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@ andrew
Are you anywhere near the Brisbane area? Aus are playing Japan in a World Cup qualifier on the 12th. Would be good to get tickets if your near there at all :)@ k-man – Cheers, but alas that isn’t my neighbourhood. Would be grand though. The only international I’ve been to was Australia v Argentina. Messi alone was worth the price of admission!
You been to any good internationals?@ andrew
Haven’t been to any international matches. In fact, I’ve never even seen Arsenal play. Getting tickets to an Arsenal game is very difficult. Barely, if any, go on general sale, and even that is probably a rare occurance. Arsenal do a membership scheme which has 4 tiers. I think I’m right in saying you have to pay a yearly fee plus the cost of the ticket(s). The higher rank you are, the better chance you have at getting tickets I assume. The tickets themselves aren’t cheap either. A season ticket is out of the question too. Renewals for those are around £2,000. The waiting list is very long. The only chance of getting a season ticket is if someone decides to give theirs up which seems unlikely.Last season, both my brothers fortunately had the opportunity to see Arsenal play. Their friends know season ticket holders who couldn’t attend a couple of matches so my bros and their friends were offered the tickets instead.
I’m not too bothered if I don’t get to see Arsenal play or not. I really wanted to see them play at Highbury but never got the chance. If I get offered a free ticket then I’ll take up the opportunity but I won’t be spending money to see them play. I plan to leave the UK as soon as I can and the ticket prices are just too much.
Seeing Messi play must of been awesome. My older bro went on a stag night to Barcelona in March. Him and his friends got tickets to a Barca match at the Nou Camp. Unfortunately Messi was suspended for the match.
I do plan to see Japan play (hopefully in Japan), South Korea, China and Aus. Love the look of the stadiums in each of those countries.
@ k man – bad luck for your brother! Tragedy.
One of my footballing highlights was seeing Arsenal at Highbury (in it’s last season), although Henry wasn’t playing. I know what you mean about getting tickets, it’s ridiculous. The only way I got a ticket was through a scalper, paying crazy money (being on holiday it didn’t hurt so much). Another reason to turn one off modern football….
@ andrew
It’s awesome you got to see Arsenal play at Highbury. Which match was it? I would of loved to have seen them play there in the invincible era. That last season at Highbury was full of ups and downs. They had just lost Vieira and barely scraped 4th place. Although seeing them pip Spurs to 4th on the last day was very satisfying. Then there was the CL final which was so close.The ticketing scheme needs to change at Arsenal. I understand that many fans want to see the team play but making the tickets hard to get hold of and expensive is ridiculous. I agree with you that is is one of the many turn off in todays football.
On another note, Japanese stadiums look amazing. Some of them were built for the 2002 World Cup and others revamped. Love the Sapporo Dome’s retractable roof.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by
kanjiman8.
@ k man – It was against Everton in 2005 (2-0 win). Not the greatest spectacle of a game, but still a pleasure – highbury, Pires, Bergkamp etc (Cahill hung around to go signings after the game).
I should remember this, but was that the CL final against Barca? That was so tragic. The best teams in the world and both beautiful attacking teams. It was going to be a great contest, and then the red card. A potential classic game ruined and Arsenal had to defend for an hour plus.
Is it just Arsenal? I get the impression most of the big PL clubs operate their ticketing that way.
So do you have concrete plans to go to Japan yet?
@ andrew
Ah I remember watching Arsenal vs. Everton from that season. It was live on Sky Sports. Henry was out injured at the time and big Sol Campbell stepped up and scored two decent headers that day. That was before he went AWOL later in the season.Yes the 2006 CL final was between Barcelona and Arsenal. It was going to be an amazing game. Both attacking teams who play beautiful football. Still can’t believe Lehmann makes a poor judgement and gets himself sent off. I think what was even more tragic was Pires being subbed. It was his last game for the club and to be subbed so early in the game was disappointing.
