2012 FIFA Club World Cup: News & Analysis [R]

South Korea lost a direct spot generally because of the corruption issues in the K-League Cup.

Uzbekistan getting a spot in East Asia is just absurd really, but this does call for opening the whole thing up now.

For anyone not in the know, the AFC award points over 11 assessments which include such things as media, which is kind of cruel in a way. For example, the UAE league federation might provide all correspondance to the local newspapers who decide not to publish them, how can they dictate what happens really?

Anyways, Japan were the highest point scorers, followed by Korea Republic. Qatar came 3rd yet got more spots than the two nations above them!!

Uzbekistan were ranked 7th, but who knows the logic of the AFC?? AFC already awarded the Uzbeks two youth competitions in recent memory. For such a big continent, only a few nations seem to get any approval.

Lianoing of China were so outraged at the allocation that they withdrew in protest. They would have been the the Group Stages on previous criteria and were playing within that criteria when it was turned upside down and put into the playoffs.

If they failed in the playoffs they would be paired in the AFC Cup with tips to Maldives for example, something they weren't happy with. Although you could say, if they didn't win through the playoffs then they didn't really have a right in the ACL anyway.

The Concacaf QFs are:

Santos Laguna (Mex) vs. Seattle Sounders (USA)
UNAM (Mex) vs. Isisdro Metapan (ES)
LA Galaxy (US) vs. Toronto FC (Can)
Monterrey (M) vs. Morelia (M)

So what are the chances of a USA team getting in? Why are the 3 MLS teams grouped in the same side of the braquet while the mexicans in the other? Is this to not have a US x US final?

One could more plausibly argue it's rigged to minimize the chances of a MEX v MEX final, no?

Toronto FC, if I'm not mistaken, are actually representing Canada. Despite each side starting only one Canadian player each, they beat Vancouver in the 2011 Canadian Championship Final ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Canadian_Championship

Not for long they ain't

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDK9QqIzhwk"]Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer - YouTube[/ame]

I'm not too sure how relegation will threaten the K.League clubs. In my opinion the league is rather week when you get outside of the top 8 or so. There always seems to be the usual cannon fodder down at the bottom. Should make the league more interesting at the bottom mind. And I guess there's always the chance one of the big clubs could get sucked in.

Hehe, very true, they always find any reason to inflate themselves over there, even if it's far-fetched.

Since 1990, CONMEBOL's champion has been from another country other than Brazil or Argentina only five times - with three such occasions since 2000. 2012 promises to be a very interesting tournament, because we have an eye-catching team from Chile, Universidad de Chile.

This team went 36 games unbeaten until 12/22/2011. It won Copa Sul-Americana with am aggregate win of 3-0 over Liga De Quito (after ousting Brazilian contenders Flamengo and Vasco da Gama) . It was 1-0 in Ecuador, a feat achieved by few times in recent years, and 2-0 in Chile. Universidad also won its national league by beating Cobreloa 3-0 in the final.

Universidad de Chile should enter the 2012 Libertadores as the team to watch. It is a side w/ solid ballhandling and passing, quick offensive plays, sound defense, and pressure against opponents' possession. Their team chemistry is impressive; their offense, with Castro, Vargas, Canales, and Lorenzetti is dangerous. I dare say it's the closest CONMEBOL has to Barcelona right now. If Universidad maintains its momentum, it will be a team to be reckoned with in the Libertadores and it should have no trouble to win its group, which also has Godoy Cruz (in its second-ever international tournament), Atletico Nacional of Colombia, and either Caracas or Peñarol, who has lost names from its 2011 campaign.

As for the rest of the pack... Brazil returns with Santos, the defending champion. It still has Neymar, Ganso, and Elano, and while its defense isn't as good as it was in 2010, it will contend. Vasco da Gama had a great 2011; Fluminense has strengthened its roster and on paper, it is one of the strongest offensive teams in the continent (with Brazilian international Fred). Corinthians won my country's league and has a solid team. Internacional still has names from its 2010 title campaign, acquired Dagoberto, and will want redemption from its poor 2011 showing; if Inter gets past Once Caldas in the playoffs, Internacional should emerge from its group along with Santos. Flamengo has R10, but I don't see it going far.

Argentina's Boca Juniors returns and it won its country's title unbeaten, which shows it will be a force to be reckoned with. Riquelme is older and has had injuries but if he is in shape, Boca will challenge for the Copa. I suspect Velez Sarsfield is still strong, but I wonder whether they will be the very strong team they were in last year's Libertadores. I can't say much about the rest of Argentina's teams or about the rest of the continent.

Anyone with a Mexican club in their group has no chance. Great job of advancing football in the region.

In the 2011-2012 CONCACAF Champions League, Morelia of Mexico finished ahead of Alajuelense of Costa Rica, but if you take out group winner Los Angeles Galaxy and make it a three club group with Morelia, Alajuelense, and Motagua of Honduras, Alajuelense would have won head-to-head away goals tiebreaker over Morelia. Somebody posted that in another forum on the message board. Motagua got 0 points in the group.
The new format is really irrelevant to the topic title because the 2011-2012 CONCACAF Champions League that will qualify a club for the 2012 Club World Cup is in progress. The new format will affect who qualifies for the 2013 Club World Cup.

You can't really retcon in sports, dude. Who's to say that Morelia wouldn't have taken it more seriously if it was a 3-team group? If you go back and change the format, the result won't necessarily be like it was in the current format. Different formats change teams' motivations.

If it were a 3-team group to begin with, Morelia would have approached it differently and won the group.

Exactly, while Mexican teams don't take it as seriously as we do in Central America, they don't want to lose either. Knowing that a slip up could really ruin your chances, I doubt they would risk their chances by taking as many games as lightly as they did.

So I'll have to pray that all the Honduran teams end up against an MLS club.

^^^^^
Barça actually debuted they FIFA badge last weekend in their 4-2 win against Betis. The pre-match festivities doubled as a celebration of the FIFA World Club title and Lionel's Messi's third consecutive Ballon d'Or.