2014 FIFA Club World Cup: Tournament News & Qualifiers [R]

EvanJ · Apr 11, 2014

Paul Calixte said: ↑

To be clear, Cruz Azul won 2-0 on the night - Tijuana had a 1-0 advantage from the first leg.
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I knew it was 2:0 in the second leg and I made a mistake.

UEFA draw:

Real Madrid-Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid-Chelsea

Nico Limmat · Apr 12, 2014

So the Copa Libertadores group stage is now complete and the knock-out rounds set.

In the OFC group stage Waitakere United escaped a loss in the closing minutes and had to settle for a draw.

The Moroccan Botola is currently led by MA Tétouan.

The first leg of the CONCACAF final is this coming week on Tuesday, 15 April.

It's called FOOTBALL · Apr 12, 2014

Strange that the CCL Final is not on a Wednesday as it usually is. Also that there is no off-week between the semis and Final, as is usually the case.

Hmm, after seeing the Lib Cup schedule, I guess CONCACAF wanted to avoid conflict with the Mex teams' games on Wednesday. Smart move.

One more note on the aforementioned Mexican world record of 9 straight CL titles: The earliest anyone could even tie would be 2019 by New Zealand, and that's assuming Mexico's streak gets broken next year, which isn't likely.

Paul Calixte · Apr 13, 2014

It's called FOOTBALL said: ↑

One more note on the aforementioned Mexican world record of 9 straight CL titles: The earliest anyone could even tie would be 2019 by New Zealand, and that's assuming Mexico's streak gets broken next year, which isn't likely.
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What are you talking about? Next year is the year Henry (you know, the type of former European star that Mexican teams could never get) leads NY to the CCL title...yeah, couldn't get through that with a straight face.

Nico Limmat · Apr 14, 2014

In an interesting turn of events Auckland City lost to Vanuatu's Amicale FC and are in real danger of missing out on the semifinals. They basically need city rivals Waitakere United to stumble in their last group match, otherwise their three-year winning streak will come to an end.

In other news India has launched the Indian Super League, the football equivalent of cricket's IPL. It's good to see IMG Reliance and Bollywood celebrities (not to mention Atletico Madrid) promote the sport in India - it really, really needs it. But I do question the sense of a two-month tournament somewhat undermining the longer standing I-League (that continues to be the domestic top flight).

Unlike the previous attempt at such a tournament in 2012 the AIFF seems to be fully on board and I-League players get to earn an additional payday by playing in the ISL.

Anyting to raise the profile of the sport I suppose...

unclesox · Apr 15, 2014

Second half just kicked off.
AS Pirae 2-0 Waitakere United

EDIT:
Pirae reduced to ten men barely a minute after the restart.

unclesox · Apr 15, 2014

57'
Waitakere pull a goal back.

unclesox · Apr 15, 2014

Pirae with an injury time insurance goal as Waitakere threw everyone forward.

Result
AS Pirae 3-1 Waitakere United
Waitakere with many chances following the sending off but poor finishing allows defending champions Auckland City to advance to the semifinals.

OFC Semifinal pairings (played over two legs):
Auckland City -v- AS Pirae
Ba FC -v- Amicale FC

OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | @AucklandCity_FC #NavyBlues are through to the semi-finals! Whew!
— 🇳🇿 Auckland City FC (@AucklandCity_FC) April 15, 2014

Paul Calixte · Apr 15, 2014

unclesox said: ↑

Pirae with an injury time insurance goal as Waitakere threw everyone forward.

Result
AS Pirae 3-1 Waitakere United
Waitakere with many chances following the sending off but poor finishing allows defending champions Auckland City to advance to the semifinals.

OFC Semifinal pairings (played over two legs):
Auckland City -v- AS Pirae
Ba FC -v- Amicale FC

OFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | @AucklandCity_FC #NavyBlues are through to the semi-finals! Whew!
— 🇳🇿 Auckland City FC (@AucklandCity_FC) April 15, 2014

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Man, Kiwi clubs do not handle traveling in Oceania well at all...apparently they have more in common with Mexico than I thought.

EvanJ · Apr 15, 2014

CONCACAF Champions League Final Leg 1:

Cruz Azul 0:0 Toluca

It's called FOOTBALL · Apr 15, 2014

For those who don't know, Blue Cross FC hasn't won a major title since 1997, and have been runners-up since then numerous times. So much that they have been labeled the "eternal subchampions". It seems like a curse, since nothing goes their way in Finals. In the 2010 CCL Final, they were mere seconds from advancing until Pachuca scored a goal at the death to send them home. Last year in the league championship Final, America scored 2 goals at the death to send it to overtime where America won in PKs. And now, with their strongest team in years, they have to deal with their GK's unjust suspension, a slew of injuries, home field disadvantage due to group stage goal difference, and bad weather which hampered any home advantage they could have had in Leg 1.

I haven't seen anything like this since Steve Bartman blocked a foul ball in Wrigley Field, followed by an untimely error by an otherwise good defensive shortstop. Strange things are in the air, for sure...

