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QUARTERLY<br />
THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE ASIAN FOOTBALL CONFEDERATION<br />
ISSUE 7<br />
PALESTINE<br />
AFC Challenge Cup win<br />
finalises AFC Asian Cup<br />
Australia 2015 line-up<br />
ISSUE<br />
7June 2014<br />
BRAZIL<br />
BOUND<br />
Asia’s four-way<br />
challenge for the<br />
FIFA World Cup<br />
kicks off<br />
PLUS<br />
SAUDI ARABIA<br />
Elections and reforms mean<br />
a new era is underway for<br />
one of the continent’s<br />
powerhouse nations<br />
HONG MYUNG-BO<br />
Korea Republic coach<br />
gears up for the<br />
challenges facing his<br />
young team in Brazil<br />
PUNE FC<br />
Youth is no obstacle<br />
as ambitious Indian<br />
club target domestic<br />
and continental glory<br />
ANGE POSTECOGLOU<br />
Australia coach rings the<br />
changes as Socceroos prepare<br />
to usher in new generation at<br />
FIFA World Cup
CONTENTS<br />
QUARTERLY<br />
Issue No. 7<br />
June-September 2014<br />
Official quarterly publication of the<br />
Asian Football Confederation<br />
Published on behalf of the Asian<br />
Football Confederation by World<br />
Sport Group<br />
Asian Football Confederation<br />
AFC House, Jalan 1/155B, Bukit Jalil<br />
5700 Kuala Lumpur<br />
Malaysia<br />
Tel: +603 8994 3388<br />
Fax: + 603 8994 2689<br />
www.the-afc.com<br />
18 – FIFA WORLD CUP SPECIAL<br />
AFC Quarterly shines the spotlight on Asia’s<br />
teams at the 2014 FIFA World Cup featuring<br />
exclusive interviews with the coaches of<br />
Japan, Australia, Korea Republic and Iran.<br />
46 – RAVSHAN IRMATOV<br />
Four-time AFC Referee of the Year Ravshan<br />
Irmatov prepares for his second spell of<br />
FIFA World Cup duty, as the experienced<br />
Uzbek official heads to Brazil this summer.<br />
18<br />
FIFA WORLD CUP SPECIAL<br />
50 – IN FOCUS: SAUDI ARABIA<br />
Asian powerhouse Saudi Arabia has<br />
lain dormant in recent years but<br />
sweeping changes promise<br />
a return to their former glory.<br />
54 – CLUB FOCUS: PUNE FC<br />
Trailblazing club Pune FC are setting the<br />
standard for Indian professional football<br />
on and off the field in a remarkable seven<br />
years of progress since their formation.<br />
60 – AFC ASIAN CUP UPDATE:<br />
PALESTINE’S AFC CHALLENGE CUP TRIUMPH<br />
Jamal Mahmoud’s men seal historic victory in the Maldives as the<br />
West Asian side go undefeated in the AFC Challenge Cup to<br />
claim the final place in AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015.<br />
President:<br />
Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa<br />
Vice Presidents:<br />
Zhang Jilong<br />
HRH Prince Abdullah Ibni Sultan<br />
Ahmad Shah<br />
Yousuf Yaqoob Yousuf Al Serkal<br />
Moya Dodd<br />
Ganesh Thapa<br />
FIFA Vice President:<br />
HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein<br />
FIFA Executive Committee<br />
Members:<br />
Dato’ Worawi Makudi<br />
Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa<br />
AFC Executive Committee<br />
Members:<br />
Dr Hafez Al Medlej, Richard Lai, Zaw<br />
Zaw, Mahfuza Akhter Kiron, Praful<br />
Patel, Kohzo Tashima, Ganbold<br />
Buyannemekh, Ali Azim, Sayyid<br />
Khalid Hamed Al Busaidi, Makhdoom<br />
Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, Winston<br />
Lee, Dr Tran Quoc Tuan, Susan<br />
Shalabi Molano, Han Un-gyong<br />
General Secretary:<br />
Dato’ Alex Soosay<br />
Managing Editor:<br />
Michael Church<br />
Editor:<br />
Andrew Mullen<br />
Regular Sections<br />
14 – In the News 70 – AFC Women’s Asian Cup<br />
64 – AFC Champions League 72 – AFC Futsal Championship<br />
66 – AFC Cup<br />
74 – Inside AFC<br />
69 – AFC President’s Cup Qualifiers 78 – Great Grounds of Asia<br />
Deputy Editor:<br />
Daniel Pordes<br />
Designer:<br />
David Chung<br />
Photos:<br />
World Sport Group, Agence SHOT,<br />
Adnan Hajj Ali, Getty Images<br />
Any views expressed in AFC<br />
Quarterly do not necessarily<br />
reflect those of the Asian Football<br />
Confederation. The reproduction of<br />
photos and articles – even partially –<br />
is prohibited unless permission has<br />
been sought from the editors and a<br />
reference is made to the source.
AFC PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE<br />
Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa<br />
AFC President<br />
Dear friends,<br />
Every four years football fans everywhere turn their attention to what is maybe the world’s<br />
greatest sporting spectacle, the FIFA World Cup.<br />
All of us in the Asian football family are also fans of the beautiful game and I will be following<br />
the tournament enthusiastically with a particular interest in Australia, Iran, Japan and Korea<br />
Republic, who I am confident will represent Asia with pride, passion and in the spirit of fair play.<br />
With the AFC Asian Cup 2015 on the horizon it will be interesting to see what impact their<br />
experiences at the World Cup finals might have on their build up to next year’s Asian flagship<br />
tournament.<br />
Before we enjoy the fiesta of football that Brazil 2014 promises to be, we will have conducted<br />
the AFC Extraordinary Congress where we will continue our journey of reform and innovation in<br />
an atmosphere of unity, mutual respect and constructive dialogue.<br />
During my time in office I have already seen considerable improvements as we continue to<br />
work hand-in-hand with our member associations to develop the Asian game.<br />
I was particularly pleased with the number of our Member Associations that embraced AFC<br />
Grassroots Day with 29 countries officially declaring their commitment to marking the occasion.<br />
This is more than double the number who celebrated it in 2013, AFC Grassroots Year, and<br />
reflects the growing importance our MAs are giving to grassroots football. As always, the AFC<br />
will continue to support our member associations and provide them with the support and<br />
resources they need to develop the game in their country.<br />
Strategic and sustainable development is one of the cornerstones of success and as an<br />
example of this we need to look no further than Japan, who have recently won the AFC Futsal<br />
Championship and the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.<br />
Women’s football in Asia is most definitely on the rise and it is one of the many areas that the<br />
AFC has been, and will continue to be, developing alongside our member associations now<br />
and in the future.<br />
Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa <br />
AFC President<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 5
AFC General Secretary’s MESSAGE<br />
Dato’ Alex Soosay<br />
AFC General Secretary<br />
Dear friends,<br />
There is no question that the FIFA World Cup is one of the biggest and most eagerly<br />
anticipated sporting spectacles – so not surprisingly Brazil 2014 dominates this edition of AFC<br />
Quarterly.<br />
Not only are Asia’s four representatives profiled in depth we also have conducted exclusive<br />
interviews with the four head coaches giving us an interesting insight into the views of<br />
individuals who are leading sides at the very highest level of world football.<br />
One nation that has participated regularly at the FIFA World Cup is Saudi Arabia and while they<br />
failed to make it this time round they remain one of Asia’s most successful nations at club and<br />
international level. AFC Quarterly shines the spotlight on the three-time AFC Asian Cup winners<br />
in our regular Member Association feature.<br />
For our club feature we head to India to profile Pune FC while we also recap what has been an<br />
action-packed few months of Asian football with the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, the AFC Futsal<br />
Championship and the group stage of the AFC President’s reviewed along with our regular<br />
updates on the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup.<br />
We have always been proud of our referees and our top officials stand shoulder-to-shoulder<br />
with the best in the world.<br />
