Robben blasts players going to China in their 20's, says you have 1 career & you are wasting it !

Also Japan would spank Paraguay 9/10 times they played. Paraguay had to park the bus to beat Japan in 2010, which is acceptable. Its a tactic that got them through.

Paraguay has produced far better players than Japan ever has, this is a completely empty boast. Paraguay has also made it farther than Japan in a WC (quarter finals).

And yeah the environment makes some subpar teams like Bolivia and Ecuador get more of an even chance, but the standard of football per team is highest in South America than anywhere else.

Betty La Fea wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:
For money man, no one cares about Asian footballers, the average football fan probably can't name an Asian footballer outside of Japan and South Korea

They are changing it because playing in the desert is HARD, and the conditions players who aren't used to it will be at risk of exhaustion and other serious issues. No other region takes a team across the world to qualify in such harsh conditions. Africa's vastness is the only thing that comes close.

Ah Ok I misunderstood your post. Yes no one is arguing that it is not hard, but playing in shit conditions doesn't make the football high quality.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

Also Japan would spank Paraguay 9/10 times they played. Paraguay had to park the bus to beat Japan in 2010, which is acceptable. Its a tactic that got them through.

Paraguay has produced far better players than Japan ever has, this is a completely empty boast. Paraguay has also made it farther than Japan in a WC (quarter finals).

And yeah the environment makes some subpar teams like Bolivia and Ecuador get more of an even chance, but the standard of football per team is highest in South America than anywhere else.

That quarter finals thing is kind of weak considering they had to get lucky in the penalty shootout vs Japan to get that far. Also This is with Japan not even trying, honestly, to get in the Tournament until Mexico 70. Since 1970, when both had teams of which to compare, they have both qualified for 5 tournaments.

The player thing is debatable. Pele, who many consider the GOAT, when pressed to create a list of his top living players for FIFA 100 only named one Paraguay player, and one Japanese player. If Paraguay had a lot of class who had died before then, that Japan didnt, I can accept that. The gulf isnt enough to make the claim they have produced FAR better players though.

Its easier to play your standard of football in the night of south America than it is in the desert too.

You forget that Paraguay were pretty close to kicking Spain out as well in their WC year, they were simply very solid in 2010.

I'll say that Paraguay's best players are spread out historically whereas Japan's all seem to be in the past 20 years, so the trend is definitely in their favor for the future.