05/12/25
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?