Arsenal did well to hold on to their lead for almost 40 minutes but Barca with a man advantage proved too much. Arsenal had a great chance to win the CL that season but an even better chance two seasons earlier. It was the quarter final against Chelsea at Highbury. Arsenal were leading 2-1 on aggregate but concede a late goal from Bridge which gave Chelsea 2 away goals and a 3-2 win on aggregate. I’m pretty sure Arsenal could have beaten Monaco and Porto that season.
I’m not to sure how other Prem clubs sell tickets. Never really looked into it to be honest. I know alot of tickets go to corporate sponsors which anger the fans. I remember reading this article about how some of those corporate people don’t even like football yet real fans can’t get a ticket. Just goes to show how money has the biggest say in everything in football.
No concrete plans to go to Japan yet but once my Japanese ability is alot better and I have the funds then I’m definitely going there. It would be a dream to live and work there one day. We’ll see what happens in the future.
How about you? Are you planning to go there again?
@ kman – You looking forward to the Euros?! Nearly here. Unfortunately there’s not much coverage on TV so I won’t see many games.
Wow, you’ve got a great memory to remember that Everton game – amazing.
Was that quarter final the one where Bendtner was standing on the goal line and prevented an Arsenal goal? That was the most surreal thing I’ve seen.
Corporate ticket allocation is a constant problem. Often at the MCG during any sport (Aussie rules, cricket, soccer) you’ll be watching a game and there’ll be rows and rows of empty seats allocated to corporates and unused. It’s a disgrace.
I intend to go back in a couple of years, when my language skills will hopefully have improved last time I could speak enough to survive but couldn’t read at all – I really want to be able to read more!). The teaching English thing is in the back of my mind, anybody seems to be able to do it.
Having said that, there a lot of really cheap budget flights now so I may be tempted to drop everything & go over on short notice!@ andrew
Nah, not really tbh. I don’t expect it to have the same quality as previous tournaments. There might be some good matches played and my interest will pick up abit come the quarter finals but a whole tournament with just Euro teams doesn’t excite me. You should check out that streaming site I mentioned earlier. I’m sure you will find some coverage on Euro 2012 matches.When it comes to Arsenal matches I do have a strange memory of being able to recall alot of matches. Idk why that Everton match sticks out.
That Chelsea quarter final was in 2004. I think the one you’re thinking of with Bendtner standing on the goal line and preventing a goal was against Liverpool in 2008. Fabregas was already ruled offside so it wasn’t too much of a hinderance although you have to question what the hell Bendtner does sometimes. The guy can show moments of brilliance and has scored crucial goals for Arsenal, but at the same time he can be really clumsy and detrimental to the team. This his why Wenger is probably happy to let him go. Arsenal already have Podolski signed for next season, Gervinho should be given another season to see if he’s worth keeping and Chamakh will be sold hopefully. Park Chu Young should be given another chance but I get the feeling he won’t. The only worry is RVP. If he won’t sign another contract then he’ll have to be sold.
The corporate allocation at the MCG reminds me of the Emirates. From TV shots At half time on matchdays, I swear the entire middle row of the stadium is just empty. Either that or everyone leaves their seats to get refreshments which seems unlikely. Idk how they say the Emirates is sold out with all those empty seats.
Sounds like you have a decent plan for when you next go to Japan. Your right about teaching English over there, from what I read they don’t even require you to speak Japanese but obviously it does help with adapting to living there and everyday life. The flight times and cost from Aus to Japan are really appealing. Although I’ve never been to Aus it seems like a great place to live. Massive country with lots of land, population is just over 20 million, and it’s near to Asia. Sydney and Melbourne look like interesting cities.
@ k man – It has been hard to muster up enthusiasm for this tournament, particularly with the prospect that it’ll be low scoring. Spain-Italy was fascinating though in how Italy were able to contain them without being totally negative themselves. Spain are not invulnerable!
You’re probably right about the CL game. That image of Bendtner stopping the goal has never left me, it was so surreal! You’re right about RVP. It’s scary to think what would have happened this season without the bucket of goals he scored.
It’s only a rough plan, but I think it’s good to have some plan to help with study. It’s amazing how they don’t require people to have any Japanese to be able to go teach English – I can’t imagine how people could survive.
