Press conference with interesting quotes: http://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup/news/newsid=2243290/index.html So it looks like hosting rights will continue to be awarded for back-to-back tournaments. I suppose that also means the format is likely to stay the same. China (next to India) confirmed as being interested. In my opinion China should get either 15/16 or 17/18 - the time is right for them.
Raja-Auckland Attendance: 34,875 While the organizers exaggerated the ticket sales for the first match it was still the highest attendance to date for the Host-OFC playoff match since it was introduced in 2007. The quarterfinal double-header in Agadir should definitely sell out, especially since Guangzhou and Ahly will also be bringing a few thousand fans.
There are no number on how many Guangzhou fans that made the trip but Al Ahly brought with them 2000 fans from Cairo according to Moroccan media. Atletico Mineiro is bringing 10.000 fans while Bayern are expected to bring along 7.ooo. No numbers from the Mexicans. The final and Bayerns semi-final match are already sold out according to the organizers, while I expect a sell out for the two games on saturday in Agadir.
Good to see a strong Bayern presence. That's the best traveling support from Europe since Inter Milan brought around 3,000 fans to the UAE in 2010. Of course the proximity helps. I'm sure Guangzhou filled whatever ticket contingent was allocated to them by FIFA. Evergrande often pays for the travel of its supporters, also in the AFC Champions League. Must be nice! PS: moved the highlights to the match-specfic thread. Monterrey fans must be pretty broke after traveling to Japan two years in a row.
According to an unofficial Guangzhou account on twitter, about 100 supporters will travel from China while around 200 Chinese working in Morocco may join them. I guess Evergrande took some heavy losses sponsoring the away trips in Asia
That can't be right. I would expect at least 1,000 Guangzhou fans, maybe more. (Maybe 100 paid for it themselves. ) As for Bayern's arrival in Morocco, it's now confirmed on the FCB website. They will travel tomorrow evening, right after the Bundesliga match against Hamburg.
Funny how Guardiola had to explain to the German journalists in his weekly press conference today that the World Club Cup is somewhat important in other continents. Looks like the German public is so far largely uninterested but the players are fired up, they want to win it and I hope the public interest in Germany comes around once Bayern start playing
I'm sure the interest will come round, I guess though that the public take it a day at a time, they have to get Bundesliga games out the way first. The good thing is, this might just get the German interest which might just take that interest onto future competitions, even without German representation - might even make them want to be hosts, thinking along the lines that they won't get a world cup for many a year, so why not go global on the club game?
I'm not aware of any channel showing it in the UK...... I will use www.usagoals.com to catch matches on the net. Eurosport was my best hope but a quick glance of their TV guide brings nothing
More frequent participation would help I'm sure. The last time Bayern played the Weltpokal (as the Intercontinental Cup was known in Germany) was in 2001. I for one could certainly get behind more German presence, this is the third consecutive time a Swiss player is on the team. 1997: Borussia Dortmund (Stephane Chapuisat) 2001: Bayern Munich (Ciriaco Sforza) 2013: Bayern Munich (Xherdan Shaqiri) The reality is until other confederations develop "Superclubs" with globally well known players the competition will always struggle a bit to get mainstream attention in Europe. As long as the clubs and players involved care about the competition that's all you need to make the tournament viable. The rest is "nice to have" and will come with time.
Chapuisat, what a great player he was, thanks for bringing back memories. I think any sport competition needs to have some pedigree and tradition first before the world truly accepts it as a contest everybody wants to win. After all it took the World Cup a few attempts too before it was fully accepted by all. Bayern didn't have the easiest relationship with the old intercontinental cup. The first two times they refused to play ( a common occurrence in those days due to often bad sportsmanship of the SA teams during those days and the lack of any real recognition for winning it. In other words you had everything to lose and nothing to gain). The third time they ended up playing and won easily but vowed not to play again should they qualify ( the total lack of interest in Germany resulted in only 4,000 spectators for the match in Munich while the return leg to brazil was costly so the whole experience was a big loss to them). The Toyota cup rejuvinated interest in Europe as it was a far more lucrative and exciting affair and Bayern ended up winning that in 2001. So of the four previous European Cup wins. Bayern ended up winning the. Intercontinental cup twice while not playing the other two occasions
Yeah, we spoke about the struggles of the competition in the 70's earlier in the thread. Bayern could be in the air as we speak, they beat Hamburg 3-1 in their final domestic match of 2013 and will top the table next year even with a game in hand.
Yes. Fox Sports 1 & 2 (English) and Fox Deportes (Spanish) (Click the TV Coverage link in the match threads)
Since general discussion on the format is allowed, here is how I think the Club World Cup should be changed so that it lives up to its name: Make it a 16 team tournament after the European season ends, with 4 groups of 4 teams. Round robin in the first round, and group winners advance to the semi-finals, so that the tournament is only 5 games. Teams who would qualify: 4 EUFA Champions League semi-finalists from the PREVIOUS year, as in the 2012-2013 semi-finalists would qualify for the 2014 tournament. Having them qualify from the previous year seems strange, but we already do that for the Champions League, it allows for qualification to be known well in advance, and, most importantly, it would allow for other qualifiers to go on during the season leading up to the tournament. 2 Copa Libertadores finalists (from the previous year, as the EUFA qualifying was, and as everything else will be.) CONCACAF Champions League winner AFC Champions League winner CAF Champions League winner OFC Champions League winner The six remaining spots would require more intensive qualification. Each confederation would have one spot. To get these wildcard spots, each team would have to win a 8-16 team home and home knockout tournament played intermittently throughout the year. The spots in these tournaments would go to the quarter-finalists or whatever from the previous year's champions league tournaments. For seeding, teams would be placed in 4 pots: Pot 1: 4 UEFA semi finalists. Pot 2: 3 COMMEBOL qualifiers and UEFA wildcard Pot 3: 4 winners of the remaining champions leagues Pot4: 4 wildcards from the remaining confederations Confederation allotments and seedings can change over time. Prize money would be high enough to make teams actually try to win.
This could never happen, if you have to play 5 matches then the tournament would have to be around 3 weeks and it would clash with World Cups and continental championships
Ugh, this already involves every single team on planet earth, yet people still keep posting suggestions on "expanding" it. smh
It could be done within 2 weeks/3 weekends. First game of the group stage is the opening weekend. Second group game is midweek. Final group game is the second weekend. Semifinal middle of the second week. Final on the third weekend. Still, your point is taken that it would be hard to find time for a tournament like this. I guess the answer is to compress the season or to move competitions around a week or two.