Suck it New Zealand

[Rob]

Sigh...

[Jon]

You broke Rob's heart Dorling.

[Rob]

Bit of an overreaction to a joke, don't you think?

[Dorling]

Wasn't a direct reaction to you Rob, more social commentary. Discuss it further if you like, this is a football discussion board after all.

[Drama Queen]

Football snobbery is just as bad as music snobbery in my eyes.

......it's New Zealand.

They lost to New Caledonia last year.

[Dorling]

Saying that Mexico are far better at football than New Zealand is not snobbery, it's fact.

Mexico have barely been out of the top 15-20 teams in the world since I've been alive. If they struggle to defeat a team that barely breaks the top 80, something is wrong. They've also managed to somehow only qualify for the world cup playoff despite being the strongest or second strongest team in their region (alongside USA), falling behind Honduras and Costa Rica. Scrambling into the World Cup via a last chance playoff is not what they should consider success.

Fact is, what I posted directly below it confirms that I am not good enough to play for New Zealand and am not calling them crap...I am not good enough to play for New Caledonia either.

[Flins.]

Still, you didn't point out at that in the return fixture they smashed New Caledonia, or that they beat Honduras recently, a team that Mexico lost too. I don't think you were being snobby, but I don't see any reason why fans of Mexico can't be excited about the victory considering, performance wise, they've not been too far apart. Not sure why Mexico have been struggling though, they've got a pretty strong core of players, and the Peralta/Hernandez strikeforce should be terrorizing the likes of Panama.

[Drama Queen]

I thought it was funny

However, the difference of skill between Mexico and nz is not really the point of this thread. It's more "hey, my country will be taking part in the greatest sporting event in the world next summer" and at the end of the day that is a huge thing regardless of how well you played. I might be Irish but trust me I can remember as far back as 2002! I am very very envious of Mexico and the other 31 nations that will be there.

Sigh.... At least I have my current home to route for. And of course whichever three teams ends up in England's group
(come on I'm allowed to be a little xenophobic every four years right )

[Dorling]

Still, you didn't point out at that in the return fixture they smashed New Caledonia, or that they beat Honduras recently, a team that Mexico lost too. I don't think you were being snobby, but I don't see any reason why fans of Mexico can't be excited about the victory considering, performance wise, they've not been too far apart. Not sure why Mexico have been struggling though, they've got a pretty strong core of players, and the Peralta/Hernandez strikeforce should be terrorizing the likes of Panama.

And so nz should have! If the gap between Mexico and NZ is big, the disparity between NZ and New Caledonia is astronomical. At least NZ can field a full squad of pros!

I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable about world football, it is my favourite thing after all, but at the same time I appreciate all football. I love tuning into random football games on sky. I'll watch anything.

[Flins.]

NZ should've beaten New Caledonia... Mexico should've beaten NZ... N. Ireland should've beaten Kazakhstan... England should've beaten Poland... Any other circumstances, a win over Poland would not have been 'celebrated' by England. It's not quite the same as Mexico/NZ, but the same principle is there. It was an important result for them, no need to shit all over it.

And what DQ said, this is the World Cup man! I think anyone with their country involved has the right to celebrate

[Dorling]

I'm not 'shitting all over it.' A world cup without Mexico doesn't make sense to me, they have to be there. They have such strength they should be there every time - I also enjoy their style of play a lot more than I would enjoy watching a minnow desperately defending for their lives in every game. I think the over riding feeling within the Mexican game will be that of relief rather than massive success when/if they complete the job against New Zealand. With a 5-1 lead they should be ok! Your points about the England and NI games are valid but not really relevant.

This is just a good bit of football banter. Panch can take it and I'm sure he wasn't expecting to be supporting his team trekking across the world while Costa Rica and Honduras light up their cigars.

[Flins.]

About as relevant as New Zealand losing to New Caledonia. Just differing context. I agree about Mexico needing to be in the World Cup though, was having this conversation with Pancho awhile back when they were struggling, that it wouldn't be the same without them. I think we're similar in age, were you as obsessed with Cuauhtemoc Blanco as me and my buddies were after the 1998 World Cup?

[Dorling]

About as relevant as New Zealand losing to New Caledonia.

Not when the title of the thread is 'Suck it New Zealand!'

Loved Blanco. That whole era from the mid 90s with Campos, Pardo, Garcia Aspe, Bernal and Arellano was something to be enjoyed. But Blanco was something else.