re: France's 20 and under soccer team: sad reacts only

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Englands have always been good.

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The South Americans aren't white.

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The Argentinians more than others. They represented the European style of the game in the 70s and 80s, while Brazil represented flair.

Argentinian coaches are at the forefront of some new tactical ideas. Bielsa reinvigorated Chile, while Brazil is still stuck in the pre-2002 era.

That's probably humidity, chief

I have a soft spot for the English

I followed them heavily from like '94 until lately. I don't keep up as much now. But yeah, they either underachieved or, as McManaman put so eloquently, "suffered from delusions of grandeur". Brazil'14 was a disaster.

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They had their golden generation and missed their shot.

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English culture hurts their team-- it's way, way too much of a hothouse that jumped on every single mistake. I don't even know if there's an American analogy that works- like football in Alabama if it was way,way more intense.

"France"
Is on its way to meaninglessness

I wonder if the Premier League style hurts too-- it doesn't flow the same way the game does in La Liga or the Bundeslinga -- think Big 10 Football in the 00s vs. SEC Football at the same time.

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The South Americans aren't white.

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Argentina is like 80% white, and Uruguay even more so.

Agree with the rest of your post

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How can French even root for this team?

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The same way LSU fans can root for their football team full of black athletes from other states

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There's no doubt great white soccer players. It was invented in England and was a European game and expanded from there. The Germanys and Englands have always been good. The African nations are way behind in development, but definitely not in athleticism. The South Americans aren't white.

But if you look at the makeup of these national teams nowadays, the European countries are becoming more and more of melting pots. And the club teams even more

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I kinda hate to jump into this conversation as I don't do racial shite, but to counter the bolded a little bit, Argentina is definitely close to a "white" team. Most of those guys are Italian or Spanish or German with a little bit of mestizo. Messi is as white as I am, for instance. Two other great South American teams - the Uruguayans and the Chileans - are pretty damn white as well. The Brazilians, though, are about as mixed as any nation in the world both in soccer and in country.

But you're right to another extent. The three greatest national sides in the world (really, probably four, if you include the Dutch) of this century have been almost totally white: the Italians then the Spanish then the Germans. Spacing and skill and movement matter so much in the sport that individual skill and raw athleticism are rendered substantially inferior...that we are, arguably, the most athletic national side in the world and have been for twenty years and can't win shite is proof positive of that. Soccer is not like American sports in that sense. As you say, that's not racial at all - it's a function of national development programs and tactical emphasis.