Comments on: Shots across the Pacific

By: Midfielder

Midfielder — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:43:18 +0000

New Zealand is included by way of there A-league team, Korea is included in the orginal plan, Mexio along with Singapoure is stage two, Brazil and Argentina maybe a long way off. Canada not sure of the plans

By: TIMMO

TIMMO — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:58:36 +0000

I wonder if the MLS has ever considered having a team in Haiwaii? They make nearly 20 billion dollars a year in tourism alone. Could they sustain a team?

With regards to this tornument I do wonder if they will also eventually expand this initial four-team tornument to include teams from New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Korea and even perhaps Brazil and Argentina. Hawaii is centrally located?

Anyway that we can get our teams playing more competive matches the better.

By: Midfielder

Midfielder — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:42:15 +0000

I went to the game taken by a client with a rugby background. Being a supporter of the Mariners the through of saying come on Sydney ………………… ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, but on the night I saw and heard the cove, and they got my support.

On the match me thinks the Goalie for Galaxy was ……… eeerrrr. how do you say it …….????? crap !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Playing in midfield for more years than I care to remember, i watched him play to see / learn … nay observe the role of a midfield player. The off the ball work he does amazed me, we all know about his passing and dead skill, nay ………gift, ………..BUT his movenment to close play down or open it up by getting into key positions was awerson I was gobsmacked to be honnest. Vision of the right pass to the right player at the right time left in awe of his decision making abilities.

He is or never has been considered one of the all time greats of the game, but he is among the top of the next list.

From football view the Pan-Pacific Championship when combined with the four places in the new Asian Champions League will have an impact on sport in Australia that has not been realised yet by the main stream media. The Pan-Pacific Championship as you indicated with BECKS as the kick start will forever change sport in Australia.

In closing in spite of myself I enjoyed myself, and would do it agian.

By: josh from canberra

josh from canberra — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:32:41 +0000

One of the more interesting outcomes of Tuesday’s match apart from goldenballs was that the crowd really enjoyed the game because of all the goals that was scored. Being a friendly and not for points both teams attacked and played openly. To get anywhere near the crowd levels to A-league games attacking football needs to be encouraged.As this is the middle third of the season jesse what do you think of an idea that in the middle third of the season( rounds 8-14 )do you think the FFA should add bonus points for scoring 3 goals or more like they did in the pre season to help keep the crowds coming and keep interest in the season. Without the attraction of big name stars playing every week the only way to bring the people in are ‘sexy football’ and because every team plays each other the points could potentially be evenly spread and could benefit all teams. As the galaxy game was a success it would be great for next pre season teams coming from europe to play a series of big games against melb., syd. and roar. The pan games could only benefit local clubs and make international friendlies more enticing for free to air(hopefully not ten)

By: Spiro Zavos

Spiro Zavos — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:50:00 +0000

I watched the game to see if David Beckham’s fame justified the huge adulation he creates. Coming from a rugby perspective I decided that Beckham is a Jonny Wilkinson-type of football player. He doesn’t attack the gain line and the goal like say his hero Bobby Charlton. He is a brilliant kicker of the ball, with wonderful vision for where the play should go to next. His crosses, long balls and short passes were invariably immaculate (one missed, just, I think). Like Wilkinson he is a dead-eye from the dead-ball situation.
It is this genius from the dead-ball situation (marked by his wonderful goal against Sydney FC) which brings the spotlight on him.
Why is he a celebrity, though?
Football is a worldwide phenomenon and the ethic of the game is to create mythic figures. He is very good looking with Michael Parkinson noting that he is the most handsome man he’s ever interviewed. He is a metro-male, slim, tattooed (although my wife Judy found the neck tattoo unattractive). He seems like a nice chap. The film ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ confirmed his celebrity status. I noticed a young woman in the stand holding up a sign saying, ‘Bend Me Beckham,’ a sort of sexual signal I guess.

By: Kazama

Kazama — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:34:22 +0000

I admit that I too enjoyed the game Tuesday night. It gave us everything we could have asked to spark an interest for our great game in average Joe and Jane Aussie. I still think it is doubtful, though, that a large amount of the casual fans will start turning up to Sydney FC games (or any other games) as a result of this.

Channel 10 were hopeless with the telecast. I said in response to the last blog that they wouldn’t care about football ever again, and they certainly gave me that impression.

On the negative side, I think Tuesday’s game showed that we have teams capable of playing good attacking football, yet in the A-League it is bore draw after bore draw every week. I appreciate that the A-League is a tight competition, but playing defensive hasn’t done anyone any favours this season. Why do our teams keep playing like this? Sydney scored more goals on Tuesday night than all eight clubs combined last round. The casual fans that we might get from the impact of having Becks here won’t stick around if we have four 0-0s this weekend.

As for the Pan-Pacific Championship, I think it is a great idea. Europe has plenty of big name pre-season tournaments so we should have one too. I think once it proves that it can work (and if it doesn’t, football is surely doomed) we can start bringing in teams from more nations. I think Chinese and South Korean teams could also bring quality to the competition. As for Indonesia, maybe have their national team (or a ‘Select XI’) compete instead of a club side. That would give them a better chance of making an impression on the competition, and would be a better representation of the aforementioned unifying role football has played there.

By: Spiro Zavos

Spiro Zavos — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:26:02 +0000

I like Jesse’s notion of the redemptive powers of football in Indonesia. Too often there have been football wars, the Celtic-Rangers divide being a nasty and classic example. But if football can help unite Christians and Moslems in Indonesia to a common cause around which they can identify that will a great thing for the region and for the image of football. The prececent is the Ireland national rugby side which is the only time, as i understand it, that thed island is united as Ireland.