What an anti-climax.
Honestly I never followed any previous Asian Cup before. It turns out that shifting the tournament by one year to avoid European Championship and Olympics was a brilliant decision.
OK first on the final. Quite disappointing. Yes I would agree that the two best teams indeed got themselves deservedly in the final, but the final didn't get the entertainment it deserved. I was backing Saudi Arabia. I'm a neutral whenever it comes to national level. There are no particular teams that I support. But as the tournament progresses, I would certainly want the most entertaining team to lift the Cup. I supported Argentina in both World Cup 2006 and Copa America 2007, but unfortunately playing entertaining football does not guarantee you silverwares.
Moreover when you don't play that beautifully in the final. No matter how beautiful you play prior to the final, how much goals you bang in on your road to the final, it counts for nothing if you don't play well in the decisive match. Iraq boasted the best defense, and they certainly showed it. Credits to them to shut out the most attacking side, and with one lucky break, they got themselves a trophy, getting one better at a time from the Olympics (as semifinalists), Asian Games (finalists) and now Asian Cup (champions).
Overall, I think Asian teams displayed decent football for neutrals to watch. Though the choice of hosts to fill up the stadium is quite unjustified I felt, with the exception of Indonesia who have not much trouble filling up their Bung Karno Stadium especially when their team plays. Elsewhere, attendance is quite poor, does not reflect a good footballing culture in Asia. I don't know about previous editions, but hopefully with the timeshift, Asian Cup will be more popular in the future.
Not sure if European scouts are watching, but certainly some players are good enough to play abroad. I would agree to dos Anjos that Yasser and Malek can play anywhere in the world. Hopefully more Asian players will get to show their quality outside, or if they stay, hopefully it will draw more crowd for the good of regional football.
As for Malaysia, we already have our new FAM logo.
Honestly I never followed any previous Asian Cup before. It turns out that shifting the tournament by one year to avoid European Championship and Olympics was a brilliant decision.
OK first on the final. Quite disappointing. Yes I would agree that the two best teams indeed got themselves deservedly in the final, but the final didn't get the entertainment it deserved. I was backing Saudi Arabia. I'm a neutral whenever it comes to national level. There are no particular teams that I support. But as the tournament progresses, I would certainly want the most entertaining team to lift the Cup. I supported Argentina in both World Cup 2006 and Copa America 2007, but unfortunately playing entertaining football does not guarantee you silverwares.
Moreover when you don't play that beautifully in the final. No matter how beautiful you play prior to the final, how much goals you bang in on your road to the final, it counts for nothing if you don't play well in the decisive match. Iraq boasted the best defense, and they certainly showed it. Credits to them to shut out the most attacking side, and with one lucky break, they got themselves a trophy, getting one better at a time from the Olympics (as semifinalists), Asian Games (finalists) and now Asian Cup (champions).
Overall, I think Asian teams displayed decent football for neutrals to watch. Though the choice of hosts to fill up the stadium is quite unjustified I felt, with the exception of Indonesia who have not much trouble filling up their Bung Karno Stadium especially when their team plays. Elsewhere, attendance is quite poor, does not reflect a good footballing culture in Asia. I don't know about previous editions, but hopefully with the timeshift, Asian Cup will be more popular in the future.
Not sure if European scouts are watching, but certainly some players are good enough to play abroad. I would agree to dos Anjos that Yasser and Malek can play anywhere in the world. Hopefully more Asian players will get to show their quality outside, or if they stay, hopefully it will draw more crowd for the good of regional football.
As for Malaysia, we already have our new FAM logo.
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