Club World Cup: Everybody hurts

2009-09-05T15:34:46-04:00

2007-12-10T11:24:47-05:00

2008-09-10T06:40:26-04:00

2007-12-18T07:40:41-05:00

badly drawn boykins

Washington 216826

photobento - The Club World Cup, nor its predecessor, Toyota Cup has never ever ever ever been played at Toyota Stadium. In fact, it's played at, wait for it, Nissan Stadium in Yokohama. 718470

2007-12-14T12:16:20-05:00

jomaortiz4

Houston 214076

I think it shouldnt have to be played in Japan every year. Alternating the host nation every year could be a good alternative, if FIFA wants this tournament to gain popularity. As i read in the comments before, Japan has very cold climate during this time of the year. Having a different host nation, within FIFA's regulation, can be very interesting. And about Pachuca.. many people had high hopes on them, well, maybe al of Mexico. After Club America's bad performance in last year's edition of the tournament, they kind of showed that Mexican soccer teams are not at very high levels yet. But after Pachuca swept with all the major tittles that they could have possibly won, a lot of people had hope that they would have a terrific performance in the Club World Cup. but we have to be realistic. They closed the Mexican Apertura in really bad terms. They were winless for a couple of weeks, and they had lost their star goalkeeper, Miguel Calero, to an injury. All of these facts could have been possible morale put down, but still, people had hopes on them. I personally didnt see the games against ??toile, but i heard that they played good and had dominated most of the game, but an unfortunate shot that bounced off a Pachuca defender have ??toile the win. 704238

2007-12-11T03:20:35-05:00

photobento

Middletown 210472

The Urawa Reds would have easily had 60,000 fans if Toyota (the tournament sponser) didn't insist on having their game played in Aichi, Japan (Toyota Stadium) which is a long (2 hours) and expensive bullet train ride away from the club's home (Saitama) and neighboring Tokyo. Blame the sponser! 684130

2007-12-10T16:25:07-05:00

texmex71

Austin 178302

It is hard to muster up any interest for a tournament that is played half a world away in freezing temperatures. After watching Atlante win the Mexican Apertura in a makeshift stadium in Cancun, I think the FEMEXFUT has a glorious opportunity to make a serious run at hosting this tournament and making it more attractive for all the participants. But they have to build a very modern 35K + stadium in Cancun, and put it right on the caribbean. Do you think AC Milan would rather go freeze their rossoneris off in Yokohama, or soak up the sun on the soft, white sands of the Riviera Maya? 681811

<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/FIFA_Club_World_Cup_2007_logo.gif" vspace="4" height="197" hspace="4" align="right" alt="" width="150" />I’m a huge fan of the Club World Cup -- at least in concept. It’s a fantasy battle come true to answer the ultimate question: Who's the best team on earth? And FIFA has finally put together the financial muscle to make the CWC stick as an annual event. Even better, a dream matchup is on track: a final between European champs AC Milan and South American champs Boca Juniors, the two most internationally trophied clubs in the history of the game. The only problem is that pretty much all the so-called “big clubs” in this tournament are limping their way in and are shadows of the teams that won their continents' respective Champions Leagues. • Euro champ AC Milan is back to its usual success in this season’s Champions League, but it hasn’t even won a home game in Serie A yet -- the Rossoneri currently sit in 10th place in the Italian league.  • South American champs Boca Juniors have spiraled since Juan Román Riquelme led them to the Copa Libertadores crown last summer, clearly suffering from the lack of playmaker in the midfield. Without him, Boca was eliminated from contention in the Argentine Apertura race with a week to go and ended up in fourth place -- its worst finish in three years. • CONCACAF champ Pachuca was supposed to be the club from outside the world’s Power Two continents that had a real shot at a major upset in this tournament, but this current incarnation of the defending CONCACAF Champions' Cup winner is a far cry from the team that won two league titles and three international tournaments over an 18-month span. Los Tuzos didn’t even make the playoffs after the Mexican Apertura, then bowed out weakly in Japan to African champions Étoile du Sahel on Sunday.  • Asian champs Urawa Reds are the most popular team in Japan and were supposed to be a huge draw for the local fans at this tournament. But a club that routinely draws 64,000 to its home games could only manage 33,000 in Monday’s quarterfinal with Iran’s Sepahan, a rematch of the Asian Champions League final. Maybe Japanese fans were disenchanted with the Reds -- after going wire-to-wire as the frontrunner in the J-League the entire season, they coughed up the title on the last day, losing their final must-win game to relegation-bound Yokohama FC. Again, the Club World Cup is a great idea. But once the dust settles after Sunday’s final, the champion will get to lay claim to what? The Best of the Fallen Champs. Not exactly what we all had in mind. 2620 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/459/8/thumb/freedman_jonah.jpg 12 CA

Jonah Freedman

San Francisco 4618