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AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011


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Just felt like opening a thread of this, specially for those who are following Australia performance on the event. :)

The tournament started with Qatar vs Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan won 2-0. Australia will play next monday against India

Opening Ceremony

Qatar vs Uzbekistan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhFzyutgq9s

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Does anyone know what (in the opening ceremony) that strange "dialogue" between that old guy with the boy on his side and the Emir meant? The old guy didn't even let the Emir finish his sentences. For someone who doesn't understand Arabic (like me), it almost sounded like that old guy (who seemed to be pretty agitated in his speech) had interrupted the ceremony to give a protest speech against the Emir's regime. ;) No wonder that Arabic culture, customs and mannerisms sometimes appear so strange to us Westerners. A translation for the international guests in the audience would have helped maybe, too (or it was displayed on the jumbotrons).

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Alright, it was actually the other way round -- not a protest but praise speech for the Emir ;):

The half-an-hour-long ceremony began with fireworks as a prelude just as the stadium lights were switched off temporarily.

The spectators, who filled the 50,000-capacity stadium, being invited to sing Qatar’s national anthem, as a “very special gift” for His Highness the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, performed “As Salam al Amiri” as the Emir entered the stadium.

The spotlight then shone on an elderly gentleman and child who addressed the Qatari ruler, praising him for his efforts in developing the nation.

The spectators were then treated with a dazzling display of lights, fireworks that lit up the night sky. The entire play arena resembled a sea of white as artistes paraded with white flags even as hi-tech laser projected images of flags of 16 participating countries inviting loud cheers from the galleries.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=408747&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

And maybe the Emir was rather interrupting the "elderly gentleman", because he felt uncomfortable with all that praise, eh? :lol: Strange, strange, strange... Imagine the London 2012 opening ceremony, with "an elderly gentleman" publicly praising the Queen or even Prime Minister Cameron for her/his work for the nation. I guess (even if it will be the Queen's 60th jubilee) that would be considered very inappropriate (because too political for such an occasion) by many observers.

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...All the praising to the Emir was done as well in Doha 2006 (during the last leg of the torch relay the flame was presented to him before being taken to the cauldron as a strang arabic chant was performed, and the boy of the OC/CC gave a present to him to conclude the cultural performances of the CC).

This also reminds me a lot of Thailand, on which the king is reverred almost as a god (despite he doesnt have much political power like the Emir). In fact there was a small segment on the opening ceremony of the 1998 Asiad in Bangkok dedicated solely to him (and almost all the OC of the 2007 SEA Games shown imagery of Bhumibol).

Anyway returning to topic..

Australia have learned from Asian Cup mistakes, says captain Neill

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1610206.php/Australia-have-learned-from-Asian-Cup-mistakes-says-captain-Neill

Doha - Australian captain Lucas Neill believes his team has learnt from mistakes they made at previous appearance in the Asian Cup.

Australia are making their second appearance at the showpiece of Asian football after jumping ship and joining the Asian confederation from Oceania.

In 2007 they were one of the favourites, but drew their opener and lost a group game to Iraq before being eliminated on penalties by Japan in the quarter-finals.

This time around Australia start their campaign at the January 7- 29 tournament on Monday against India before facing South Korea and Bahrain.

'India will be a little bit of a surprise package but well be concentrating on ourselves and we hope that we can break through early,' Neill told the Asian Cup website.

'We have got to put them under pressure. Everyone is expecting us to win but football can throw up surprises and we have to be sure we are not the surprise. I hope the surprises come somewhere else,' said the defender, who plays his club football in Turkey for Galatasary.

'We wont take them for granted and we know that hard work will get us through. The expectation is to go further than last time but first we are going to focus on India and were not worrying about reaching the final. Bahrain and South Korea are good teams.

'Its exciting to be here and we have got to be in contention. We have no excuses, we have got a good game out of the way, we dont have any injuries and were raring to go,' he said.

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^^ Wow..indeed, know China and Kuwait aren't that popular in football but since Kuwait is an arabic country i expected there would be at least more support from the crowd towards them.

Although the organization is pretty good as expected from Qatar, i don't really see people interested on this AFC Cup at all...

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The Unofficial Football World Championships 2011 campaign gets underway on Sunday as UFWC champions Japan take on challengers Jordan in Qatar. This title match is also the opening Group B fixture of the 2011 Asian Cup. Japan and Jordan will compete with Saudi Arabia and Syria in Group B, with the top two sides progressing to the knock out stage. For the bigger picture see our 2011 Asian Cup Preview.

