We were watching Champions leage the other night, and remarked on how many national players were on the field... if you look at all teams who started out in the Champions League (in Europe) this year - what percentage of the total player roster in the World Cup do they make up?
131481
Statistically, only 14% of the World Cup 2006 players played in the Champions League this year.
558680
I hope you're not trying to make this into a race issue, because it would be terribly lame.\n\nSoccer has been the most dominant sport amongst European countries for a very long time. By comparison, African countries have been producing World Cup teams only recently. \n\nIf the team is good enough, they will qualify. Take the US, for example, they are supposedly the "leader of the free world", but their team only recently began qualifying for the World Cup (and hasn't as of yet made it very far).
570537
Some teams have disappointed people at the WC, but I think all teams had to prove themselves to a degree. Many more than the 32 who qualified tried and didn't get there. I know some had easier qualifying rounds than others, but these 32 are the ones that overcame their opponents to get here. They all deserve some credit. But leave the Olympics out of it, this is the WC of football, a completely different arena.
603782
If you're asking me to put together a list of the 11 I would put on the field  to make the best team ever it would go something like this, at least concerning people who played in world cups.... (in a 4-4-2)\nGK-Gordon Banks (best save in W.C. history)\nDF- Bobby Moore, Paolo Maldini, Cafu, Beckenbauer\nMF- Diego Armando Maradona, Michael Platini, Zico, Johan Cryuff\nFW- Pele, Ronaldo\nDebate any of these with me, I promise you they would be the choice of most people who know football (I know it's annoying that I have 2 Brazilians playing up front, but really, can anyone debate that with me?  Pele was a more inventine and creative player than Gerd Muller and Ronaldo might be the best W.C. tournament player ever, or at least he is right up there with Maradona!
643845
Oliver Kahn said he would give a chance to Lehman who is also a veteran, by this desition Klinsman decided to put Lehman on the goal, who had been given a good matches until now.\n\nMaybe Kahn would play the final(If they get there) or the match for the third place. And that would be his last World Cup match, and would fallow with a retirement with other veterans as:\nEdwin Van del Sar (Netherlands)\nPhilip Cocu (Netherlands)\nZinedine Zidane (France)\nand that is what I know so far!
663521
The current quota of World Cup places is distributed mainly on football development of the region and to a lesser extent on the size of the continent.  So, analyzing the situation, I think that the current situation is relatively fair enough.  I say this because the development of football in Asia and Africa is not satisfactory enough to award them more places.  If places are awarded under current conditions, it will result in underperforming teams being the whipping-boys of their respective groups.  South America has 12 countries and I think 4.5 is fair enough.  For Europe, well, 14 seems a lot but considering the great national team heritage and especially club heritage (A.C, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United...) I think it's worth it.
312210
There is no problem really, because no matter what, they will participate in this tournament as 1 unified team. \n\nThey will split (if there is a vote) into 2 nations for the Euro qualifiers and as you know, World Champions no longer get direct entry but have to qualify as well. \n\nThey will share the trophy each for 2 years, plus winners also get a replica because the trophy always goes back to FIFA before the next Finals. In S & M case, each will get one.\n\nOther than these issues, I don't forsee anything else because even holders no longer get to play the opening game, it goes to the hosts.
