MLS 2008 - where it's soccer, not football!

[SPCTRE]

Aren't soccer-specific stadiums relatively cheap compared to other major sporting venues? Bah. I'm not a United fan or anything, but they are the most successful team in the league, that should count for something.

Yes and No. A soccer stadium and a football stadium are very similar in design. They are decedents of a common ancestor after all. The costs are going to very similar given a similar capacity. Soccer matches are not going to draw the 60,000 fans a NFL game would draw. That allows them to build smaller and cheaper fields of around 20,000 patrons instead. If Soccer drew the same crowd, the costs would be about the same as a modern NFL stadium.

I'd imaginge it very much depends on the kind of stadium you want to build - that is, what kind of infrastructure you want to incorporate (e.g. underground parking, shopping mall, luxury suites, hotels, transport connection, retractable stadium roof, etc.), and what kind of capacity you need.

In the end, I very much doubt there would be a significant difference in construction cost, if, say, the Allianz Arena in Munich was a pure Football stadium or Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA was a pure Soccer stadium (I guess a direct comparison of the two wouldn't be feasible for many reasons, although they're comparable in capacity and date of completion/opening).

 

[Roger Wilco]

The last gasp of info for the year - the CCL quarter-final matchups.

UNAM Pumas and Cruz Azul will square off in an all-Mexico City quarter-final matchup, while Honduras' Marathón will take on the Puerto Rico Islanders.

On the other side of the draw, the Impact will take on Mexican side Santos Laguna, while the Houston Dynamo face Atlante in their meeting.


Roll on February!

I thought Mexican clubs play in the Copa Libertadores, or do they play in both competitions? Does the CONCACAF Champions League have a comparable significance?

 

[Nerroth]

Mexican teams have invites to both the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sulamericana (CONMEBOL's equivalent of the UEFA Cup) - but CONCACAF, as the home confederation, demands that the top-ranking teams in the Mexican league go to CONCACAF competitions instead.

However, the Mexican Primera División is deep enough to have quality teams go to both.



And right now, no, the CONCACAF CL does not have anything like the massive prestige that the Copa Libertadores has - and neither did the old CONCACAF Champions' Cup.

However, the catch is that even if a Mexican team does win Libertadores (which nearly happened for Cruz Azul - they only lost on penalties back in 2001) they cannot qualify for the Club World Cup. The highest-finishing CONMEBOL team goes instead.


Only time will tell whether or not the CCL will begin to close the gap - but for that to happen, the level of Mexico's neighbouring leagues (or, at least, the perception of said leagues in Mexico itself) will have to go up.

 

[Ruaidhri]

Interesting move by TFC the other day to pick up hometown boy Dwayne DeRosario. An honest to goodness quality atacking midfielder, albeit one on the downside of his career. Johnston has been coveting DeRo for a long time, and Houston finally had to make the move to alleviate their salary cap concerns. They still need some more moves, but this is a good start.

 

[Nerroth]

And over at the Club World Cup, CONCACAF champions Pachuca are up against LDU Quito, the winners of the Copa Liberartadores, in their semi, while Gamba Osaka will take on Man United.


Here's hoping los tuzos can make it to the final!

 

[Ruaidhri]

Kept meaning to post this... my DCU jersey. When I get personalized sports jerseys I always put RUAIDHRI and the number 75 on them. Maybe a little lame, but I like putting my username on them rather than my real name or actual players.

 

[Nerroth]

Can they do fadas if you wanted them added?

 

[Ruaidhri]

You know, I never even thought to ask. The last "i" should have one over it.

I can't remember which ALT code gets "i" with the fada, but the next time I order a jersey over the internet I'll try it and see what happens. Actually, there's a soccer apparel store just down the street from me; maybe I'll pop in there and just ask them if they do it.

 

[Nerroth]

Usually, it's the right alt (alt gr on some keyboards) when you have the keyboard set to Irish...

...although, for some reason, the keyboard I am using now is set to Irish, but only gives me á, é, ó and ú.


Sigh.


(I guess it'll nearly be time for the 2009 MLS/CONCACAF thread!)

 

[Ruaidhri]

Well, I know that ALT 1-6-0 on the numeric keypad allows me to get á for when I type my given name. Although in my case it's just pretension, as the fada doesn't exist on my birth certificate.

I haven't figured out, though, how to get it on my laptop because I don't have a numeric keypad on it, and just using the number array across the top doesn't work.