One club in Australia has the potential to put the A-League on the map more than any other. Sadly for Gosford-based fans, it is not the Central Coast Mariners.
The Mariners will of course play Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande in their two-legged AFC Champions League round of 16 clash this month.
Graham Arnold’s battle-hardened outfit deserve hearty congratulations for reaching the knock-out stage, particularly as their ACL commitments came in the midst of a run to the A-League championship.
The first leg may still be nine days away but I’m going to throw my hat into the ring as one of the first to call Guangzhou ‘cashed up’ and make countless references to the Cantonese club being one of the richest in Asia.
Never mind there’s been a football club in Guangzhou since 1954, or the Evergrande Real Estate Group has made a priority of signing the cream of Chinese talent since taking charge – including the dangerous Gao Lin, defensive hard man Zheng Zhi and fellow tough nut Huang Bowen.
Instead it seems mandatory to focus exclusively on Guangzhou’s highly-paid bunch of foreigners, just in case the Super League outfit runs up a cricket score and a hasty excuse is needed to explain it away.
“The game promises to be one of the must see football fixtures of the AFC Champions League this year with two of the highest paid footballers in the world, Dario Conca and Lucas Barrios, along with Italian super coach Marcello Lippi coming to Gosford,” says a less-than-subtle advertisement on the Mariners’ website.
It’s almost a shame the first leg is in Gosford on May 15.
There’ll probably be more locals chowing down some Chinese in the Peking Garden Restaurant than actually inside ‘Central Coast Stadium’. And of course the A-League will then be embarrassed when more than 40,000 supporters pile into Tianhe Stadium for the return leg.
To put it bluntly, the Mariners are not the ideal side to showcase Australian football to the rest of Asia – and not just because they’ll need a miracle to reach the quarter-finals.
That mantle should instead go to the Western Sydney Wanderers, despite the fact they’ve yet to even play on the continent.
They hadn’t played in the A-League before the start of the season either, yet Tony Popovic’s side came within 90 minutes of being crowned champions.
And what could make the Wanderers a better ACL representative than others is the potential for them to pack out Parramatta Stadium.
No other Asian side has captured the imagination of Australian fans more than Japanese outfit Urawa Reds and that’s almost purely on the basis of their vociferous army of fans.
It’s interesting to watch Australians heap praise on the Reds, because the club is almost universally disliked outside their home town of Saitama.
Yet the simple fact is Urawa fans are loud, boisterous and travel in number – all of which can be said about Wanderers supporters.
Though the year-long gap between Western Sydney qualifying for and competing in the Champions League is a nuisance, it also gives club officials plenty of time to convince fans the ACL is a worthwhile venture.
Not erroneously referring to the competition as ‘the Asian Cup’ would be an elementary start and developing a culture which sees Parramatta Stadium packed every week regardless of the opponent is the next step.
Building a squad capable of winning the ACL is an even greater challenge, but if the Wanderers proved anything this year, it’s that much can be achieved with some astute signings.
It is time for an Australian team to once again take the ACL by the scruff of the neck as Adelaide United did in 2008.
The Mariners might find the cashed-up Cantonese contenders a bridge too far.
But with plenty of time to plan ahead, the Wanderers should start dreaming of winning the ACL and not be content to simply compete in it.
Johnno
Guest
Good luck Mike. Football is the beautiful game, it is also can be such a cruel game, like life. Football imitates life at times, so beautiful and no better feeling than winning a big football game, but it also can be such a cruel game. Socceroos VS Iran MCG 1997, England penalty shoot-out woes just for the entree. So many more I could write for 10 years, and still would not be finished not he history of cruel moment's in football. Gazza's shocking knee injury in FA cup about 20 or more year's ago, Gazza's tear's of getting a yellow card in the semi-final of Italia 90, I could go on and on of cruel moments in football. But football like life has a funny way of turning , which ever way the wind blows, for all the pain and misfortune central coast mariner's. the wind and luck has now sailed on there side, and the soccer's have qualified for 2 world cup's straight, a record, and a 3rd straight one looms, almost as fi now the aussy public now think's it's a given or the soccer's right to qualify, how times have changed in such a short time. Good luck Mike, the roarers love your articles, keep the good artifices flowing for the lad's.
WSW
Guest
Yep agreed until our salary cap isn't increased we will hardly have a team in a ACL final, unless some rare exceptions.
WSW
Guest
Agree these guys playing this Chinese team (lol) never heard of them, must be really good... And I am a very big football supporter! By the way crap crap crap is what Chinese are at football, good luck mariners from a WSW supporter.
Squizz
Guest
Mike, why do you want WSW to become the ideal representative of Australian football in the AFC Champions League? Is it to give the tournament credibility with the larger sporting public? If you want the ACL to be accepted by the Australian sporting public you have to aim higher. Playing in front of large crowds really is not what will provide the breakthrough for the ACL in the minds of the Australia sporting public. That was proven by the fall away in Victory's crowds after their first effort. Flash in the pan crowds do not create credibility - history does. Having players like Ono representing WSW will not give the ACL credibility to the Australian sporting public. Not even winning it will do that. What will do it is winning the ACL - not for the sake of winning it - but to play in the Club World Cup. It is only when an Australian team can do that, perform credibly and take points off European and/or South American teams in a competitive match that the run of the mill Australian sports fan will see the ACL as anything other than a poor man's ECL.
realfootball
Guest
I believe that CCM's AVERAGE attendance is quite acceptable. What isn't acceptable is the failure of their fans to turn up for key games. CCM's local support is paper thin. We see this time and time again.
