Beijing Guoan 90 minutes away from history first Championship
Friday, 30th October 2009 ~ Cameron ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Streets around Beijing's Workers Stadium will be crawling with green-clad fans tomorrow night--in celebration or mourning.
In a post titled "China's Top 10 Sports Stories in 2009" earlier this year, we predicted the headline "Beijing Guoan win Chinese Super League thanks to government subsidy," after the local government injected cash into the club as part of an Olympics-related boost.
And now, victory over relegation threatened Hangzhou Greentown FC will secure the Chinese Super League title for the first time since professional football was launched in the country back in 1994.
Beijing face several obstacles, however, in a thrilling four-way title race which is going right down to the wire. They are tied in total points with Henan Jianye, but have a goal difference advantage of plus five. Henan play Shenzhen away and are unlikely to make up the 5 goal differential. Changchun are a point behind and can snatch the title if both Beijing and Henan lose. Back in fourth place, Shandong mathematically still have a chance, but would have to rely on all three teams above them losing and overcoming Beijing's goal difference of plus 10. At the other end of the table, Hangzhou, who pooped Shanghai Shenhua's title party last year, must do the same to Beijing this year if they want to remain in the CSL. Shenzhen, Qingdao and Changsha are instead at risk of relegation should Hangzhou make themselves deeply unpopular in Beijing.
Beijing's match with Hangzhou is a 64,000-seat sell-out at The Workers' Stadium, and riots have been reported at some fans' failure to secure tickets. Ironic considering Chinese league games average attendance is around 16,000 in stadiums usually capable of holding many times that number.
Regardless, it's certainly a chance for Chinese football, and Beijing Guoan, to show that its domestic league is not all doom and gloom. Despite being one of the country's leading clubs, Beijing have never secured a league title; their best finishes being as runners-up in 1995 and 2007. Quite how the side has never managed to pick up a title has left Chinese football observers scratching their heads for quite some time--the team from the capital city is one of the best supported in the country and is usually there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
But tomorrow could see Beijing finally break their duck...
Tags: beijing guoan, CSL, football, gongti stadium
The Chinese National Games: Olympic deja vu
Friday, 30th October 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
Even the smog looks familiar. Jinan Olympic Stadium, October 2009
White elephants
A perfectly fine stadium sat mostly unused in a downtown location, while much of the competition took place in an Olympic Green-style setting on the outskirts. There a brand new tennis stadium, gymnasium, natatorium and the Games' showpiece—the 60,000-seat Jinan Olympic Stadium (pictured below)—played host to competition.
Considering that the Bird's Nest has hosted three events in the 14 months since the games (a martial arts show, an Italian soccer/football game, and a production of the Italian opera Turandot), odds are not good that Jinan's stadium will be pulling in revenue any time soon. Also facing a bleak future is the 445-room Sheraton Jinan Hotel, which opened across the street in September. It's a great location if you're in town for an unlikely sports event at Jinan Olympic Center—terrible if you have business downtown.
Empty seats
The National Games dominated the national sports television channel, CCTV5, for the duration of the competition. And if you watched track and field events on TV, you would have heard a roaring crowd in the stadium. But the stadium was actually only 10 percent full when I was there, and the crowd noise was played over the loudspeakers. Filling seats was a problem at the Olympics, too, even though everything was officially sold out.
Beijing 2008:
China vs. Angola, Beijing Olympics, August 2008 (basketball, Wukesong Arena)
Jinan 2009:
Jinan Olympic Stadium, October 2009
Ticket design: Where have I seen that before?
Beijing 2008 athletics ticket:
Shandong 2009 athletics ticket:
Awesome volunteers
Beijing set a new standard for Olympic volunteers, in terms of both numbers and attitude. Jinan's volunteers were just as patient and enthusiastic, whether helping spectators find the right entrance or raking the sand between innings at the baseball games. And I didn't do a study, but ran into a surprising number who spoke English well.
Paranoia
In Beijing, it was protests and terrorism. But in Jinan organizers focused on another threat—they weren't taking any chances that the 50 spectators inside the stadium would set off a swine flu outbreak. Health workers checked the temperature of everyone who entered the stadium.
Exploding lunch boxes
The concessions lacked that undisputed highlight of the Olympics—5 RMB cans of Tsing Tao beer. But they did have the self-heating lunch boxes that were available at some Beijing venues (watch Wall Street Journal China correspondent Sky Canaves' demo here).
Familiar Font
Signage at the 2008 Olympics, Beijing:
Signage at the 2009 Chinese National Games, Jinan:
Tags: 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jinan, National games, Olympics, Shandong, ticketing, venues