FanNation - The Republic of Sport

     I haven't been getting any feedback lately, so I guess I'll just write what comes to me as I go. 

     Today's topic is going to be about Club Competitions.  Now, the first thing I must do is describe what I mean so you don't get confused.  I'm not talking about the leagues, I guess you can say I'm writing about the clubs from different countries playing each other in a regional tourney.  I will tell about the 5 major club Tourneys and then the reward for winning them.  So here I go.

     First up is the Asian Champions League.  The sole purpose of this competition is to determine the best team in Asia.  To qualify, a team must win their Country's championship or teams that came close to winning.  The tourney has been taking place for only 7 years.

     Next up is the CAF Champions League.  It is used to determine the best team in Africa.  The teams must qualify must win their country's league or they must have won the tourney the year before.  This competition has been running since 1996.

     Then you have the CONCACAF Champions Cup.  It is the tourney that is used to find the best team from the area of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean.  This one is probably the one that I wish that would get better.  It should, because starting in August 2008, the tourney will expand to have 24 teams in it.  This should make the tourney only better.  The tournament has been dominated by Mexican clubs for a while, and hopefully the US can start getting some wins, too.

     The fourth competition is the Copa Libertadores.  The tourney is used to determine the best team in South America.  This tourney has become a very good one and one of the wildest in the world.  Soccer fans all throughout the world have started to expect wild things from this.  This tourney is so exciting just because of its recent ability for suprise wins.  Almost any team can make a deep run, even a side that had been in a lesser league, such as Cucuta Depor.

     The last one is the UEFA Champions League.  This is easily the most popular out of the five because it has the most TV access and ESPN shows every matchday in every part of the world.  The world's richest clubs play in this tourney, and it rarely ever dissappoints.  The only thing thta some don't like is that it has the well-known countries with tons of teams and the small countries just don't get spots.  Also, some South American fans will argue that upsets can't happen.  It is true, however, that the tourney is set up so it is very hard for a small club to win.  But to me, that is the only flaw the tourney has.  It is my favorite soccer competition in the whole world, it is what started me as a soccer fan.

     And now for the reward.  If you happen to stumble across a title in one of these tourney's, then you are invited to the FIFA Club World Cup.  This tourney tries to matchup each continent's champions in a new way.  The winner of this makes a ton of money and this tourney should continue to get better.  I wish that it would get a contract with ESPN, but I don't see it happening soon.  Well, I hope this was good for you.  Until next time, I, Keeper, am out.                                                                              

CAF Champions League

Copa Libertadores