I was doing some reading on the new Asian Champions League format. I was surprsed that Malaysian clubs did not take part. Malaysia is one of the better legues in Southeast Asia, and I am curious as to why the AFC did not include them. I am also curious as to why this new competition does not bring in elite teams like Kashima Antlers and Dalian Shide until March. That seems rather odd. I am not sure this great new tournament is all it is cracked up to be.
Because it they bring in the big teams early there will be blowouts. That would make the AFC CL look really sh!t
Re: Re: Flaws of the new Asian Champions League Why not group play like the UEFA Champions League, and why leave out some prominent federations teams like Malaysia?? Also.. I think it is already looking amateurish with both Bahrain clubs being banned because of the misconduct of the Bahrain footbal federaton, a turkmen club withdrawing because of financial problems, and one Kyrghz team being banned because of the conduct of that federation, but another one being allowed to compete. And they added some Palestinian club at the last minute (Al Quds). Seems like a very unstable setup.
Entries for the AFC Champions League 2002/03 Zone One (West and Central Asia) Bahrain: Busaiteen, Riffa Club Iran: Pirouzi, Esteghlal Iraq: Al Talaba, Al Zawra? Jordan: Al Faisaly, Al Wihdat Kuwait: Al Arabi, Al Kuwait Kyrgyzstan: Jashtyk Lebanon: Al Ansar, Al Nejmeh Oman: Al Nasr Palestine: Al Quds Qatar: Al Sadd, Al Etehad Saudi Arabia: Al Ahli, Al Hilal Syria: Al Ittihad, Al Jaish Tajikistan: Khudjand Turkmenistan: Kopetdag, Nisa UAE: Al Ain, Al Ahli Uzbekistan: Neftchi Fergana, Pakhtakor Yemen: Ahli Sana? Zone Two (East Asia) China: Dalian Shide, Shanghai Shenhua Hong Kong: South China India: Churchill Brothers, Mohun Bagan Indonesia: Petrokimia Putra, Persita Tangerang Japan: Shimizu S-Pulse, Kashima Antlers Korea Republic: Taejon Citizen, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Macau: Monte Carlo Maldives: New Radiant, Valencia Singapore: Geylang United, Home United Sri Lanka: Saunders, Sri Lanka Air Force Thailand: BEC Tero Sasana, Osotspa Vietnam: Saigon Port looks like battle between, Kashima, Seongnam, Dalian, al hilal. [bahrain clubs were excluded from champions league, also Kopetdag of Turkmenistan -financial difficulty]
never know.. remember how they won the FA cup?? emotional shiet... maybe sangmoo will win cuz they're pushing to be a pro team (never gonna happen u friggin army gaylords)
Re: Re: Re: Flaws of the new Asian Champions League It is similar to how UEFA organizes their CL, seeded teams are automatically in the group stage, the rest need to go through qualifying.
They won one Championship and came second a few times. But this year they sold their best players to the other Shanghai team. So they suck!
They have some talent young players in the team. All they need are some experiences. Give them couple of years, they will bounce back.
sad part is.. daejeon dont even have any young prospects, worst part is.. there wont be no draft in k-league anymore so it will be alot harder for them to get even decent young players. (who would go there if they are good young player??) good part is... their coach and owner dont really care about the standing, cuz there's no relegation in K-league. maybe if HanHwa takes over TaeJeon, thing could change..
Does anyone think there will finally be a non-Saudi or Japanese club champion this year? Also, does anyone know if Football Asia will show highlights of AFC CL matches? I'm not sure how TV rights work for this. Thanks
You've had a Korean champion in Suwon Bluewings for at least the past year, maybe two. The format is MUCH better than the Asian Club Championship as clubs, with the $$$ incentives, are more likely to bring their best sides even to a "weak" matchup, just to ensure that they take home the purses...the clubs were very happy about the new format, but I did not know that the Malay champion was excluded, as some posts here submit. Must look into that one...
Korea did it last year... I think Saudi has less of a chace this time around since one of the teams its sending is curently under going a complere MELT DOWN!! (thats Al-Hilal), and the other (Al-Ahly) has never won an asian championship before. I think its going to be between KOREA/JAPAN/ and IRAN.
K-League club Suwon has been the king in Asian club level for the past 2 years. In 2002's Asian Club Championship, the finals were played by two Korean clubs.