I remember it well, Barça was one of the leading parties in that insurgency and one of the last still publicly attempting to get it done (together with Real Madrid and Juventus, and look where Juventus is now! Coincidence? Soon on a conspiracy theater near you!).
A pity that it will be shown on Apple TV, I am not subscribed to that one, that sounds like one of those documentaries that make you angry and you love it. I also remember how surpring it was for me that everybody who had a name or was something in football, and I really mean everbody, not a single dissenting voice apart from the clubs who tried*, rose unanimously and very vocally against this idea, what do I say idea? Treason! Treason against football, against ideals, meritocracy, traditions and against the FANS!!! I hope your friend explains how FIFA and UEFA pulled that off, as if they represented football, ideals, meritocracy, tradition and the fans. I wish him much success!
* 20 clubs tried, 17 folded immediately when all TV comentators (from the BBC to Sky News, from ARD to Premiere, in Spain and in Italy, everyone that I heard), national governments, ministers, all journalists in print and on the radio, every single excluded club, fan club, the newsanchors, really everybody spoke against it. Unanimity of North Corean proportions!
See what I mean? It is impossible even to consider there might be an alternative to the present format. And of course the clubs involved, first and foremost Real Madrid, are only in for the money and the political influence. I know that, I am no fool, but the UEFA, FIFA (and the IOC, for good measure) stink too.
Oh, yes, I remember now, thanks! I even wrote the 7th post there and I see my analysis was not far off the mark, I still could support what I wrote then. I lost sight of it, time to get up to date on that thread.
If you are wondering why @Frodo has been oddly quiet recently it’s been since he is on a special mission in a foreign land, some of whose results are only just now becoming evident. I believe something similar was done in 1998 by the French.
Two days out from the World Cup final, Qatar finishes hosting its tournament having very recently been declared “a frontrunner in labour rights”. “Today,” the declaration in question continued, “the World Cup in Qatar is proof of how sports diplomacy can achieve a historic transformation of a country.”
It feels only mildly unfortunate that the member of the European parliament who uttered these words three weeks ago is currently detained by Belgian police, after the discovery of almost €1m in banknotes in her marital home and a hotel room used by her father.
I don’t how they get to that, if you ask me is more 60/40 FRA - ARG. (but then again no Argentine is going to say that they are favorites to win anything ever, it’s not just pessimism, it’s superstition)
IMHO, the third-place game is the only truly fun and relaxed game of the World Cup. It means little, as opposed to group stage and knockout stage games that mean a lot, but both teams are already proud to have gone this far, and might as well throw the kitchen sink at their opponents and bring out all the bicycle kicks and whatnot.
And it is over! Croatia ended up winning 2-1 after a really energetic game. Very entertaining, and neither team ever stopped pressing and attacking. There was a rather egregious failure on the part of the referee (in my opinion); I think he should have granted a rather obvious penalty to Croatia. But, all in all, a great game!