@ andrew
I think Spain will have a difficult time retaining the trophy. No team has won the European Championships back to back or won the it as well as the World Cup in succession. Italy did a good job keeping Spain at bay.Bendtner’s had some shockers in an Arsenal shirt but I’d say Emmanuel Eboue was worse. I’ll never forgive or forget how he conceded that penalty in the dying seconds against Liverpool at the Emirates in April last year. You can watch the footage shot by a fan on camera phone here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiWtoydTYN0
I don’t know why Eboue had such a huge cult status at Arsenal. He was average at best, made alot of mistakes and didn’t really contriubte much to the team. I just got the imperssion he didn’t really give 100% each match and was quite happy to do the bare minimum to earn his pay cheque.
Although Van Persie is at the Euros and his future won’t be decided til after, I get the feeling he wants to leave. I may be and hope I am wrong but he hasn’t exactly been positive or said much regarding his future. Reports today say Arsenal are close to signing Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud. It’s the first time I’ve heard his name and have no idea who he is. If the deal goes ahead that will be the second striker to join this summer. Could that indicate Wenger is prepared to let RVP go or is it a replacement for either Chamakh or Park.
I’m surprised too that none of those JET type programs require you to know Japanese. I certainly wouldn’t live in a country without having learnt the language at least a bit first. I’ve never been to Japan but I guess in the big cities there’s alot of English on signs and in shops that help foreginers get around in day to day life.
@ k man – I can’t remember, is Eboue still at Arsenal?!
Holland haven’t been great so far, looks like they may not make out of the group, which would be shocking. I read about the Danish fans chanting “Messi” everytime Ronaldo was on the ball, and it really got to him. That’s hilarious, just brilliant.
You’re right, you can survive in Japan without the language with the amount of English around and just knowing how big cities work. That’s fine for a tourist, but if you’re there long term, surely you’d want to make the effort to get more out of your experience, and learn the language, to appreciate it more. I got the impression very few foreigners bothered to learn much – I couldn’t converse, just learning phrases and the locals were shocked that I’d bothered to learn that much.
@ andrew
Eboue fortunately left Arsenal last summer and joined Galatasary in Turkey. He strikes me as one of those players that does the bare minimum of what’s expected.In typical Dutch fashion, the Holland squad aren’t getting along with each other and there’s divides in the camp. Van Persie and Nigel De Jong are refusing to talk to the media, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is jealous that RVP is picked ahead of him and Rafael van der Vaart thinks Mark van Bommel is being picked ahead of him because he’s married to Bert van Marwijk’s (the manager) daughter. The Dutch have alot of talent but this seems to be a regular occurance at a major tournament.
Yeah haha, it was funny when the Danish fans chanted “Messi” at Ronaldo. Ronaldo doesn’t put the same effort in at international level that does for his club. I think the criticism of his is justified.
Btw, did you catch the Aus vs. Japan game on TV the other night? It finished 1-1 and was controversial from what I’ve read.
I’ts true, sadly some foreigners have no desire to learn Japanese at all. I would switch places with any foreigner currently living in Japan with that mentality in a second. The locals do assume foreigners won’t know any to little Japanese so are surprised when they discover someone is learning their language.
Speaking of Japanese, where are you currently at on your studies? I seem to remember you were on Season 4. I’m also on Season 4 learning な adjectives.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by
England knocked out at the quarter final stage again. Knew it would happen before the tournament started. Even Roy Hodgson with all his experience and knowledge can’t make the team progress. Granted, they lost on penalties, but Italy aren’t that great these days.
Portugal vs. Spain will be a good match. I reckon Portugal can pull an upset. Spain have been shaky. I expect Germany to beat Italy. I think the final will be Germany vs. Spain though.
England could have won that game if they had remembered how to pass the ball. That was horribly painful to watch from the middle of the second half (when I got home) to the end. Simple passes they couldn’t string together, my goodness.
I think a Portugal vs. Germany final would be the most interesting, Spain can be quite boring to watch at times when they’re just ball holding. Germany vs. Italy should be interesting at least.
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This reply was modified 12 years, 5 months ago by
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