In hockey, I go back 10 to 15 years. That was a time when not only did Czech Rep. have some excellent players like Jagr and Hasek, etc. but so did Slovakia with a surprisingly high number of excellent players like Demitra, Palffy, Gaborik, Hossa, Chara, Bondra. What if Czechoslovakia was still united? How amazing would that team be? Czechs won the 1998 Olympics anyway but in the immediate years after that, that unified team would have been amazing.
In football, Soviets had a nice team for a while and won Euro and boasted some serious talent spread across Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, etc.
Yugoslavia was a contender in the 80s and early 90s from what I read. And some of their great players went on to the form the core of Croatia's 1998 WC team that was loaded for such a small country.
Czechs won Euro as well a long time ago but I have no idea how many of them were Slovaks.
And W. Germany did alright without E. Germany!
What if Britain was a united team like in the 2012 Olympics. And even included Ireland if they didn't break away almost a hundred years ago?
How great could some of their teams have been if they included some of the great Scottish, Irish and Welsh players from Liverpool's dominant teams. And the others from different teams and decades? John Charles, George Best, Ian Rush, Keegan, Souness, Dalglish to name a few.
Not so much recently but they could have had guys like Damien Duff (world class during his time at Chelsea IMO), Roy Keane, Bale, Ramsey, etc.
I'd think a UK team would have won another trophy or two after WC '66.
I don't know how many great German players since unification came from East Germany but that would be interesting to read up on.
I wonder how good Yugoslavia could have been if they didn't break up. They could be at the level of a Portugal over the past 15 years at least.
Croatia obviously has produced some nice players even after the WC '98 team. Modric for example. Bosnia, Serbia and Slovenia too.
A Soviet team since breakup I'm not sure would have been much better. Off the top of my head, guys like Kaladze, Rebrov and Shevy along with Kanchelskis could have been nice but I don't recall the peaks of their careers crossing over at the same time.
I hope Spain doesn't split up and I have to add them to this thread many years down the road.
Great NTs that could have been possible if not for politics/religion/nationalism
In football, Soviets had a nice team for a while and won Euro and boasted some serious talent spread across Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, etc.
Yugoslavia was a contender in the 80s and early 90s from what I read. And some of their great players went on to the form the core of Croatia's 1998 WC team that was loaded for such a small country.
Czechs won Euro as well a long time ago but I have no idea how many of them were Slovaks.
And W. Germany did alright without E. Germany!
What if Britain was a united team like in the 2012 Olympics. And even included Ireland if they didn't break away almost a hundred years ago?
How great could some of their teams have been if they included some of the great Scottish, Irish and Welsh players from Liverpool's dominant teams. And the others from different teams and decades? John Charles, George Best, Ian Rush, Keegan, Souness, Dalglish to name a few.
Not so much recently but they could have had guys like Damien Duff (world class during his time at Chelsea IMO), Roy Keane, Bale, Ramsey, etc.
I'd think a UK team would have won another trophy or two after WC '66.
I don't know how many great German players since unification came from East Germany but that would be interesting to read up on.
I wonder how good Yugoslavia could have been if they didn't break up. They could be at the level of a Portugal over the past 15 years at least.
Croatia obviously has produced some nice players even after the WC '98 team. Modric for example. Bosnia, Serbia and Slovenia too.
A Soviet team since breakup I'm not sure would have been much better. Off the top of my head, guys like Kaladze, Rebrov and Shevy along with Kanchelskis could have been nice but I don't recall the peaks of their careers crossing over at the same time.
I hope Spain doesn't split up and I have to add them to this thread many years down the road.
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