12/21/24
August 13, 2002
The Asian Football Confederation Champions League: kicked off today with $500,000 for the winners. Hoping to boost Asian club performances, and emulate the prestige of their European counterparts are teams such as Al Wihdat of Jordan and Lebanon’s Al Nejmeh, DPMM from Brunei, Petrokimia Putra and Persita Tangerang of Indonesia, Geylang United and Home United from Singapore, Thailand’s BEC Tero Sasana and Osotspa and Saigon Port (Vietnam), not to mention the powerhouses from Saudi Arabia, China, Japan and Korea. Anybody interested?
posted by worldcup2002 to soccer at 07:46 PM - 3 comments
Japan also has Inamoto, who just scored Fulham's equalizer against Bologna in the 2-2 Intertoto Cup tie.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:05 PM on August 14, 2002
Not really sure about Inamoto. He didn't do much for Arsenal last season, but they didn't give him much of a chance, either. On the other hand, he looked great during the World Cup, and you really can't blame him for not being able to break into a midfield consisting of players like Vieira, Pires and Ljungberg. He also seems to have a great attitude - I can't recall him complaining, despite spending almost an entire season playing for Arsenal's reserve team - so I hope he gets the chance to prove his worth at Fulham.
posted by jipe at 03:40 PM on August 14, 2002
It would certainly be interesting to see some of these matches. I know that football is supposed to be quite popular in some parts of Asia, but I really don't have any idea as to the level of play. (Though it's not nearly as big in India as I thought, judging by these attendance figures) It would also make the World Cup a lot more interesting if some of the big Asian nations became truly competetive. Japan may already have a few genuine star players in Hidetoshi Nakata and Shinji Ono, but other nations like India and China still seem lacking. I also can't help wondering who are considered the favourites for this competition - maybe the japanese teams?