Mariners 2012 AFC Champions League megathread

[midfielder]

From the TerrOR

Central Coast Mariners face grueling climax to the season


THE Central Coast Mariners face a gruelling climax to the season, with trips to the A-League's furthest points interspersed with intercontinental travel for the Asian Champions League.

Although Asian soccer chiefs acceded to pleas from the Mariners in the way they structured the ACL draw, it still leaves the club facing a home game with Sydney on Saturday March 3, a trip to Tianjin Teda the following Wednesday and then flying direct to Perth from China to play on the Sunday.

Just a week later the Mariners will commence another stamina-sapping run, with home games against Adelaide and Nagoya Grampus on the Saturday and Wednesday, followed by a trip to Wellington for the season's final regular A-League fixture.

The fixture rat-a-tat continues as long as the Mariners are involved in the finals, potentially climaxing with a trip to Korea to play on April 18 followed by the grand final three days later.

Though the interweaving of onerous ACL travel with the A-League crescendo will be an annual occurrence thanks to the altered season, having trips to Perth and Wellington in the last three weeks of the regular A-League season is a particular mountain for the Mariners to climb.

Central Coast coach Graham Arnold was last night philosophical about the schedule, though he said the club might seek to have one of the A-League games altered.

"What we requested from the AFC largely we've got so we can at least go straight from Tianjin to Perth for instance," Arnold said. "These are the cards we've been deal and we'll get on with it.

"We've planned for this from pre-season, and we have to concentrate on the bigger picture. At the moment we're not in a position to sign any players but there is a bit of room in the cap and the January transfer window opens soon so it's possible we can add to the squad.

"We might also ask the FFA and Wellington if we can look at swapping our home game with Phoenix in round 20, so we're at home in the final game."


http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/soccer/hardly-plane-sailing-for-mariners/story-e6frey4r-1226216590385

 

[Wombat]

Sweet god, that was just out of this world wasn't it.

Yes. It was amazing. I still smile at Osman going down like he was shot...taking the piss out of their cheating. Amazing and hilarious.

 

[dibo]

His last game for us as I recall.

 

[Derryn_Thomas]

Hey Greenpoint,

My Son and I made the trip to Kawasaki in 2009. We met up with around 20 Mariners fans and had a ball. Japan is amazing place mate plus if you time it right you can get to a couple of J League games as well. We got a good airfare and went again earlier this year, went to 5 J League games and had a ball. We are defiantly going to Japan as I'm pretty sure we will get one of there teams in our group as they get 3 teams in the ACL. In the regards the draw it comes out on the 6th of December.
If you like I can send you some pics of Mariners trip to Kawasaki or if you have any questions send me an email.
glenndwyer@gmail.com

Cheers

Hey Glenn,
I'm definitely going OS to watch one of our ACL games, just not sure which match yet (Korea or Japan). Would love to hear about your experiences in Japan & get some info off you if possible. I'll send you an email & hopefully we can have a chat about things.
Look forward to hearing back from you.
Derryn.

 

[GlennDwyer]

Hey Glenn,
I'm definitely going OS to watch one of our ACL games, just not sure which match yet (Korea or Japan). Would love to hear about your experiences in Japan & get some info off you if possible. I'll send you an email & hopefully we can have a chat about things.
Look forward to hearing back from you.
Derryn.

Hey mate, replied to your email. Don't check this site very often.

 

[PubBrawler]

Hi all, haven,t been on here in months but i,ve just booked my flight to japan through jetstar for $663 return, normally $995 but sale has finished, was just wondering if anyone has heard anything about tickets for the Nagoya game, or were i could get them? and is anyone else heading over?

 

[bikinigirl]

Hi all, haven,t been on here in months but i,ve just booked my flight to japan through jetstar for $663 return, normally $995 but sale has finished, was just wondering if anyone has heard anything about tickets for the Nagoya game, or were i could get them? and is anyone else heading over?

Copied from Mariners Newsletter (email):

Asia – here we come, Official Mariners Supporter Tours!

We have had plenty of interest for our Official Mariners Supporter Tours, so this is just another reminder that come March, YOUR team will be setting off on its AFC Champions League odyssey for 2012 – first stop Tianjin, China. We’re looking at the possibility of teaming up with an official travel partner, to offer Mariners fans well-priced & exciting itineraries to our away matches. As well as the incredible experience of seeing the Mariners battle-it-out on the continental stage against Asia’s best, there is a cultural & site-seeing feast awaiting in and around our destination cities. If you’ve been thinking of making a trip to China, Japan or Korea – why not make it a special Mariners experience as well. Away match dates for the Mariners are:

7 March, Mariners v Tianjin Teda. Tinajin Teda Football Stadium, Tianjin, China.

18 April, Mariners v Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. Tancheon Sports Complex, Seongnam, Korea.

15 May, Mariners v Nagoya Grampus. Mizuho Athletics Stadium, Nagoya, Japan.

Please e-mail info@ccmariners.com.au with the subject title ‘ACL Supporter Tours’ to express your interest. If there is enough interest, we will aim to have packages options confirmed as soon as possible.

 

[scoober]

Hi all, haven,t been on here in months but i,ve just booked my flight to japan through jetstar for $663 return, normally $995 but sale has finished, was just wondering if anyone has heard anything about tickets for the Nagoya game, or were i could get them? and is anyone else heading over?

When i went to kawasaki game the only time and place you could get tickets was in Japan. All convenience stores (7eleven etc) have ticketing machines but are only in japanese.

AFC website and help was utterly useless last time, not sure if that has improved. But in previous post the Mariners may organise something.

All fixtures have to hold a certain percentage allocation for away fans so there is no need to worry about missing out on tickets.

