Fans In The Stands
Monday, 18 December 06, 04:49 AM
Mohammad Abou Tarika scored two lovely goals (in which the enigmatic Flavio played a big part), sandwiching a Cuauhtemoc Blano inspired goal for Salvador Cabanas. The Ahly fans were happy, and the Club America fans sang non-stop and had some cause for cheer with the goal. Both of these however, were outnumbered by the Inter fans.
It seems that the tickets for the final(s) were sold combined... a matches 6/7 ticket. So understandably, there are a lot of Inter fans. They have come out early, watch an average game of football, and really enjoyed themselves and made a day of it. The sang in fits and spurts, and cheered for Ahly every now and then (there was some Egyptian red mixed in with the vats of Internacional fans).
Barca fans however were more or less nowhere to be seen. There were of course thousands of Japanese fans wearing Barca shirts, but that is because the Japanese fans have plumped for Barca before the tournament started, and all the bootleg merchandisers are just selling Barca/Ronaldinho stuff, and all the Japanese fans are buying them in droves.
I mean that the "real" Barca fans were missing. The travelling contingent, people like the friendly (but arrogant) types we met in the Wall Street Club in Roppongi. The Inter fans displayed a real zest for football, and are enjoying the event. The Barca fans don't seem to be really concerned.
This just adds to the feeling that Europe doesn't really care.
BTW the guy from La Gazzetta dello Sport is playing Minesweeper in front of me.
It seems that the tickets for the final(s) were sold combined... a matches 6/7 ticket. So understandably, there are a lot of Inter fans. They have come out early, watch an average game of football, and really enjoyed themselves and made a day of it. The sang in fits and spurts, and cheered for Ahly every now and then (there was some Egyptian red mixed in with the vats of Internacional fans).
Barca fans however were more or less nowhere to be seen. There were of course thousands of Japanese fans wearing Barca shirts, but that is because the Japanese fans have plumped for Barca before the tournament started, and all the bootleg merchandisers are just selling Barca/Ronaldinho stuff, and all the Japanese fans are buying them in droves.
I mean that the "real" Barca fans were missing. The travelling contingent, people like the friendly (but arrogant) types we met in the Wall Street Club in Roppongi. The Inter fans displayed a real zest for football, and are enjoying the event. The Barca fans don't seem to be really concerned.
This just adds to the feeling that Europe doesn't really care.
BTW the guy from La Gazzetta dello Sport is playing Minesweeper in front of me.
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Day 6 - Who Will Be The World's Biggest Loser?
Saturday, 16 December 06, 06:39 AM
Well a match that was expected to be completely empty has in fact managed to draw a quite sizeable crowd, the stadium is quite full, although it's probably a lot of people who were able to get cheap tickets, or saw the Barca match last night and just wanted to get in on the action before it was all gone.
It must be said about the Japanese fans, that although they are not the most knowledgable bunch, the certainly are enthusiastic. The oohs and aahs for Ronaldinho's every touch yesterday have been closely matched by the gasps everytime Auckland City second-half substitute Teruo Iwamoto has touched the ball. A decent player in his younger days, he offered his services to Auckland City for the tournament, and as far as PR and media battles go, Auckland City have been winners, because that's one of the only reasons that there are fans in the ground.
There are a few Koreans set up in the corner though, with a banner that says "Best in Corea". They are singing and chanting a bit, and even though there's only about 30-40 of them, they're making a fair amount of noise.
Auckland unfortunately have no fans, all you hear is the occasional yell of a perhaps drunken expat every now and then. Football is not really big in New Zealand, and from my own experiences living in Dunedin (the home of Otago United, who play in the same league as Auckland City), i'd be shocked if they they played in front of crowds of more than 50-100 people.
Although Auckland haven't really played above their level (amateur), especially their players when interacting with the media. Always chatty, and happy to share their experienices, we hope to bring you some material from them after the game.
It's 3-0 to Jeonbuk right now, after 88 minutes, and i'm sure everyone here would love it if Auckland could score a consolation goal, which would be their first of the tournament.
It must be said about the Japanese fans, that although they are not the most knowledgable bunch, the certainly are enthusiastic. The oohs and aahs for Ronaldinho's every touch yesterday have been closely matched by the gasps everytime Auckland City second-half substitute Teruo Iwamoto has touched the ball. A decent player in his younger days, he offered his services to Auckland City for the tournament, and as far as PR and media battles go, Auckland City have been winners, because that's one of the only reasons that there are fans in the ground.
There are a few Koreans set up in the corner though, with a banner that says "Best in Corea". They are singing and chanting a bit, and even though there's only about 30-40 of them, they're making a fair amount of noise.
Auckland unfortunately have no fans, all you hear is the occasional yell of a perhaps drunken expat every now and then. Football is not really big in New Zealand, and from my own experiences living in Dunedin (the home of Otago United, who play in the same league as Auckland City), i'd be shocked if they they played in front of crowds of more than 50-100 people.
Although Auckland haven't really played above their level (amateur), especially their players when interacting with the media. Always chatty, and happy to share their experienices, we hope to bring you some material from them after the game.
It's 3-0 to Jeonbuk right now, after 88 minutes, and i'm sure everyone here would love it if Auckland could score a consolation goal, which would be their first of the tournament.
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Day 5 - Halftime Euphoria
Friday, 15 December 06, 06:20 AM
The atmosphere has been utterly brilliant. The stadium is majestic, and sold out. The press boxes are excellent with internet and power connections, hence this post. What more could we have asked for.
