The A-League owes some gratitude to the Central Coast Mariners. Not only did they record a vital AFC Champions League win in midweek, they proved in the process that Asian sides are far from unbeatable.
It took a while for Australians to cotton on to just how strong Asian football is, but when we did, we probably overcompensated for our earlier naivety.
Suddenly Mariners coach Phil Moss would have you believe Sanfrecce Hiroshima are the “best side to have ever played in Gosford,” despite the fact the southern Japanese outfit possess a mediocre ACL record.
Never mind the overestimation of Sanfrecce’s abilities, the important thing for Australian football is that the defending A-League champions beat the two-time J. League champions on Tuesday night.
And in doing so, the Mariners hopefully dispelled the frustrating notion that Japanese teams are somehow unbeatable.
If anything, Japanese clubs tend to struggle away from home, particularly against teams willing to play a direct style of football – a lesson the Mariners should have learnt from the win over Sanfrecce.
What we also learnt is the Gosford community have very little appetite for watching Champions League football.
A crowd of just over 2,000 was frankly embarrassing, but the Mariners themselves are hardly to blame.
Not only did the club put together an enticing three-game membership package, but the Mariners work hard to promote the ACL through the media.
Mariners crowds have been poor across the board of late, but to put things into perspective, the clash between Yokohama F. Marinos and glamour club Guangzhou Evergrande only attracted 12,000 fans in what is one of Asia’s largest cities.
Indeed, Sanfrecce only drew just over 6,000 fans themselves to their first group-stage fixture this year, suggesting a lack of public interest is not just an Australian problem.
At any rate, the Mariners should take plenty of heart from their crucial midweek win, which sets them up for a couple of fascinating fixtures against Beijing Guoan.
No doubt their home exploits helped inspire Western Sydney Wanderers on the road, as Tony Popovic’s side recorded a hard-fought 1-0 win over Chinese side Guizhou Renhe.
Like his Melbourne Victory counterpart Kevin Muscat, the oft-tinkering Popovic didn’t exactly send out his strongest team.
Yet if competing on duel fronts is all about sensible rotation, is it any surprise that A-League clubs – who fancy themselves as being on a hiding to nothing in the ACL – might save their strongest starting XI for domestic duties?
Perhaps if Victory had retained a bit more experience on the pitch, they wouldn’t have virtually thrown away two points with some sloppy defending against South Korean hotshots Jeonbuk.
You certainly can’t afford to give a former English Premier League striker all the time and space he wants, as the Victory defence eventually discovered when veteran Lee Dong-Gook intervened.
The former Middlesbrough man showed exactly the kind of finishing which makes the ACL such a step up for Australian clubs, although Muscat’s men did well to recover from the shock of Lee’s stunning second goal to forge an equaliser of their own.
The question now is whether any of the three Australian combatants can go on and use their ACL form to launch a late-season assault on the A-League.
All three have been in decidedly patchy form of late, so much so that Brisbane Roar are practically shoe-ins to win the Premiership.
However, if form going into the finals is important, then none of the three ACL representatives can afford to enter them out of form and on the back of a string of defeats.
That’s why the Mariners’ win on Tuesday should help break the mood of negativity, and remind Australian teams there’s no reason to approach the ACL with self-defeating pessimism.
Kudos to all three teams then, in what was a good week for Australian sides.
My mate James
Guest
Pakistan doesn't have a team in the ACL
My mate James
Guest
Yet crowds at Docklands are always higher than AAMI Park - Docklands is much more accessible by rail especially for those who live in the Western Suburbs and need a connecting train service to get to Richmond/Jolimont.
My mate James
Guest
I think given the distances in Asia, a 2-legged knockout comp would be far more appropriate than a carbon-copy of the UCL - let's not forget that the predecessor of the UCL, the European Cup, was a 2-legged knockout comp. Perhaps after decades of a knockout comp, a new generation of fans will be accustomed to turning up midweek as they faithfully do in Europe.
Pakistan
Guest
Glory to Pakistan!
albatross
Roar Pro
Generally speaking it's a quite expensive night out when you add up the costs of travel, parking and perhaps food. Plus until this last week a lot of fans would be expecting to see their team get flogged by some of the best teams in East Asia. Bandwagonner that I am, I'm taking my daughter and her friend to see WSW play Kawasaki Frontale. It will be interesting to see if last week's results were just a flash in the pan or whether WSW are able to properly challenge their opponents and whether others turn up intrigued by the exotica on offer.
albatross
Roar Pro
FFA is not the keeper of Australian terminology, the dictionary is. When were they set up as an antipodean L'Académie française? I think you'll find that their compilers defer to usage when defining a word and are recording evolving usage well after the event.
GetItRight
Guest
You are correct. Language is evolving. An educated man notwithstanding such does not seem to encompass an understanding of the historical origins of Football - games played as much 'on-foot' as foot and ball! Never mind. Tag me a AFL troll as you wish. As I said, I follow soccer, played soccer football into my teens at Enfield before then playing Rugby football. Never played Rules football, never followed it. I was around pre swans, so no influence on me.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
I use to recall the original definition of the word "gay", was someone who was enjoying the moment---now it has a different meaning altogether. Revisit your Australian dictionaries in 10 yrs time and don't be surprised if the words "Australian Football" take on a more generic meaning in Australia. English is a living language, which is continually evolving and changing over the course of time. Because of the popularity of words, their meanings, being used to describe other activities and nouns---so are dictionaries being rewritten to reflect the mood. Get use to it. As I haven't seen you post here on the Football tab before---I have tagged you as an AFL troll, even if you say, you are an expat from NSW now living in Queensland.
