12/21/24
April 10, 2002
Liverpool lose to Bayer Leverkusen...4-2. 4-3 on aggregate.: A minute after Gerard Houllier substituted Didi Hamann form Vladimir Smicer, Bayer Leverkusen scored. What was the reason for this?! And why didn't Michael Owen finish any of his 3 chances?! A disappointing match. Exciting as hell, but my team is now out of the Champion's League.
posted by StarFucker to soccer at 11:11 AM - 12 comments
Sadly, no one on this side of the Atlantic is going to know what you all are talking about until they come out with FIFA for the X-box at the end of the month. We don't have soccer in the states. Well, we do, but no one watches.
posted by Samsonov14 at 04:11 PM on April 10, 2002
In other news, Man U win, but beckham has a broken ankle. So: United - Lever Real - Barca The fun continues.
posted by sauril at 04:18 PM on April 10, 2002
My money is on Real (and I'm the rare american that follows this stuff intently. Unfortunately, my team has been out of this for a while now).
posted by trox at 04:53 PM on April 10, 2002
Of course Samsonov14 is right that soccer is largely ignored in the States, but some hardy souls DO go out each week (and in some cases week in-week out) to watch the game. Average MLS home attendance was just under 15,000 last year and this year (with 10 sides, contracted from 12) the numbers will probably be slightly higher...although the poor people of Florida have to do without! A-League (also a pro league) averaged just under the 3,000 mark with 21 teams in 2001. Add in D3, the WUSA , the MISL (indoor) and other local leagues and the numbers watching and playing soccer each week could be surprising to some I expect. Dave
posted by timberlog at 05:25 PM on April 10, 2002
Dave, I stand corrected. And a bit surprised. The average attendance for a Boston Bruins game is about 16,000 this year, and to see that MLS is damn close to matching that is refreshing. I played Soccer in high school, and I love the game, but it's almost impossible to get involved in it because of A) the lack of media coverage here and B) the lack of star players in the leagues here. Maybe if we had some people like Owen, Solskjaer, Shearer, or even the hated Frenchman Henry, people would watch more. And yes, sadly I know those names only from EA's FIFA soccer series.
posted by Samsonov14 at 06:58 PM on April 10, 2002
Thanks to my digital cable connection, I probably watch more soccer football than most Euros. And Owen also had a hurt foot which is why he probably didn't fare all that well.
posted by catatonic at 12:13 AM on April 11, 2002
I actually posted this from Chicago. I also have Digital Cable and my tv hardly ever changes channels from FOXSPORTSWORLD. I don't know how i ever lived without it! I was predicting a Liverpool/Panathinaikos Final.... Shit, i was wayyyyyyy off. Actually, a big reason why i am moving to Europe is so that i can be amongst other people who appreciate Football(Soccer) as much as i do.
posted by StarFucker at 09:49 AM on April 11, 2002
For those who watch Fox Sports World, you might be interested in the schedule for A-League (part of the USL-United Soccer Leagues) games this season. http://www.uslsoccer.com/eng/other/foxusltvsched.jsp The quality of soccer can be pretty good (some would argue close to MLS for some of the teams) and you can see the odd ex- or pre- MLS player, recently signed college players and even some non-US international players. Dave
posted by timberlog at 11:25 AM on April 11, 2002
The A-League sounds like the kind of place Gazza might end up in. Wasn't he supposed to be playing out his career in the US by now?
posted by Ben at 06:51 AM on April 13, 2002
Gazza is going to some first division team....don't know which one.
posted by StarFucker at 10:14 AM on April 15, 2002
He's at Burnley until the end of the season, then I suspect it's MLS, the new Japan for clapped-out former stars.
posted by etagloh at 02:11 PM on April 15, 2002
Probably down to the ref being a Man U supporter or something...