It’s Official !!!

January 20th, 2009 | By: Anthony | 10 Comments »

Yup, that’s right, as of yesterday Spain and Portugal have put in a joint bid for the 2018 World Cup.

There has been speculation of this since last summer when we won the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland, but now it’s official.

I really have mixed reactions about the whole thing, one side of me is ecstatic that we finally get to host the biggest footballing event in the world, but the other side of me is asking why the hell we bid with our little brothers Portugal and not just gone solo… Sure it’s good and all for countries like Austria and Switzer land who don’t necessarily have the facilities or investment, or even when Japan and Korea did the World Cup in 2002 because of the physical size of the countries themselves but Spain is and always has been a footballing nation with numerous locations to host matches.

I mean If there were only eight venues between Austria/Switzerland for Euro 2008, we could definitely support a tournament of this stature seeing as we have larger venues, with greater capacities.

Let’s take a look at the probable venues if we were to host the tournament alone.

Camp Nou – Barcelona – Capacity: 98,772
Santiago Bernabeú – Madrid – Capacity: 80,354
Olímpico Sevilla – Sevilla – Capacity: 57,619
Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys – Barcelona – Capacity: 55,926
Vicente Calderón – Madrid – Capacity: 55,005
Mastalla – Valencia – Capacity: 52,469
Manuel Ruiz de Lopera (puta Betis o e!!) – Sevilla – Capacity: 52,132
Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán – Sevilla – Capacity: 45,500

Clearly we have the resources to do this thing alone, does the RFEF think by submitting a bid with Portugal that we have a better chance at getting it? It’s annoying really, but whatever, I’d be happy to at least see the biggest football tournament in my country.

FIFA will not read the official result for who will host the tournament until December 2010, probably after we win the World Cup and then FIFA will be convinced to give it to us. Apparently if we fail in this bid to host it in 2018 we’ll immediately bid again right after to host it in 2022. We deserve to host it considering the hell of a tournament we had last year and also since we haven’t hosted any major football tournament for several years now.

Apparently the other countries that have bid so far are:
England – Don’t deserve it, make them actually qualify !!!
Japan – Just had it, give someone else a chance, we’ve seen what you can do
Belgium- Netherlands – Possibly, both passionate about football and have the money and facilities to do so, also in a very convenient location so fans would be able to attend maximum amount of games.
China – Just had the Olympics… NO!!
Qatar – Who? Just kidding, too small, no way they can host it.
Mexico – I’m sure public safety would be an issue, but I’m sure they have the resources to do so.
United States – Had it in ‘94, the country is way too spread out and for fans to follow they’re team they may have to take a couple flights, they did it before, but in my opinion it’s not a practical choice.
Russia – Maybe, they’ve showed recent success both on the International front and in their national league with Zenit winning the UEFA Cup and such.
Australia – May actually be a good choice, although I’m not sure they have the resources to do so, I may be wrong, I know Aussies are crazy about their sports and would build the stadiums in no time to accommodate the matches, just maybe aren’t ready as of yet. Although 9 years from now should be good enough to get ready.

So clearly by looking at this list we look like the strongest candidates right? I hope FIFA sees it the same way as any logical person would. Then again, FIFA haven’t exactly been known for making logical decisions.

Well, I’ll have updates as they happen..
¡Qué Viva España!



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Comments
Username By Torres | January 20th, 2009 at 9:54 am
top comment
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I dont like that fact we are a joint bid with Portugal. I say give it to Holland/Belgiun.

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Tomek | January 20th, 2009 at 10:26 am
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cornercorner

One thing, if a country wouldn’t be able to host it, they wont’t be able to bid.

Posted from Netherlands Netherlands

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Username By Torres | January 20th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
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cornercorner

1) Holland/Belgium
2) Aussie country
3) Russia
4) Spain/Port
5) England
6) USA
7) China
8) Japan

Posted from Canada Canada

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Username By Anthony | January 21st, 2009 at 1:46 am
top comment
cornercorner

Torres, I was thinking the same thing, but I really want us to host something, I’m moving back in a couple years so I’d be just in time for it haha.

Tomek, I’m not sure about that, they propose a plan when they do bid so if the plan seems good enough I guess FIFA recognizes that and allows them. I still don’t think a few of these countries could and/or should host it.

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Username By Brett | January 21st, 2009 at 11:47 pm
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cornercorner

You say that having it in the US is a bad idea because of the country’s size, but then you say that Russia would be a good idea?

Posted from United States United States

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Username By Anthony | January 22nd, 2009 at 12:09 am
top comment
cornercorner

Brett, if you take a look at Russia and look where the population is you will see how pointless your comment was. I don’t want to be rude, but the majority of Russia’s population lives in the western provinces which are about the size of Mexico. Most of Russia is uninhabitable so it’s obvious where the matches would be played should they host the tournament.

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Username By Tomek | January 23rd, 2009 at 7:59 pm
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cornercorner

Well, no country hasn’t been succesful in organizing it, so I won’t see why those countries couldn’t.

And I would like Holland/Belgium to host. Maybe Holland will finally win something again, since they deserve it: They always play great football, but crash out in tournaments mostly without reason. Just like Spain, but you redeemed yourselves with EURO 2012. :)

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Username By Tomek | January 23rd, 2009 at 7:59 pm
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^Oops of course meant 2008, sorry.

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Username By kotia | January 24th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
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Трогательно)

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Username By Dillon | January 27th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
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Australia definitely has the resources and the stadiums to host a major event. Sydney did well enough on its own for the Olympics and they’ve hosted numerous youth world cups successfully. The major issue is sharing the big grounds with all the other football codes right in the middle of their seasons. A-League plays in summer so as not to compete with the other codes. I struggle to see the AFL/NRL giving up the right to play at the MCG, or Telstra Stadium for a couple months.

Posted from United States United States

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