GetItRight
Guest
I was also born in Sydney, lived there 45 years. Now in QLD. I've never followed Aussie Rules. Don't make assumptions. BTW, if you wish to refer to the 3 main Australian dictionaries, Collins, Aust Oxford, and Macquarie, the latter regarded as the main reference source of the Australian definitions and vernacular, you will find the official definition for football as a generic term, and the specific codes defined. FFA is not the keeper of Australian Language, the dictionary is. Sorry but no argument I am afraid. You can call soccer football whatever you want as a free individual, just note that the official term for the 11 man game in this country is soccer.
Bondy
Guest
GIR Your using racism through sport you dirty pig.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
History is constantly being rewritten. The borders of countries change after every major conflict. The simple solution for you would be to stop worrying what we call football on the Football tab. I have no problem with Aussie Rules except they try to hijack all the names. If you want to call it soccer I don't care, but don't preach to me what I should call our code. The Football Federation Australia (FFA) made the decision for the name change---we as Australian Football lovers have gladly accepted that decision they made. Btw for the record I was born in Sydney Australia. And of course you are an Aussie Rules supporter, don't insult our intelligence by claiming you are not.
GetItRight
Guest
I don't follow Aussie Rules, also known as Rules Football, but officially Australian Football. I follow soccer, just don't see what's wrong with the term and can't understand why we have to change it. I do however respect history and our language and think our game has an insecurity complex to refer to itself by another code's name. There is also of course American football, Irish football, Canadian football, and none of them are soccer.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
@Getitright as far as I'm concern all codes have had a presence in Australia for over 100 yrs and more---all have the right to call themselves Australian Football in their own forums. You can call it what you want, but here amongst us true believers we call our game football and Australian Football when we want. If you don't like it---toooooo bad!!!!!
Bondy
Guest
GIR All of what you say is nonsense in my opinion.
GetItRight
Guest
I was simply making the point that Australian Football is the name for another code, and has been for some 150 years. I find it bizarre for soccer to call itself Australian Football, despite the context conveying the meaning. I agree, Football in Australia' if you prefer. Let's remember that until a few years ago we all called the game soccer until FFA changed it's name and started promoting a name change. FIFA is comprised of foreigners and I find it their actions arrogant. Of course there would be a backlash. Imagine if I went to England and told them they were wrong and should call Football soccer! I'd be bashed. When you look at the history of the term, it becomes clear why Football is a generic term. This is why the 3 main Australian dictionaries define 'football as any game in which the carrying of the ball forms a major part of the game,' or similar. This is why for example, in England, the rugby's body is called the English Rugby Union Football association, formed at the same time as association football in the 1840's.
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
I never indicated they weren't important Mid. And also, you can divide the 44 million by 13 teams. Last time I checked that was how many have participated in the A-League since it's inception. That's 3.38 million per team.
Midfielder
Guest
PA Not sure why cricket was needed but accept you want the figure in.. The Australia only stats .... I think I get your point but do beg to differ and I will highlight why below.. Tis interesting the constant attack on the A-League has been and still is its size and relative to both overseas football leagues and the big two egg ball codes it was tiny ... crowds / ratings / media etc... The irony is will all the FTA commercial TV, Radio, Tradition and history throw in crowds and other free assists like good morning shows etc add 16 & 18 teams .... in the new media within Australia your figures read.. AFL 76, NRL 66, A-League 44 ... if we broke that down to a team count ... AFL 76 ... 18 teams... 4.2 per team NRL 66 ... 16 teams ... 4.1 per team A-League ...10 teams... 4.4 million per team ... Super 21 ... 15 teams ... 1.3 million per team That is amazing how far within such a short time and remember the traditional media for the AFL & NRL is maybe 20 times or more than the A-League... Back to the world count ... 1, 200 - 44 ... HHHHH 1, 164, 000, 000 overseas like OMG you indicate this overseas figure is kinda unimportant in the Australia landscape ... I beg to differ ... I think it is a huge asset moving forward ... and me things somewhere deep inside if the AFL had this kinda international hits it would be front page news ... but then again I may be wrong.. AS a post script note the A-League is 8.6 years old and in its first five years had only 8 teams... The NRL & AFL have been around since day one of the net ... and why Australia only why not add NZ were both the A-League and RL is played and both codes have large junior numbers...
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
I think you know the answer to your first question, as do I. Fuss I don't take what experts write on hear seriously. It's an opinion based forum. Not factual.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"Also, why would anyone outside of Australia wish to seek information about the other sports that don’t have the worldwide appeal and reach that football does?" We are told by various experts from different sports on The Roar that all the sports have global appeal. During the summer there were lengthy articles about how ARules is now played in a variety of countries around the world. We had a RL world cup in England recently & will have a RU world cup & cricket world cup shortly. So, just like people all over the world love to read about LaLiga, UCL, EPL, - i.e. the elite sporting competition in Football - I would expect people around the world to want to read about the elite sporting competitions in ARules, cricket, RL & RU. Or, do those sports not have truly global appeal? Or, maybe the NRL, AFL, SuperRugby, BBL are not truly elite competitions that attract interest from fans of those sports outside Australia?
Passionate_Aussie
Roar Rookie
Fussball, why do you refer to Australians as Strayians? Also, why would anyone outside of Australia wish to seek information about the other sports that don't have the worldwide appeal and reach that football does? I understand your point and appreciate where you're coming from in terms of "I want access to as much information – on every topic & issue that interests me – than just information from Australia." But these figures presented are distorted in terms of assessing 'worldwide reach' and 'Australian reach'.