Thread: AFC Champions League

So who is up for another year of Asian footy?

Out side of Aussie rules i have grown an interest in soccer.... No not your English tea ceremony hina... but my local team Adelaide United. Whilst we are not doing to well this year in the local A-League, there may be some hope for us in the AFC Champions league. In 2008 Adelaide united became runners up and hope to play strong again in 2010.

Representing Australia this year:
Melbourne Victory - 2008/09 A-League champions
Adelaide United - 2008/09 A-League runners up

so does anyone else follow Asian footy?

Gamba Gamba Osaka Gamba!

Originally Posted by Betong Åsna

Gamba Gamba Osaka Gamba!

Quiet you.... Team Sea slug may of been champions beating Adelaide 2 years ago in the Grandy final but lets see who has the last laugh this year!

the only context I've ever seen Adelaide involved in any sport is Aussie Rules. Fine game, if you follow things like rugby and ice hockey, because that means you are weird and can understand rule that were made up when someone was half-cut

I'm afraid I'm no lover of Asian footie. It's a bit of a push for me to include Australia as Asian, too, to be honest...

They're Asian in the same way the Kazakhstan are European XD

see, now that's clearly not right. I can see why Australia is now classed as Asian internationally, but only for the competition aspect. By that I mean they always had a shot of getting into the World Cup with the grouping they got, the only question mark was whether they'd beat the best of the Asian nations. So by extension their moving into the Asian groups allows another, uhm, Australasian team to advance.

Kazakhs are certainly not European. Neither are Turkey, Ukraine, Russia or Belarus. They're just not. I am not saying this to sound xenophobic (if I was, I'd be after the French not playing in the Euro groups ), but that UEFA and Europe have far too many countries in their stage of the competition already. Get back to AFC! And the Aussies should get back to Oceania!

Come on, almost all of the Russian teams (certainly those in European competition) are from Moscow and St Petersburg. That's most definitely Europe.

it also shares a border with North Korea. You'd welcome them into the UEFA Cup/Europa League? Russia is an anomaly, mate, even I'll admit that. It covers 10 (?) timezones, so it's difficult to rule it out of whatever competition it wants to take part in

True, imagine the travelling for the likes of Sibir Novosibirsk or Tom Tomsk if they managed to get into Europe. And god forbid Luch-Energiya Vladivostok ever have a spike in form XD

You'd need a Tom Tomsk to find the bloody place. Yes, I know, I went and said it >_<

Vladivostok. Now there's an away trip I don't want to make in a hurry. I reckon it was bad enough for away fans from, say, Moscow to get there. Kinda puts Newcastle-Plymouth into perspective, don't it? We've got such a titchy country

Originally Posted by hinarei

You'd need a Tom Tomsk to find the bloody place.

Oh god.

I can't imagine there's a huge travelling support culture for the distant teams in Russia. It'd just be too expensive. Thankfully for them, I think around 6 or 7 out of the 16 in the league are in Europe proper.

In soviet Russia championship wins you!

I could have sworn Silver wasn't involved in this thread...

Originally Posted by Betong Åsna

Oh god.

Thank you

Originally Posted by Betong Åsna

I can't imagine there's a huge travelling support culture for the distant teams in Russia. It'd just be too expensive. Thankfully for them, I think around 6 or 7 out of the 16 in the league are in Europe proper.

That's true, I suppose. Must be a logistical nightmare that many people have no hope of affording.

That said, I'd have thought that an international club tournament would only really get crowds from where its hosted. I doubt a proper away contingent of Adelaide fans would fly to Osaka to see a game.

Good point again. I went to a Champions League match, actually, but it was against another Japanese team. The away fans turned up, of course.

Things looking up for Adelaide, with wins in the first 2 of 6 games so far being the leader of their group.... Next game played in Adelaide on 24th March VS. Hiroshima!

Go reds!
(no hina, this time United is Adelaide not Manchester!)

You might struggle against Sanfrecce on current form. They've started the season fairly well.

Same can't be said for Gamba! 1 draw and 1 loss in the J-league, 2 draws in the Champions League. Where's the victory coming from? We drew with Cerezo, for god's sake

Melbourne Victory came runners up in the A-League grand final on the weekend. They are playing AFC though poorly.

Adelaide United came wooden spooners on the A-League, but are playing AFC well.

So some surprises are in store as at the moment it is hard to judge based on these teams local leagues.