With the demise of the Western Sydney Wanderers and Brisbane Roar from the Asian Champions League, plus the prospect of a classic A-League grand final, most Australian football supporters will have turned their attention away from Asia.
However, there is still plenty of drama bumping around the Asian Conference’s premier club tournament.
If you thought that Australian teams were underdogs against the wealthy giants of Asia, spare a thought for Thailand’s Buriram United. The Thai champions were drawn in Group F facing the might of Gamba Osaka (Japan), Seongnam United (South Korea) and Guangzhou R&F (China).
Holding little more than a puncher’s chance in the global football economy, the Thai champions are a team comprised almost all local Thai talent. Kiwi journeyman Kayne Vincent (one game for New Zealand) wears the number nine, and ex-Venezuelan international Andres Tunez (11 games in 2011) stands in the middle of defence.
While the Wanderers were arguably unlucky to miss out on the round of 16 after their opponents Suwon Bluewings scored a 91st minute winner against Kashima Antlers, Buriram are arguably even more unfortunate. After leading Group F for the first half of the Group stage, Buriram United finished their 2015 ACL campaign with a thumping 5-0 thrashing of Chinese team Guangzhou R&F.
The first Thai team to win on both Chinese and Japanese soil, Buriram ended the group stage on equal points (10) and equal wins (3), as their more vaunted Group F competitors Gamba Osaka and Seongnam United. They had a better goal difference than both clubs, have scored more goals (12) than both teams. However, Burriam United ended up finishing third and being eliminated.
Like UEFA, in the event of a tie the ACL looks to the head-to-head results between the drawn teams – rather than the overall results – when determining final ladder positions. Teams of equal standings at the end of the ACL group stage are judged on the following criteria (in descending order):
1. Higher number of points obtained between the tied teams in the group matches
2. Goal difference between the tied teams concerned in group matches
3. Greater number of goals scored between tied teams
4. Greater number of away goals between tied teams
5. If teams are still equal the criteria are reapplied exclusively to matches between the tied teams
6. Goal difference in all group matches
7. Greatest number of all goals scored in group matches
8. Penalty shoot-out, if only two teams are involved and both are on the field of play
9. Red and Yellow cards
10. Team belonging to the member association with the higher AFC ranking
Buriram United have scored as many goals and as many away goals as the team that finished second above them, Seongnam FC. Under normal circumstances this means that overall goal difference would have come into play, and Buriram United would have qualified above the South Korean club.
However, in a sequence of unfortunate events, three teams in Group F – Seongnam FC, Buriram United and Gamba Osaka – all finished equal on ten points. In this case the record of all three teams against each other is how the standings are calculated – a kind of three-way meta-tournament. Because Buriram United had an unequal record against Gamba Osaka, the South Korean team Seongnam qualified despite the fact that Buriram United betters them on a head-to-head basis.
Confused? Good, means I’m not the only one.
Basically, Buriram are unfortunate victims to the fact that when three teams finish equal on points, the ACL ranks them based on a three-way assessment, rather than on a head-to-head basis. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this approach, but it is a hard way to be knocked out of a tournament.
Buriram United are currently ranked the tenth team in Asia, and their success highlights a competition that is increasingly challenging the established order. Chinese teams topped two groups this year, and we haven’t even got to the Middle Eastern clubs yet.
The ACL is the future of club football in Asia, and there is still plenty of drama to come. Despite the fact that the Aussie clubs have been eliminated, it is definitely still worth a look.
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