Asian Cup War Cries Get Stuck in Throat
The Asian Cup is packing a punch with its eye-popping goals and temper tantrums, but the official team chants have fallen on deaf ears.
The 16 competing sides went into battle with what organizers listed on the tournament's Twitter feed as their "Asian Cup War Cries", but most efforts got stuck in the throat.
Hosts Australia, panned for last year's cheesy World Cup slogan "Hopping our way into history!", this time plumped for the less expansive "Go Socceroos!" Unsurprisingly, the chant has yet to be heard.
Kuwait's ambitious "Blue Like The Waves!" has also failed to break into the charts. The team was all at sea, however, hauling anchor quickly after losing all three games.
Plucky Jordan can lay claim to the most arresting effort, warning grimly that there is "No Escape From Jordanians".
Iraq, surprise champions in 2007, claimed "The Asian Cup only wants Iraq!" -- overlooking the drawbacks of holding a tournament with just one team.
Other own goals included "Come On China!", a rough translation of the traditional Chinese chant of "Jia you!", which literally means "Add petrol!"
The UAE's was probably the least imaginative, failing to get beyond basic geography with the slogan: "United Arab Emirates".
Oman's official war cry was the peace-loving "Go With All Our Prayers" -- not enough to stop Paul Le Guen's side exiting with a whimper.
More spontaneously, North Korea's fans were seen saluting their supreme leader with a Latin-style "Kim Jong-Un, ole ole ole!", while bouncing up and down in the stands.
Tough as it was to match the famous "You Only Sing When You're Whaling", sung by Scotland fans during a game with Norway, the slogan-writers have little to shout about.
Source: Agence France Presse
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