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.
Monday, January 31, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
World Cup soccer in South Africa: newyorker.com
World Cup soccer in South Africa: newyorker.com The New Yorker explores whether Americans hate soccer.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thierry Henry: Meet the MLS 2010
Today will be the big media introduction in New York of the MLS' biggest signing since David Beckham: French striker Thierry Henry. As far as media events go, it won't hold a candle to the extravagant Los Angeles Galaxy welcome of Beckham. Given the failure of the overall Beckham Experiment, this is a good thing.
The timing of Thierry Henry's arrival to the media cosmos that is New York City would have been alright except for a couple of sports items from the last few days: 1.) The humiliating exit of France from the 2010 World Cup and 2.) The death (and corresponding media frenzy) of Yankees' owner and svengali: George Steinbrenner.
Major League Soccer had the right idea. This Henry signing has been in the works for over two years now. The month-long 2010 World Cup was going to be a temporary boost and would need to be followed very soon after with something to keep those Americans who watched the USA in South Africa at pubs across the country focused on soccer.
Henry's play here stateside will be far more indicative than any 100° MLS All-Star Game friendly against a European power like Inter Milan or Tottenham Hotspurs. If he leads the league in goals by the time the playoffs start, we'll know for certain what most people suspect - that the quality of play league-wide holds no candle against any of the main European leagues.
If he's less successful, it will be a dud locally for New York's Red Bulls - a club with a new Soccer-Specific stadium to attract fans to: Red Bull Arena (named after Bruce Arena?). But something that the Red Bulls do have going for them: new, pre-economic downfall ballparks CitiField and Yankees Stadium that have out priced a lot of NY-area sports fans in these more dicey economic times. It's not quite the same thing that happened in Seattle with the loss of the NBA Supersonics and the hugely successful arrival of the Seattle Sounders FC. But it is a backlash trend that will further the MLS' popularity 14 years after its inception. After that whole LeBron James ego-fest that we all endured here stateside, soccer might be a nice balm for a lot of disappointed Knicks' fans.
All of this will be forgotten once the Jets and Giants begin their NFL season.
For Thierry Henry, after a difficult World Cup qualifying experience (Hand of Gaul against Ireland, anyone?) and a season on the bench in Barcelona, he will bask in the relative anonymity that he will experience on the road in places like Salt Lake City, Kansas City and Frisco, Texas. Pelé's soccer savior descendants continue their plight in the United States of American Football. Vive le fútbol.
The timing of Thierry Henry's arrival to the media cosmos that is New York City would have been alright except for a couple of sports items from the last few days: 1.) The humiliating exit of France from the 2010 World Cup and 2.) The death (and corresponding media frenzy) of Yankees' owner and svengali: George Steinbrenner.
Major League Soccer had the right idea. This Henry signing has been in the works for over two years now. The month-long 2010 World Cup was going to be a temporary boost and would need to be followed very soon after with something to keep those Americans who watched the USA in South Africa at pubs across the country focused on soccer.
Henry's play here stateside will be far more indicative than any 100° MLS All-Star Game friendly against a European power like Inter Milan or Tottenham Hotspurs. If he leads the league in goals by the time the playoffs start, we'll know for certain what most people suspect - that the quality of play league-wide holds no candle against any of the main European leagues.
If he's less successful, it will be a dud locally for New York's Red Bulls - a club with a new Soccer-Specific stadium to attract fans to: Red Bull Arena (named after Bruce Arena?). But something that the Red Bulls do have going for them: new, pre-economic downfall ballparks CitiField and Yankees Stadium that have out priced a lot of NY-area sports fans in these more dicey economic times. It's not quite the same thing that happened in Seattle with the loss of the NBA Supersonics and the hugely successful arrival of the Seattle Sounders FC. But it is a backlash trend that will further the MLS' popularity 14 years after its inception. After that whole LeBron James ego-fest that we all endured here stateside, soccer might be a nice balm for a lot of disappointed Knicks' fans.
All of this will be forgotten once the Jets and Giants begin their NFL season.
For Thierry Henry, after a difficult World Cup qualifying experience (Hand of Gaul against Ireland, anyone?) and a season on the bench in Barcelona, he will bask in the relative anonymity that he will experience on the road in places like Salt Lake City, Kansas City and Frisco, Texas. Pelé's soccer savior descendants continue their plight in the United States of American Football. Vive le fútbol.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
John Cleese rants - Soccer vs Football
You gotta love John Cleese. Here he has the cheekiness to tease USA about fútbol never having caught on in this country. (This after Monty Python's genius sketch of Famous Philosophers' Football match!)
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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