An example of this is four-time AFC Referee of the Year Ravshan Irmatov, who can list the<br />
2011 AFC Asian Cup final and the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa<br />
amongst his list of accomplishments. For more insights into the career of the popular Uzbek<br />
referee be sure to read the exclusive interview in this edition of the AFC Quarterly.<br />
Our quarterly publication represents only a small window of the quality and character prevalent<br />
in all areas of our football and I would like to thank you all for your continuing support of the<br />
Asian game.<br />
Dato’ Alex Soosay <br />
AFC General Secretary<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 7
Gallery<br />
Champion<br />
Line-Up<br />
Defending champions<br />
Guangzhou Evergrande<br />
qualified for the quarterfinals<br />
of the AFC<br />
Champions League,<br />
which will take place<br />
in August, alongside<br />
five former continental<br />
champions after beating<br />
Japan’s Cerezo Osaka in<br />
the Round of 16 in May.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 9
Gallery<br />
Immediate<br />
Impact<br />
Despite only being<br />
appointed in March after<br />
leading Saudi Arabia to<br />
the final of the inaugural<br />
AFC U-22 Championship<br />
earlier this year, coach<br />
Khalid Al Koroni helped<br />
two-time winners Al<br />
Ittihad qualify for the<br />
quarter-finals of the AFC<br />
Champions League for a<br />
seventh time.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 11
Gallery<br />
Hat-Trick<br />
For Japan<br />
Defending champions<br />
Japan edged out 10-time<br />
winners Iran on penalties<br />
to win a third AFC Futsal<br />
Championship title in<br />
Vietnam at the start<br />
of May, with the final<br />
taking place at Phu Tho<br />
Stadium in Ho Chi Minh<br />
City.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 13
IN THE NEWS<br />
Challenge Cup Joy<br />
for Palestine<br />
PALESTINE COMPLETED THE LINE-UP FOR THE AFC ASIAN CUP AUSTRALIA 2015<br />
AFTER BEATING THE PHILIPPINES IN THE AFC CHALLENGE CUP FINAL IN MAY<br />
TO JOIN DEFENDING CHAMPIONS JAPAN, JORDAN AND IRAQ IN GROUP D.<br />
Guangzhou to face Western<br />
Sydney In ACL Quarter-Finals<br />
THE DRAW FOR THE QUARTER-FINALS OF THE 2014 AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE,<br />
WITH THE TIES SET TO TAKE PLACE IN AUGUST, SEES LIPPI’S HOLDERS<br />
TAKE ON TOURNAMENT DEBUTANTS WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS<br />
Ashraf Al Fawaghra scored<br />
the only goal as Palestine<br />
recorded a 1-0 win over the<br />
Philippines in the final of<br />
the AFC Challenge Cup to<br />
become the 16th and final<br />
qualifier for the AFC Asian<br />
Cup Australia 2015.<br />
Al Fawaghra crucially netted his fourth<br />
goal of the campaign a minute before the<br />
hour mark at the National Stadium in Male as<br />
Palestine completed an unbeaten campaign in<br />
the Maldives without conceding a goal.<br />
And with the winner of the final edition of<br />
the AFC Challenge Cup also securing the final<br />
berth at the AFC Asian Cup, Palestine will join<br />
defending champions Japan, Jordan and Iraq<br />
in Group D in Australia next year.<br />
“This was a historic match and a historic<br />
achievement,” said Palestine coach Jamal<br />
Mahmoud.<br />
“We had experience in the last Challenge<br />
Cup when we made mistakes and we took<br />
that experience for this championship.”<br />
And with Al Fawaghra’s final strike lifting<br />
the striker above Maldives captain Ali Ashfaq<br />
at the top of the goal scoring charts to claim<br />
the top scorer accolade, team-mate Murad<br />
Said ensured a clean sweep of the individual<br />
awards as the midfielder was named the<br />
tournament’s MVP.<br />
Both sides had reached the final with<br />
unbeaten records after Palestine topped<br />
Group A ahead of the Maldives, while their<br />
fellow 2012 semi-finalists the Philippines<br />
had edged out SAFF champions Afghanistan<br />
in Group B.<br />
Al Fawaghra then scored twice as<br />
Palestine beat Afghanistan 2-0, while Chris<br />
Greatwich netted the extra-time winner as<br />
the Philippines edged out the Maldives 3-2<br />
to eliminate the home side.<br />
But despite beating Palestine in the third<br />
place play-off at the 2012 AFC Challenge<br />
Cup, the Philippines fell short of building on<br />
back-to-back semi-final appearances at the<br />
last two editions of the AFF Championship.<br />
“My task was to win the Challenge<br />
Cup and I didn’t,” said Philippines coach<br />
Thomas Dooley, who was only appointed in<br />
February.<br />
“But on the other hand, I was trying to<br />
build something with the team and I think we<br />
did a pretty good job through to the final, so<br />
I think this team has a bright future.”<br />
The Maldives were able to recover from<br />
their semi-final defeat by the Philippines<br />
to claim third place after edging out<br />
Afghanistan 8-7 on penalties following a 1-1<br />
draw after extra-time.<br />
Reigning champions<br />
Guangzhou Evergrande will<br />
take on Australia’s Western<br />
Sydney Wanderers in the<br />
quarter-finals of the 2014<br />
AFC Champions League as<br />
Marcello Lippi’s team seek<br />
to become only the second<br />
side to successfully retain the title.<br />
Guangzhou, who became the first Chinese<br />
club to win the title when they defeated FC<br />
Seoul in last year’s final, travel to Australia for<br />
the first leg on August 20 before hosting the<br />
19/08/14<br />
Al Hilal (KSA) vs Al Sadd (QAT)<br />
26/08/14<br />
Al Sadd (QAT) vs Al Hilal (KSA)<br />
return fixture week later.<br />
The winners will face opposition from<br />
Korea Republic after Pohang Steelers and FC<br />
Seoul were drawn to face one another, setting<br />
up the prospect in the semi-finals of a repeat<br />
of the 2013 final when Guangzhou defeated<br />
FC Seoul on the away goals rule.<br />
“Western Sydney are a very competitive<br />
team and we have lost one game in Australia<br />
already this year. They’re a good team and,<br />
even though they’re younger than all the other<br />
teams, we will still have to prepare well.” said<br />
Guangzhou captain and reigning AFC Player<br />
19/08/14<br />
Al Ain (UAE) vs Al Ittihad (KSA)<br />
26/08/14<br />
Al Ittihad (KSA) vs Al Ain (UAE)<br />
QUARTER-FINALS DRAW<br />
20/08/14<br />
Pohang Steelers (KOR) vs FC Seoul (KOR)<br />
27/08/14<br />
FC Seoul (KOR) vs Pohang Steelers (KOR)<br />
of the Year Zheng Zhi.<br />
In the western half of the draw, Saudi<br />
Arabia’s Al Ittihad, the only team to win<br />
back-to-back AFC Champions League titles<br />
when they did so in 2004 and 2005, meet<br />
inaugural winners Al Ain of the United Arab<br />
Emirates in the quarter-finals in a re-run of<br />
the 2005 final won by Al Ittihad.<br />
Al Hilal, another former continental<br />
champion, take on 2012 winners Al Sadd<br />
from Qatar with the Saudi side hosting<br />
the first leg at the King Fahd International<br />
Stadium.<br />
20/08/14<br />
Western Sydney Wanderers (AUS) vs<br />
Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN)<br />
27/08/14<br />
Guangzhou Evergrande (CHN) vs Western<br />
Sydney Wanderers (AUS)<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 15
IN THE NEWS<br />
Tough Draw For<br />
Defending U-19 Champions<br />
Defending champions Korea Republic will face<br />
Japan, China and Vietnam in a strong Group<br />
C at the AFC U-19<br />
Championship in<br />
Myanmar in October.<br />
Hosts Myanmar<br />
have been drawn in<br />
Group A alongside Iran,<br />
neighbours Thailand and Yemen, with 2012<br />
semi-finalists Uzbekistan and Australia<br />
joined in Group B by the United Arab<br />
Emirates and Indonesia.<br />
And Group D will comprise of 2012<br />
runners-up Iraq, DPR Korea, Qatar and<br />
Oman.<br />
“It is really surprising that we face Japan and Group A Myanmar • Iran • Thailand • Yemen<br />
China in the group stages,” said Korea Republic<br />
Group B Uzbekistan • Australia • UAE • Indonesia<br />
coach Kim Sang-ho.<br />
