Asia Cup 2007

Post by **PeteC** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 4:20 pm

It starts tonight: Thailand vs Iraq, 1930 hours on Channel 7 and ESPN.

Group A ( all games played in Thailand)

July 7 Thailand/Iraq (1-1)
July 8 Australia/Oman (1-1)
July 12 Oman/Thailand (0-2)
July 13 Iraq/Australia (3-1)
July 16 Thailand/Australia (0-4)
July 16 Oman/Iraq (0-0)

Group B (I think all games in Vietnam)

July 9 Japan/Qatar (1-1)
July 9 Vietnam/UAE (2-0)
July 12 Qatar/Vietnam (1-1)
July 13 UAE/Japan (1-3)
July 16 Qatar/UAE (1-2)
July 16 Japan/Vietnam (4-1)

Group C (I think all games in Malaysia)

July 10 Malaysia/China (1-5)
July 11 Iran/Uzb-stan (2-1)
July 14 Uzb-stan/Malaysia (5-0)
July 15 China/Iran (2-2)
July 18 Malaysia/Iran (0-2)
July 18 Uzb-stan/China (3-0)

Group D (I think all games in Jakarta)

July 10 Indonesia/Bahrain (2-1)
July 11 South Korea/Saudi Arabia (1-1)
July 14 Saudi/Indonesia (2-1)
July 15 Bahrain/South Korea (2-1)
July 18 Indonesia/South Korea (0-1)
July 18 Saudi/Bahrain (4-0)

Pete

Post by **Roel** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:04 pm

Australia might be favorites but they have to deal with Japan and South Korea. Won't be easy.

Post by **lomuamart** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:53 pm

Pete,
I'm impressed. Your're well wound up for IKTS. Reckon you're going to be a dark horse this coming season.
Caller, watch out the Pattaya mob are after your title.
The Eastern Seaboard is getting excited about Continental games.
I'm looking forward to Uraq (sic) vs Australia.
Reckon the Aussies have got a good chance. I think this is the first time they've deigned to play with the "minnows" from Asia? They've got a good team.

Post by **PeteC** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:04 am

Don't forget, soon to be the 'Rayong' mob. I'm outta here come December.

Last night's match was like watching paint dry. Defensive battle more or less. Iraq played better than Thailand. Thailand looked uninterested, as they do most times I see them on TV. They'll never make it to the second round, just like all the other times.

I'm must admit though, I'm spoiled by watching British and EU football, the action in those games is so much better. Be interesting to see if China, SK and Japan have come to play. Australia I don't seen enough to know how they play. Pete

Post by **STEVE G** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 4:04 pm

I'm spoiled by watching British and EU football...

Pete, you should try watching a Notts County match, then you wouldn't feel so spoilt!

Post by JD » Sun Jul 08, 2007 7:38 pm

Pete,

Are you going to keep us up to date with the results?

Did Thailand win last night?

I suppose that I should really be supporting the 'Home' team through all of this.

Post by **PeteC** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 12:49 pm

Thailand didn't play last night, they play Oman July 12. Australian tied Oman last night. I saw somewhere Vietnam won 2-0 against UAE. I didn't see about Japan/Quatar. I'll try to update but will be away some and maybe not able. Pete

Post by **Ken** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 1:16 pm

JD wrote:Pete,

Are you going to keep us up to date with the results?

Did Thailand win last night?

I suppose that I should really be supporting the 'Home' team through all of this.

Thailand drew 1-1 with Iraq in Bangkok on 7th. Was a decent game with English or Thai commentary available on ESPN.

Post by **PeteC** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:52 pm

Scores are updated on the first post. I'll do this as I see them. Pete

Post by **chelsea** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 10:22 pm

Japan drew with Qatar 1-1

Post by **PeteC** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:58 am

Post #1 updated with scores through July 10. Tonight, July 11, Iran/Uzb-stan and South Korea/Saudi. Pete

