What makes a country good at football?

Re:What makes a country good at football? by nkg on Sunday June 10, 2018 @01:29PM (#17279126)

England's poor performance is a mystery to me.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What makes a country good at football? by tonyedgecombe on Sunday June 10, 2018 @01:55PM (#17279269)

I've often wondered if having so many strong club level teams is a disadvantage for the national team. Diverting resources and bringing in foreign talent may not help.

Having said that I really no nothing about football :)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What makes a country good at football? by jvln on Monday June 11, 2018 @02:56AM (#17282343)

England has an average team and only English don't agree with that. https://www.amazon.com/Soccernomics-England-Germany-Australi...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What makes a country good at football? by narag on Sunday June 10, 2018 @02:40PM (#17279529)

Maybe the fact that there is no UK national team?

Edit: Frankly I don't care so much about karma, but this downvote is strange. I would have thought that this reason wasn't controversial at all. I've even heard british players say that. Anybody care to explain?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What makes a country good at football? by nkg on Sunday June 10, 2018 @10:29PM (#17281314)

Not downvoting, but I think England on its own has what it takes to do well.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:What makes a country good at football? by narag on Monday June 11, 2018 @07:45PM (#17289581)

Of course, but a joint team would minimize luck's role. England won World Cup once anyway, didn't it?

[ Parent | on HN ]