My plan is to fly to Osaka, then on to Nagoya for the game and a look around, then on for stays in Kyoto and then Shinkansen to Tokyo and fly home from there.

CANT WAIT!!!

 

[greenpoint]

Further to bikinigirl's post, the Mariners have sent an email re supporters package tours to China and Japan.

Has anybody signed up already?

I am seriously considering the package tour to Beijing and Tianjin. Seems to be very good value.

 

[greenpoint]

More info on the tour packages is now available on the Mariners' website:

http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/centralcoastmariners/news-display/2012--Year-of-the-Mariner/44390

 

[awaba]

they all seem very well priced... i had ruled it out but upon reading the full details am tempted to rack up some credit card debt!

 

[Muppet]

What a nightmare!!! If Mariners qualify for Grand Final they'll have to travel to Korea on the Wednesday before for an ACL match. They would get back on the Friday and have to play the Grand Final on Sunday.

 

[dibo]

What a nightmare!!! If Mariners qualify for Grand Final they'll have to travel to Korea on the Wednesday before for an ACL match. They would get back on the Friday and have to play the Grand Final on Sunday.

I reckon the NYL side might be well advised to get their passports in order.

 

[greenpoint]

Yes dibo! Seems that we're just too good for our own good this season.

 

[finally retired]

What a nightmare!!! If Mariners qualify for Grand Final they'll have to travel to Korea on the Wednesday before for an ACL match. They would get back on the Friday and have to play the Grand Final on Sunday.

yeah...with Brisbane playing at home the Wednesday before were they to also make the Grand Final. such is life..... still, I'd rather we have this problem than not...the alternative (not being in the Grand Final) doesn't bear thinking about

 

[greenpoint]

Tomorrow (Tuesday 31 January) is the cut-off for registering to join the official supporters' tour to China.

I'm in!

Is anybody else from the forum going?

 

[cbowden9000]

I'm going, but not on the official tour.

 

[midfielder]

A Reasonable write up of our position from the Roar today...

http://www.theroar.com.au/2012/02/02/central-coast-mariners-asian-champions-league-preview/

Central Coast Mariners Asian Champions League preview
By Tom Malone, 2 Feb 2012

Tom Malone is a Roar Rookie

The Central Coast Mariners are all set to enter the AFC Asian Champions league for 2012. This edition will be the 31st, and the second time the Mariners have taken part in Asia’s premier club competition.

For this edition, they have been matched up with a team from each of East Asia’s main leagues: Tianjin Teda of China, Korean Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, and Japan’s Nagoya Grampus. The first game in this group will see the Mariners travel to China on March 7.

Central Coast will be confident leading into this campaign, as they sit comfortably top of the A-League table. Last year’s runners-up in both the league and finals series sit in a group with a distinctive Australian feel.

However, the Mariners’ form has been shaky recently, having to come back from several deficits. The departure of talismanic striker Matt Simon to the K-League will be a big loss to them, and if they make it through to the Round of 16, they will lose Mustafa Amini, who will return to parent club Borussia Dortmund.

Seongnam are a former winner of the tournament, triumphing in 1996 and most recently 2010. They are captained by Socceroo defender Sasa Ognenovski, who won man of the match in the 2010 victory.

Seongnam had a disappointing 2011 though, finishing 10th in the league, and only qualifying as winners of the Korean FA Cup, with the big Australian defender finishing the season as second top scorer with seven goals in all competitions. The man to watch out for is Cho Dong-Geon, with the South Korean international leading the scoring with 11 goals in all competitions.

Next up are Nagoya Grampus, who finished a close second in the J-League, trailing Kashiwa Reysol by only one point. They also reached the round of 16 of the 2011 Champions League, as well as semi-final and quarter-final appearances in Japan’s two domestic cups.

Nagoya has a fearsome forward line, with three players scoring over 10 goals. The biggest threat though is Australia’s Josh Kennedy, who has been prolific at both club and international level, finishing with 19 goals in all competitions for Nagoya, and picking up the J-League Golden Boot award.

Last but not least are Tianjin Teda, coming up from 10th position in the league, but like Seongnam, qualifying as winners of the Chinese FA Cup.

They appeared in last year’s Champions League as a result of a second-place finish in the 2010 Chinese Super League, reaching the round of 16. During this, they faced Melbourne Victory twice, drawing 1-1 at home and losing 1-2 in Melbourne.

With this in mind, I believe that Nagoya will top the group, with the Mariners qualifying a close second. Seongnam and Tianjin are inconsistent teams, and while their last year has shown that on their day they can provide an upset, their poor league record leads me to believe that the runners-up in from the Japanese and Australian competitions will be the ones to reach the round of 16.

Keep checking in in the coming days for detailed previews of Brisbane and Adelaide’s ACL chances.

 

[pjennings]

Okay - with the initial squad of 30 to be named very soon does anyone want to take a stab at a 30 man squad.

FWIW - this would be my squad

Matt Ryan
Justin Pasfield
Brody Crane
Joshua Rose
Brad McDonald
Patrick Zwaanswijk
Alex Wilkinson
Trent Sainsbury
Sam Gallagher
Nikola Stanojevic
Pedj Bojic
Bradley Porter
Jim Oates
Rostyn Griffiths
Stuart Musialik
Oliver Bozanic
John Hutchinson
Daniel McBreen
Mustafa Amini
Tom Rogic
Anthony Caceres
Michael McGlinchey
Adrian Pelligrino
Troy Hearfield
Adam Kwasnik
John Sutton
Bernie Ibini-Isei
Mitchell Duke
Kwame Appiah-Kubi
Chris Payne

 

[cbowden9000]

Chris Payne??