“It’s a tough one to prepare for since all the big Group C Korea Republic • Japan • China • Vietnam<br />
East Asian sides are in Group C so there is no Group D Iraq • DPR Korea • Qatar • Oman<br />
other way than to prepare yourselves right for the<br />
tournament.<br />
“The three teams in the group will be analysed thoroughly in<br />
advance and our focus will be on improving on any weakness in<br />
training.<br />
“At this level there are no favourites and all the participating sides<br />
are difficult opposition so the only way to<br />
come out on top is by preparing well and<br />
working on details,” he added.<br />
“It’s more pressure as we are the<br />
defending champions but the aim this<br />
time around is also clear: win it another<br />
time.<br />
“Qualifying for the FIFA U-20 World<br />
Cup is important but our first aim is to be<br />
champions again.”<br />
The 16-nation competition will be<br />
staged at Yangon’s Youth Training<br />
Centre Stadium and Nay Pyi Taw’s<br />
Zeyar Thiri Stadium, with the top four finishers<br />
qualifying for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in<br />
New Zealand.<br />
“First and foremost, everything is possible in<br />
football so the draw for us is not so cruel,” said<br />
Myanmar coach Gerd Zeise. “Our first target<br />
is to see off the group stage and we have realistic chances of doing<br />
this with huge home support for our side. At home, we can stun the<br />
big boys.”<br />
Jayapura Test For Kuwait SC<br />
Defending AFC Cup champions Kuwait SC will<br />
take on Indonesia’s Persipura Jayapura in the<br />
quarter-finals of the 2014 tournament following<br />
May’s draw in Kuala Lumpur as the Gulf side<br />
chases a record fourth title.<br />
Kuwait SC have claimed the crown on three<br />
occasions in the last five seasons, first winning<br />
the title in 2009 before claiming back-to-back<br />
successes in 2012 and 2013.<br />
Standing in their way of<br />
advancing to the semi-finals once<br />
again will be the Indonesian Super<br />
League champions, who reached<br />
the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup in<br />
2011.<br />
“It’s a good draw for us, we’re<br />
happy with it. Kuwait SC have<br />
more experience than us but we<br />
will do our best,” said Jayapura<br />
representative Rocky Bebena.<br />
“We have experience of playing<br />
in the Middle East from 2009 when<br />
we went to Arbil and we only lost 1-0<br />
there. So we’re not concerned about<br />
the travel.<br />
19/08/14<br />
Hanoi T&T (VIE) vs Arbil (IRQ)<br />
26/08/14<br />
Arbil (IRQ) vs Hanoi T&T (VIE)<br />
19/08/14<br />
XM Vissai Ninh Binh (VIE) vs Kitchee (HKG)<br />
26/08/14<br />
Kitchee (HKG) vs XM Vissai Ninh Binh (VIE)<br />
QUARTER-FINALS DRAW<br />
“Our target this year was to win the Indonesia Super League<br />
and to reach the semi-finals of the AFC Cup, and if we do that we<br />
will be the first Indonesian team to go that far. We’re confident we<br />
can do well, even though it will be tough.”<br />
Should Kuwait SC advance, they could potentially face<br />
fellow Kuwaiti side Qadsia SC in the semi-finals in a re-match<br />
of the 2013 final after last year’s runner-up were drawn to face<br />
Bahrain’s Al Hidd in August’s quarter-finals.<br />
Arbil, who lost to Kuwait SC in the 2012 final, will take on<br />
Vietnam’s Hanoi T&T with<br />
either Hong Kong’s Kitchee or<br />
Vietnam’s XM Vissai Ninh Binh<br />
awaiting in the semi-finals.<br />
The first leg of the quarterfinals<br />
will be played on August<br />
19, with the return fixtures taking<br />
place a week later.<br />
The semi-finals will be played<br />
on a home-and-away basis on<br />
September 16 and 30, with the<br />
final to be played as a one-off<br />
game on October 18, to be<br />
hosted by the side that emerges<br />
from the quartet of Hanoi, Arbil,<br />
Ninh Binh and Kitchee.<br />
19/08/14<br />
Qadsia SC (KUW) vs Al Hidd (BHR)<br />
26/08/14<br />
Al Hidd (BHR) vs Qadsia SC (KUW)<br />
19/08/14<br />
Kuwait SC (KUW) vs Persipura Jayapura (IDN)<br />
26/08/14<br />
Persipura Jayapura (IDN) vs Kuwait SC (KUW)<br />
Japan Lift Maiden AFC<br />
Women’s Asian Cup Title<br />
AZUSA IWASHIMIZU SCORED THE ONLY GOAL IN THE FINAL AS WORLD<br />
CHAMPIONS JAPAN CLAIMED A FIRST-EVER AFC WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP CROWN<br />
AT THE END OF MAY AFTER EDGING OUT DEFENDING CHAMPIONS AUSTRALIA.<br />
World champions<br />
Japan won the<br />
AFC Women’s<br />
Asian Cup title for<br />
the first time in<br />
May after edging<br />
out defending<br />
champions<br />
Australia 1-0 in the final in Ho Chi Minh City.<br />
Having fallen short at the semi-final stage<br />
in both 2008 and 2010, Azusa Iwashimizu’s<br />
first half header ended Japan’s wait for their<br />
maiden continental title having made their first<br />
appearance at the tournament in 1977.<br />
Japan finished the tournament with an<br />
unbeaten record after topping a group that<br />
included Australia, debutants Jordan and<br />
hosts Vietnam before eliminating China with a<br />
dramatic extra-time winner in their semi-final.<br />
“As a team we really wanted to win this<br />
title,” said captain and midfield playmaker<br />
Aya Miyama.<br />
“This is the best feeling I have now, after<br />
all the effort we have done in this campaign.”<br />
Despite their final defeat, Australia had<br />
already secured their qualification for the<br />
2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup alongside<br />
Japan, China, Korea Republic and Thailand.<br />
“With the way we performed today and<br />
in the competition as a whole it makes me<br />
extremely proud of the team,” said Australia<br />
coach Alen Stajcic following the final defeat<br />
at Thong Nhat Stadium.<br />
“We fought to the death, never gave<br />
up and the effort from our players was<br />
fantastic.”<br />
Eight-time champions China had suffered<br />
an agonising 2-1 loss to Japan in in the<br />
semi-finals after conceding in the last<br />
seconds of extra-time through Iwashimizu,<br />
but the Steel Roses recovered to claim third<br />
place after recording a 2-1 win over Korea.<br />
“Winning the game and coming third does<br />
of course bring more promotion to women’s<br />
football in China, but we have a longer term<br />
goal than just qualifying for the World Cup,”<br />
said China coach Hao Wei.<br />
“With better results in the future we can<br />
aim to win games even in the final of the<br />
World Cup.”<br />
Thailand claimed a first-ever place at the<br />
Women’s World Cup after their 2-1 victory<br />
over Vietnam in the fifth place play-off<br />
secured qualification for next year’s event in<br />
Canada.<br />
Two-time AFC Women’s Player of the Year<br />
Miyama, meanwhile, was named MVP of the<br />
tournament while Korea striker Park Eun-sun<br />
claimed the top scorer honour after netting<br />
six goals.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 17
PREVIEW: FIFA WORLD CUP<br />
PRIDE<br />
OF ASIA<br />
JAPAN, IRAN, AUSTRALIA<br />
AND KOREA REPUBLIC<br />
TRAVEL TO BRAZIL TO<br />
REPRESENT ASIA AT THE<br />
FIFA WORLD CUP, AIMING<br />
TO BREAK NEW GROUND<br />
FOR THE CONTINENT.<br />
By: Michael Church Photos: World Sport Group/Getty Images<br />
From the tropical north,<br />
into the Amazonian basin<br />
and down to the country’s<br />
temperate southern coast,<br />
Brazil – the home of the<br />
five-time world champions<br />
and of ‘joga bonito’ –<br />
holds the destiny of Asia’s<br />
quadrennial challenge for glory at the<br />
FIFA World Cup.<br />
Once again, four nations – Japan, Iran,<br />
Australia and Korea Republic – will carry<br />
the hopes of the entire continent into the<br />
cauldron of competition, aiming to show<br />
to the world that Asia’s game continues to<br />
move forward at pace.<br />
The quartet have all been on the<br />
biggest stage before, at one time or<br />
another, and Brazil 2014 will see them<br />
attempt to build on their performances in<br />
the past as they aim to make their mark at<br />
the greatest show of them all.<br />
The memories of South Africa 2010<br />