Post by **STEVE G** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:06 pm

BANGKOK, July 11 (Reuters) - The Asian Cup is failing to make an impression on soccer-mad Thailand, where fair-weather fans are steering clear of stadiums and watching the tournament on television.
Even Australia's "Socceroos" are struggling to pull the crowds, with daily monsoon rains and traffic snarl-ups leaving Bangkok's Rajamangala stadium half-empty.
"I love football, I want to see the Thai team win, but it's raining so much," said Wandee Chairod, a Bangkok taxi driver.
"We have to buy tickets and it's difficult to get to the stadium. We can watch it on TV instead."
Heavy rain two hours before Saturday's opening game between Thailand and Iraq flooded large parts of Bangkok, causing mayhem on the city's notoriously clogged roads and prompting thousands of supporters to shun the match.
The following day, only 5,000 people turned up to watch Australia's 1-1 draw with Oman, in the Socceroos' first tournament since their impressive 2006 World Cup run in Germany.
The other host countries, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, have had no trouble filling their stadiums, and have drawn crowds of between 40,000 and 60,000 people.
The Thai team insist, however, that they have the support of the fans.
"I hope they will come out to see us, but we have early kickoffs, bad traffic and terrible weather," Thai coach Charnwit Polcheewin told Reuters.
"Even if they aren't at the stadium, we know there will be 60 million people cheering for us on TV."
Poor crowds are the latest setback for Thailand, which last year nearly lost the right to co-host the tournament after missing deadlines to upgrade its stadiums.
Thais are huge followers of English soccer and millions of dollars are won and lost through rampant illegal betting on Premier League matches.
NATIONAL PRIDE
When national pride is at stake, the South East Asian country has no problems selling tickets.
Tournament finals against regional rivals Vietnam and Singapore this year drew sellout crowds of drum-beating fans carrying flags and wearing royal colours.
But Thailand's lukewarm response to hosting Asia's premier soccer tournament has raised questions about its love of soccer.
"They're big (English) Premier League followers so we expected they would be coming out to watch Australia's Premier League players," John Boultbee, Australian soccer's head of high performance, told Reuters.
"The players are happy with everything here... but I know they were very disappointed by the crowd."
The Asian Football Confederation declined to comment on the low crowd numbers.
Suthep Somnam, a barber shop owner, said the Thai team -- the dominant force in South East Asian soccer -- needed to prove their worth to draw the crowd.
"They're not good enough," he said. "I think people will come to watch if they start winning. If not, TV is better."

Post by **PeteC** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:57 pm

Scores updated in post #1 above.

A do or die game for Thailand today against Oman. 1720 hours on Channel 7 and Star Sports. Channel 7 was in English the last game on July 7. Pete

Post by **lomuamart** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:29 pm

If I get my chicken tikka masala cooked in time, I'll be watching the game tonight. C'mon Thailand.
It was interesting (and also a bit sad) to see the comments on the news article about crowd attendances. I'm no football fanatic, but if you consider the price I hear people pay in the UK to go to Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, The Emirates, Anfield etc etc, I was surprised that the crowds are still there, when games can be watched on satellite. I suppose they're real fans.
An old friend of mine used to go and see every Millwall home game and take his daughter as well. It was an expensive day out for him, with bus rides, tickets, hotdogs and so on, let alone the beers/vodkas he used to throw down his neck in our local before the game (they didn't sell booze at The Old Den and all pubs close by shut on match days). Then there was the copious amount of alcohol he consumed after the game to drown his sorrows after Millwall had lost. He spent a serious proportion of his wages just to see his team play.
So, the Thais are more armchair supporters, it seems - like me. I'm gonna put 50 chillies in the curry tonight. I'll be lifting off watching the game.
Again, c'mon Thailand.

Post by **PeteC** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:27 pm

Well LOMU and others, if you watched you saw a decent match. Thai 2 Oman 0. First half eventless but Oman appeared to be the stronger team. Second half, both goals scored by Thailand, by the same player, a substitute who came in after the start of the second half...fresh legs. Oman faded badly in the second half, more or less gave up.

One thing that drives me absolutely potty was that with 5-6 minutes to go, Thailand simply stopped crossing the ball and going for more scores. They played 'games', kicking the ball off defenders legs in the corner, getting possession, and doing it bloody time and time again. Pissed off the Oman defense who eventually fouled, but what did Thailand do with the free kick(s)?....the same thing. That is shite football. You don't stop playing and trying to score just because you're ahead 2 nill.

Good match Thailand, but grow up a bit. Pete

PS: Steve, stadium had 30-32 thousand tonight, full. No rain..LOL.