2012 CWC: SC Corinthians - Chelsea FC (Final) [R]

It has been a real eye opener for me, as a Chelsea supporter, at just how much the South Americans seem to care about this competition, I am genuinly very suprised! Before this competition began I really did not want Chelsea to have to play in it, I would have been far happier if they stayed at home, now that the competition is over all I can say is - thank god they wont have to do it again next year!!

 

It was Estudiantes, and it's not just Brazilians or this tournament. It's SouthAmericans who travel anywhere just to see their team

 

Actually, we really cared about the Intercontinental, 2 games. 1 in Europe, 1 in South America. This tournament is really crappy, playing against random teams from Asia or Africa, in foreign countries really pisses me off. I mean if my team, Peñarol (3 times world champion), were to play this cup after winning another Libertadores (5 titles), I don't think I'd have the possibility to travel to Japan or Abu Dhabi or Marroco. It really sucks, I miss the old format

 

You know, this is the one thing that surprised me about the final. For all the globalisation of football and the economic power and expansion of Premier League teams in the world, those were very few Chelsea fans in the stadium.

 

Makes two of us. No disrespect to the other continental federations, but I am nostalgic for that old-style one-game confrontation - Europe vs South America, UEFA vs CONMEBOL.

Fortunately, other than 2010, it's been Europe vs South America at every CWC final since the new format was adopted.

 

Because it's not on Maracana... try driving to Engenhao and getting your car stolen and be shot at... not really fun, when Maracana reopens you'll see a spike in attendance again, just like Atletico MG this year compared to last year when they played their home games in another city because Mineirao was closed. This year they sold out the Independencia every game, because it's on the same city as the club.

 

'They dont have many supporters they are a tiny club with little or no history who have been used as a vehicle of a Russian oligarch to get safety if neccesary from Putin'

They actually sell out all of their home games 42000, they are also historically the fifth best supported club in England - maybe you should try looking at FACTS before making your ill informed posts!

 

http://www.kckrs.com/lucas-moura-gave-his-shirt-to-a-girl-in-the-stands-nearly-caused-a-riot/

This happens.. why would you take your family there? remove families from the European stadiums you get about 50-30% attendance

 

http://www.sambafoot.com/en/news/38648_angry_palmeiras_fans_vandalise_club_shop_.html

Too common sight in the Stands in Brazil.. That's the problem, it has nothing to do with passion, it's just safety.

 

Are you saying nobody goes to watch Brazilian football because some fans set fire to a club shop!!!!!? loooool

 

Disconnect with reality much?

 

Brazilians have money right now, what they don't have is safety. That's the attendance problem in Brazil.

 

And on the flip-side, there's the "most epic game of the year/this proves that the Brazilian league is as good as any league in Europe" crowd.

Obviously the truth is somewhere in the middle. Chelsea and their fans wanted to win this. I know some Chelsea fans who travelled all the way from New York to Tokyo to watch this. BUT... its not their top priority. Also it would have helped if this match was played 6 months earlier. Now we are talking about a different Chelsea team from the one that beat Barca and Bayern (and maybe different Corinthians team too from the one that beat Santos and Boca?).

 

So, a game between a team that's outside the top 16 in South America and a team that's outside the top 16 in Europe, to contest the Championship of the World?

Back to the drawing board Blatter.

 

Actually that's his opinion. A pretty stupid if you asked me. Corinthians is today the best team in Brazil alongside Fluminense and São Paulo, the thing is after the Libertadores title, few Brazilian teams tend to maintain their form in the Brazilian Championship, focusing entirely in the FCWC

But teams like Tolima, Colo Colo and etc are nowhere as good as this Corinthians, perhaps they play a more attractive style of football, but you have to see also the level of the opponents. With all due respect, how can Colo Colo be better than Corinthians if the actual Chilean champion is Huachipato, and La U got extremly trashed by São Paulo in both Sudamericana games.

Now, the problem with attendance is pretty much resumed in two things: Safety and Expensive tickets summed with some other higher costs. In Brazil for example, if you go to Morumbi in a Wednesday night game you have to be there at least at 19:30, almost impossible with the chaotic traffic in São Paulo. There you have to park your car, since the public transportation are pretty shitty to Morumbi. The "flanelinhas", asks about US$ 30 at least only to look at your car to not be robbed. Later, you leave the game at about 23:30-00:00, chaotic to return home where you have to work next day. For the average people who lives in the suburbes you would have to wake 4:00 am. You can do that, or you can easily watch the game in your home at pay per view.

 

That's a common trope, but often not true. The truth is often with one of the sides, and the other side only exists to confound things.

Both the Champions League and the Libertadores are more important tournaments than this cup. But that's understandable: those two have a much longer, much more solid tradition. Think of the CWC as an extension to it. Like the World Cup Finals is with respect to the qualifiers: Copa and Champs is just the qualifiers for the CWC.

That is the _logic_ of it. But humans are not ruled by logic, so from an emotional level, this cup still lacks prestige. But it can only grow, as time goes by, and it becomes a stable feature, and more people grow up with it. Old foggies like me miss the old Intercontinental. But we'll be under ground soon.

On the other hand, as someone who has watched footie for decades, and with my background one foot in South America, one in Europe, I can say the European Leagues are in great measure a product of marketing. They are good, and their very best teams are the best in the world, true. But there is no giant gap, like the companies sponsoring their tournaments would want you to believe.

You only have to watch (and understand, far too many people just watch with the eyes of hype but don't 'get' the game at all) the actual matches to see that. Barcelona, Atletico, United, Real, Bayern, Juve are the best club teams right now. But after them, any other of those "big" Euro clubs is even with the best the Americas have to offer.