remain freshest, but Asia’s performances<br />
at the FIFA World Cup have seen a steady<br />
trajectory upwards in the years since the<br />
continent was first represented at the<br />
global championship.<br />
Back in 1938 –16 years before<br />
the founding of the Asian Football<br />
Confederation – Asia was represented at<br />
the World Cup for the first time, the Dutch<br />
East Indies, the precursor to modern-day<br />
Indonesia, taking part in France, only to<br />
lose their solitary game, against Hungary.<br />
It was a modest beginning for Asian<br />
football, and it set an initial precedent as<br />
it highlighted the gap that existed in those<br />
early years between the continent and the<br />
pinnacle of world football.<br />
Korea Republic, too, returned home in<br />
a chastened mood when they appeared at<br />
their first FIFA World Cup in Switzerland<br />
in 1954, but it was their northern<br />
counterparts DPR Korea who 12 years<br />
later first proved footballers from the<br />
continent could hold their own against the<br />
elite.<br />
The now famous tale of Pak Do-ik and<br />
his team-mates handing Italy a 1-0 defeat<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 19
PREVIEW: FIFA WORLD CUP<br />
ASIA AT THE FIFA WORLD CUP<br />
Year Hosts Representatives Round Results<br />
Year Hosts Representatives Round Results<br />
1938 France Dutch East Indies First Hungary 6 Dutch East Indies 0<br />
1954 Switzerland Korea Republic Group Hungary 9 Korea Republic 0<br />
Turkey 7 Korea Republic 0<br />
Korea Republic Group Korea Republic 2 Poland 0<br />
Korea Republic 1 United<br />
States 1<br />
Portugal 0 Korea Republic 1<br />
1966 England DPR Korea Group Soviet Union 3 DPR Korea 0<br />
Chile 1 DPR Korea 1<br />
DPR Korea 1 Italy 0<br />
Quarter-Final<br />
Portugal 5 DPR Korea 3<br />
1978 Argentina Iran Group Netherlands 3 Iran 0<br />
Scotlan d 1 Iran 1<br />
Peru 4 Iran 1<br />
Round of 16<br />
Korea Republic 2 Italy 1(aet)<br />
Quarter-Final<br />
Spain 0 Korea Republic 0<br />
(3-5 pens)<br />
Semi-Final<br />
Germany 1 Korea Republic 0<br />
Third Place<br />
Korea Republic 2 Turkey 3<br />
1982 Spain Kuwait Group Czechoslovakia 1 Kuwait 1<br />
France 4 Kuwait 1<br />
England 1 Kuwait 0<br />
Saudi Arabia Group Germany 8 Saudi Arabia 0<br />
Cameroon 1 Saudi Arabia 0<br />
Saudi Arabia 0 Ireland 3<br />
1986 Mexico Korea Republic Group Argentina 3 Korea Republic 1<br />
Korea Republic 1 Bulgaria 1<br />
Italy 3 Korea Republic 2<br />
Japan Group Japan 2 Belgium 2<br />
Japan 1 Russia 0<br />
Tunisia 0 Japan 2<br />
at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough is one of<br />
the legends of the FIFA World Cup, as is the<br />
story of Eusebio’s hat-trick in the resultant<br />
quarter-final against DPR Korea that saw<br />
Portugal end Asian hopes and break Korean<br />
hearts with a spectacular come-from-behind<br />
5-3 win.<br />
And it would not be until 1994 in<br />
the United States that another Asian<br />
side would progress to the knockout<br />
rounds of the FIFA World Cup.<br />
Iran, Kuwait, Korea Republic,<br />
Iraq and the United Arab Emirates<br />
all appeared at the finals from<br />
1978 through to 1990, exiting the<br />
competition at the end of the group<br />
stages.<br />
Saudi Arabia, however, finally<br />
bucked that trend and ushered in a<br />
new era.<br />
Saaed Owairan became part<br />
of FIFA World Cup lore after he<br />
slalomed his way through the Belgium<br />
defence on the way to scoring the goal that<br />
secured the Gulf nation a place in the last 16<br />
having earlier defeated Morocco.<br />
A 3-1 defeat at the hands of a Sweden<br />
side that would go on to finish third overall<br />
brought their run to an end, but it was a<br />
precursor of things to come.<br />
By 2002, Asian football was firmly<br />
establishing itself on the global stage, not<br />
only on the field of play but in terms of holding<br />
key events as Korea Republic and Japan<br />
co-hosted the FIFA World Cup, the continent’s<br />
first.<br />
The pair’s performances on home soil<br />
matched the auspicious occasion as Japan<br />
advanced to the Round of 16 in only their<br />
second ever appearance at the FIFA World<br />
Cup, while the Koreans surpassed all<br />
expectations, falling in the semi-finals to<br />
Germany.<br />
The same two nations would impress again<br />
in South Africa in 2010, with both reaching<br />
the Round of 16 before the Japanese lost to<br />
Paraguay in a penalty shootout while Uruguay<br />
edged the Koreans by virtue of two goals from<br />
Luis Suarez.<br />
The results made history once more,<br />
marking the first time either nation had<br />
reached the knockout phase on<br />
foreign soil and the first time two Asian<br />
countries had advanced to the Round<br />
of 16 outside the continent.<br />
Now, as the FIFA World Cup<br />
prepares to kick-off in Brazil, another<br />
chapter in Asia’s World Cup history is<br />
ready to be written.<br />
Iran will be aiming to progress to<br />
the knockout phase for the first time<br />
in what will be their fourth FIFA World<br />
Cup, while Japan and Korea Republic<br />
will strive to build on their successes in<br />
South Africa.<br />
Australia, with a young squad and<br />
drawn in the toughest of groups, will be<br />
looking as much to the future and the nation’s<br />
hosting of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 in<br />
January next year.<br />
All four carry the hopes and expectations of<br />
the Asian game on their shoulders, and each<br />
one of the quartet will no doubt strive to do<br />
Asia proud.<br />
Iraq Group Paraguay 1 Iraq 0<br />
Iraq 1 Belgium 2<br />
Iraq 0 Mexico 1<br />
1990 Italy United Arab Emirates Group UAE 0 Colombia 2<br />
West Germany 5 UAE 1<br />
Yugoslavia 4 UAE 1<br />
Korea Republic Group Belgium 2 Korea Republic 0<br />
Korea Republic 1 Spain 3<br />
Korea Republic 0 Uruguay 1<br />
1994 United States Korea Republic Group Spain 2 Korea Republic 2<br />
Korea 0 Bolivia 0<br />
Germany 3 Korea Republic 2<br />
Saudi Arabia Group Netherlands 2 Saudi Arabia 1<br />
Saudi Arabia 2 Morocco 1<br />
Saudi Arabia 1 Belgium 0<br />
Round of 16<br />
Sweden 3 Saudi Arabia 1<br />
1998 France Saudi Arabia Group Denmark 1 Saudi Arabia 0<br />
France 4 Saudi Arabia 0<br />
Saudi Arabia 2 South Africa 2<br />
Korea Republic Group Korea Republic 1 Mexico 3<br />
Netherlands 5 Korea<br />
Republic 0<br />
Belgium 1 Korea Republic 1<br />
Iran Group Yugoslavia 1 Iran 0<br />
United States 1 Iran 2<br />
Germany 2 Iran 0<br />
Japan Group Argentina 1 Japan 0<br />
Japan 0 Croatia 1<br />
Japan 1 Jamaica 2<br />
2002 Korea/Japan China Group China 0 Costa Rica 2<br />
Brazil 4 China 0<br />
Turkey 3 China 0<br />
Round of 16<br />
Japan 0 Turkey 1<br />
2006 Germany Iran Group Mexico 3 Iran 1<br />
Portugal 2 Iran 0<br />
Iran 1 Angola 1<br />
Japan Group Australia 3 Japan 1<br />
Japan 0 Croatia 0<br />
Japan 1 Brazil 4<br />
Korea Republic Group Korea Republic 2 Togo 1<br />
France 1 Korea Republic 1<br />
Switzerland 2 Korea<br />
Republic 0<br />
Saudi Arabia Group Tunisia 2 Saudi Arabia 2<br />
Saudi Arabia 0 Ukraine 4<br />
Saudi Arabia 0 Spain 1<br />
2010 South Africa Korea Republic Group Korea Republic 2 Greece 0<br />
Argentina 4 Korea<br />
Republic 1<br />
Nigeria 2 Korea Republic 2<br />
Round of 16<br />
Uruguay 2 Korea Republic 0<br />
Australia Group Germany 4 Australia 0<br />
Ghana 1 Australia 1<br />
Australia 2 Serbia 1<br />
Japan Group Japan 1 Denmark 0<br />
Netherlands 1 Japan 0<br />
Japan 3 Denmark 1<br />
Round of 16<br />
Japan 0 Paraguay 0<br />
(3-5 on pens)<br />
DPR Korea Group Brazil 2 Korea DPR 1<br />
Portugal 7 Korea DPR 0<br />
DPR Korea 0 Cote D’Ivoire 3<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 21
INTERVIEW: ALBERTO ZACCHERONI<br />
SAMURAI<br />
SERENITY<br />
JAPAN GO TO BRAZIL AS<br />
AFC ASIAN CUP HOLDERS<br />
AND HOPING TO BUILD<br />
ON THEIR RUN TO THE<br />
ROUND OF 16 IN SOUTH<br />
AFRICA IN 2010. ALBERTO<br />
ZACCHERONI SHARES<br />
HIS THOUGHTS ON THE<br />
TOURNAMENT WITH AFC<br />
QUARTERLY AND JAPAN’S<br />
