A left-foot screamer by perennial second half substitute Dyron Daal has secured North Queensland FC a deserved inaugural home victory over Perth Glory in Townsville this evening. North Queensland's habit of conceding cheap first half goals continued as Dutchman Victor Sikora scored for Perth in the 25th minute. A sense of 'this is all too familiar' clouded Dairy Farmers Stadium as Perth took their 1-0 lead to the half-time break.
Notorious for securing results in the second half, North Queensland came out of the half-time break a much better outfit and asked plenty of questions of the Perth defence. Star striker Robbie Fowler scored his sixth goal of the season on 65 minutes with a cheeky quick free kick which lifted the spirits of the home faithful. Minutes later coach Ian Ferguson emptied his bench by bringing on big Netherlands Antilles international Dyron Daal. Daal has been an impressive contributor off the bench in recent weeks, but tonight would be his most significant contribution for a club desperately looking to stay in touch with the rest of the competition.
Daal began on the right before moving up forward alongside Robbie Fowler. On 71 minutes, with his second touch of the game Daal received the ball in the penalty box. He turned onto his left foot before unleashing a left-foot drive past Perth goalkeeper Tando Velaphi which sent the green-clad stands into delirium. His goal was just reward for his recent performances and handed North Queensland hope of a first home win. The Greens held on to the 2-1 advantage and secured their first ever home victory - a deserved result and badly needed for the club's off-field credibility as well.
Daal is on a short-term contract replacing Karl Dodd. Once Dodd regains his fitness, it remains to be seen what will happen to Daal although I think he would be a loss for North Queensland. His chances of securing a full-time deal in the A-League have surely increased thanks to his history-making strike this evening.
In the other match of the evening, Thai international Sutee Suksomkit made his debut for Melbourne Victory in their 3-1 defeat of Adelaide United in front of more than 21,000 fans.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
2009 AFC Champions League Semi-Finals
On the back of Nagoya Grampus's amazing 6-2 loss to two-time AFC Champions League winner Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, it looks like one of the Asian Football Confederation's worst fears may come to fruition: a slew of empty seats in Tokyo's National Stadium for the Final to be held next month.
In the other semi-final, Korean surprise Pohang Steelers nutted out an important 2-0 home win to take to the away leg in Qatar against Umm-Salal. Barring a minor miracle in the form of a Nagoya victory by at least 4-0 in their home leg, this year's Champions League final will be played without a Japanese team meaning little travelling support. A half-empty stadium and a cavernous atmosphere will be a disaster for the AFC, and it just might make them rethink their somewhat ambitious move to make one of Asian football's showcase events a one-off affair at a neutral venue. According to Fox Sports pundit and commentator Mike Cockerill on this morning's broadcast, just 5,000 tickets have been sold for the match. Tokyo's National Stadium has a capacity of 57,000.
Football Federation Australia has expressed its interest in bidding for next year's AFC Champions League Final, according to this article.
For what it's worth, I think the AFC in its current state is far too unwieldy and far too large to accommodate a one-off continental Champions League Final at a neutral venue. The nature of Asian geography is not conducive to encouraging large contingents of supporting travellers, meaning that stadium capacity is left for neutrals to fill. The fact that the AFC Champions League does not yet have European-like prestige also makes filling stadiums a challenge. The football community knows the talent on offer in the AFC Champions League well, but it's fair to say that general populations throughout the Asian region do not.
In a sense taking the Final to a neutral venue is ripping the game away from the people that matter most to clubs - their fans. Adelaide United's remarkable run in the 2008 AFC Champions League, which culminated in two one-sided losses in the Final to Japan's Gamba Osaka, captured the attention of Adelaide and Australian football fans alike. Would the same level of excitement have been reached if Adelaide did not host a leg of the Final? Probably not.
If indeed the AFC is serious about its one-off Final policy and decides to continue it, then at the very least it should be rotated appropriately around the confederation to ensure that there is no favouritism. If Nagoya remarkably reaches the Final, one would have to think it will have significant backing from the stands and this isn't really fair.
In the meantime, the second leg awaits us with Pohang Steelers and Al-Ittihad the favourites to progress.
In the other semi-final, Korean surprise Pohang Steelers nutted out an important 2-0 home win to take to the away leg in Qatar against Umm-Salal. Barring a minor miracle in the form of a Nagoya victory by at least 4-0 in their home leg, this year's Champions League final will be played without a Japanese team meaning little travelling support. A half-empty stadium and a cavernous atmosphere will be a disaster for the AFC, and it just might make them rethink their somewhat ambitious move to make one of Asian football's showcase events a one-off affair at a neutral venue. According to Fox Sports pundit and commentator Mike Cockerill on this morning's broadcast, just 5,000 tickets have been sold for the match. Tokyo's National Stadium has a capacity of 57,000.
Football Federation Australia has expressed its interest in bidding for next year's AFC Champions League Final, according to this article.
For what it's worth, I think the AFC in its current state is far too unwieldy and far too large to accommodate a one-off continental Champions League Final at a neutral venue. The nature of Asian geography is not conducive to encouraging large contingents of supporting travellers, meaning that stadium capacity is left for neutrals to fill. The fact that the AFC Champions League does not yet have European-like prestige also makes filling stadiums a challenge. The football community knows the talent on offer in the AFC Champions League well, but it's fair to say that general populations throughout the Asian region do not.
In a sense taking the Final to a neutral venue is ripping the game away from the people that matter most to clubs - their fans. Adelaide United's remarkable run in the 2008 AFC Champions League, which culminated in two one-sided losses in the Final to Japan's Gamba Osaka, captured the attention of Adelaide and Australian football fans alike. Would the same level of excitement have been reached if Adelaide did not host a leg of the Final? Probably not.
If indeed the AFC is serious about its one-off Final policy and decides to continue it, then at the very least it should be rotated appropriately around the confederation to ensure that there is no favouritism. If Nagoya remarkably reaches the Final, one would have to think it will have significant backing from the stands and this isn't really fair.
In the meantime, the second leg awaits us with Pohang Steelers and Al-Ittihad the favourites to progress.
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