Jordan are major underdogs, having never been involved in a UFWC title match in the entire history of the unofficial competition. They have played in one previous Asian Cup, in 2004, when they reached the quarter finals. That was considered to be the greatest achievement in the country’s footballing history.

Al-Nashima (the Brave Ones) are coached by an experienced Iraqi, Adnan Hamad, who called qualification for this tournament “a gift for the nation”. The side achieved qualification despite scoring only four goals throughout the campaign. Former star striker Mahmoud Shelbaieh, a national hero in Jordan, is no longer a member of the national squad. So they’ll be relying on Odai Al-Saify of Cypriot club Alki Larnaca for goals, alongside the likes of Moayyad Abu Keshek and Abdullah Deeb. Goalkeeper Amer Shafia and central defensive leader Hatem Aqel are other key players.

Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni has much greater depth of talent at his disposal. The Italian, who won Serie A with AC Milan in 1999, has stated an aim to add European flair to his Blue Samurai. Japan are among the favourites to win the Asian Cup, alongside Saudi Arabia and Australia.

Midfielders Keisuke Honda, Yasuhito Endo and Shinji Kagawa should prove more than a match for any team in the competition. However, like Jordan, Japan have found goals hard to come by recently. Shinji Okazaki scored the winner against Argentina in October, and he looks likely to start this match as Japan’s lone striker, despite remaining on the bench throughout the World Cup. Zaccheroni will be without injured central defenders Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Yuji Nakazawa.

Television coverage of the 2011 Asian Cup is sparse. There is no live UK TV coverage of Japan vs Jordan. British Eurosport 2 will show highlights of the game at 22:45. However, it is possible to watch the match live online via the official AFC TV service. A monthly pass, which will allow you to watch the entire tournament, costs £4.99. The online service is not available to viewers in Japan, China, Korea, Australia or North America. Other streaming services may be available.

Can Japan retain the UFWC title or will Jordan pull off an almighty shock? Post your predictions and comments below, and join us for full coverage of the game on Sunday.

http://www.ufwc.co.uk/2011/01/japan-vs-jordan-ufwc-asian-cup-2011-kick-off/

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It looks like not everything is lost for Qatar team...

Qatar keep Asian Cup hopes alive; Uzbekistan on brink of quarterfinals

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/01/12/football.qatar.china.kuwait.uzbekistan/index.html?section=cnn_latest

(CNN) -- Yusef Ahmed's double strike gave Qatar a crucial 2-0 triumph over China on Wednesday which kept alive the 2011 Asian Cup host nation's hopes of progressing past the group stage.

Qatar went into the match at Doha's Khalifa Stadium knowing that only a win would do, and the stakes were raised when Uzbekistan beat Kuwait in the day's earlier Group A match for a second successive victory.

Ahmed netted a goal in each half to leave the group poised for an exciting finale, with Uzbekistan on six points, China and Qatar on three and Kuwait yet to register -- but still in with a chance of going through.

Qatar, seeking to reach the knockout stage for only the second time, will face Middle Eastern rivals Kuwait at the same venue on Sunday.

An ominous sign ahead of the 2022 World Cup?

Uzbekistan, quarterfinalists for the past two tournaments, take on two-time runners-up China at Al Gharafa Stadium also in the capital.

The tournament hosts lost 2-0 to Uzbekistan last Friday, but bounced back well to defeat a Chinese side who won by the same margin against Kuwait.

Striker Ahmed broke the deadlock in the 27th minute with a superb right-foot volley after China's defense could not deal with a long ball forward.

The 22-year-old made it safe in first-half injury-time when he did well to turn on the edge of the penalty area and slide a low shot past the despairing dive of goalkeeper Zeng Cheng.

Uzbekistan triumphed 2-1 to leave Kuwait needing a miracle to qualify for the last eight, as captain Server Djeparov scored a spectacular 65th-minute winner from long range.

Bader Al Mutawa had leveled the score with a penalty four minutes after halftime when substitute Hamad Nayef was fouled by Anzur Ismailov.

Iran versus Iraq in images

Four minutes before the break, Uzbekistan fortuitously took the lead when Makism Shatskikh's freekick deflected off teammate Azizbek Haydarov and past Kuwait keeper Nawaf Al Khaldi.

Uzbekistan coach Vadim Abramov believes his 108th-ranked team can continue to cause surprises at the tournament.

"I hope Uzbekistan will be champion in this tournament, but there are many other good teams here so it will be difficult, but I hope it will be Uzbekistan," he told the Asian federation's website.

