Entries Tagged 'Chonburi FC' ↓

For a game with nothing at stake, last night’s Melbourne Victory game was one of the most enjoyable Victory matches I’ve seen in a while.

Maybe it’s because there was nothing to play for (except pride of course). This was free-flowing football, with plenty of chances at both ends and nice saves from both ‘keepers. A pleasure to watch, all the more so because of the final score line.

But sadly, there weren’t many people there to enjoy the spectacle, the prospect of a meaningless Wednesday night clash a week not proving tantalising enough for many Victory fans.

Shame, cause there was plenty of drama in this game:

• Kevin Muscat, screwing up to give Ney Fabiano an easy chance to put Chonburi FC ahead, then redeeming himself by scoring the equaliser a couple minutes later.
• Ney Fabiano, scoring a goal and later picking up a yellow card, giving rise to a chorus of cheers and jeers from the crowd. If the rumours are true and he does sign for us, he’s certainly started off on the wrong foot with the local support.
• Archie Thompson, replacing Tom Pondeljak with half an hour left to go, promptly putting Melbourne ahead and then sealing the deal by laying up for Carlos Hernández’ goal.
• Rodrigo Vargas’ goal, disallowed. Why exactly?

For those of you who missed the game, here’s the highlights:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_-4BUxCAPw[/youtube]

Meanwhile, congratulations to Adelaide United who tonight managed to qualify for the next stage of the Asian Champions League.

The Melbourne Victory finishes off its first Asian Champions League campaign with nothing to play for but pride, up against an opponent with just as little to play for. Melbourne could finish second in the group if it beats Chonburi FC tomorrow – a small consolation to cap off a frustrating ACL debut.

But does anyone really care?

Ernie Merrick has been in Central America on a scouting mission, returning today to coach his team tomorrow. Gary Cole may argue that Merrick’s trip would have gone ahead if Melbourne had had anything at stake in its final ACL match, but I find that very hard to believe. Tomorrow is effectively a friendly, and the club is treating it as such.

Except, of course, that they weren’t keen to release Leigh Broxham, Billy Celeski and Nick Ward to play for Graham Arnold in the Olyroos’ Intercontinental Cup campaign. Michael Lynch wrote a rather condemning piece about that issue earlier this week. But before you string up Victory management, consider Arnold’s lack of effort at getting the trio. He could have had them if he’d wanted.

Anyway, all that aside…

Archie Thompson may return tomorrow, his first appearance since picking up an injury in the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifier against China in March. Thompson has plenty of motivation to accelerate his recovery, as he faces the prospect of lining up against Juventus next week, and the possibility of more World Cup qualifiers in a couple weeks.

Carlos Hernández shone in his short stint against the Chunnam Dragons, and this game gives him another chance to get up his match fitness. Leigh Broxham’s back after serving his one-match suspension. And Mitchell Langerak will have his second start in a competitive (sort of) match for the Victory.

This will be the last competitive (sort of) match in Victory colours for Adrian Caceres and Daniel Piorkowski. It may also be the final game for Chonburi’s Ney Fabiano, who is set to sign with Melbourne after the match, according to the latest reports from Thailand.

This dead rubber match on a Wednesday night in the middle of AFL season will be an interesting gauge of football’s popularity in Melbourne. A sizeable dip in crowd numbers is to be expected, and 20,000 would be tough to crack. But this will provide a good indication of the resilience of Victory supporters.

For what it’s worth, here’s my tip: Melbourne 3, Chonburi 2

Your tip?

Chonburi FC 3, Melbourne Victory 1

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8×8Eb3l4Pzg[/youtube]

Continue reading →

Well that wasn’t expected.

Chonburi FC wreaked havoc on the Melbourne Victory last night, trumping the Aussies with a 3-1 victory that put them at the top of Group G.

While Melbourne’s performance against the Chunnam Dragons mirrored the type of football they were playing towards the end of the A-League season, last night regurgitated memories of the first half of the season: long balls, wasted chances, poor passes. It was painful to watch the Victory slip into its old ways. Continue reading →

Chonburi FC hosts the Melbourne Victory tomorrow night in Bangkok. It may not be their home stadium, but the Thai champions will be hoping that the heat and humidity of Bangkok will give them an edge over the Victory.

Both teams enter the match on the back of a good result: Melbourne downed the Chunnam Dragons with a clinical 2 – 0 win, while Chonburi FC came away with a point from their match with Gamba Osaka. Both will take confidence from their performance, but last week’s results will also make them wary of this week’s opponent. Continue reading →

Melbourne Victory vs. Chunnam Dragons, 2 – 0

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APZrK2BDRvA[/youtube] Continue reading →

This is the third in our series of Asian Champions League previews. So far, we have covered the Melbourne Victory and Chunnam Dragons.

Location: Chonburi, Thailand
Stadium: Suphachalasai Stadium, 35 000 (switched there from Chonburi Municipality Stadium, due to the latter’s small size and lack of floodlights)
Coach: Annop Singtotong

It’s hard to find much about Chonburi FC. Other than a fairly useful Wikipedia article, there is really quite little to go on about the Thai champions.

Which makes them a difficult team to write a preview about. So without pretending to know much, here’s what we can glean about Chonburi FC:

Their rise to the top of Thai football has been rapid. 2007 was only their second year in the Thai Premier League. After finishing 8th the previous year, they emerged as clear champions at the end of 2007, at the top of the ladder with a 9 point lead.

In the world of Thai football, Chonburi FC are the team to beat at the moment. Continue reading →