Mercedez Benz 6 a side tournament

Fabian1509 said:
Just a short comment about the U19 match of Manchester United vs FC Zurich two days ago at Mercedes Benz Junior Cup:
This was not funny at all. It was a very big scandal by Manchester United. German papers are full of it. Kicker had the first article followed by several other ones. The behaviour of Manchester United not to attack or run into the opposition's half was a big mistake. The tournament director was very angry on German TV Sport1. He never thought something like this could happen. He pointed out that fair play is a central part of this tournament and only one red card has been given in 24 years. But this was the biggest foul on fair play he could imagine. That's why he said that Manchester United will definitely not be part of the 25th anniversary.

FYI: Manchester United let Zurich score the first goal. Then they decided not to cross the line and stay in their own side because at this time both teams reached the next round. Zurich could pass the ball in their own side without getting attacked by any Manchester United player.


German newspapers compared this situation with the "Disgrace of Gijón" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Germany_1–0_Austria_(1982_FIFA_World_Cup)
Click to expand...
 
Any links to these articles in Kicker et al?

Sounds pretty poor from us if it's as conspiratorial as is made out there (and other teams were affected). Not as bad if the result was completely immaterial to qualification/group placings, as others have said.

Either way, shame if we've ended up on the organisers' bad side and ruled ourselves out of playing in this tournament again - seems like a very useful one and the sort of thing we should probably see more of.
 
PS18 said:
Any links to these articles in Kicker et al?

Sounds pretty poor from us if it's as conspiratorial as is made out there (and other teams were affected). Not as bad if the result was completely immaterial to qualification/group placings, as others have said.

Either way, shame if we've ended up on the organisers' bad side and ruled ourselves out of playing in this tournament again - seems like a very useful one and the sort of thing we should probably see more of.
Click to expand...

My German is a bit rusty but according to the Kicker article it seems we completely screwed Dortmund who would have gone through if we got the equalizer or Zürich won by two. Pretty classless stuff. Who led us in this tournament? Nicky?
 
I watched the highlights on MUTV and re the controversial game, it didn't look like we let them score at all, in fact we had a fair number of chances, they scored. After that they started playing it around their half with no pressure, I guess we were aware that if we lost another goal then we'd be out, but they also didn't really look to attack either. There didn't seem to be any conspiracy, it sometimes happens in tournaments with groups unfortunately.
 
Happened in the World Cup one time (can't remember who off-hand, got a feeling it was Germany and Austria possibly). Pretty poor stuff, but you can't expect the teams to do much different if you set-up competitions that can work out this way.

Edit: I see that WC match has already been mentioned, my bad!
 
Sir A1ex said:
Happened in the World Cup one time (can't remember who off-hand, got a feeling it was Germany and Austria possibly). Pretty poor stuff, but you can't expect the teams to do much different if you set-up competitions that can work out this way.
Click to expand...


It's stick or twist after Zurich scored, risk getting eliminated by chasing the game, or try and see the game out. It definitely didn't look like we gave Zurich the goal as has been suggested.
 
A club like United risking its reputation in a conspiracy to proceed in a 6 a side tournament? Laughable idea unless they present some hard evidence.

Most likely a huge lack of fair-play from both teams that happened in a natural fashion after both found themselves in a (rare in football) position in which they had nothing to gain by scoring and a lot to lose by conceding. Any suggestions of premeditation must be absolute bollocks.

And I'm not that sure if it's a "huge" lack of fair-play anyway. We don't say that when a team plays for a 0-0. This is akin to two teams doing that. We're asking them to commit unnecessary risks for the benefit of the competition and to provide more fairness to a third team. Weird and ethically complex scenario.
 
Word. If datura's version of events is accurate - which, knowing him, it probably is - then I guess that's acceptable. Still not quite in keeping with the playful spirit of the tournament though and it would be a shame if we aren't welcome next year.
 
There's clearly no premeditated conspiracy, it's just a no-brainer for both teams to go ultra-defensive.

How long are these 6-a-side matches? Presuming they're quite short, it's even more understandable - nobody is surprised if this happens for the final 10 minutes of 90 in a similar full match.
 
Sir A1ex said:
There's clearly no premeditated conspiracy, it's just a no-brainer for both teams to go ultra-defensive.

How long are these 6-a-side matches? Presuming they're quite short, it's even more understandable - nobody is surprised if this happens for the final 10 minutes of 90 in a similar full match.
Click to expand...

9 minutes each way.
 
Elliott said:
9 minutes each way.
Click to expand...

There we go. Who's going to take a risk in that time-frame, knowing that they are only 9 minutes of boredom away from qualifying. It's hardly comparable to Germany and Austria doing it for 90, in front of a TV audience of hundreds of millions at the World Cup.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.