they were great then...but as i'm a croat fan i just can't love thuram who scored his only two goals for france against croatia in semi-final (WC 98-for those who doesn't know) (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) but i like france, i think new generation is going to be as good as ever...so many good young french players !!

This post has been edited by aLbErTo: May 21 2008, 09:55 AM

Ahh yes. Croatia had a great team back then. They really dominated us in the 1998 quarterfinal.

You do realize that Pippo had the second highest goal record (after Luca Toni) in Euro qualifiers, right?(IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) And this for a guy coming off the bench in most of the games.

Plus most of his goals came before Kaka' ever came to Europe. He plays off of anyone and anything, even the Bayern defenders (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Not to mention Oli Kahn (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Well I'm Algerian not French and as I said I don't like the French NT because of two or three people in it. Does this mean that I like any other team? Not really, I support Milan players and beautiful football.

About France being an African team, well I honestly think it's a xenophobic statement. What do you think about the NBA? You think they're African too? The U.S. NT is European? What are the U.S. sprinters, Africans I suppose huh? Seedorf, Rijkaard, Gullit, Kluivert what are they?

The French NT is composed of FRENCH players, 95% for them were born in a France (only their captain, Makalele, Mavuba and Desailly weren't) or a French territory (some of the West Indies are officially French). You think those guys shouldn't be French or they shouldn't be allowed to be as much as they are right now in the NT, well others think that too, do you want to know what they're called? I'm not sure you'll appreciate, plus the mods would be all over me again, so ...

Well said. Migration should be a normality these days. Almost any NT has players who are migrants/ who's parents are migrants.
Germany for example has Gomez, Kuranyi, Klose, Podolski, Odonkor, Marin and Jermaine Jones.
But I don't see any reason why they should be more or less German than Ballack or Frings.

^^^ +1. What they said.

Pippo left out...shame on you Donadoni. He proved his miserable judgment once more. Peeeh. Glad he included Cassano instead. That's a real releaf.

Hee. Why don't you like Donadoni? (IMG:http://cyrus.medialayer.net/~m1ke/milanfan.com/forums/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

I fail to see what US sprinters and players in the NBA have to do with this. I think you're mixing nationality with skin colour, when they have nothing to do with each other. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, etc. were born in the US, and they're American. What are Rijkaard, Gullit and Kluivert? They are Dutch as they were born in Amsterdam.

Being black doesn't mea you're African, and being white doesn't mean you're from the West. If your birth certificate says "Sweden" as your place of birth, and you're black, then you're Swedish. The country somebody plays for has no bearing on their nationality. Manuel Almunia can play for the English NT, does that make him English?

You're nationality is where you are born, it's really as simple as that. If Senegal, etc. were considered French, then it would be called France, not Senegal.

One again you fail to understand what I mean (maybe my English is too bad though).
You should be saying all those things to me but to Habitant. For your consideration This is what I tried to say, your nationality depends on what you passport says, therefore all the French NT are French, there no need to label them it as an African team unless you don't like the players colour.

It has to do with the U.S. sprinter or basket ball U.S. team players because the likes of Kobe are from African decent and the same goes for the Dutch players whom parents are from Surinam. Please read again what I wrote and try to understand what I really meant ...

Don't worry about your English, it's superb.

I think this may be just a case of something we disagree on. I don't think your ancestors define what your nationality is. Yes, they define your background and why you may have certain features, skin colour, etc. but in my opinion all that matters is your birth certificate.

That's just me though, I know many disagree, but that's fine.

Oh my god, can't you see (read) that it's exactly what I'm trying to say?

I said that to Habitant because he thinks that most of the French NT aren't actually French, and I set the U.S. as example to show that it's only a matter of papers. Again, your nationality is inly what your passport says!

I do agree with him that France is one of the main culprits for using players born outside of France, but yes, a passport means nothing, you can get one from anywhere if you live there long enough!