June of 1998, Spain is disqualified from the 1998 World Cup France in the 1rst round. June 2002, France, the current World Champion at that time, says good bye too early in the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan. June 2010, the same story happens again, when Italy, 2006 World Champion, is disqualified in the first round South Africa. Also in June 2010, England, with its best generation in years is sent home in the round of 16, after showing a mediocre performance. That is just one more World Cup disappointment for the English team, after the 1966 World Title.
Some soccer fans asked me why these unsuccessful and sad stories happened in the FIFA World Cup? Answers? Well there are many. Too much confidence, underestimating other national teams, exhausted players, and so on. However, my answer and what I think is the big reason: foreigners!
In the history of Football, the famous clubs and teams have allowed foreign players in their rosters. Of course, it is nice to see a Brazilian player, or an Argentinean player showing his talent in Spain, in Italy, in England. We can’t forget that the best player that Real Madrid ever had is the famous Alfredo D’ Stefano (Argentina). We can’t either forget that Johan Cruff (Netherlands) is one the idols for FC Barcelona. I can go on and on, but that’s not the point of my article. Today, I’ll focus on the excessive number of foreign players in Italy and England. Why these countries? Because the excess happens there.
The top 3 clubs in England are Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester United. In the last years, these have been considered the strongest and most powerful English teams. Oh wow, “English” teams they are telling me, but wait a minute English teams? Ohh yes, they are from cities in England, but the moment I start to see their rosters what do I find?
- Chelsea: Five players from England, and the rest? 19 players from Brazil, Spain, Portugal, France, Israel, Ivory Coast, and Ghana.
- Arsenal: Three English players, and 23 more players from France, Spain, Wales, Netherlands, Poland, Morocco, Belgium, and Czech Republic.
- Manchester United: 12 English players. Well, that’s much better, but out of a roster of 39 players. So the reminder 27 comes from Netherlands, France, Brazil, Serbia, Ecuador, and Mexico.
Adding the total number of players, I get a total of 89 in these teams. Only 20 are English, that’s 22%, less than half! And I’m very sure that not all of the 20 have International experience playing for the National Team. Then England complains they can’t do well in the World Cup. Unbelievable!!
In May 2010, I saw the famous “Italian” power of Inter Milan beating Bayern Munich in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final. That year, Inter also won the Italian Cup and the Italian Serie A. If I were Italian I would’ve claimed to consider this team as the base to form the Italian National Team for the World Cup, but wait a minute, I can’t. The lineup for Inter has 4 guys from Argentina, 3 from Brazil, 1 from Rumania, 1 from Netherlands, and 1 from Macedonia. Italian team without any Italian players! Well, great to win three important trophies in a year, but bad to lose the Italian identity. There you have another reason why Italy couldn’t defend its World Title in a decent way.
I am not against foreign players showing their class in Europe. I think it is ok and great idea, of course, to hire a foreign player for your team, but why we have to go to the extreme? For instance, in Ecuador, professional football teams are allowed 4 spots for foreign players. We can proudly say, that an Ecuadorian power, Liga de Quito, won the 2008 Libertadores with most players born in Ecuador. It is also not a surprised to see rosters from Argentinean, Brazilian, Uruguayan teams that almost 80% of their players are born in their countries. Adding the fact that in South America teams win trophies, they keep their identity and that’s why fans love them so much. For that reason, football in South America it's a matter of pride and identity.
I just wonder, it wouldn’t be nice for Chelsea fans and Arsenal fans to see their team winning the UEFA Champions League with English players? Do Inter fans really feel proud of their trophies with a 100% foreign line up? Good question eh?
In Spain, it looks like they realized their problem in 1998. In that time FC Barcelona had 8 Dutch players, yes 8!! Also they had a strong Brazilian guy named Rivaldo, and for sure more foreigners that I don’t remember now. The Catalanes started to focus on its minor divisions. That’s how the world has been able to welcome players like Iniesta, Xavi, Piqué, Puyol, Busquets, and Pedro. All of them, 2008 European Champions and 2010 World Champions defending the Spain National Team. Other teams like Sevilla, Villarreal, Atlético de Madrid, are more focused in their minor divisions, and that’s why Spain now is an strong power able to win great trophies they wanted for a long time. I really hope, they don’t lose their focus.
Michelle Platini, UEFA President, and Joseph Blatter, FIFA President, are promoting an idea that I support 100%. The 6:5 rule! Teams or Clubs need to have 6 players from their home country and 5 foreigners on the field. Guess who already opposed? Yes, teams from England, Italy, and surprisingly in Spain too. After the good results, Spain is going to make the same mistakes as English and Italians? I really hope not.
If things continue like that, Italy won’t be World Champion in a long time, and England, won’t celebrate a victory ever again. Clubs like Inter Milan can continue winning trophies, thanks to the foreign talent, but they don’t realize that they are losing their identity, and that’s, in my opinion, priceless.
The only ones happy with all these European extremes, will be the South American National Teams. Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, may repeat the same story that happened in the last FIFA World Cup. They took their spots among the top 8 teams of the world. In the future, Mexico can join them, and I really hope Ecuador joins them too.
It looks like Europeans love to train our players for us, for now, that seems to be their favourite choice.
PS. At the moment of this writing, Inter Milan is being eliminated from UEFA Champions League by the Germans of Shalke 04! Good bye “Italian” team.
excellent article! makes me hope the MLS implementing 6:5 rosters rules leads to better national teams.
ReplyDeleteP.S. rule should be designed so canadian players count the same as an american player on all teams not just our whitecaps and TFC.