"We must look at the next game and think because some players have yellow cards, so we must check our situation. I have a plan to play China. But first I need to check the situation."

And also...

Football: Kuwait lodge Asian Cup protest against Aussie ref

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_sports/view/1103637/1/.html

DOHA: The Kuwait Football Association (KFA) on Sunday made an official complaint about Australian referee Benjamin Williams, who oversaw their 2-0 defeat by China in their opening Asian Cup group game.

Williams showed Kuwait left-back Mesad Nada a straight red card in the first half of Monday's Group A game here, after the defender kicked out at Chinese forward Yang Xu.

He also rejected a strong Kuwaiti penalty appeal in the first half and refused to award a goal when China goalkeeper Yang Zhi fumbled the ball on his line early in the second period.

Kuwait coach Gordan Tufegdzic criticised Williams' performance in his post-match press conference and on Sunday KFA president Sheikh Tala Fahad Al Sabah revealed that a complaint had been made against the official.

"The mistakes made by the referee were effective and were made in a biased way," Al Sabah claimed in a statement on the KFA website.

"If the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has forgotten about the CV of the Australian referee, I will slightly refresh their memory.

"We all know that he made disastrous mistakes in the match between China and Malaysia in the recent Asian Games (when three Malaysian players were sent off).

"Also, he committed obvious mistakes in the match between Al Sadd (Qatar) and Najaf (Iraq) four years ago. Al Sadd protested on his re-appointment for another match a year later.

"What happened in the match against China is not acceptable and would not occur in street matches."

The Kuwait national team were involved in one of the most famous protests in the sport's history during a 4-1 defeat by France in the group stage of the 1982 World Cup in Spain.

Mistakenly believing they had heard the referee's whistle prior to a France goal, the Kuwait players were ordered to leave the field by then KFA president Sheikh Fahid Al Ahmad Al Sabah, who stormed onto the pitch.

Soviet referee Miroslav Stupar subsequently disallowed the goal, but later lost the right to referee international matches, while Al Sabah received a 10,000-dollar fine.

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Massive match between the Socceroos and Korea tonight. Given the jitters of some other high ranked nations so far in this tournament, it's becoming likely we'll see at least one of these teams (more than likely Korea) in the final.

Watched the game and was very entertained as well as pleased with the performance of the Socceroos. It was stressful watching the way the ROK team were able to use the short ball and get out of tight space, but on the other hand there was no feeling that the 'Roos couldn;t come back. In all honesty ity should have been 3-2 for Australia what with Cahill being shoved off the ball in the box in the first half (deserved an elf meter for sure) and Kewell pulling his shot to the right of the goal in the first half, whereas if it weren't for dead set legend Schwartzer the taegun Warriors could have scored in the second half.

I'm certainly enjoying the coaching of Holger Osieck as well (even though he seems to have given up on the likes of Scotty McDonald and Josh Kennedy forming the striking pair upfront, using Cahill and Kewell). Unlike Pim's team this Australian outfit shows it can attack and it can go forward without the long ball.

By the way, if anyone doubts the ability of Qatar to deliver a decent WC atmosphere all the proof is there right now. Seeing half empty stadia with variable quality of barracking shows how hard it will be to convert the air conditioned digital monstrosities into real football arenas with true passion and true excitement for a cosmopolitan global fanbase. Roll on Australia 2015.

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Ok i used to get most of the info from the thread in Skyscrapercity but it appears it has been closed (probably because some trolls didn't knew where was the 2022 thread :lol: ). Anyway i found a couple of news from Yahoo

Iran beat NKorea to reach Asian Cup last eight

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/15012011/2/iran-beat-nkorea-reach-asian-cup-eight.html

* Well-taken goal sinks dour Koreans

* Iran top group

* Squad shrugs off flu bug

Iran qualified for the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup after a well-taken goal from Karim Ansari Fard gave them a 1-0 win over a dour North Korea side at the Qatar Sports Club on Saturday.

Ansari Fard flicked home the winner after 63 minutes of a largely uninspired game, riddled with mistakes from both sides, who largely cancelled each other out in a tedious midfield war of attrition.

Iran, who have now won both their matches and are seeking a first Asian Cup title since 1976, were the better team throughout but their midfield fulcrum of Javad Nekonam and Pejman Nouri rarely found the right pass.

The one occasion they did led to the only goal when Nouri crossed perfectly from the right and the unmarked Ansari Fard scored.

Iran top the group with six points, followed by the United Arab Emirates and North Korea, who both have one point. UAE were playing champions Iraq, who lost to Iran in their opening match, later.

