After nearly three weeks of tournament football the 2015 Asian Cup will draw to a close this weekend, with host nation Australia having to overcome an impressive South Korean team if they are to win the tournament for the very first time. Before the tournament kicked off we asked readers to share their perspectives of the latest Asian Cup, and tell us about their experiences as spectators soaking up the atmosphere from the stands. And it’s clear that no matter which two teams were competing on the pitch, the tournament has been an overall success both on and off the field of play.
Australia met Kuwait in the opening game on 9 January in the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, and despite the unfancied Kuwait side taking an early lead, the Socceroos bounced back comprehensively and recorded a 4-1 win in the end.
Meanwhile South Korea began their tournament with a rather less emphatic win against Oman, a Cho Young-cheol goal being decisive in a 1-0 win. It was one of six group games staged at Canberra Stadium, and Dougie Herd was there to witness all of them. Dougie emigrated to Australia from Scotland in 1999, and he’s an avid fan of his new homeland’s football contests. “I even took the trip to Brazil for Australia’s three World Cup group game defeats last summer. Buying tickets at the Asian Cup was a straightforward process, although, as expected, there was a much higher interest for the games the Socceroos were involved in.”
Looking at the attendance figures for the group games this rings true. Over 25,000 watched Australia beat Kuwait in the first group game, followed by over 50,000 spectators watching the Socceroos cruise to a 4-0 victory over Oman in Sydney and another high gate of over 48,000 people witnessing their narrow defeat to South Korea. The flip side of this was crowds of less than 5,000 people attending Qatar’s final match against Bahrain in Sydney, but considering this game was a dead rubber in terms of tournament progression, as both sides were bowing out at the earliest stage, crowd figures have been genuinely impressive and interest has overall been high.
Rather than overseas visitors, Dougie suggests that a core of each nation’s support in the stands was made up by enthusiastic ex-patriots. “Many followers of teams such as South Korea, Iraq and China travelled long distances to get to Brisbane and Canberra for their games.”And they were well rewarded with some excellent performances from their national teams. South Korea look very capable of spoiling Australia’s party in the final, having comfortably beaten both Uzbekistan and Iraq in the knock out stages so far without conceding a goal. Iraq may have lost 2-0 to South Korea in the first semi-final, but the team can be proud of their performances in the group stages, not to mention the battling 3-3 draw in the quarter-finals against neighbours Iran, before keeping their their nerve in a thrilling 7-6 penalty shoot out. China had no trouble getting out of their group, winning all three games, but succumbed at the first knock out hurdle in the quarter-finals against Australia, arguably having faced sterner opposition for the first time in the tournament.
Joel Fruci was too young at 15 to attend the last Asian cup hosted by Qatar in 2011, but this time though he was right there. “There was genuine passion among the supporters, with plenty of colourful flags and noise to go with it. Melbourne’s multicultural community contributed greatly to the excitement and enthusiasm felt in the stands. This Asian Cup has been a showcase of quality football and diversity.”
As a Melbourne resident, Joel had the opportunity to attend five matches at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, including Australia’s first win of the tournament against Kuwait, Iran’s relatively comfortable 2-0 victory over Bahrain, newcomers Palestine’s humbling 5-1 defeat to Jordan, Uzbekistan sealing their advancement to the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Saudi Arabia before being defeated 2-0 by South Korea in the knock out stages.
Effie Karageorgos also experienced the Asian Cup for the first time in person. “I attended the Japan - Jordan group game with a Japan supporting friend, and was impressed by the atmosphere in the stands. The Japanese fans outnumbered their Jordan counterparts and the Samurai Blue also impressed on the pitch.”
Palestine and Iraq had already been defeated by Japan before their 2-0 victory over Jordan, but Japan’s Asian Cup adventure was cut short in the quarter-finals when spot kick misses by Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda gifted the United Arab Emirates a 5-4 penalty shoot out win after a 1-1 draw in Sydney.
While the tournament has proven to be a success, we were also interested in asking our readers what, if anything, could have been done differently? Dougie has been particular impressed with the set up. “Being a wheelchair user, the designated seating space has been excellent, and the volunteers who are always a great asset to the organisation of these tournaments have been very helpful.” On another practical note Clare Lawrence was full of praise for the well organised Socceroos buses. “A bus service ran every ten minutes picking up supporters along the way at designated stops. While often crowded, they at least meant that there was no need to fight rush hour traffic or worry about stadium parking yourself.”
Effie is happy that the tournament was distributed around Australia as much as it was. “Residents of Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne and Newcastle have all been given a fair chance to witness the event.” Joel had one negative comment regarding the tournament’s organisation.“Despite there being travel distances to consider, I was disappointed about the exclusion of Perth and Adelaide as host cities.”
Another interesting point our readers have made hinges on the Australian TV coverage of the event, or lack of. Dougie suggests that Football Federation Australia sold its soul too cheaply by signing the rights to the group stages over to Foxtel. “FFA missed the opportunity to open the tournament up to casual viewers through free to air broadcasting. It might be a long time until Australia host a football tournament of similar stature, and rather than being ‘dazzled by cash’ FFA could have looked at this tournament as an opportunity of building a long term future for the game.”
Clare agrees with this, claiming she was lucky to have access to Foxtel as it meant she wasn’t completely reliant on social media for the scores.
All in all the 2015 Asian Cup has been a great spectacle for the thousands of attending fans. A lot of the teams have been evenly matched, and games have been finely balanced. Palestine found it tough going in their first Asian Cup outing, conceding 11 goals in their three group games, but Jaka Ihbeisheh provided them with a great moment when scoring their first ever Asian Cup goal in the 5-1 defeat to Jordan. Uzbekistan are showing progress that bodes well for their next World Cup qualifying campaign. Iraq will remember their thrilling victory over Iran in the quarter-final for a long time, and they can still secure a third place finish if they defeat the UAE in the third-place match. Whether the trophy will be lifted by rapturous host nation Australia or the defensively sound and impressive South Koreans, the 2015 Asian Cup has been a showcase of Australia’s diverse communities and a real triumph both on and off the field.
