Liga de Quito: good for Ecuador, bad for Japan?
Tuesday, 08 July 08, 03:04 AM
Liga Deportiva Universitaria's remarkable penalty shoot-out victory over Brazilian giants Fluminense in the recent Copa Libertadores final will cause headaches in Japan. That's because as continental club champions, LDU Quito have won through to face the likes of English champions Manchester United and Mexican outfit Pachuca at the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup.
The 2009 and 2010 editions of the FIFA Club World Cup will be played in Dubai, and critics suggest that FIFA's desire to move the tournament away from Japan stems partly from a lack of local support. All three of the Club World Cup finals played at Yokohama International Stadium have drawn capacity crowds, yet the match-ups in those finals have been as follows;
Liverpool vs Sao Paulo
Barcelona vs Internacional
AC Milan vs Boca Juniors
To suggest that South American football is well regarded in Japan is true only to an extent. Certainly the J. League borrowed heavily from aspects of Brazilian and Argentinian football culture when Japan kicked-off its professional football league, and the biggest Brazilian and Argentinian teams are popular in Japan. Boca Juniors were well supported at last year's Club World Cup, but that was partly because current Urawa striker Naohiro Takahara once played for Boca, albeit briefly.
That fact that Liga de Quito have now booked their place in this year's Club World Cup will cause headaches for tournament organisers. Enticing local fans to the preliminary rounds of the competition was already a hard-sell, but FIFA have at least been able to rely on one European and one South American giant to sell tickets to semi-final fixtures. Now Liga de Quito will throw a spanner in the works, with the Ecuadorian club unheard of in Japanese football circles.
A Fluminense victory in the Copa Libertadores final would have been welcomed with open arms, given that Flu's powerful striker Washington scored 64 goals in just 85 J. League games for Tokyo Verdy and Urawa Reds. "Washington Returns" would have been the banner headline of the day, with the Japanese public no doubt keen to bask in the globe-trotting striker's reflected glory.
Liga de Quito will inspire no such headlines in Japan. Manchester United will invariably prove the biggest drawcard at the tournament - although the fake jersey sellers outside the National Stadium in Tokyo will groan in disbelief should Cristiano Ronaldo choose to move on, but even if a Japanese team manages to make it through to the semi-finals of the tournament, the prospect of a half-empty National Stadium looms large for what is supposedly a showpiece FIFA tournament.
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I think they would indeed be well advised to market Pachuca heavily this year Gil, because otherwise they're going to struggle to get fans through the gate - especially if the Japanese representative is not Urawa.
And Clayton, Japan also use the National Stadium in Tokyo. But generally speaking, World Cup qualifiers are almost always held at Saitama Stadium and Nissan Stadium.
As for the Olympic team, I think they have a strong squad, but they're in a tough group and the coach Sorimachi is fairly conservative. They're good enough to get out of the group but I think it's how they deal with the pressure that will have the great bearing on their Olympic adventure.
I have to agree with all of you in fact I know for sure hat Liga has never been known outside South America for not saying Ecuador.
But, they have a great campain and played really good until the end! Luck was part of the moment and they were able to keep the nerves at bay...which translated in cool head of the whole team, specially the goalkeeper, which was Fantastic!!
Can I repeat tat again..HE was fantastic.
And for a change, we will have the luck to see a team that has raisen from slowly to become a Champion.
I bet we will hear more about this team.
Good for South America, Good for Ecuador, Good for Liga Universitaria.
I hope they can show a surprise to Manchester United and Pachuca.
I couldn't agree more, Miquele.
If there's one thing that world football could do with, it's a dose of unpredictability!
Here's hoping that LDU do more than just hold their own at the upcoming Club World Cup.
To all of you who claim that Liga de Quito is not well known outside of South America, I should tell you that Fluminense probably wouldn't have been better either. Boca Jrs' coach claimed that he didn't know who Fluminense was before the semifinal (and Buenos Aires is less than 1000 km away from Rio). In Quito, many people would have preferred a final against Boca for the same reason. Just because Fluminense is from Brazil doesn't mean they would sellout the tickets.
If Japanese fans(and you) know anything about soccer, you will know that Liga won in its own merit in one of the most competitive tournaments in the world, and that it obtained the Copa Libertadores leaving behind teams like Estudiantes de la Plata, America de Mexico, San Lorenzo, and Fluminense, all of which were firm candidates for it. Liga is going to Japan as the representative of South America, and South American soccer will always be attractive to real soccer connoisseurs.
Maybe next year when we go to Dubai for the next World Cup people will know more about this team? ;)
Watch out Manchester U...
No one is saying anything about the "quality" of Liga de Quito - clearly any team that wins the Copa Libertadores has done so on merit.
The point remains the same though. Real soccer connoisseurs might be attracted to South American football... but how many of those do you think are wandering around Tokyo on a windy December weeknight?
The whole reason that clubs like Boca Juniors and Fluminese remain popular in a country that now has it's own viable professional league is because of the connection those clubs have through players like Naohiro Takahara and Washington to the J. League.
So unless Liga de Quito pull off a Sydney FC and sign an ageing Japanese star (maybe they should give Kazu Miura a call?) then I sincerely doubt that Liga de Quito will set Japanese pulses' racing.
If they win the Club World Cup then I'm sure that plenty of fans in Japan will get to know them, but at the moment they're an unknown quantity to most Japanese fans.
7 Comments
I instantly thought the same thing Mike. I was also hoping to be able to go back to Japan in December this time to watch a full Brazilian squad. To feel more at home. I was already planning my savings and all but now just like every other football admirer I'm a little bummed. Not that Liga didn't deserve to win. They did. They played well and did what they had to do but this time I believe the organizer should really bet on promoting the tournament among Pachuca's fans in an attempt to let them know that this is their best chance on being in the final. We'll see...
sorry, completely off topic.
but the last round of the WCQuals, Japan played home games at the Saitama stadium and Nissan stadium in Yokohama.
does japan play at other stadiums, or just those two? i am looking forward to the feb11 game between japan and oz. i have to make the long journey from wakayama to wherever the game is.
what is your take on the japanese olympic squad? i saw half a match, but i didn`t really get a handle on them.
clayton