AIM TO GO FURTHER<br />
THAN EVER BEFORE.<br />
By: Michael Church Photos: Agence SHOT<br />
Alberto Zaccheroni could<br />
not have hoped to<br />
make a greater impact<br />
in his first six months<br />
as Japan coach: as<br />
honeymoon periods go,<br />
the blissful afterglow<br />
that succeeded his<br />
appointment extended through a firstever<br />
win over Argentina followed by the<br />
reclaiming of the AFC Asian Cup title.<br />
Indeed, over the close to four years<br />
since the former AC Milan and Juventus<br />
coach took the reins, there have been<br />
relatively few bumps along the way. Late<br />
jitters delayed rather than derailed the<br />
quest for a fifth straight FIFA World Cup<br />
appearance while perhaps the only dip<br />
was the failure to pick up a point at the<br />
FIFA Confederations Cup.<br />
Qualification for Brazil 2014 was<br />
achieved with a degree of comfort<br />
and now, amid such relative serenity,<br />
Zaccheroni and the Samurai Blue are<br />
setting their sights on taking on – and<br />
beating – the world’s elite.<br />
“The goal is to reach the tournament<br />
in the best possible condition, both<br />
physically and mentally,” says Zaccheroni<br />
of the task ahead.<br />
“As a coach, I think that demonstrating<br />
we are a good team that plays attractive<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 23
INTERVIEW: ALBERTO ZACCHERONI<br />
football is our goal.<br />
“But the bottom line is that the results will<br />
determine the outcome of our performance<br />
at the World Cup, so surpassing the<br />
achievements reached in previous editions of<br />
the tournament is what we will aim at.”<br />
With Japan having previously reached the<br />
Round of 16 on two occasions – in 2002 on<br />
home soil and in South Africa four years ago<br />
– that means at least reaching the quarterfinals,<br />
a feat only previously achieved twice<br />
by Asian nations: DPR Korea in 1966 and<br />
Korea Republic, who reached the semi-finals<br />
when they co-hosted the tournament with the<br />
Japanese in 2002.<br />
Having been drawn in a group that<br />
features Cote D’Ivoire, Greece and Colombia,<br />
advancing to the knockout rounds will be no<br />
easy task for the Japanese, but Zaccheroni<br />
and his team are relishing the kick off when it<br />
comes.<br />
“The World Cup is a moment that the team<br />
and I have been waiting for, and we go to<br />
Brazil with great will and determination to do<br />
well,” says the Italian.<br />
“In my line of work, the possibility of<br />
working with the team daily for a relatively<br />
long period of time is extremely significant<br />
and crucial to the development of the team,<br />
so I will look to consolidate the groundwork<br />
that we have done to have a good run at the<br />
tournament.<br />
“I believe that the work that we have put<br />
into preparing for the competition has been<br />
very positive, and the whole staff is gearing up<br />
to give his best in all respective roles.”<br />
Stability has been a key component since<br />
the start of the Zaccheroni era and the Italian<br />
has steadily and consistently moved the team<br />
towards their goal in Brazil, starting with that<br />
win over the Argentinians and victory against<br />
Australia in the final of the AFC Asian Cup in<br />
Doha in January 2011.<br />
“Thinking back to the Asian Cup in Qatar,<br />
the first official competition after a few months<br />
in charge, it will remain a milestone of this<br />
experience,” says Zaccheroni of Japan’s<br />
record-breaking fourth continental title win.<br />
“Since the first day at training camp I felt<br />
how tight the team is, always finding the right<br />
balance from within. We didn’t have easy<br />
games – apart from a comfortable win against<br />
Saudi Arabia – due to cards and going behind<br />
early in the games, often finding it hard to get<br />
the result.<br />
“But the response I received from the<br />
players was extraordinary, both from the<br />
starting members and those who joined<br />
from the bench. The victory in the final, with<br />
a spectacular goal in extra time against<br />
Australia, confirmed all of this and gave<br />
us great confidence in going forward and<br />
qualifying for the World Cup.”<br />
Building on their regional success, now, is<br />
the target and friendly matches in November<br />
against the Netherlands and Belgium –<br />
which ended in a 2-2 draw and a 3-2 win<br />
respectively – have given Zaccheroni the<br />
belief his team is well equipped to handle the<br />
challenges that lie ahead.<br />
“The recent friendly games played in<br />
Europe against the Netherlands and Belgium<br />
have been very important and beneficial,” he<br />
says.<br />
“One of my biggest personal regrets is not<br />
to have been able to participate in the Copa<br />
America, however, the great competitions<br />
we experienced have helped us gain and<br />
develop information at a technical and<br />
strategic level that will be fundamental for the<br />
upcoming World Cup.<br />
“As a manager, the aim is to play the way<br />
we always do entertaining the crowds, having<br />
good conditions both physically and mentally<br />
to do so. Results wise we simply aim to reach<br />
higher than we did in previous editions of the<br />
tournament.<br />
“During the World Cup we will experience<br />
the highest levels of performance in<br />
international football, and we will look at our<br />
opponents with great respect but without fear.<br />
If our opponents are better than us, it will be a<br />
pleasure to shake their hands.”<br />
Zaccheroni’s contract with the Japan<br />
Football Association is due to expire at the<br />
end of the FIFA World Cup and, with the<br />
Italian fully focused on the task at hand<br />
in Brazil, he refuses to look beyond the<br />
tournament in South America.<br />
But since agreeing to take on the role at the<br />
end of August 2010, he has been impressed<br />
with the work ethic and technical ability of<br />
the Japanese, although his tenure has not<br />
been without its issues with key players such<br />
as Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa have<br />
spent significant time on the bench since<br />
joining AC Milan and Manchester United<br />
respectively.<br />
“It is important to recognise the small but<br />
existing lack of experience compared to one<br />
of the foreign world-class teams, an issue that<br />
has to be of fundamental consideration for the<br />
future,” says Zaccheroni of the few difficulties<br />
he has encountered.<br />
“When I first came to Japan, I was<br />
surprised by the quality of football in this<br />
country. Characteristics such as the desire<br />
to learn, a great attitude towards hard work,<br />
as well as the appreciation of roles and<br />
responsibilities typical of this country, and the<br />
great approach to teamwork, helped me live<br />
this extraordinary experience.<br />
“Thanks to the great efforts of the staff,<br />
and except a few recurring worries linked to<br />
transfers and the issue of distance, we were<br />
able to steadily follow and work with players<br />
playing overseas, primarily in the European<br />
leagues.”<br />
Japan kick off their World Cup campaign<br />
against Cote D’Ivoire in Recife on June 14<br />
before travelling to Natal to meet Greece on<br />
June 19 and then concluding their matches<br />
in Group C against Colombia in Cuiaba on<br />
June 24.<br />
Should they progress to the next phase,<br />
Zaccheroni and his team will face off against<br />
either the winners or runners-up from Group<br />
D in Recife or Rio de Janeiro.<br />
But the 61-year-old coach is not thinking<br />
any further ahead than the group stages for<br />
now.<br />
“We expect to challenge Cote D’Ivoire<br />
and Greece, two extremely entertaining<br />
teams,” says Zaccheroni.<br />
“They are two very different teams: the<br />
first with great athletic strength, and a very<br />
powerful offence, having world class players<br />
such as Didier Drogba, Gervinho and Yaya<br />
Toure, who all play in Europe at the highest<br />
