Guangzhou has only conceded 40 goals in 51 matches this season while scoring 133. It's strange to say they have defensive fragilities. The team is missing Zheng Long due to injury. Great left midfielder who, if not injured, could've made a difference in the CFA Cup final.
Elkeson was sent off in the first leg. what do you watch? and in the second leg they won because they had home advantage..and Renhe have the advantage from the first leg and beyond of this, Renhe had others big chances to score...Zhou Jiabao can confirm that.
Yes I know, so they lost the first leg in which he played in. Muriqui was their and wasn't sent off. In the game that neither played in they won.
I'm not changing my initial prediction despite the best efforts by some Chinese posters to convince me of their domestic players' ineptitude. I have watched them play several matches and they are a quality team, domestic players included. They may be a bit tired at this point in the year but they have a good passing game and read each other well. Changing focus to Al Ahly, they beat Moroccan side MAS de Fez 2-1 in a warm-up for this match. Should Aboutrika score he can become the (sole) all-time leading scorer of the CWC with five goals before he retires. Mohamed Aboutrika: His career in numbers: http://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup/news/newsid=2199795/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_box_2
You know, it would be great to have Aboutrika as sole all time leading scorer, but I somehow doubt many Europeans would like this...they would view that statistic and look down on the competition, especially the majority of English - and I am English! - I'm sure any discussions in the work place would try to belittle the fact rather than actually discuss the reasoning behind it. This should be a good game, the 'been there and done it' Al Ahly against the 'young pretenders' Guangzhou. And for once in a long long time, Guangzhou won't be favourite's.
Eh, you will never have a rational discussion with someone who doesn't fully understand the competition. And to be fair some players get more opportunities to score goals since their clubs are more dominant in their respective confederation. You also have the issue of some clubs starting play earlier, potentially leading to an uneven number of games. Let's not get sidetracked in this thread with that old discussion. This is all about Ahly-Evergrande.
Speaking of Chinese domestic players, here is he story of captain Zheng Zhi: http://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup/news/newsid=2244751/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_caption
Anything but a sell-out for the double-header would surprise me. FIFA however usually does publish a different number for the first match (turnstile by the end of game one?) and I expect that to be in the region of 25,000, maybe better. I suppose a lot depends on how local Moroccan fans view fellow North African/Arab club Al Ahly. Will they be supported or jeered? What are the dynamics here?
Al Ahly will definitely be supported by the Moroccans, mostly because African legend Aboutrika will participate. Also read something about Wydad Casablanca fans having some kind of partnership with Al Ahly fans and therefore will be attending the match with the Egyptians. Now that mix might be explosive since rivals Raja will be in and around the stadium at the same time! Hopefully the organizers and police will have everything under control.
Still 0-0 after 15 minutes. It's been a nervous start by both teams. Aboutrika missed a huge chance (empty net) after a terrible mistake by the Guangzhou keeper. At the other end Elkeson missed an opportunity to put Guangzhou ahead.
Keep in mind it's a double-header and most Moroccans will arrive later with the evening match in mind. I expect the stadium to fill up more in the second half...
It'll definitely be interesting to see how many more people show up for game 2 compared to game 1.[the stadium seats 45,480 btw]