realfootball
Guest
Well said. Complete agreement.
nordster
Guest
Was thinking the same thing, they are very similar areas population wise...relative to their bigger city cousins...Mike like most folks seems to be a student of the arbitrary crowd level metric school of thinking. People really need to factor in where they are talking about and stop judging clubs on the same measures.
nordster
Guest
Good post, there is a lot of this 'for the good of the game' thinking in football here...its anti competitive and the wrong *type* of economics imo...sport and the free market, natural bed fellows...true competition....
kurt
Guest
well it is my personal opinion that your personal opinion is wrong!! and it is my personal opinion that articals like the one you have just written, are not your personal opinion but your opinion,period, otherwise you would not have made them public. by the way ive read articals on this site for the last 6 months, in my personal opinion this is the worst in reference to football. go and have a good hard think about what your writing but thats just a personal opinion
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
To both philk and Squizz, the phrase "can't see the forest for the trees" springs to mind. This is a column about the potential for the Western Sydney Wanderers to become the ideal representative of Australian football in the AFC Champions League. They can do that by playing in front of vociferous, colourful crowds - a la Urawa Reds - by featuring marquee players who are recognised on the continent such as Shinji Ono and by taking the time at their disposal to plan a genuine title assault rather than treating the ACL as an afterthought. The Central Coast Mariners deserve congratulations for reaching the Round of 16 of this year's competition, which is why I have indeed congratulated them. But they did so playing in front of small crowds and struggling to kill off games against not-overly-impressive opponents. My personal opinion is that Guangzhou Evergrande will probably prove a step too far, though I'd be happy to be proved wrong. If the Mariners played dazzling football in front of capacity crowds in Gosford and captured the attention of the Asian market - not just the Australian one - then I would suggest they are an ideal showcase of Australian football in Asia. But as it stands, my personal opinion is that the Wanderers are much better positioned to improve the standing of Australian football within the AFC. And that, ultimately, should be one of the A-League's goals. Far too many Asian sides play dull football in front of small crowds in the ACL. There is now an opportunity for an Australian side to change that... it just happens to be my personal opinion that Western Sydney are the club best placed to spark the change, rather than Central Coast.
Squizz
Guest
While you're at it Mike - can you explain how a team that was playing in two competitions, coming second in the league, winning the Grand Final as well as qualifying for the last 16 of the ACL are 'To put it bluntly ..not the ideal side to showcase Australian football to the rest of Asia – and not just because they’ll need a miracle to reach the quarter-finals.' And yet in the same breath you laud a team that is 12 months behind the Mariners in their progress towards the ACL crown and who scored 1 goal in 360 minutes of football against the Mariners. I'm pretty sure that the Mariners are dreaming of winning the ACL and not content to simply compete in it. They need to get through the next tie and then can re-strengthen their squad again. I would suggest that you should be giving the credit to the Mariners for balancing what they done, Instead you chose to denigrate them. A bit of balance would be appreciated Mike.
philk
Guest
Mike....why is it that unless the A-League club has a surrounding population of 2 million plus you don't rate them. I have seen this time and time again when you write an article about The Mariners. Let me put this to you. Last week The Mariners played Kashiwa Reysol, we were not outplayed but did not take our chances...result a 3-0 loss, no big disgrace. A couple of classy visa players were the difference. Now, Kashiwa has a population of around 400,00, Central Coast has around 300,000 inhabitants. Kashiwa Reysol average attendance is around 11,000, Mariners average attendance is around 10,000. Show me where the Australian football club called Central Coast Mariners is letting the whole of Australia down! I would appreciate a reply, Mike, and please, stick to facts and keep a sense of perspective.
Realfootball
Guest
Sadly I expect CCM to be completely outgunned. Just too much disparity in the quality of the squads, and it is notable how these fixtures highlight Patrick Z and McBreen's advanced years. If only they still had Rogic.... 3-0 to the Chinese. Hopefully, Mid, the fans will actually turn out for this one. The team will need all the support it can get.
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
So don't assume and feel free to look up the archive then.
TheBeautifulGame
Roar Pro
I'm assuming you didn't write an article similar to this in Victory's last ACL campaign...
AZ_RBB
Guest
CCM might not be the greatest advertisement of Aus football in terms of crowd numbers and the like. but they have some of the best young Australian football talent in their team. the ACL might not be the UCL but it's giving kids like Ryan. Ibini and Sainsbury the sort of exposure you would never get simply play A League. also gives them invaluable experience in Asia something that'll come in handy when they become Socceroos. so for the sake of the future of Aus football and the Socceroos in Asia, CCM in Asia is a great thing. i'm going to try my best to make the trek up to Gosford on the 15th. probably won't happen but will try! shall be relatively passively cheering on the boys (probably not) in Yellow. and dude so much pressure on WSW. now if we don't get 15k to every ACL game we're gonna be torn apart on this website haha.
NUFCMVFC
Guest
I'm glad they made it through to the knockout stages All the best
yewonk
Guest
central coast people who dont go to the games are just being apathetic.
j binnie
Guest
Mike - There is an anomaly in this type of competition,the ACL, and that was when the European Cup started in 1955 it was a long time before it was accepted by the clubs themselves never mind the fans.The whole concept was treated with suspicion and, being controlled by an organisation that had no direct connection with the "ruling bodies" of the participants leagues,this suspicion was not to be overcome easily. It did of course but if the truth be known it took more than a few years to turn it into what it is today. Maybe it is only time that is needed. jb .
Mike Tuckerman
Expert
The Mariners are playing next week, Melbourne Victory are not. Hence the discussion.