Get ready soccer fans! Japan is hosting the men's 2011 FIFA Club World Cup soccer tourney December 8-18, 2011 to be held at two venues: International Stadium in Yokohama (capacity 72,327) and Tokyo Stadium (capacity 45,000).
This is the eighth edition of the tournament.... but this one already has some international turmoil attached to it, after Brazil's Santos FC club created an advertising promotion for it that is RACIST.
For more information, I'll direct you to a Wikipedia page that is a tad confusing... HERE. I've tried to decode it a bit for you here.
Just know that perennial powerhouse nations like Brazil's Santos FC (winner's of 2011 Copa Libertadores) and Spain's FC Barcelona (winners of 2010-11 UEFA Champion's League and probably the best team in the world right now!) get an automatic draw to the semi-final round.
Japan, the host nation, will play the New Zealand entry Auckland City FC (winners of 2010-11 OFC Champions League). The winner of J-League Division I Kashiwa Reysol (The Kashima Sun Kings) will represent Japan at the tournament, having won their league on December 3, 2011 over the Urawa Reds in their first year since being promoted to the top league in the country. The match between these two teams will be a play-off to get into the quarter-finals, and will be played on December 8, 2011 in Tokyo.
Other participating teams are: Club de Futbol Monterrey of Mexico (winner of 2010-11 CONCACAF Champions League), who will play on December 11, 2011 in the quarter-finals against the winner of the Japan/New Zealand match.
The other quarter-final match is on December 11, 2011 between Sadd Sports Club of Qatar, the winner of the 2011 AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Champions League and Espérance Sportive de Tunis of Tunisia (winner of the CAF (Confederation of African Football) Champions League.
Brazil's Santos will play on December 14, 2011 in the semi-finals against the winner of the Monterrey quarter-final.
Spain's FC Barcelona will play in the semi-finals against the winner of the Sadd/Espérance quarterfinal on December 15, 2011.
December 14, 2011 will also see the losers of the quarterfinal matches play each other to determine the 5th place winner.
December 18, 2011 will see two matches... the losers of the semi-finals battling for 3rd place, and the winners of the semi-finals battling for 1st place.
Japan - It's A Wonderful Rife will keep you apprised of the results... but personally, I hope Japan gets to play Santos FC and kicks their ass.
And remember people... it's not whether you win or lose... but HOW you play the game that should matter to yourselves. We all are not naive enough, however, to believe the some prestige and money would also be a big help to your respective team's finances.
Here's another blog of mine re: results from past tournaments, and the history of the event: HERE.
Andrew Joseph
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