AP Community

Happy 6th Birthday Ani-Pock!

2011-02-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Here's how Ani-Pock used to look: (left = 2005, middle = 2006, right = 2007)

A screenshot of 2008 and 2009 should be here, but I cannot locate them on my hard drive. Anyone got a full page screen cap for those years?

Current late 2010/2011 mini redesign:

Tomorrow

2011-02-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

Asian Cup Final!

2011-01-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

The final Asian Cup match between Australia and Japan resulted in the fourth time the finals have gone to Extra Time ... which was a fitting finale for Japan's Fourth Cup.

Watching this game, Australia didn't display the attacking force they used for their 6 - 0 win over Uzbekistan, instead it reminded me of the passive play, Paraguay displayed against Japan during the 2010 World Cup.

Japan had possession majority of the time, but was stifled by Australia's Man-to-Man defense which resulted with Australia having the majority of shots on goal.

Some claim "Bad Luck", was the Australians down-fall, while others praise Japan's resolve... either way, it was "Dynamite Lee", that secured the goal.

CSKA Moscow Midfielder Keisuke Honda was named Tournament MVP, Korea Republic's Koo Ja-cheol's five goals won him the Golden Boot, and Korea Republic also won the Fair Play Award.

Unfortunately the fairy tale final and preview of 2022 World Cup had a black cloud hanging over it as

thousands of ticket holders were denied entry.

Japan Football Association president Junji Ogura feels that the future is very bright for his country’s national team after they claimed their record fourth AFC Asian Cup title on Saturday.

Semi-Final and the fight for 3rd place

2011-01-28T13:37:00.001-08:00

Semi-Final to help out Flood victims

Doha: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Qatar Football Association (QFA) have decided to donate the ticket revenue from the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ semi-finals, which will take place on Tuesday, January 25, to the flood victims of Australia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
A joint statement issued by AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam and QFA President Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed Al Thani called for joining hands to alleviate the suffering of the flood-stricken in the three Asian countries.

The statement: “Our thoughts and wishes go to all those who suffer in our fellow Asian Nations of Australia, Thailand and Sri Lanka, recently struck by flooding and national disasters.

"It is the joint decision of the Asian Football Confederation and the Qatar Football Association/Qatar Local Organising Committee for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™, to offer the proceeds of tomorrow’s Semi Final matches of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ to a disaster relief fund in order to help those affected.

"Our condolences are offered to those who have lost their loved ones during these tragic events.”

Besides helping flood victims, the AFC with their "Dream Asia School Challenge" is trying to bring the international community closer.

The children who played for their respective school teams came from various nationalities namely African, American, Bangladeshi, Canadian, European, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Qatari and Sri Lankan.

Despite coming from certain nationalities, the young players get to play for school teams that represent nations other than their own, a unique experience that further drives home the harmonious global village idea, one of the messages that the School Challenge aims to deliver to the students and their communities.

The Dream Asia School Challenge has been applauded as a way to instill positive values.

“It is going to be a good chance for children to know and understand harmony, mutual understanding and social cohesion by playing together with various international friends.

“The Dream Asia School Challenge programme will elaborate on the value of these timeless principles,” said the educator.

Well, enough about the positive effects international sports... on to the matches!

Japan vs South Korea.

These 2 Asian Powerhouses have a long standing rivalry that exceeds the sporting field and plays into electronics, entertainment, and even politics... But even with all that, Japan and South Korea both hoped their match would've been for the finals.

South Korea is one of the most successful teams in the AFC with multiple appearances in the later stages of the tournaments and out of the last 44 meetings between these two, South Korea has won 34 of them.

Japan is a 3 time Champion, and has a secret weapon lined up... It's Yasuyuki Konno 28th Birthday.

Uzbekistan vs Australia.

Uzbekistan won their debut in the 1994 Asian games, but have failed to achieve further results till now.

Australia recently moved from Oceanic to Asia and failed to achieve much in 2007, but the team promises not to repeat their mistakes.

___________________________

3rd Place!

AFC Dream Asia School Challenge will be the highlight during the half-time break and with the top 3 teams automatically securing their spot for the 2015 AFC in Australia, Uzbekistan will be trying desperately to make up for their 6-0 loss against Australia.

South Korea has been in this spot many times before (3 3rd place finishes)

The AFC final between Australia and Japan will be a World First for the Television Audience.

An audience of over 100 million can expect a world-first in terms of television coverage on Saturday as a 51-camera platform will beam live the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ final match between Australia and Japan.

Check your local listings, Australia's "Socceroos" and Zaccheroni's "AC Japan", promises a good match-up.

Japan Knocked out Australia in their debut during the 2007 Asian Cup, but Australia believes it has the form and confidence to prevent Japan from capturing their 4rth Asian Cup.

