Asian Cup Quick Review: The Good And The Bad Three weeks of football ended
on a high in Jakarta on Sunday evening with Iraq lifting a first ever
continental title.
http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=366792
With the smoke from the fireworks that lit up the sky above the Gelora Bung
Karno Stadium in Jakarta still lingering, it is a great time to take a quick
look back at the good and bad points of the 2007 Asian Cup.
The Good
1 The football
The conditions may not have been conducive to fast-paced thrilling football
but entertainment-wise, the 2007 Asian Cup more than holds its own against
the 2006 World Cup. There were some great goals and good games. Saudi
Arabia's quarter and semi-final against Uzebkistan and Japan respectively
were as exciting and open as anything you will see this year.
2- The co-hosts
Malaysia apart, the tournament showed that South-east Asian nations have
what it takes to compete with the best that the continent has to offer,
though home advantage certainly helped.
Thailand disposed of Oman and lived with Australia for 80 minutes. Vietnam
saw off Gulf Cup champs UAE and Indonesia shocked Bahrain and fought
toe-to-toe with Saudi Arabia and South Korea. The challenge is to maintain
the standards.
3 Jakarta and Hanoi
The ones who watched their heroes in Indonesia and Vietnam created
atmospheres that would be hard to match elsewhere. The sights and sounds of
over 90,000 Indonesian fans cheering on their heroes will live long in the
memory.
4- Media interest
Often, finding things to read about Asian football in the mainstream media
has been an exercise in frustration. However, July has witnessed an
explosion of reporting about the competition. It remains to be seen how long
this lasts but at least, awareness of Asian football is at its highest ever
level. Media facilities were pretty good too.
5 Iraq
Iraq's triumph was a fairy tale and a welcome boost to a troubled country.
The Bad
1 - Crowd Numbers
The big problem with the tournament has been the fact that the majority of
games have been played in front of largely empty stadiums. It would be
optimistic in the extreme to expect all games to be sold out but the fact
that in the knockout stage, only the final was played in front of anything
approaching a full house was disappointing.
Little has been said on this matter by the Asian Football Confederation or
the respective national bodies but this should have been objective number
one from day one. With the media taking Asian football to new audiences, the
first thing on view was rows of empty seats not a good advert for Asian
football.
2- Play-acting
After the World Cup, patience with the fakers and time-wasters was already
wearing thin and perhaps the antics at the Asian Cup will be the straw that
broke the camel's back. 'Grass-rolling' happens to some extent almost
everywhere but certain west Asian nations are the worst.
The sight of Saudi goalkeeper Yasser Al Mosailem literally writhing on the
ground in the semi-final against Japan after hardly being touched was
embarrassing.
3 Refereeing
Hardly exclusive to the Asian Cup. Perhaps it is a fact of life in major
tournaments that the standard of officiating is questionable but some of the
decision-making has been erratic. Uzbekistan's disallowed goal in the
quarter-final with Saudi Arabia was the worst and some of the cards handed
out have been harsh to say the least.
John Duerden
Asia Editor
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ciao
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