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Is this it?

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Oncy

Oncy

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Germany - 82,000,000 population
Italy - 61,000,000
France - 63,500,000
Spain - 48,000,000

The four best teams are four of the biggest populations in Europe.
Russia and Turkey are the biggest but the European superpowers of Italy and Germany are right up there.
Are England hamstrung because we have so many national sports? We have a population similar to Spains but we dont perform. Is it because Cricket, Rugby etc vie for our youth?
Portugal, Holland and Belgium are tiny but they have some very good players. Do they have any other national sports.

Obviously there are loads of factors that influence a national team, but statistically you would have to think if you have a higher pool to choose from ultimately you will do better.
82,000,000 germans to choose from
48,000,000 English.....
 
Herr Onceared said:
Germany - 82,000,000 population
Italy - 61,000,000
France - 63,500,000
Spain - 48,000,000

The four best teams are four of the biggest populations in Europe.
Russia and Turkey are the biggest but the European superpowers of Italy and Germany are right up there.
Are England hamstrung because we have so many national sports? We have a population similar to Spains but we dont perform. Is it because Cricket, Rugby etc vie for our youth?
Portugal, Holland and Belgium are tiny but they have some very good players. Do they have any other national sports.

Obviously there are loads of factors that influence a national team, but statistically you would have to think if you have a higher pool to choose from ultimately you will do better.
82,000,000 germans to choose from
48,000,000 English.....
Click to expand...

Dunno about Belgium and Portugal, but Holland are quite good at other sports like speed skating and hockey (not the one on ice).
I know that this is a bit off topic but Uruguay with a population of about 4 Million, arguably has the best national team in South America.
Spain are also a top nation in Basketball, Handball and Tennis (well that's one player).
 
Population is obviously part of it, but so long as youre practically required to give up education to make it as a footballer in England you'll continue to produce simple football teams.

Until the education v. Football problem is sorted youre fucked. As are we
 
Rosco said:
Population is obviously part of it, but so long as youre practically required to give up education to make it as a footballer in England you'll continue to produce simple football teams.

Until the education v. Football problem is sorted youre fucked. As are we
Click to expand...

Always thought that.
 
We are a lazy nation mate, we are the best at low effort sports that require precision like darts and snooker.

Te rise in massiveky physcial events like rowing and cycling is helping our lazy arses to get out and exercise which is great.

Does any other country have a top 5-8 team in the world at so many sports as us, we do play a lot of diffent stuff.
 
Fox said:
We are a lazy nation mate, we are the best at low effort sports that require precision like darts and snooker.

Te rise in massiveky physcial events like rowing and cycling is helping our lazy arses to get out and exercise which is great.

Does any other country have a top 5-8 team in the world at so many sports as us, we do play a lot of diffent stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's great that you don't see fat kids in the UK anymore.

Do you live in a Center parks resort?
 
You've listed the same number for population of England as Spain so that kinda blows that argument out of the water. And the USA suck at Football, so that too.

There are just a lot more team sports available in the UK at a professional and semi-professional level than in other European countries and that dilutes the talent pool as it is harder to excel in the more popular ones like football/ rugby/ cricket than it is at tertiary sports like cycling/ rowing/ triathlon etc
 
FoxForceFive said:
Does any other nation play darts?

I always wondered if we just kept a monopoly on it so we could stay good at something, like we do with binge drinking.
Click to expand...
I know a country who would give you a run for your money there mate. Just don't think that all people from they are all lightweights like some of the ones you have met😳
 
Population might play a small part, but it's not one of the major reasons imo. You can look at a number of leading sports where countries with tiny populations have dominated or conversely countries with a massive population advantage that have failed to make an impact.

A couple of examples:

India at Cricket: Thye've more financial resources than any other nation + 100's of millions more people to pick from , yet they fail to deliver on a regular basis.

All Blacks at rugby: Population of around 4mil (i think) and have less money in the game than nearly all of their main rivals, yet it seems they have been the best team in world forever.
 
Uruguay - population 3.4 million
Current South American champions
Fifa rank: 2
WC semi finals.
Suck my balls.
 
Kenny4PM said:
Population might play a small part, but it's not one of the major reasons imo. You can look at a number of leading sports where countries with tiny populations have dominated or conversely countries with a massive population advantage that have failed to make an impact.
Click to expand...

Exactly. New Zealand 4 million or so and look how good they are at Rugby.
 
Australia good at fucking everything except Cricket and won about a billion gold medals and not that many people.
 
Croatia seems to punch well above its weight. Consistently qualifying for and getting into knock-out stages of tournaments. A good few top tennis players. Won the Davis cup in 2005. Similarly they have done well in Athletics/Olympics winter and summer since becoming independent for such a small country. Population just over 4 million.
 
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