Asian Cup Semi-Final Break

2011-01-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

The Quarter Finals have been decided with all games looking pretty close.

#	Date	Match	Venue	Result
25	21 January 2011 16:25	JAPAN-QATAR	Al-Gharafa Stadium	3:2
26	21 January 2011 19:25	UZBEKISTAN-JORDAN	Khalifa Stadium	2:1
27	22 January 2011 16:25	AUSTRALIA-IRAQ	Al-Sadd Stadium	1:0ET (1:0)
28	22 January 2011 19:25	I.R. IRAN-KOREA REPUBLIC	Qatar Sports Club Stadium	0:1ET (0:1)

Here`s some Highlights.

Japan vs Qatar:

Uzbekistan vs Jordan:

Australia vs Iraq:

Iran vs Korea Republic:

*For other highlights, post game interviews and such, check out the AFC Asian Cup`s Channel on YouTube and of course, the AFC site.

The Semi-Finals start on th 25th.

#	Date	Match	Venue
29	25 January 2011 16:25	JAPAN-KOREA REPUBLIC	Al-Gharafa Stadium
30	25 January 2011 19:25	UZBEKISTAN-AUSTRALIA	Khalifa Stadium

Asian Cup Quarter Final Action!!

2011-01-20T15:33:00.000-08:00

The Quarter Finals are set to take place with the top 2 teams from each group advancing.

Group A

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
UZBEKISTAN	3	2	1	0	6	3	3	7
QATAR	3	2	0	1	5	2	3	6
CHINA P.R.	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
KUWAIT	3	0	0	3	1	7	-6	0

Group B

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
JAPAN	3	2	1	0	8	2	6	7
JORDAN	3	2	1	0	4	2	2	7
SYRIA	3	1	0	2	4	5	-1	3
SAUDI ARABIA	3	0	0	3	1	8	-7	0

Group C

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
AUSTRALIA	3	2	1	0	6	1	5	7
KOREA REPUBLIC	3	2	1	0	7	3	4	7
BAHRAIN	3	1	0	2	6	5	1	3
INDIA	3	0	0	3	3	13	-10	0

Group D

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	+/-	Pts
I.R. IRAN	3	3	0	0	6	1	5	9
IRAQ	3	2	0	1	3	2	1	6
DPR KOREA	3	0	1	2	0	2	-2	1
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES	3	0	1	2	0	4	-4	1

3 time winner, Japan will start off the Quarter Finals taking on the Host team, Qatar, followed by Uzbekistan vs. Jordan.

Australia takes on current Champions Iraq as 3 time Champion, Iran sets against Korea Republic.

AFC Asian Cup Action!

2011-01-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

The Asian Cup is run by the Asian Football Confederation with the winning team becoming the Asian Champions and automatic qualification for FIFA`s Confederation Cup.

First some history...

Most successful national teams

Team	Champions	Runners-up	Third-place	Fourth-place
Saudi Arabia	3 (1984, 1988, 1996)	3 (1992, 2000, 2007)	-	-
Iran	3 (1968, 1972, 1976)	-	4 (1980, 1988, 1996, 2004)	1 (1984)
Japan	3 (1992*, 2000, 2004)	-	-	1 (2007)
South Korea	2 (1956, 1960*)	3 (1972, 1980, 1988)	3 (1964, 2000, 2007)	-
Israel #	1 (1964*)	2 (1956, 1960)	1 (1968)	-
Kuwait	1 (1980*)	1 (1976)	1 (1984)	1 (1996)
Iraq	1 (2007)	-	-	1 (1976)
China PR	-	2 (1984, 2004*)	2 (1976, 1992)	2 (1988, 2000)
United Arab Emirates	-	1 (1996*)	-	1 (1992)
India	-	1 (1964)	-	-
Myanmar^	-	1 (1968)	-	-
Chinese Taipei	-	-	1 (1960)	1 (1968)
Hong Kong	-	-	1 (1956*)	1 (1964)
Thailand	-	-	1 (1972*)	-
Vietnam	-	-	-	2 (1956,1960)
Bahrain	-	-	-	1 (2004)
Cambodia	-	-	-	1 (1972)
North Korea	-	-	-	1 (1980)

This years Asian Cup is hosted by Qatar, which gives a bit of a preview for Qatar hosting the 2022 World Cup.

AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 Promotional Video

Yalla Asia!! (Official AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 Music Video)

AFC Asian Cup 2011 Qatar Opening Ceremony

AFC Asian Cup 2011 Unveiling of the Mascots

The 2011 Asian cup comes complete with a whole family of Mascots... and quite a few cute and colourful promos.

``The AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ will feature 16 of the best teams in Asia, vying for a truly international title...

The teams took different paths to the Finals with six of them, including hosts Qatar, not taking part in the qualifiers.