levels.<br />
“Greece have a great structure and are<br />
well organised, their brand of football may<br />
be less spectacular, but it will be another<br />
difficult match.<br />
“As I have said before, I think Colombia<br />
has an edge, due to the quality of their<br />
players, including the bench.<br />
“Our strength is going to be in playing<br />
our own brand of football, taking the game<br />
to the opponent, taking advantage of our<br />
qualities without having to adjust to the<br />
other team.”<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 25
TEAM PROFILE: JAPAN<br />
FIFA World Cup Record<br />
Qualified: 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010<br />
Best Performance: Round of 16 - 2002 & 2010<br />
Best Result: 2010 - 3-1 v Denmark<br />
Wins: 4 Draws: 3 Losses: 7<br />
Formation 4-2-3-1<br />
FW Yoshito Okubo<br />
Alberto Zaccheroni takes the<br />
Asian champions to their<br />
fifth straight FIFA World Cup<br />
with the AFC Asian Cup<br />
holders targeting a place<br />
in the latter stages of the<br />
tournament after reaching<br />
the Round of 16 in South<br />
Africa four years ago.<br />
Japan’s performance in 2010 – they were<br />
knocked out on penalties by Paraguay – came<br />
despite a negative build-up to the tournament<br />
under Takeshi Okada and matters could not<br />
be more different ahead of their trip to Brazil.<br />
Zaccheroni’s team impressed at the FIFA<br />
Confederations Cup last year even if they<br />
failed to progress beyond the group stage,<br />
and expectations are high that the four-time<br />
continental champions will make their mark<br />
in a group featuring Cote D’Ivoire, Greece<br />
and Colombia.<br />
Their Italian coach has sprung few<br />
surprises in his selection, with only Yoshito<br />
Okubo’s inclusion – having not been picked<br />
by Zaccheroni for over two years - raising any<br />
questions, with the former Real Mallorca and<br />
Vfl Wolfsburg man having impressed over<br />
the last 18 months since joining Kawasaki<br />
Frontale.<br />
Having reached the knockout rounds twice<br />
– Japan were also eliminated in the Round<br />
of 16 on home soil by Turkey in 2002 – the<br />
goal will be a spot in the quarter-finals and the<br />
Samurai Blue will have great confidence in a<br />
squad that boasts a good balance of youth<br />
and experience.<br />
LMF Shinji Kagawa CMF Keisuke Honda RMF Shinji Okazaki<br />
CM Yasuhito Endo CM Makoto Hasebe<br />
LB Yuto Nagatomo<br />
CB Yasuyuki Konno<br />
CB Maya Yoshida<br />
RB Atsuto Uchida<br />
Makoto<br />
Hasebe<br />
Shinji<br />
Kagawa<br />
J<br />
apan captain Makoto<br />
Hasebe led the<br />
Samurai Blue to the<br />
AFC Asian Cup title in<br />
Qatar in 2011 and remains<br />
central to everything<br />
at the heart of Alberto<br />
Zaccheroni’s team. An<br />
astute passer whose play<br />
dictates the tempo of the<br />
team, Hasebe missed<br />
the latter stage of the<br />
Bundesliga season due to<br />
injury, but should be ready<br />
for action by the time the<br />
FIFA World Cup kicks off.<br />
M<br />
anchester United<br />
midfielder Shinji<br />
Kagawa will<br />
travel to Brazil seeking<br />
redemption after a<br />
disappointing season that<br />
has seen him slip down<br />
the pecking order at Old<br />
Trafford. Kagawa missed<br />
out on a place in the Japan<br />
squad for South Africa,<br />
but will be keen to not only<br />
make up for that missed<br />
opportunity but to underline<br />
his genuine class after a<br />
difficult two seasons since<br />
leaving Borussia Dortmund.<br />
GK Eiji Kawashima<br />
Keisuke<br />
Honda<br />
eisuke Honda<br />
emerged as<br />
KJapan’s talisman<br />
at the 2010 FIFA World<br />
Cup finals in South<br />
Africa, scoring in the<br />
wins over Cameroon and Denmark that saw the nation<br />
progress to the knockout phase of the tournament for<br />
the first time on foreign soil. A gifted presence in attack,<br />
Honda’s goals were key to Japan qualifying for Brazil<br />
2014.<br />
World Cup Schedule in Group C<br />
June 14 Japan v Cote D’Ivoire Recife<br />
June 19 Japan v Greece Natal<br />
June 24 Japan v Colombia Cuiaba<br />
Eiji Kawashima (Standard Liege, Belgium)<br />
Shusaku Nishikawa (Urawa Red Diamonds)<br />
Shuichi Gonda (FC Tokyo)<br />
Yuto Nagatomo (Inter Milan, Italy) <br />
Maya Yoshida (Southampton, England) <br />
Yasuyuki Konno (Gamba Osaka) <br />
Masahiko Inoha (Jubilo Iwata) <br />
Masato Morishige (FC Tokyo) <br />
Atsuto Uchida (Schalke 04, Germany) <br />
Hiroki Sakai (Hannover 96, Germany) <br />
Gotoku Sakai (Stuttgart, Germany)<br />
Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany) <br />
Squad<br />
Hotaru Yamaguchi (Cerezo Osaka) <br />
Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka) <br />
Toshihiro Aoyama (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) <br />
Hiroshi Kiyotake (Nuremberg, Germany) <br />
Keisuke Honda (AC Milan, Italy) <br />
Shinji Kagawa (Manchester United, England) <br />
Shinji Okazaki (Mainz 05, Germany) <br />
Yuya Osako (1860 Munich, Germany) <br />
Yoichiro Kakitani (Cerezo Osaka) <br />
Yoshito Okubo (Kawasaki Frontale) <br />
Manabu Saito (Yokohama F. Marinos)<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 27
INTERVIEW: Ange Postecoglou<br />
GENERATION<br />
NEXT<br />
AUSTRALIA TRAVEL TO<br />
BRAZIL WITH A YOUNG<br />
SQUAD AND WITH AT LEAST<br />
ONE EYE ON THE FUTURE AS<br />
THE COUNTRY PREPARES TO<br />
HOST THE AFC ASIAN CUP<br />
EARLY NEXT YEAR. COACH<br />
ANGE POSTECOGLOU<br />
SHARES HIS THOUGHTS<br />
WITH AFC QUARTERLY<br />
BEFORE MEETING SPAIN,<br />
THE NETHERLANDS AND<br />
CHILE IN GROUP B.<br />
By: Simon Hill Photos: World Sport Group/Getty Images<br />
Time has all but run out<br />
on Australia’s ‘Golden<br />
Generation’, the band<br />
of gifted players whose<br />
talents were honed<br />
overseas and who hit the<br />
heights of the Round of 16<br />
at the FIFA World Cup in<br />
Germany in 2006.<br />
The international careers of Mark Viduka<br />
and Harry Kewell ended several years<br />
ago, while the conclusion came more<br />
recently for the likes of Mark Schwarzer<br />
and Lucas Neill.<br />
Only Tim Cahill and Mark Bresciano<br />
of that fabled group of players remain<br />
as new coach Ange Postecoglou builds<br />
for the future, naming a squad for Brazil<br />
that leans as heavily on the domestic<br />
A-League as it does on the foreign clubs<br />
Australian players have traditionally made<br />
their home.<br />
After years of wondering when the<br />
regeneration of the Socceroos would<br />
begin, Australia’s national team is set to<br />
begin its rebirth in Cuiaba on June 13 as<br />
Postecoglou’s team kick off their FIFA<br />
World Cup 2014 campaign.<br />
Q: How difficult was the process<br />
of whittling down your squad for the<br />
World Cup<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 29
INTERVIEW: Ange Postecoglou<br />
A: I don’t know if it was difficult - once I had<br />
made my mind up on the direction I wanted to<br />
take, that made it clear. I had clear criteria - so<br />
the rest of it took care of itself.<br />
Q: Some of those who haven’t made it<br />
have been rather vocal in their criticism of<br />
you - does that disappoint you<br />
A: Not really - I guess there’s an<br />
understanding that I have made decisions that<br />
have affected people on a personal basis. I’ve<br />
been coaching long enough to know it is part<br />
of the job, and it’s my responsibility to make<br />
those decisions. Some take it well, others<br />
don’t.<br />
Q: Was the omission of Lucas Neill the<br />
hardest selection to make<br />
A: Most definitely. He has had a very<br />
distinguished career, and he believed he<br />
still had something to offer. I wanted to<br />
communicate my decision on a personal basis<br />
rather than publicly - I did that, so at least he<br />
had that understanding as to why.<br />
Q: The World Cup is very close now<br />
- is your feeling one of excitement, or<br />
apprehension<br />
A: Excitement definitely - we can’t lose<br />
