I miss the old tournament format Can't really get excited when even the 3rd place team can qualify for the next round.
Dont get the move to 24 at all, asia is not at a point where we have depth at the bottom two tiers to fill 24. Guess tv viewer money is more important to them than quality. The only good thing is we can just skip the group and watch from the knockouts, hoping for a few Cinderella stories.
I want pan-pacific confederation, Japan,Korea,China,Australia,United Stats, Mexico, Newzeland, Asean and central america countries
What do people think about the new Asian Cup trophy? Personally I really don't like it. The old one was iconic and beautiful trophy, it did not need a change.
Like the move to 24 teams, get to see some new teams not the same old boring ones. Then Australia goes and gets a dull and difficult (for the Socceroos to break down) group.
Now that we got invited to a very prestigious tournament like the Copa America in 2019, the Asian Cup is nothing but a burden to us. Qatar should send their B team to this pointless tournament.
The afc facebook page posted the match schedule. I am a bit surprised they will not have double headers for this tournament, i cant imagine the majority of these countries with traveling fans, there are some migrant workers from Philippines and India but the vast majority of group games will likely be vast empty seats. Second thing im a bit surprised is they will not try double matches on the same day in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (other than the two game 3 match days). This was a selling point for Qatar 2022 and I figured UAE may try the same if you have three matches you can arrange the first and third to be in the same city at different venues.
I am surprised the final scheduled on FRIDAY. Australia15 on Saturday, 31 Jan. Qatar11 on Saturday, 29 Jan. ASEAN07 on Sunday, 29 Jul. China04 on Satuday, 7 Aug. Lebanon00 on Sunday, 29 Oct. UAE96 on Saturday, 21 Dec. Japan92 on Sunday, 8 Nov. Qatar88 on Sunday, 18 Dec. Singapore84 on Sunday, 16 Dec. Kuwait80 on TUESDAY, 30 Sep.
I was told by some middle east residents that Friday and Saturday are their weekend and Friday is usually the day everyone is off. If that is correct and is part of the Middle East soccer culture then I get it.
I have ever visited some middle east countries and know that Friday is a special day for Muslims. But as I wrote, past middle eastern host countries include UAE have never done on Friday. So I am surprised and wondering other reasons.
Not sure of the reasons why its a friday but I don't mind it It gives players involved a bit of extra time for a celebration before they need to return to their clubs.
yea it is odd, one team will only have two full rest days to recover before playing the final so its def not for sporting reasons! Then again this is the confederation that refuse to mix up the group seeding so we can have better matches the first two match days and saved every group's first vs second seed match for match day three.
Guys can anyone of you clarify this for me? "Teams are allowed to replace their players from the final list of 23 up to 6 hours before their first match but can only do so from the 50 players registered in the preliminary list.'' http://www.the-afc.com/asiancup/news/complete-guide-to-official-uae-2019-squads So this means a squad can change after the final list has been announced without injuries??
Does anyone have any idea who is broadcasting the Asian Cup in the U.S.? Please tell me it's going to be shown somewhere.
One World Sports had the rights but I can't find it on any subscription and it looks likes they sold it to Eleven Sports(who I can't find either). Terrible job of publicity this edition.
Hi everyone- I'm helping mod this tournament, can you please keep it civil & on point. I understand the long standing rivalries can flare up, but instead of responding in the like, just report the post and let us mods handle it. Hopefully we'll have a great cup with a deserved winner.
I couldn't see it covered before but: https://www.goal.com/en-sa/news/afc-asian-cup-2019-india-var-quart-final/e20h7ak2w3h416f2s61hfttna
I agree this should be the most popular edition of the Asian Cup and it is being mishandled. I've heard BeIN Sports will be televising all the games, which would be great since I have Fubo TV, but haven't seen any confirmation on that.
BeInSports yes. I have the subscription but I'm not sure if their US tv package shows it rather I might get geoblocked. Then its onto the vpns
I don't know but in Qatar, I have Beins extensive package and we are having to buy the Asian Cup as an extra, just like the World Cup... meh!
Now I see that Eleven Sports Network is supposed to show the Asian Cup in the U.S., but when I look at their TV lineup it doesn't have any games listed. This is mind-boggling.