Ten sides took the qualifying route, thrilling millions of fans across the world. ``

Road to the Finals

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Qatar	Saudi Arabia	Korea Rep.	Iraq
Kuwait	Japan	India	DPR Korea
China	Jordan	Australia	UAE
Uzbekistan	Syria	Bahrain	Iran

Happy Holidays

2010-12-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

Hey!
Its that time of year where gifts are given from one friend to another, where people set aside their differences to have a good time.
I don't really have much to say (its my first happy holiday post after all), but from a member who should really get on more often, Happy Holidays.

Enjoy some 8-bit holiday music!

2010 World Cup Final!

2010-07-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

The 2010 World Cup has been a great one of making history...

from first goals on foreign soil, to first wins, to first World Cups...

Soon, the "haters" and "nay-sayers" to the World's most popular sport will have to find something new to complain about...

But, what is it they are complaining about?

The Vast majority of games have aired during my working hours, so I had complaints about that, yet the same can be said in many other places... in Japan the matches aired in the late evenings and extreme early mornings, and viewer ratings for Japan's entrance to the round of 16 was around 50%. In North America matches aired from early morning to early afternoon, and when Team USA entered the round of 16 viewer ratings were around 4%.

4%... well, some of the matches were during "normal" business hours, so the low ratings make sense... but since its during "normal" business hours, its not like the matches are taking up Prime Time Time Slots... Oh well...

Some people even went as far as saying people should watch a "man's game" like the NFL...

Big Manly Men wearing layers and layers of protective gear... yup, no worries about getting kicked full force in the groin, head or elsewhere... The NFL only caters to 1 country and isn't even on during World Cup season... try something else...

Baseball or even Cricket can make a better comparison. The World Baseball Classic (2013) at least caters to 24 countries vs World Cup's 32, the Cricket World Cup is the third largest World Tournament that at least airs to 200 countries...

Some people even say "You can keep your soccer/football! The US DOMINATES at everything else!"...

Ok, now we know where the negative comments have been coming from...

Let's see... Baseball dominated by Japan (only team to win World Baseball Classic), Cricket has been Australia's game since '99, Hockey? Can you say "O' Canada"?

Since I can't think of any other World Sports, how about the Olympics? ... Yup, that's Canada, again...

If Canadian players didn't leave to play for other countries, Canada might even have a decent Soccer team... which would make 76% of Canadians very happy, which is evident considering Soccer is the most played sport in Canada (thought it was Hockey, didn't you?), and on the same day as the third place match was "Soccer Nation Day" in Canada...

Well, I've gone on and on with the stuff that no one would read, so I'll just stop...

Semi-Finals

Uruguay may have had the World Cup history behind them (holds more cups than England) and even the "Hand of GoD" (Luis Suarez' handball that saved against Ghana), but Netherlands had a 24 game unbeaten record to maintain...

Netherlands won 3 - 2 Uruguay, unfortunately for Uruguay, the "Hand of GoD", Luis Suarez, was suspended so Uruguay was without their "secret goalie", BUT with goals by Uruguay's Forlan and Netherlands' Sneijder, the competition for the "Golden Boot" has been heating up. Uruguay fought hard till the last minute... the 93rd minute to be exact, but wasn't enough for the spot in the finals...

Germany and Spain... With Germany's decisive win over Argentina, and Spain's 1 point win over Paraguay, it was hard to believe that history would repeat itself... shades of the 2008 Euro Cup, Germany lost to Spain... I guess the "Mikey Curse" wasn't powerful enough to counter the psychic powers of Paul the Octopus.

Third Place Match

Uruguay vs Germany

From predicting Germany's loss to Spain, Paul, the psychic Octopus, has been getting many "sushi threats". The Germans want to eat him, and the Spaniards want to save him... Well in an effort to redeemed himself, Paul, spent 15minutes going back and forth between the two teams and finally picked Germany for the win.

I had the pleasure of watching the game with our resident star-shaped Strawberry, both of us cheering for Paul's predicted winner...

Many of Germany's players didn't care for the third place match and others suffered "flu-like symptoms"... even Klose who was close (ha ha?) to leaders of the Golden Boot sat out and gave room for Thomas Mueller's return from suspension. (that kept him out of play against Spain).

Nice back and forth game, no red cards, 12 corners for Germany, 6 for Uruguay, just about even possession... as always... a Beautiful Game.

The Main Event!

Netherlands vs Spain

Spain has the chance to do something only half a country has done previously before... Win the World Cup as the European Champions (West Germany Euro '72 and World '74), but Netherlands is still trying to maintain their winning streak. Both teams have players in the running for the "Golden Boot", David Villa for Spain and Wesley Sneijder for Netherlands, and those same player are even in the running for the "Golden Ball" award...

Both teams going for their first cup win, I'm not sure who to cheer for!

