Juve or Not Juve: That's the Question

Guido

When I heard that Melbourne Victory was going to play Juventus I immediately felt a surge of pride. This is a team that doesn't need any 'celebrity' to attract fans. This is a team that sits on the Olympus of world football. And the fact that they saw fit to play my team here in Melbourne pleased me.

However when I started to think about it a bit more I started to wonder whether this visit is going to be all it is cracked out to be.

I can't deny that such an event is generally a positive one for Melbourne Victory and football, but there are also some issues that I have with these particular friendly matches.

First of all, I find the ticket price of $45 quite steep, especially considering that I will have to pay nearly $200 for a Victory membership in a few weeks time.

But I also have issues with the purpose of such a match. I was much more interested in Victory's recent Asian Champioship tie against Osaka, one that at least meant something, contested by players who were striving to win because there was a championship involved. I was genuinely disappointed that we could not match them. The Juventus match will not involve me in the same way because win, draw or lose it really means nothing.

I am sure that Victory players will be 'out there to impress' but I do wonder how many Juventus players will be here to do the same.

As professionals they will do their best. But in the scheme of things this tour is at the end of a gruelling Serie A campaign. I love Melbourne Victory. But realistically I can't see a team like Juventus being all that much excited to play against a team they have probably never heard of.

I can't help thinking that many Juventus players may see the match as part and parcel of a nice trip overseas, rather than something they need to be too focused upon.

Moreover, I'm reluctant to fork out $45 to see a Juventus in which their best players are absent because they are involved in the Euro tournament and when the remaining players will have the 'friendly' mindset. In regards to Melbourne Victory players I'd rather see them when they play for something.

Friendlies have a place. They are useful to help tune a national team before a major tournament or to blow out the cobwebs pre-season. But I can't see the motivation for one being played just after a season shortly before the summer break.

And this leads me to the second point. Inevitably this match will attract many people: fans who — and admittedly I may be speculating here — may not have been to a Victory match before.

This is to some extent a good thing. But how many of those people are there only to see 'a famous team' and will never again be seen at an A-League, or even ACL, match?

If we get over 45,000 at this match which means nothing when only 23,000 turned up for a vital ACL match against one of the better Asian teams, what is this telling us?

I have heard arguments that this game will boost the image of football, especially in the midst of the AFL season where here in Melbourne we are swamped with Australian Rules news in the media. But would it really do that? I doubt it and in fact I think it can have the opposite effect.

I can't help feeling that these sort of matches re-inforce the image of football as a foreign game (especially if lots of Australian Juventus fans attend) and also shows that despite our sport being 'cosmopolitan' many football fans still think that (a) they come to see Juventus and not Victory because 'Australian soccer is an inferior product' and (b) they obviously think that Asian football is crap as well.

In the end this game raises too many reminders of the past and is too expensive for a match of little importance.

I wish a great time to all those who will be there. However I will stay home.

Guido runs The accidental Australian blog.

DAS LIBERO Issue no.
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