don't like double passports. Having a backup option when you're not good enough to make your 'primary' national team, or don't like that team, is just silly. I wouldn't know how to decide on the metric though. | ||
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sharkie
Austria18625 Posts
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FlaShFTW
United States10360 Posts
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aseq
Netherlands3996 Posts
On November 20 2025 23:50 sharkie wrote: You know the term multi-cultural is not just some buzz-word... Most of us who grew up this way feel strong emotional attachment to multiple countries/places/cultures... Having a double passport is not having a backup option... I'm not denying cultural ties. Myself, I moved to a different country too when I was a teen, and moved back later...doesn't mean I think I should be eligible for that country. I can still support them whenever I like. A travel pass should suffice instead of a second passport, but that's an entire different discussion. | ||
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Acrofales
Spain18258 Posts
On November 21 2025 04:39 aseq wrote: I'm not denying cultural ties. Myself, I moved to a different country too when I was a teen, and moved back later...doesn't mean I think I should be eligible for that country. I can still support them whenever I like. A travel pass should suffice instead of a second passport, but that's an entire different discussion. It's not really that simple. I was born in South Africa. My father is Dutch and I grew up in the Netherlands. If I had been a football prodigy, what national team would you have locked me in to? If you'd ask me, I self-identify as Dutch. But it wouldn't have been hard at all to self-identify as South African. And now I've lived for years in Spain. I'm close enough to having lived more years in Spain than in the Netherlands. Should I change my nationality? I love Spain, but if anyone asks me where I'm from, I don't say Spain. I say I'm Dutch, living in Spain. And if we really get into the weeds, I consider the entire idea of nations outdated. | ||
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