Popovic seemed really pissed off at the Chinese, told reporters "you can't even call that a football game".
Hey all, just got back from Beijing a few hours ago! It was a frustrating match for many reasons but all of us at Worker's Stadium were happy w/ the result. 4 points from two away matches? Hell yes. As far as the atmosphere went, think of how weird it felt to watch North Korea-Japan back in November. Now replace the anxiety and dread with genuinely bizarre hilarity and you have a rough approximation of what it was like. I was giggling uncontrollably at halftime when a bunch of state security (?) guys all filed into the bathroom at the same time... apparently they even piss in unison. Was that kind of night. But we all had a blast and while the stadium's a shithole I'd eagerly recommend it to a supporter who really wants to try something different. Pics later!
Small compared to who? Guangzhou isnt exactly a big club ( they are a new hotshot just like Reysol, winning the 2nd division and then go on and win division 1 the next year), the only difference is that Guangzhou has more money, which happened recently. It wasnt a penalty no, but it should have been a red card, so the ref did a mistake both ways.
Guanghzou is the biggest club in Asia right now. this. It could have been a red as you said but that waaaaaay out of the box. Not even close.
holy shit, how many goals has H. Sakai in the bag this year? Tulio better watch out as he's not gonna be the DF topscorer this year
Thats debatable. 1 title in their domestic league doesnt make them the biggest club in Asia. But that they have the potential to become that has been obvious for quite some time. But the biggest club in Asia doesnt lose 1-2 at home vs Buriram About the penalty, he is falling into the box, so the referee can have been fooled by that. Weve seen lots of examples for that earlier, both for big and small clubs. But what would have been worst? A PK and a yellow card or a red card and a very dangerous free kick? consider how early it was in the game as well.
Guanghzou bought their way to the top, look at these players, look at this intimidating stadium and compare it to Hichidai, there's no comparison possible. In Europe they are called the Chelsea of Asia. A PK = a goal 90% of the time but anyway, it was a mistake so I don't really want to chose between two mistakes. I'm not throwing the referee under the bus, it's against my principles, mistaking is human.
Yeah, great result for them. He wasn't at his best today but I've been surprised at how well Aria Hasegawa fit into the team. Chinese teams are completely different proposition away from home.
If we look at todays situation, they are more like the Man City of Asia. and Man City is NOT the biggest club in Europe. Chelsea was never the biggest club in Europe either just because they won the EPL. From what Ive read other clubs in China spend just as much if not more money than Guangzhou Evergrande, so they are not unique in this way ( like Chelsea were in England). I love their stadium, their fans, the way they play, but that doesnt make them the biggest club in Asia. At the moment they are not even the highest ranked team in their city, if we look at the CSL table=) A PK most of the time results in a goal yes. But playing more than 60 minutes away against an intimidating opponent in "hostile" environment with just 10 against 11 most of the time results in a goal or two for the home-side as well. I see it as a human error as well, which was why I reacted to ur inital comment about it.
Nonetheless, Kashiwa was one level below Guangzhou in this game. The result is fair and if there would be a FK and red card for terribly weak Watanabe (who was personally responsible for Mariqui) could only be a blessing in disguise for Kashiwa after all.
Guangzhou were way better in the first game as well, so maybe we will have a Chinese winner in this years ACL?
You know how Reysol is doing so far this year? A team from CWC wasn't worse than Guangzhou in those two games. I wouldn't jump to conclusions so fast. For me Nagoya and FC Tokyo have much better squads with more depth, personal abilities and aren't depending on a two or one foreigners who, when performing, bad are still standing (literally) on the pitch no matter what. Kashiwa has now a big problem - lack of Plan B.
The difference is the duo Muriqui - Conca. They're clearly ten steps above their teammates and they were the only real threats for Kashiwa but big ones. Gao Lin was good too. I wouldn't have seen it as a blessing in disguise in case Kashiwa got a draw, home teams are supposed to be better anyway.
Is Conca really so much better than Leandro in form or Ponte from the time when Reds won ACL? Is Mariqui near the class of ********i (I mean フッキ - thanks BS ) ? If they are I don't have any objections with what you've wrote. That's the same as Reysol. The only difference is that Leandro and Wagner are underperforming right now. Leandro still has moments of genius from time to time but he's not contributing as much to the team as he was last season. And if I were Kashiwa fan I would hope that it's only a slow start and not the long time stall.
today ? no question. Overall he's probably better too. If Muriqui had stayed in Brazil longer, he might have been in the national team right now.
Yeah, of course its way too early, and I meant that China has a much better chance at getting the winner this year than what has been the case in a long, long time. Im not saying they are gonna win it, but for once we have a Chinese side that can be a potential ACL-winner. The recent cash-flow is the reason for that, and that some of the clubs have foreign marquee players like Muriqui or Anelka instead of the Griffiths-brothers from Australia.
Yeah, Evergrande is ONE of the favorites to win ACL without doubt. And I wouldn't call that cash flow That's pumping and burning millions in football. And Watanabe only played in J2 so far so I wouldn't draw fast conclusions about Mariqui. He's good, might be better but I've seen better foreign FWs in J League.
Yeah I agree. If we are gonna look at strikers in this year's ACL, Al Rayyan should be a candidate for having the best pair. Leandro ( now that he's injury-free again) and Afonso Alves are arguably way better strikers than Muriqui, or atleast they used to be. Ulsan with Lee Keun Ho spearheading their attack is also a nice candidate, and albeit old and not as highly rated among pundits anymore due to his horrendous spell in England, Lee Dong Gook is actually a pretty decent striker too. One can't argue about his goal tally, and he's more or less the only player capable at scoring goals at Jeonbuk these days. Nagoya probably has a saying in there as well. And of course, we shouldn't forget the intimidating duo of Gamba Rafinha and Paulinho/Sato can make just about any defender shake of fear=) But speaking about Leandro, I would love to see him back in J.League. One of the most exciting strikers that have played in Japan the last couple of years, and I think he could even have been a success in one of the bigger European Leagues if given the chance ( Im not sayin for Man Utd or Barca).
I think you are underrating Muriqui just because he doesn't have a fancy name. He was better than Conca who was the Brazilian League MVP. That says a lot.