David Beckham wants to see Spain win, Paul predicts Spain as well... I almost feel like cheering for Netherlands just because they are the underdog...

Who are you cheering for? Who will win? What to watch for?

We'll soon find out on July 11th!

*As always, don't forget to click the links for highlights, the goals, and even some nifty moves!

Semi-Final Action

2010-07-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

The World Cup that has captured the attention of the world is soon coming to an end with just 4 teams left in the running, 3 European and 1 South American.

Africa lost its lone representative Ghana, in a hard fought match against Uruguay in the second Penalty Shoot-out of the tournament.

One of the most surprising results was Brazil's loss to the Netherlands... Like it or not, "diving" is a part of the game... not a pretty part... but at least the pretty Netherlands fans make up for the Ugly team play...

I don't foresee Netherlands needing to "dive" against Uruguay... hopefully they keep it clean.

With all the trash talk between Argentina's and Germany's coaches, and Maradona mistake of thinking one of Germany's players was a ball-boy, one would expect more fireworks for that match... but, with Messi still scoreless, Germany's youth won out in a convincing way.

Paraguay's boring "Play not to lose" defensive style, kept Spain to a 0-0 draw for the majority of the game, even after disallowed goals, penalty kicks and even a re-do on Spain's penalty kick... the game looked as though it was going to extra time... not if David Villa has anything to say about it.

Spain and Germany's match looks to be another rematch from 2008 Euro Cup final...

If you think Spain is going to go for the cup, the only team that won the Euro and then World Cup is West Germany, Euro '72 then World '74,

on the reverse angle would be France with World '98 then Euro '00.

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Semi-finals

Quarter-finals

Round of 16

1:2 a.e.t. (1:1, 0:1)

1:1 a.e.t. (1:1, 0:1) 4:2 PSO

L61

[63] 10/07

L62

W61

[64] 11/07

W62

World Cup Break...

2010-07-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

Oh... Its the break between the Round of 16 and Semi-Finals...

Both the teams I was rooting for at the end of the last round... lost...

I remember 4 years ago being at Kawage Beach in Suzuka, Mie, celebrating various things all in one day... it was Honda day, Canada Day, and Big Celebration for Team Portugal knocking out England... I sure lost a lot of English friends that day... but partying with the tons of Brazilians, and few Americans, Canadians, Ukrainians and Japanese...

I think it was a good trade (o^-')b.

Since both Portugal and England are already out...

what else can we celebrate today...?

Oh... Canada!

HappY Birthday Canada!

Quarter Final Time!

2010-06-29T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Quarter Finals are soon upon us (starting July 2nd)... and what a Round of 16 it's been!

Some disappointments, some cheers, and even a penalty shoot-out! (DoH!)

To those teams that made it this far, "Congratulations!",

To those that are departing... "Thanks for the entertainment. You're a credit to your countries, and I hope you're recognized as such."

To my favourites that were eliminated on the first and last day of the Round of 16... "Blame Mikey!"

There was a lot of hard fought battles, with South American countries clearly with the advantage...

4 South America, 3 Europe, 1 Africa...

As a fan of World Competitions, I was hoping there would be more representatives from other areas... better luck next time.

Uruguay went undefeated during the Group stage, drawing only once to France. La Celeste looks to Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan to continue it's winning streak.

Ghana has tasted Win, Loss and Draw during the group stage, but as the last representatives of Africa, Black Stars' Kevin Prince Boateng, and Asamoah Gyan hope to keep the crowds cheering.

Argentina left the group stage in dust winning all their games. La Albiceleste isn't just about Maradona and Messi... Higuain, Tevez... there whole team is a threat.

Germany may have the second youngest team, but looks to its energetic youthful star studded line-up of Lahm, Klose, Mueller, Boateng... and too many others to name for another run for the cup, especially after coming SO close time and time again. (2nd 2002, 3rd 2006, 2nd 2008 Euro).

Netherlands have often been accused of lacking a "Super Star"... the one singular force driving the team... If you ask me, The Oranje don't need one. Attacks can come from any side, although none of the Group Stage matches have been over-powering, I'm sure they'll put up a good fight.

Brazil is the team all other teams feared to compete against. A Seleção may not have advanced with the same record as Netherlands, but with Kaka back in the line-up leading Fabiano, Robinho, and Maicon (to name a few), Netherlands will have their hands full.

Paraguay... winners of "Easy Block 2" (Group F, not to be confused with "Easy Block 1", Group C), and victors of the first shoot-out of the cup. (DoH!)

Spain as the 2008 Euro Cup Champions, La Roja were the heavy favourite (before Brazil). David Villa has woken up and has been playing rather consistent taking out the high scoring Portugal to advance to the Quarter Finals.

Quarter-Final action starts in July... check your local listings for times and availability.