Compared to the other games so far the atmosphere here is seriously good. All the Japanese fans are going for Barca, but it's the few hundred Club America fans in the corner that havae been making the noise. They've been singing non-stop and putting their European counterparts to shame.
Matchwise, Barca took control early on, and are 2-0 up. But Claudio Lopez had a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper early on, and if he'd taken his chances, things might be quite, quite different now.
Both Barca and America have been playing some good stuff, but the difference is that Barca look infinitely more intimidating when they go forward. Blano is on the bench, and might pop up for this half.
Stay tuned, the second half has kicked off, and i'm getting back to the action. Ta.
Compared to the other games so far the atmosphere here is seriously good. All the Japanese fans are going for Barca, but it's the few hundred Club America fans in the corner that havae been making the noise. They've been singing non-stop and putting their European counterparts to shame.
Matchwise, Barca took control early on, and are 2-0 up. But Claudio Lopez had a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper early on, and if he'd taken his chances, things might be quite, quite different now.
Both Barca and America have been playing some good stuff, but the difference is that Barca look infinitely more intimidating when they go forward. Blano is on the bench, and might pop up for this half.
Stay tuned, the second half has kicked off, and i'm getting back to the action. Ta.
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Day 4 - The Serious Stuff Starts Here
Thursday, 14 December 06, 03:22 AM
I'm here at the Tokyo National Ground (Kokuritsu Kyogi Jo!) for the Club World Cup first semi-final between Al-Ahly of Egypt and Internacional of Brazil. The atmosphere should be great tonight. Against Auckland, the Ahly fans were in good voice, many had travelled, and many Arabs and Africans living in Japan had united to lend support to the African Champions.
As for Internacional, well their fans have travelled in the thousands from Port-Allegre in Brazil for this game. South American football takes the Club World Cup/Toyota Cup very seriously, because for years and years it has been their only chance to disprove the so-called "superiority" of the European teams. The Brazilian press is out here in full force (making life very difficult for us in terms of getting access to the team), and i've been spotting their fans out and about in Tokyo over the last 3 days or so.
Both teams play in red, so i'm looking forward to the Ahly fans and "Torcedor Colorado" (Inter fan collective) really livening up the stadium tonight.
Stay tuned for our coverage. Sadly, now that all the bigwig media persons have shown up (they didn't bother for the "lesser" games, oh no sirree), I have a feeling we have to sit in rubbish seats, and that we aren't even in the press box anymore. What a load of wank! If anything we should be rewarded for getting out that and being enthusiastic for the first two games that others didn't even care enough to show up for.
Oh well.... the squad lists have been handed out, and Alexandre Pato (the "Duck", Brazil's most exciting young player) will be starting, so i'm excited.
As for Internacional, well their fans have travelled in the thousands from Port-Allegre in Brazil for this game. South American football takes the Club World Cup/Toyota Cup very seriously, because for years and years it has been their only chance to disprove the so-called "superiority" of the European teams. The Brazilian press is out here in full force (making life very difficult for us in terms of getting access to the team), and i've been spotting their fans out and about in Tokyo over the last 3 days or so.
Both teams play in red, so i'm looking forward to the Ahly fans and "Torcedor Colorado" (Inter fan collective) really livening up the stadium tonight.
Stay tuned for our coverage. Sadly, now that all the bigwig media persons have shown up (they didn't bother for the "lesser" games, oh no sirree), I have a feeling we have to sit in rubbish seats, and that we aren't even in the press box anymore. What a load of wank! If anything we should be rewarded for getting out that and being enthusiastic for the first two games that others didn't even care enough to show up for.
Oh well.... the squad lists have been handed out, and Alexandre Pato (the "Duck", Brazil's most exciting young player) will be starting, so i'm excited.
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Day 1 - Wrapup of the first match
Tuesday, 12 December 06, 04:07 AM
Post-Match:
Well, the game was quite drab. The Auckland players put up a good show, and gave a good account of themselves.
You can read a match report here from Ian.
Jennifer writes her thoughts on the matter here, and Chris has written an Auckland & Al-Ahly inspired piece about talent here.
It was fun getting lost and found in Japan on our way from Tokyo to Toyota City, and we got to ride the Shinkansen (bullet train), and watch Arsenal vs Chelsea in an "authentic" American bar in Nagoya where the burgers had optional fried egg toppings. Super!
Enjoy some pictures:
What might have been! They were testing out the match systems before the game, and the scenario below would have been much more desirable...
An opportunity from a set-piece, one of very few in a dire first half. Predictably, it came to nothing.
Well, the game was quite drab. The Auckland players put up a good show, and gave a good account of themselves.
You can read a match report here from Ian.
Jennifer writes her thoughts on the matter here, and Chris has written an Auckland & Al-Ahly inspired piece about talent here.
It was fun getting lost and found in Japan on our way from Tokyo to Toyota City, and we got to ride the Shinkansen (bullet train), and watch Arsenal vs Chelsea in an "authentic" American bar in Nagoya where the burgers had optional fried egg toppings. Super!
Enjoy some pictures:
What might have been! They were testing out the match systems before the game, and the scenario below would have been much more desirable...
An opportunity from a set-piece, one of very few in a dire first half. Predictably, it came to nothing.
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On 2-0 in the San Siro, 0-0 in the JJB: Boro next