sight of the fact that it’s going to be a fantastic<br />
experience for everyone involved. It’s a great<br />
tournament for our nation - and we’re not at<br />
the stage of our development where we can<br />
take World Cup’s for granted. From a personal<br />
perspective, although I’ve been busy in the<br />
last six months, it’s not been in a true football<br />
sense - I’m really looking forward to getting out<br />
on the training paddock and preparing.<br />
Q: Four years ago, Australia lost their<br />
opening World Cup game 4-0 to Germany,<br />
and were hammered in the media - how<br />
anxious are you to avoid that scenario<br />
against Chile<br />
A: That’s a fair call. Regardless of your<br />
expectations, that first game is always the<br />
important one - a good display and result<br />
eases the pressure. It can work to our<br />
advantage though - Chile are in the same<br />
boat, and they are expected to beat us. The<br />
pressure will be on all the teams.<br />
Q: Is it your intention to attack<br />
A: Definitely. I believe in that style of<br />
football - my intention is to be successful,<br />
and I think that’s the way to do it. You have to<br />
respect the opposition of course, but I want<br />
us to be a team that is proactive.<br />
Q: Injuries have really impacted upon<br />
the squad - Mile Jedinak the latest under<br />
a bit of a cloud - are you tempted to<br />
wrap him in cotton wool ahead of the<br />
tournament<br />
A: I don’t think you can do that - Mile had<br />
a setback, but I think we’d have given him a<br />
break anyway. I don’t think it will disrupt his<br />
preparation too much. He’s had an enormous<br />
English Premier League season, so he<br />
probably needs a break. The rest though,<br />
are all in decent condition to work pretty hard<br />
over the next period. With such a young<br />
group, I think that serves two purposes - to<br />
make training competitive, but also to ensure<br />
we do not miss anyone along the way. I have<br />
an idea of the core of the team - but there will<br />
still be some competition for places.<br />
Q: When you look at the players who<br />
haven’t made the squads of the likes of<br />
Brazil - Ronaldinho, Kaka, Lucas - does that<br />
give a fair reflection of what Australia is up<br />
against<br />
A: I am under no illusions as to what we’ll<br />
face - and this is where the excitement comes<br />
from. We’ll be testing ourselves against the<br />
very best - and we’re right amongst it. That’s<br />
what we love about this game.<br />
Q: Your former international team-mate,<br />
Paul Wade, said publicly that Australia are<br />
going to “get smashed” in Brazil - does that<br />
sort of defeatist talk annoy you<br />
A: I know Wadey pretty well - I played with<br />
him, and he’ll be cheering us on come Brazil,<br />
don’t worry about that. But we understand<br />
that expectations are low...and I hope that’s<br />
true of the opposition too. If people want to<br />
underestimate us, that’s fine.<br />
Q: Of the other Asian nations, who is<br />
best placed to make an impact<br />
A: I think it’s interesting that the Asian<br />
nations are going through a similar<br />
regeneration phase to us - the Koreans are<br />
taking only one player over the age of 30. So<br />
probably for this World Cup it’s the Japanese.<br />
I still believe we’re not far off having an<br />
Asian team make a massive impact on the<br />
World Cup - hopefully over the next couple of<br />
tournaments.<br />
Q: Moving onto the Asian Cup draw,<br />
which handed you another tough group -<br />
were Korea Republic the team you didn’t<br />
want<br />
A: It’s tough, but we want to do well - and<br />
being at home, that means trying to win it. To<br />
win trophies, you have to face the best. If we<br />
can get through the group strongly, it will mean<br />
we’ve played very well, and that could set us<br />
up really well for the knockout phase.<br />
Q: Do the performances of the A-League<br />
clubs in the AFC Champions League show<br />
that club football in Australia is improving<br />
A: No doubt. You’ve seen the progress of<br />
our clubs this year - and especially when you<br />
balance them against the conditions we face,<br />
the salary cap, having finals matches at the<br />
same time. More and more we are embracing<br />
the AFC Champions League as an important<br />
competition. If we see the same improvement<br />
next year, then we have the potential to<br />
become the best in our region.<br />
Q: In a nutshell, what is success for<br />
Australia over the next nine months<br />
A: The immediate one is the World Cup -<br />
an opportunity for us to get people excited<br />
about the direction we are heading in with<br />
great performances. If we do that, we can go<br />
into the Asian Cup to try and win the trophy.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 31
TEAM PROFILE: Australia<br />
Australia are making their<br />
third straight appearance at<br />
the FIFA World Cup finals,<br />
with the Socceroos securing<br />
their place in Brazil with<br />
victory over Iraq in Sydney<br />
in their final qualifying match<br />
last June.<br />
Ange Postecoglou was named head coach<br />
in October last year following the removal<br />
of Holger Osieck, who was sacked following<br />
back-to-back 6-0 losses against Brazil and<br />
FIFA World Cup Record<br />
Qualified: 1974, 2006, 2010<br />
Best Performance: Round of 16 - 2006<br />
Best Result: 2006 - 3-1 v Japan<br />
Wins: 2 Draws: 3 Losses: 5<br />
France in friendly fixtures last year, and<br />
the former Brisbane Roar coach has made<br />
sweeping changes.<br />
Veteran goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer,<br />
Australia’s most capped player, announced<br />
his retirement within hours of Postecoglou’s<br />
appointment while former AFC Player of<br />
the Year Sasa Ognenovski and ex-captain<br />
Lucas Neill were squeezed out of the<br />
squad.<br />
In their place has come a new generation<br />
of players towards whom the Australians<br />
will look for the future, with the FIFA World<br />
Cup the first step along a road that leads<br />
through the finals of the AFC Asian Cup,<br />
which Australia will host in January next year.<br />
Having being drawn in a difficult group<br />
alongside holders Spain, 2010 finalists<br />
the Netherlands and South American<br />
powerhouses Chile, the Socceroos will hope<br />
the experience of Tim Cahill, Mark Bresciano<br />
and Mile Jedinak coupled with the youthful<br />
promise of Tommy Oar and Mat Ryan can<br />
ensure a positive outcome in Brazil.<br />
Formation 4-3-3<br />
FW Matthew Leckie<br />
FW Tim Cahill<br />
FW Tommy Oar<br />
CMF Mile Jedinak<br />
CMF Mark Milligan CMF Mark Bresciano<br />
LB Jason Davidson CB Ryan McGowan CB Matthew Spiranovic RB Ivan Franjic<br />
Mile<br />
Jedinak<br />
Mat<br />
Ryan<br />
entral midfielder<br />
Mile Jedinak goes<br />
Cinto the FIFA World<br />
Cup finals off the back of<br />
an impressive season in<br />
the English Premier League<br />
with Crystal Palace, where<br />
his form was one of the<br />
key reasons the London<br />
club avoided relegation.<br />
Hard working and a tough<br />
tackler, Jedinak came to<br />
prominence during the AFC<br />
Asian Cup in 2011 and<br />
has been a fixture for the<br />
Socceroos since.<br />
G<br />
oalkeeper Mat Ryan<br />
has grown in stature<br />
sine leaving Central<br />
Coast Mariners in early<br />
2013 to join Club Brugge in<br />
Belgium, with his assured<br />
performances between<br />
the posts earning him<br />
the Belgium Pro League<br />
Goalkeeper of the Year<br />
award in his first full season<br />
and a starting berth under<br />
Ange Postecoglou following<br />
the retirement of Mark<br />
Schwarzer.<br />
GK Mat Ryan<br />
Tim<br />
Cahill<br />
eteran striker<br />
Tim Cahill will be<br />
Vappearing at his<br />
third straight FIFA World<br />
Cup and he remains<br />
one of the team’s most<br />
potent threats in attack, with his impressive aerial<br />
ability and talents on the ground. Cahill claimed<br />
Australia’s goal scoring record earlier in the year and<br />
