very valid point and i have not forgotten that but if maradonna didnt play brilliantly for argentina, nobody would be praising the man the way he is till this day, the same goes for pele and many of the greats, you gain fame from playing in the world cup, these days playing for man u or a barca could bring alot of fame and fortune to you but shining in the world is the pinnacle which in essence is playing for your country.
Maybe once upon a time that was the case because (again, since you apparently missed it the first time) the world cup was the only way that someone in England, France or Nigeria could get to see a Pele or Maradona play. International broadcast of football games were limited... and limited to international (nation vs. nation) competition. I sincerely doubt there were any broadcast of club competitions back then... maybe in Maradona's time... but even so, did we ever see Champions League games in TnT in the 80s?
with sports like basketball and baseball, olympic gold and world championship baseball is not as big as winning the world series or nba championship, clubs rule. fellahs like bake and shark have their opinion which they feel is dogma, everyone is entitled to their opinion, some people seem to forget that the more caps you play for your country the more likely you are to get through with a foreign club. So country is still apart of the equation to a certain extent. I never said give up your club for country and forget about making a living, i simply said that fame and prestige comes from playing in the world cup for your country and the greats wouldnt have been noticed if they didnt play for their country.
I feel you does talk just to see your ass cheeks move yes. Tell me where, other than England do they have a stringent requirement that you be capped for your national country before they allow you to play for a club? BESIDES... nobody say "country" is no longer part of the equation. The discussion isn't whether country is irrelevant, but which is more important. Try yuh best and keep de riddim nah.
furthermore if the world cup was such an obsolete event, why are we still playing to reach this tournament? tt should forget about playing to reach the world stage and our country should concentrate entirely on club football, the world club championships would also be a bigger event than the world cup if the world didnt feel that representing your country was so important and vital, patriotism would be an after thought... like freakazoid said, its the problem with the fans, not patriotic enough is one of the main setbacks...
Who said it was obsolete?
it have trinis on this board who have said off this board in person that if you get a chance to play for england, why play for trinidad... thats the mentality of the people, very poor, if we had a well run ttff where players were icons and treated like many other great footballing nations, reppin the nation wouldnt be spoken of in the way it was, its like me telling my brazillian friends tell kaka to 4get about brazil and study his club, they would laugh bc the day brazil is not first, is the day, the brazillian fed burn down...
That right there shows you didn't understand what people were saying... it is BECAUSE we don't have a well-run TTFF that men say if they had to choose between TnT and another country like England they'd choose England.
so your guessing as to whether there was tv coverage? but yet you condemn my argument, go and research first before you chastize my point of view, instead of guessing and assuming.
once again its a matter of opinion, scouts who have spoken to me when i referred a player to them in lets say the US ask how many national caps do they have, furthermore, most of our players play in the uk and the us, i was referring to trini players in this instance.
since money is of the utmost importance, i would think the world cup would be irrelevent in your point of view, i guess trinidad making the world cup was secondary to the players getting paid, once again i spoke about the prestige and fame of the world cup and its benefit to the players, to me its more than monetary, its pride and patriotism, your meaning of importance in terms of this issue is different to mine, once again its a matter of opinion.
of course i can agree with observer and make a point that the world cup is very important to showcasing and making a player famous imo, once again its a matter of opinion, i dont see the need for analyzing when i was merely saying that imo world cup football is necessary and as important as club football, especially in the cases of many of the great players.