656880
My overall view of the cup... hmmm...\n\nWell since you asked, here goes:\n\nThe World Cup of Soccer... it's the most watched sports competition in the world, a game and an event that unites & divides the entire planet!  This year the world cup soccer tournament arrives in Germany where the host country (part of it anyways, once known as West Germany) won a 2nd title in 1974.\n \nThe world's largest sporting event has only gotten bigger during the last 3 decades:  2.7 million people in stadiums across South Korea & Japan in 2002, it was where the Germans returned to the World Cup Final and lost to Brazil.\n \n32 world cup teams will battle it out in Germany over a 31 day period.  The battle is for the most coveted trophy in the world, the FIFA World Cup Trophy (see picture above in the upper right hand corner).  It is a piece of hardware that measures 14" high and weighs 11 pounds.  Also at stake is an entire nation's pride.\n\nEvery 4 years, FIFA (the international governing body of soccer) holds a month long tournament.  32 teams qualify from 6 zones: Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, North America (and Oceania as a single zone), Central America and the Caribbean.\n\nHow is it played?  The 32 teams are broken into 8 groups. Each team plays the other 3 teams in its group, the top 2 teams from each of the original 8 groups advance to the round of 16 (16 teams left at this point).   The round of 16 is played this way:  The winner of each group plays the 2nd place team of another group.  The winners from the round of 16 advance to the quarter-finals (8 teams left at this point).  Winning teams from the quarter-finals advance to the semi-finals (4 teams left at this point) and are guaranteed two more games - because World Cup teams play for 3rd place also.  The winning teams of the semi-finals play in the World Cup final (for 1st & 2nd place), the losing teams of the semi-finals play for 3rd place.\n\nFIFA held the 1st World Cup in 1930, and aside from skipping 1942 & 1946 (due to obvious reasons: World War II), has held the tournament every 4 years since then.  There have been 17 previous tournaments.  \n\nWho do I think will win?  That question can hold a few different possible answers.  Brazil holds the record for winning the most world cups with 5 world cups so they are the favorites.  Italy & West Germany (Germany now since reunification in 1990) are tied at 2nd place with 3 world cups each.  Uruguay & Argentina are tied at 3rd place with 2 world cups each.  England & France are tied at 4th with 1 world cup title each.\n\nMy heart lies with team Italy but five-time champions Brazil are the definite favorite - which would be an unbelievable 6th title and would be twice as many as any other team.  Another favorite is Czech Republic based on their #2 World Ranking according to FIFA.  Holland is ranked 3rd, Mexico is ranked 4th and USA is ranked 5th tied with Spain.  But those are just current FIFA World rankings, they can't determine the actual World Cup outcome: How you get to Germany and How you play in Germany are two different things!  Fan favorites and real contenders like Italy, Portugal, England, Germany, Argentina among other teams will obviously leave their respective marks on this tournament.  \n\nGo Italy!  Forza Italia!!!
654864
The reason people over look Spain is their past record as massive underachievers - though Ukraine looked oddly jaded last night and Shevchenko looked like a starving man on his own up front, Spain were quality.  I think that the Spanish nation has woken to the fact that club football is not the be all and end all and that it's all very well having the best club side in Europe, but the national side was in danger of becoming a joke.  I think they are as good a bet as anyone, except perhaps the Czech Republic who went off at odds which didn't really match their excellent chance of winning....
165118
This question is tricky as most of those teams have not participated neither had a good position on the FIFA ranking so it Will make you answer the US. But I consider it will be equal comparison if you make the same question comparing top 20 teams in the FIFA ranking.
170066
I've been saying this for a long time: this is the best Italian team in the WC since they won it in 82, even better than their finalist 94 team. This team can really play! I do think they could go all the way. Italians concentrate on defense defense defense, they have a killer one coupled with amazing attacking players. Watch out for these guys.
600333
The teams are comprised of passport holders of the nation they represent.  There is no player playing for a different country.  What you may see is a player that belongs to a club in another country, but not the national team.\nYou are correct, they don´t get to practice together for too long, usually a couple of months.  That is why they have as many friendly matches against other countries as they can.
616850
absolutely right!\n\ntill now...NO SURPRISES AT ALL...which to be honest...i think it's better :)!\n\nmost coaches are more cautious than ever...and they tend to secure the game...and i don't blame them...many big teams are still living the shocking nightmares of their eliminations in the past tournaments...Italy, Portugal, England, Argentina and Netherlands!\n\nbut i believe the BEST IS YET TO COME...i mean come on...those teams are playing for the WORLD CUP...not just for an honoring participation in WORLD CUP if you know what i mean...big guys are running towards the gold amigo...and to get the GOLD...you need patience, mentality, tactics, plans, good players and A BIT OF LUCK...!\n\ni love the GOALS so far!\n\ni think the refs are performing an OK job till now!
269482
I would think that the team goes and plays the games it was scheduled to play and if they won the World Cup, it probably could create the amazing feat of reuniting the two sides into one country, maybe even go back to the old Yugoslavia days. We are all humans, there are no "country lines" anywhere I looked so we are all in the same team. Hope one day we can leave our pitty differences and join as one race.
514622
Future is looking good and bright. The team has reched its lowest that it can not go any further down from here. Hence, it can look forward to a better performance from here on. If you remember even prior to start of  the last world cup, we were at the lowest and in our first few matches against low placed teams like Holland we won with difficulty, but after that we reached the finals and lost.\n\nHence, its good that we have not peaked at the wrong time, but we should now start gethering momentum to peak at world cup. Hopefully, by that time we will have few changes in our team for better.
487877
Hellooo!! have u seen the man u team? every single player is there cuz they can play!!! we have a strong team and we will win this year!
608165
Nobody has won more World Cup titles.  Nobody.  Besides, just look at how they play.  Even if they didn't win so much, which they have, they would still be respected for their artistry alone.