The All-American Soccer Podcast, Episode 14

Hank and Abram talk MLS MVP, the power of marketing behind Thierry Henry, USMNT Qualifiers, Cameron playing out of position, all things Sascha Kljestan, NASL playoffs and expansion, if CONCACAF Champions League even matters, and if AEG’s sale could hurt MLS in CCL.

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#ABBoS (Anybody but Barcelona or Santos)

Is there some kind of football thing going on in Japan?

The FIFA Club World Cup is entering their semifinals right now.  Did you know? I’d bet that you probably did not.  In fact I would almost guarantee that most people who religiously follow the beautiful game didn’t even know.

I was actually surprise when the other day while listening to the radio, Giorgio Chinaglia was talking –in the vaguest of terms– about it.  When I write that Chinaglia’s was speaking vaguely about this event, it is not a condemnation of him or of his understanding of this tournament.  In fact, the majority of soccer analysts in the world probably have less understanding than he did about it.  However, he went on and, correctly, said that it was a joke of a tournament.  He insisted that they should go back to the old format of the Intercontinental Cup when the winner of UEFA Champions Legaue and CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores played a single one-off game.  In his mind no other federation really mattered, and honestly, he’s right.