Iran coach Afshin Ghoutbi, whose squad have been hit by a flu bug this week, was forced to make four changes from the side that beat Iraq, but thought his team had taken the lead after 28 minutes.

Ansari Fard held off a challenge from Korean defender Ri Jun-il, and fired in a well-taken shot, but the linesman flagged for handball.

Referee Nawaf Shukralla disallowed the goal then booked Ansari Fard for protesting although TV replays failed to show any infringement.

North Korea, who drew 0-0 with United Arab Emirates in their opening match, were, as expected, largely content to defend in numbers but they had two good scoring chances.

The first came after 17 minutes when striker Jong Tae-se smacked a powerful 25-metre free-kick straight at goalkeeper Mahdi Rahmati who could only parry the shot although the follow -up effort was smacked high over the bar.

The second came in stoppage time at the end of the second half when Hong Yong-jo's fierce drive hit the top of the bar.

However, most of the entertainment coming from North Korea's camp was from about 200 fans, almost all of whom were identically dressed in white shirts and ties.

But even their choreographed moves and chants dried up as the match failed to produce any real entertainment apart from the goal.

Despite the attendance has been dissapointing, at least the organization is doing well so far

Organizers satisfied after first week of Asian Cup

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/362490,organizers-satisfied-asian-cup.html

Doha - Although just over a week has been played at the Asian Cup, organizers are already saying it has been a success.

The competitions director of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Tokuaki Suzuki, told German Press Agency dpa that they were very pleased.

"We are very satisfied with the standard of the performance of the teams. Most of the matches have been very exciting and the teams have used positive play.

"The spectators love Asian football and the atmosphere in the stadiums has been good.

"Sometimes we still need more spectators, but generally speaking we are very happy with the atmosphere of the spectators in the stadium.

"In terms of the match organization on the pitch I think it is almost perfect. It is very well controlled in terms of kick-off times. In fact, all the match organization is very, very good."

Suzuki said that organizers had set themselves the goal of hosting the best-ever Asian Cup. "Our target is not only an excellent competition in terms of the Asian level, we are looking at the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Champions League and Euro level.

"We want to do it on the same level as FIFA and UEFA and we believe we can achieve that."

He said that even though the standard of play has been very high, that was one of the aspects, where there was room for improvement.

"The Asian level is not in the top level in the world. It is in the middle, but with teams like Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia and the other countries we have potential.

"We need to improve our technical standard, but we believe we can make it."

Suzuki said that the organizers had noted the special effort Qatar was making with security. "There have been proper security arrangements, sometimes they are very strict, but we have to make sure that everybody is protected."

The oil-rich Gulf country will be hosting the 2022 World Cup and Suzuki believes the Asian Cup is ideal to test the waters for the World Cup.

"Organization-wise I think they are ready but in terms of other things, including the spectators, there needs to be improvements. But we have the time and they will be ready for the World Cup 2022."

"I think it has been a successful trial run and it is definitely a good competition for the Qataris to learn about international competitions."

"We need to improve a lot, but we have the confidence to do it. Some of the concerns are that we need to have the facilities that are in line with FIFA regulations and then there needs to be enthusiasm from the fans.

"Possibly we need more hotels, but I am confident that everything will be in place for the World Cup in 2022."

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Group A has been decided today. Uzbekistan and Qatar have made it (after Qatar defeated Kuwait by 2-0 and Uzbekistan-China ended in a 2-2 Draw) and they will play the quarter finals, while Kuwait and China are disqualified from the tournament.

Group B will be decided tomorrow with Saudi Arabia vs Japan and Jordan vs Siria. Japan is currently on the first place of their group, being followed by Jordan with the same number of points (4 pts) with one victory and one draw as well.

Things are not looking good for Qatar since they will have to face Japan in Quarter Finals. The other probably quarter-final match is Jordan vs Uzbekistan.

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Group A has been decided today. Uzbekistan and Qatar have made it (after Qatar defeated Kuwait by 2-0 and Uzbekistan-China ended in a 2-2 Draw) and they will play the quarter finals, while Kuwait and China are disqualified from the tournament.

Group B will be decided tomorrow with Saudi Arabia vs Japan and Jordan vs Siria. Japan is currently on the first place of their group, being followed by Jordan with the same number of points (4 pts) with one victory and one draw as well.

Things are not looking good for Qatar since they will have to face Japan in Quarter Finals. The other probably quarter-final match is Jordan vs Uzbekistan.

