Monday, January 31, 2011

Asian Cup Recap and the State of the Union

What Goes Up, Must Implode . . . Uzbekistan was a smidge close to winning the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar, but were routed 6-0 to Australia in a semi-final. Nice game for the Aussies, but the soccer gods do not like trounces. In the final, Japan beat Australia 1-0 to win the Asian Cup final. Besides, isn’t Australia its own continent? Do they really need to be in the Asian conference? Long live Oceania!

Attendance Numbers from the 2011 Asian Cup . . . The total available tickets to sell were 875,000; the total tickets sold = 405,361. That means about 46% tickets were sold. Not be “glass is half empty,” but a stadium that was 54% empty is pathetic. Look a lot Pizza Hut Park in August.

Asian Cup Final Controversy . . . Some 3,000-5,000 people traveled to Qatar with match tickets in hand to see the Australia-Japan final, but were turned away at the gates. The stadium was locked to protect the royalty. Also, a fireworks platform blocked one of the gates. So, 37,174 attended this match in a 50,000 seat stadium and they do not have any more room or another gate? Before kick-off, the organizers gave tickets to the workers to fill the seats, but paying supporters were informed that they were late (by 5 minutes). If there were an emergency at the stadium, this could have been a catastrophe. Fortunately, the Middle East is well-organized and there is nothing to fear. If a suicide bomber doesn’t get you, then desert will. To read more of this well-planned and comical event, go to: http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/6073683/asian-cup-ticket-holders-denied-entry-finale

Peace in Egypt? . . . The USMNT has a friendly with Egypt in Cairo on Wednesday February 9th (12:30PM EST). Considering the current state of Egypt, a visit by the USMNT may not be advisable. However, a football match could be the distraction Egypt needs. Or, it could be a leading of the lambs to the slaughter. I hope they reschedule after things have settled down. England, Ireland and Scotland are available on that date and would be a lot less stress on the Euro-based players.

USMNT – Chile Friendly . . . Yes, the US played recently and tied Chile 1-1. It was fairly sloppy, but a few flashes of potential for the young US squad. Thanks to Juan Agudelo drawing a penalty and Teal Bunbury converting it, the US salvaged the draw. These two will be interesting to watch considering how young and fast they are. My attention was on the left side duo of Brek Shea and Zach Loyd. I heard lots of grumblings of their play, but thought they both did well for at least another trial. Shea was in position most of the match and his service was good. Loyd reminded me of Freddie Hejduk at times – a gambler and a ball of barbed wire – tricky, but helpful. The left side for the US has always been an issue and no matter what these two do or anyone else, no one will be happy.

Friday, January 21, 2011

2011 Asian Cup Highlights (so far)

Yes, I am reporting on the Asian Cup hosted by Qatar where I will be for the 2022 World Cup. Why? There will be plenty of tickets available. So far, the highest attended game was the opener with Qatar versus Uzbekistan at 37,143 (Uzbekistan 2 - Qatar 0). The lowest attended was the 2-2 draw between China - Uzbekistan in group play match at an estimated 2,000 (probably less than 2K). The average match attendance for the 2011 Asian Cup has been around 11,000. I hope the 2011 Gold Cup has higher attendance than this. And second thought, MLS attendance does not seem so bad after all. Pack your bags for Qatar! 2022 has plenty of seats.

HOT OFF THE PRESS! 2011 Asian Cup - Uzbekistan beat Jordan 2-1 to advance to the semifinals to take on Australia. It will be Uzbekistan's first semi-final in the Asian Cup. In tomorrow's quarterfinals, Australia plays Iraq and Iran against South Korea. These should actually be good to watch. And with the Arabic countries losing today, I think they will win tomorrow. If they don't, the Cup attendance may dip below 10K since no one wants to watch some infidels play.

GOOD NEWS FOR QATAR - They advanced in the Asian Cup, which should increase their FIFA ranking from 115th in the world to 7th, just ahead of Italy. "Thus, their bid is legitimate," spoketh the Blatter (dressed in toga garb and motioning his thumb down to disqualify England and the US forever).

BAD NEWS FOR QATAR - They had 19,479 in attendance at their own quarterfinal match. What happen to the other 17,953 who came to the opener? I thought they have a stadium that seats 50K? Too many empty seats.

HUH? NEWS FROM QATAR - Qatar's squad has a Brazilian and an Argentinian. How is that possible? 1.5 million live in Qatar and just by chance a Brazilian man and an Argentinian man married Qatarian women? Dreams do come true in Qatar....

Between now and 2022, I will try to take the high road and dish out only positives about the imminent Qatar World Cup. I may slip and badger FIFA's voting and selection policies. And, I may fuss about the lack of scoring by US forwards. But remember - open seating in Qatar ... the man who builds his house on sand, will soon be homeless ... and, US defenders are a scoring threat!

AQUI ESTAN O ALLI ESTAN - With Qatar eliminated, I must pull for Uzbekistan! Something tells me this is their quadrennial! The winner gets a trip to Brazil in 2013 for the Confederations Cup! Sadly, most Asian Cup winners do not qualify for the World Cup in the next year. I have written "Uzbekistan" 7 times. I have nothing more to say.