Also, Peruvian forward André Carrillo got a (fortuitous) goal and an assist - given the flak he's received back home for passing up Europe for Saudi Arabia, the closer Al-Hilal gets to continental glory, the more justified his decision becomes.
Think I will go to the seimfinal in 2 weeks time. Could be an interesting game with it being a Saudi team. Just wish it was the 2nd leg and not the first here. Also will be great to see Giovinco.. he's somewhat of a MLS legend.... man, he really wants to win a Champions League... couldn't get it with Juve, close but no cigar with Toronto, so thought hey will just try the AFC Champions League, that counts right? Wouldn't be surprised to see him go to Auckland City if this fails...
And even Auckland City is no longer a sure shot. You should go. Al Sadd look good right now. Seemed like a full house against Al Nassr so, for a change, you may have to buy your tickets early!
Or if his end-goal is to finally make the Club World Cup, he can just have a nice chat with Xavi after the return leg if things don't go to plan
heh heh... well I know that stadium well, the side they film to was fairly full, but pretty sure there are empty seats at other parts.. and buy tickets? I don't think anyone actually does that!
Fair enough. In the GCC no one buys their tickets in advance except for strange characters like me. (Assuming they are for sale and not just handed out by the club) But be there early. I got locked out of an ACL semi-final in 2015 against, wait for it, Al Hilal. Instead I had to watch the game in a packed shisha cafe nearby (Al Ahli Dubai progressed on a 95th minute goal). The announced crowd for Sadd-Nassr was 13,262 - that's about capacity, no?
On a different note, I just realized that one of the remaining clubs in the ACL will equalize Pohang Steelers' record of three titles set in 2009: - Al Hilal (1991, 2000) - Al Sadd (1989, 2011) - Urawa Reds (2007, 2017) - Guangzhou Evergrande (2013, 2015) Speaking of records, the only clubs that can now beat Barcelona's 2009 "sextuple" are English ones. Why you ask? Because France have dropped their League Cup, leaving England as the only major FA with two cup competitions: 1. Premier League 2. FA Cup 3. League Cup 4. FA Community Shield (Super Cup) 5. UEFA Champions League 6. UEFA Super Cup 7. FIFA Club World Cup
Does UEFA and/or the French FA have anything in writing about if clubs from other continents can play in the Europa League? I'm talking about a club from a place like Guadeloupe winning the Coupe de France. It's not going to happen, but I'm still wondering if there's anything in writing. Could a club from Guadeloupe hypothetically win: 1. Guadeloupe domestic title 2. Caribbean Club Championship or Concacaf League (winning the former qualifies a club from the Concacaf Champions League without the Concacaf League in between 3. Concacaf Champions League 4. Coupe de France 5. Europa League 6. Trophee des Champions (Super Cup for winning the Coupe de France) 7. UEFA Super Cup 8. FIFA Club World Cup
Don't know the exact answer, but looking at it from FIFA's point of view: clubs in Guadeloupe are European, and participate in 2 and 3 as guest teams ineligible to qualify for a FIFA tournament through another confederation's championship (see: Wellington Phoenix if they were ever allowed to play in, and then went on to win, the AFC CL). 4-to-7 shouldn't be a problem since they belong to a UEFA member; if they were to qualify through the UEFA CL, then there wouldn't be any legitimate opposition to them playing in the Club World Cup.
The 2019 CWC stadiums have been announced: https://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup/n...o-host-fifa-club-world-cup-qatar-2019tm-final - Education City Stadium (40,000) - Khalifa International Stadium (40,000) - Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium (12,000) I’m sure Al Sadd are happy playing in their home ground but that is by far the smallest venue ever used in CWC history.
A sensical decision, though. If the expanded CWC ever comes to the US, it would make sense to use MLS-size venues for games between lesser-known teams here (e.g. TP Mazembe vs. Peñarol).
For a standalone match I would agree. But a doubleheader in a 12K ground? I don't know exactly how big the Tunisian community is in Qatar but when Esperance played in the UAE last year they had a strong following of at least 8K - maybe more. Al Sadd of course can fill the ground on their own for a big occasion such as the CWC. So I think without looking at Monterrey and AFC Champions support the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium is already well oversold in theory. Not that ticketing has been announced yet.
And it looks like Al Sadd will most likely occupy the host spot, not the ACL spot. AFC Semis, First Leg: Al Sadd (Qatar) - Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) 1:4 Urawa Reds (Japan) - Guangzhou Evergrande (China) 2:0 @glennaldo_sf - were you there? Libertadores Semis, First Leg: River Plate (ARG) - Boca Juniors (ARG) 2:0 Gremio (BRA) - Flamengo (BRA) 1:1 River wins the first leg of the Buenos Aires derby...
12,000 is much smaller than MLS size. Who knows what hosting requirements will be for a CWC with 24 clubs.
Ha - um, sort of.... well I went and tried to get inside... big mistake given the fact the IAAF Athletics Championships were occurring just right across the "street", or what is left of the street... with all the construction going on for the metro and WC 2022, it was total chaos on the roads, which had completely changed since last time I'd been down that way. Took almost 2 hours to drive the 18km after a couple of wrong turns / key road closings and horrendous traffic... when I finally arrived, despite having a couple of tickets, we were told it was "full"... I went to watch the athletics, plenty of seats there, and managed to see Noah Lyles and Donovan Brazier win the 200 + 800 meters respectively so I guess it all worked out in the end... anyhoo, probably won't be attending too many games in Al Sadd for the time being, was going to go to Qatar-Oman match in Tuesday, but will just settle for the ANOC Beach Soccer finals and the CWC December I think...
Less than 2 months to go and still no ticket information or competition logo. What a shambles. Anyone trying to plan their trip in Monterrey, Liverpool and Tunis must be quite irritated by now. This will be the lowest attended CWC to date.
well definitely in terms of tickets sold so far lol...... It's a bit frustrating cause I too am delaying my Christmas holiday for this so want to be sure I get a ticket before planning. The only justification I can think of is that maybe they are waiting to see who will be the South American and Asian representatives, but seeing that's not until November 23/24th as maybe it's a little unfair on those teams if others are allowed to book their tickets beforehand. Could also be that as the final is in a new stadium, maybe the seating chart is not put in yet... who knows......
With the UAE tournaments they blocked certain sections and made them only available after all qualifiers had been determined. That too would have been the best approach here. Oh well, the FIFA site says October for ticketing so I guess sometime in the next two weeks.
While we wait for the semis to resume in Asia and South America next week there have been interesting developments in Indian domestic football. As long rumored, the Indian Super League (ISL) has been promoted to India's official first division. The ISL will get the Asian CL spot starting in 2021, taking over from the I-League. But there is more, four I-League clubs can gain access to the ISL until 2024: 2021 - Two Spots for I-League clubs (commercial merit, probably Kolkata's clubs) 2022 - I-League winner promoted to ISL. No relegation. 2023 - I-League winner promoted to ISL. No relegation. 2024 - Full-fledged system of promotion and relegation implemented A convoluted process to be sure, but as a "traditionalist" I'm glad the more historical Indian clubs get to participate in the top flight and a proper system of promotion and relegation is implemented.
so there's some update here... the emblem has been announced and ticket sales will start on Tuesday for Visa card holders.... which reminds me... my visa card was blocked due to dodgy activity... I need to unblock it soon... this is how I got my tickets for the Confederations Cup final. Still nothing about when tickets for the general public will go on sale... https://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup/n...-cup-qatar-2019tm-revealed-as-excitement-buil
"New evidence" gives Wydad hope in CAS battle: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/10/284909/new-evidence-wydad-controversy-esperance-tunis/