Would definitely expect the Blue Samurai to knock off the Qataris (and hence probably kill any hope for decent crowds for the rest of the tournament). As for Jordan Vs Uzbekistan I'd be normally thinking the Uzbeks would be up there however Jordan have definitely punched above their weight at this championship.

Right now if I was going to postulate on the quarter finals (with some personal bias thrown in) I'd suspect we'd see the two games Ikarus has cited with Japan and probably Uzbekistand going through to the semis whilst in the other half of the draw perhaps South Korea Vs Iran (assuming the ROK team doesn't win Group C) and Australia Vs Iraq (can't see either the Bahrainis or North Koreans springing a surprise and qualifying for the 1/4 finals). If this scenario plays out then the South Korea Vs Iran game would be a big challenge and very hard to pick.

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The Blue Samurais have crushed Saudi Arabia 5-0 while Jordan defeated Syria by 2-1, thus defining the Group B. Japan qualifies to the quarter finals as first of the group, with 7 points, and they will face Qatar this friday.

Meanwhile, the other quarter-final match is gonna be Uzbekistan vs Jordan. Group C will be decided tomorrow and Australia will play with Bahrain (so far its most likely they will qualify as firsts of their group) while India has been already disqualified. The runner up of Group C will be South Korea.

I'm already predicting a Australia vs Iraq match in quarter-finals.

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The Blue Samurais have crushed Saudi Arabia 5-0 while Jordan defeated Syria by 2-1, thus defining the Group B. Japan qualifies to the quarter finals as first of the group, with 7 points, and they will face Qatar this friday.

Meanwhile, the other quarter-final match is gonna be Uzbekistan vs Jordan. Group C will be decided tomorrow and Australia will play with Bahrain (so far its most likely they will qualify as firsts of their group) while India has been already disqualified. The runner up of Group C will be South Korea.

I'm already predicting a Australia vs Iraq match in quarter-finals.

The Saudis have really fallen away badly these AFC Championships...to get thrashed 5-0 by Japan is simply woeful. Something must be really really crook in the world of Saudi football, and whilst sacking the coach after the first game is probably a contributing factor to be humbled and destroyed in your final match of the tournament shows simply no guts and no pride. On the other hand this will give Japan a fantastic boost going into the next round. Right now the Qataris must be crapping themselves.

As for tonight's games the questions I think is will ROK score enough goals to knock off the disadvantage they have in for and against versus Australia, and how will Bahrain be able to keep back an Australian team that is playing to win. Bahrain let two goals in against India and are not the same side that barely missed qualification for the last two world cups, whilst the Socceroos are looking a better unit now than they were for almost all of 2010. The injuries are a worry but the replacements (Valieri and North) should slot in well.

And a pat on the back to Jordan for doing so well...unlike wannabes like China, Kuwait and the Saudis they've got out of the group stage when there were probably few expectations that they would.

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Well Group C is done and the Socceroos have topped the group. South Korea couldn't break down the goal difference enough and so as you've suggested Ikarus looks like it'll be Australia Vs Iraq and ROK vs Iran as the next round.

Have to hand it to Bahrain and India; for teams going out they both played quite well, and there were moments in tonights game when the Bahrainis looked like they could draw. And India must be pleased to come away with 3 goals and certainly surpassing the Saudis in terms if leaving at the knock out stage.

Have to admit the concern I gave fir the Socceroos is the problems on injury and suspension front. Carney, Wilkshire and Culina may well be out for at least the next game and Emerton definitely is gone from the quarter final.

Again tonights crowd at the Australua Vs Bahrain was very weak...Couldn't even get to 4000. Considering the supporters were mostly Bahraini and the proximity and wealth of the two countries why couldn't more fans turn up? If Bahrainis can't muster the numbers to get to Qatar how will 2022 be with crowds from further afield countries possibly unwilling go travel?

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Ok, Quarter Finals have been decided and just as Ikarus and I projected it's as follows:

Qatar Vs Japan

Jordan Vs Uzbekistan

Australia Vs Iraq

South Korea Vs Iran

Right now you'd have to say that Japan and possibly Australia and Uzbekistan are the more likely winners whilst the ROK/Iran game will be very close. Aside from the Saudi's miserable failure the AFC Cup has gone to plan.

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Ok, Quarter Finals have been decided and just as Ikarus and I projected it's as follows:

Qatar Vs Japan

Jordan Vs Uzbekistan

Australia Vs Iraq

South Korea Vs Iran

My prediction

Japan

Uzbekistan (perhaps 0-0 but a win in extra time or penalties)

Australia (1-0)

Iran

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