Nico Limmat · Apr 16, 2014

CONCACAF Final, First Leg:

Paul Calixte said: ↑

Man, Kiwi clubs do not handle traveling in Oceania well at all...apparently they have more in common with Mexico than I thought.
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The Kiwi clubs were not as dominant as expected in the group stage. Maybe we will see some new faces after all this year out of Oceania:

Nico Limmat · Apr 16, 2014

Matchday 5 of the AFC group stage was completed today. Lots of interesting groups but defending champions Guangzhou must be in the most interesting one. After five games each team has seven points:

The Libertadores Round-of-16 starts tonight...

Nico Limmat · Apr 23, 2014

The AFC Round-of-16 is set...

West
Al Ittihad (Saudi Arabia) - Al Shabab (Saudi Arabia)
Al Jazira (UAE) - Al Ain (UAE)
Al Sadd (Qatar) - Foolad (Iran)
Bunyodkor (Uzbekistan) - Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)

East
Jeonbuk Motors (South Korea) - Pohang Steelers (South Korea)
Cerezo Osaka (Japan) - Guangzhou Evergrande (China)
Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) - FC Seoul (South Korea)
Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan) - Western Sydney Wanderers (Australia)

Remember that starting this season both regions are separated until the final.

To my dismay Dubai's Al Ahli lost out to 2011 winners Al Sadd (who advanced with a goal difference of -6) but overall it has been a much improved year for the UAE clubs. In the East the "new" Sydney team advanced to the elimination rounds in the first participation ever. Elsewhere Diego Forlan fired Cerezo Osaka into advancement:

Nico Limmat · Apr 23, 2014

UEFA Semis, First Leg:

Atletico Madrid - Chelsea 0:0
Real Madrid - Bayern Munich 1:0

CONCACAF will crown its champion tonight, the first participant of Morocco 2014.

unclesox · Apr 23, 2014

SwissGCZ said: ↑

The AFC Round-of-16 is set...
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The biggest drama of Matchday 6 came in Doha where Bunyodkor scored deep into injury time to beat El Jaish 2-1 on the night.
The result allowed Bunyodkor to finish second in Group B ahead of El Jaish on the third tiebreak of goals scored, 7-6. They were level on points, head-to-head and goal difference.
This is the only video I could find so far...

Paul Calixte · Apr 23, 2014

And the first team to qualify for the Club World Cup is...

CRUZ AZUL!

...no, seriously, we won the Final. Well, technically it finished in a draw, but we won on the away-goals rule. And yeah, Pablo Velásquez missed a sitter with the penultimate kick of the game, but after 17 years of blowing two-leg finals we were due one!

Road to the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup:

2013-14 CCL Qualification: MEX4, 2013 Clausura runner-up (5-1 aggregate over Santos Laguna in the semifinals)

Group stage

3-0 vs. Herediano (CRC)
2-1 @ Valencia (HAI)
3-0 vs. Valencia (HAI)
2-1 @ Herediano (CRC)

Finish: 12 points, +8 GD, 2nd ranking among group winners

Quarterfinals

0-1 @ Sporting Kansas City (USA)
5-1 vs. Sporting Kansas City (USA)
5-2 aggregate

Semifinals

0-1 @ Club Tijuana (MEX)
2-0 vs. Club Tijuana (MEX)
2-1 aggregate

Final

0-0 vs. Toluca FC (MEX)
1-1 @ Toluca FC (MEX)
1-1 aggregate, Cruz Azul wins the 2013-14 CCL title on away goals

El CHarro_NEgro.... · Apr 23, 2014

I was rooting for Curz Azul since Toluca blows at international competitions.

Nico Limmat · Apr 25, 2014

With 6 titles Cruz Azul are now sole record champions of CONCACAF, surpassing city rivals Club America.

The OFC semis start this weekend...

Nico Limmat · Apr 26, 2014

Auckland City - AS Pirae (Tahiti) 3:0

With that result Auckland have one leg in the final. Looks like the final will have two legs this year.

jared9999 · Apr 27, 2014

SwissGCZ said: ↑

With 6 titles Cruz Azul are now sole record champions of CONCACAF, surpassing city rivals Club America.

The OFC semis start this weekend...
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We´re tying it back up again next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nico Limmat · Apr 28, 2014

jared9999 said: ↑

We´re tying it back up again next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Depends, is Alajuelense back?

Other OFC semi-final:
Ba FC (Fiji) - Amicale FC (Vanuatu) 1:2

Looks like we are headed for another Auckland-Amicale encounter in the final.

Remember tomorrow is the second leg between Bayern and Real Madrid. Should be great.

It's called FOOTBALL · Apr 28, 2014

SwissGCZ said: ↑

Depends, is Alajuelense back?
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Yup.

unclesox · Apr 29, 2014

Paul Calixte · Apr 29, 2014

It's relevant to this thread to announce: we will have a new CWC winner this year. Bayern Munich fell shockingly 0-5 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League semifinals; neither of the Madrid teams left in this tournament has been to the CWC, while Chelsea has unfinished business from 2012. Plus, with none of São Paulo, Internacional or Corinthians involved in the current Copa Libertadores, we're guaranteed a first-time (FIFA) world champion.