AP Community: January 2011

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Asian Cup Final!

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.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Semi-Final and the fight for 3rd place

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.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Asian Cup Semi-Final Break

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

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Asian Cup Quarter Final Action!!

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.

Friday, January 7, 2011

AFC Asian Cup Action!

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)