This guy should have stopped typing this article after the first line: I am not a soccer fan. It seems by writing this, he is jumping on the 'every-four-years

This guy should have stopped typing this article after the first line: I am not a soccer fan. It seems by writing this, he is jumping on the 'every-four-years' soccer bandwagon that goes on in the US (or so it seems to a non-American). I don't say this to be nasty, but because of his limited knowledge of the game, he doesn't realise that in a league competition, such as the English Premiership (or MLS in America), luck plays a much lesser factor in deciding who lifts the trophy (in other words, over 38 games, the cream will rise to the top. And penalty shootouts aren't a factor). As the cliche goes, "the league table doesn't lie". In 2005 when Liverpool won the Champions League (World Cup-style competition, group stages and knockout stages hence luck can play a factor) I argued with many Liverpool fans that their team was still fairly crap as that year they only managed to finish fifth in the Premiership (league competition, hence luck doesn't really come into play). ps. The Champions League is the best soccer competition on the planet, the World Cup is second rate by comparison. Most of the best players in the world play in this competition, which is between Europe's elite club teams. Generally, top players play far better for club rather than country as they are more familiar with their club teammates, as they play with them, week-in, week-out, rather than just once in a blue moon. Also, by the time the World up comes around, many players are tired after a long club season - see England yesterday, for example. Not to mention you get a set of really top players all concentrated in a single team (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United) not unlike an outperforming startup.