Wait Nice has been posting this whole time? I think I blocked him in 2012, it was just tiresome. Even Koz (no offense mate) has mellowed out since then.
A moderately interesting story which got me thinking about the right to free expression in sport versus the power of governing bodies (pun intended)... Short Pants and Long Sleeves: China’s Soccer Team Plays Under Tattoo Ban https://nyti.ms/2HgiuLH?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Just read an article about the Asian Cup in UAE. Abysmal crowds, sometimes in the 100's. Qataris frozen out because of geopolitics, boycott, etc. Qatar playing Saudi in a matter of hours... hopefully not triggering a war. Not too big a big leap to speculate how WC'22 might be. Thank you Mr. Blatter, where ever you may be sitting right now. Prison?
Asian Cup official highlights are readily available on Youtube. See for yourself. Pretty dismal fare.
Sure... Politics Looms Over Empty Seats as Saudi Arabia Faces Qatar in Asian Cup https://nyti.ms/2Hia3iK?smid=nytcore-ios-share
You can't compare the Asian Cup with the World Cup. The Asian Cup is never well attended, especially now that they've expanded... and you've got to remember this is the UAE. They get the world class formula 1, golf, tennis, rugby tournaments, etc. you name it.... people in Abu Dhabi and Dubai have better things to do and go and watch Turkmenistan vs Vietnam football match. I don't think that would pull big crowds anywhere in the world no matter where you put it other than in their respective countries. Was a similar thing when the Asian Cup was here in Qatar 8 years ago. Games were not that well attended, but when Real Madrid, PSG, Barcelona or real quality comes, the games sell out in no time. There are many good arguments against the World Cup not being in Qatar, but the Asian Cup attendances is a poor arguement...
OK, you know more about Asian Cup than I do, but a few hundred people showing up to a match? Was it that bad at times in Qatar 8 yrs ago? Anyway, it wasn't just about crowd size... it's also the tense geopolitics over there these days. But since you live there, you would also know more about that than I do. Did yesterday's KSA-Qatar match go OK security-wise? I sure hope MBS didn't come over with his henchies to try to intimidate anyone.
Oh yeah, totally believable the crowd sizes, especially for some of those games I described. Security-wise the game went fine... I mean, Qataris are not allowed to go to UAE, so there were only Saudi fans vs neutrals. In all honesty, crowd trouble at games, if happening at all, is pretty petty stuff with kids fighting and stuff like that, pretty tame to be honest. It is tense politically though as Qatar has no relations with its neighbors and we cannot fly directly to UAE or Saudi. I actually have a ticket for the Asian Cup final in Abu Dhabi but am not sure I'm even going to bother going as it means taking a very expensive flight to Abu Dhabi via Oman, and then hoping I'm even allowed into the UAE being a Qatar resident
Had pretty good attendance when the Asian Cup was in Australia but that said we will honestly go and watch any sport in this country. Helps take your mind off the fact everything wants you dead here.
On a side note, you seen many sharks, snakes and spiders? Seems like everyone has a pet huntsman there
Australians have a great sense of irony. Huntsman spiders are the worst. They are effectively hairy crabs in that they scuttle around and are harmless. Harmless. 8 legged jump scares. Lets call them huntsmans. What about those box shaped Jellyfish? The really deadly ones? Should we name them something to reflect that? Nah ******** it, its Friday arvo, call it a box jellyfish and lets hit the piss.
Yeah, I was going to say, the Asian Cup is never well attended... given, one exception, Australia 2015 - I remember the attendances were well up, almost twice what they were in Qatar. Could have something to do with the distances between venues, whereas pretty much all of the venues in Qatar and UAE are an easy drive away. But could be that Australia is just a better place for these type of events I'll admit, I kind of want to see a World Cup in Australia one day, would be an awesome place for it!
Wolves - LCFC ends 4-3 with a 93' match winner by the home side! Crowd roaring at the end! Everyone's raucous! Then the stadium emcee begins playing Guns 'n Roses "Paradise City" with its slow guitar intro. Crowd goes quiet. Moodkiller.
Paradise City is only used in EVERY sporting event in America but NOBODY begins with the intro! Rookies
People say we have no plan B. All Liverpool can do is counter attack and hit diagonals to the full backs. CP with the lead has limited them to the latter.
Jota with an amazing performance. Who is he anyway? BUT His game winner was a great example of how screwed up the offside rule is now. IMHO He was way offside when the ball was played through, but since the ball wasn't played to him they let him keep his 5 yard advantage over the defender, which then enabled him to have an uncontested shot on goal, after the ball was played quickly back to him.
The rule is ruining football from a defensive tactical standpoint. Of course more goals is “good” for the game as a spectacle. Similar to offensive tweaks in NFL or physical ball modifications in baseball to increase homeruns.