the New York Red Bulls star will be keen to add to his<br />
tally in Brazil.<br />
World Cup Schedule in Group B<br />
June 13 Australia v Chile Cuiaba<br />
June 18 Australia v Netherlands Porto Alegre<br />
June 23 Australia v Spain Curitiba<br />
Squad<br />
Mathew Ryan (Club Bruges, Belgium)<br />
Mitchell Langerak (Borussia Dortmund, Germany)<br />
Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United)<br />
Jason Davidson (Heracles Almelo, Netherlands)<br />
Matthew Spiranovic (Western Sydney Wanderers)<br />
Ivan Franjic (Brisbane Roar)<br />
Bailey Wright (Preston North End, England)<br />
Ryan McGowan (Shandong Luneng, China)<br />
Alex Wilkinson (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Korea<br />
Republic)<br />
Oliver Bozanic (Luzern, Switzerland)<br />
Mark Bresciano (Al Gharafa, Qatar)<br />
James Holland (Austria Vienna, Austria)<br />
Mile Jedinak (Crystal Palace, England)<br />
Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory)<br />
Dario Vidosic (Sion, Switzerland)<br />
Matt McKay (Brisbane Roar)<br />
James Troisi (Atalanta, Italy)<br />
Massimo Luongo (Swindon, England)<br />
Tim Cahill (New York Red Bulls, United States)<br />
Matthew Leckie (FSV Frankfurt 1899, Germany)<br />
Tommy Oar (Utrecht, Netherlands)<br />
Ben Halloran (Fortuna Duesseldorf, Germany)<br />
Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets)<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 33
INTERVIEW: HONG MYUNG-BO<br />
NO FEAR<br />
NO REGRET<br />
LONG REGARDED AS<br />
ONE OF ASIA’S GREATEST<br />
PLAYERS, WHEN HONG<br />
MYUNG-BO WAS NAMED<br />
AS HEAD COACH OF THE<br />
KOREA REPUBLIC NATIONAL<br />
TEAM HE WAS SEEN AS<br />
FULFILLING HIS DESTINY.<br />
BUT, WITH JUST 12 MONTHS<br />
TO BUILD A TEAM FOR<br />
BRAZIL, HONG TELLS OF HIS<br />
HOPES FOR THIS SUMMER’S<br />
TOURNAMENT AND BEYOND.<br />
By: Michael Church Photos: World Sport Group<br />
The image is one of the<br />
most iconic in Asian<br />
football: Hong Myungbo<br />
wheeling away, arms<br />
stretched out, a look of<br />
sheer delight on his face<br />
as he celebrates netting<br />
the penalty that took Korea<br />
Republic into the semi-finals of the 2002<br />
FIFA World Cup.<br />
For millions of fans in Korea, and<br />
throughout Asia, it was an historic<br />
moment.The shootout win over Spain the<br />
first time an Asian team had progressed to<br />
the last four of the game’s greatest event,<br />
and the man pulling the trigger on that<br />
decisive penalty was, fittingly, one of the<br />
continent’s finest ever players.<br />
Twelve years on from captaining Guus<br />
Hiddink’s side to a remarkable fourth place,<br />
Hong is back in the unremitting glare of the<br />
FIFA World Cup spotlight; but where once<br />
he was calling the shots on the field, the<br />
45-year-old now has an altogether more<br />
challenging task at hand.<br />
Less than a year ago, Hong was handed<br />
the reins of the Korea Republic national<br />
team – a position many felt his destiny –<br />
after Choi Kang-hee stepped down having<br />
secured qualification for an Asian record<br />
eighth straight FIFA World Cup.<br />
Hong had been the overwhelming<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 35
INTERVIEW: HONG MYUNG-BO<br />
favourite to take over, not just for sentimental<br />
reasons but because he had steered the<br />
country to the bronze medal at the Olympic<br />
Games in London a year before.<br />
That success was the latest step in a<br />
steady, upward trajectory both for Hong as a<br />
coach and the impressive young generation<br />
of players he has led since serving as head<br />
coach of the country’s U-20 team; the same<br />
group of players he believes is bound for a<br />
bright future.<br />
“Based on my experience, I think this is a<br />
golden generation,” says Hong of the squad he<br />
will take to Brazil, where the Koreans will meet<br />
Russia, Algeria and Belgium in Group H.<br />
“After the 2012 Olympics, they developed<br />
a lot and it’s going to be the same in Brazil<br />
because, if they do their best at the World<br />
Cup, they will improve a lot. I strongly believe<br />
they are a golden generation who will go on to<br />
represent Korea for the next five, six or seven<br />
years.”<br />
Brazil 2014, Hong believes, is the next<br />
step towards creating a dynasty. The aim: to<br />
fashion a team that can make a mark both<br />
regionally and globally, much as Hong did<br />
himself during an enviable playing career.<br />
His status as an icon of the game continues<br />
to loom large over Korean football. As<br />
someone who represented his nation 136<br />
times, including at four FIFA World Cup Finals<br />
and as captain in 2002, it is little surprise.<br />
But it is as a coach with a burgeoning<br />
reputation that Hong promises to make an<br />
even greater impact as he continues his<br />
upward trajectory on the sidelines after a<br />
patient and studious apprenticeship.<br />
Having retired from playing in 2004, he<br />
worked as an assistant to Dick Advocaat at<br />
the 2006 finals in Germany, before serving<br />
alongside Pim Verbeek at the AFC Asian Cup<br />
a year later.<br />
Hong then took Korea’s team to the FIFA<br />
U-20 World Cup in 2009 and led the nation<br />
to the bronze medal at the Asian Games in<br />
Guangzhou in 2010.<br />
Success in London followed two years later,<br />
and then came the call to take on the biggest<br />
job of all. Few were shocked, except Hong<br />
himself.<br />
“The first time I heard the news I was<br />
surprised and at the time I was thinking that,<br />
regardless of who it is, a good coach has to be<br />
appointed to be coach of the Korean national<br />
team,” he says.<br />
“When I received the offer, I was assistant<br />
coach to Guus Hiddink in Anzhi Makhachkala<br />
so, on one side I was surprised, but on the<br />
other hand I was happy.<br />
“That was the third offer I had had from<br />
the Korea Football Association to be national<br />
team coach. I thought one day I have to take<br />
the challenge and maybe there would not be<br />
another time to be national team coach. It’s a<br />
job everyone wants and I thought it was the<br />
time to take it.<br />
“But I don’t think there’s any relationship<br />
between the Olympic team and the national<br />
team. After having the success with the<br />
Olympic team, I didn’t think the national team<br />
was the next step. I didn’t think there was a<br />
relationship.<br />
“The most important thing for the national<br />
team head coach is ability and experience,<br />
and performance as well. A lot of people were<br />
thinking that I would be given the national<br />
team job because the bronze medal at the<br />
Olympics was the best result in the history of<br />
Korean football, and it’s true that there is a lot<br />
of expectation that I could perform better after<br />
the bronze medal. But the most important<br />
thing is to do my best from the beginning,<br />
from the first step.”<br />
The Olympics continue to be the backdrop<br />
against which coach Hong goes into the FIFA<br />
World Cup finals. He has named 12 of the<br />
18 players he took to London in his 23-man<br />
squad for Brazil with only five players –<br />
goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryung, Ki Sung-yeung,<br />
Park Chu-yong, Lee Chung-yong and Kim<br />
Bo-kyung – surviving from Huh Jung-moo’s<br />
squad that reached the Round of 16 in South<br />
Africa in 2010.<br />
“When I was appointed head coach, I only<br />
had one year until the World Cup and, from<br />
the day I was appointed, I started to compare<br />
all of the players,” he says.<br />
“But I found that the players who played in<br />
the Olympics had improved their ability a lot.<br />
So, generally, I thought the Olympic players<br />
were better and that’s why I picked them.”<br />
Perhaps its not surprising that Hong chose<br />
to select players he knows and trusts; not<br />
only did a dozen play under him two years<br />
ago, but several – including Koo Ja-cheol and<br />
Yun Suk-yong – were part of the team Hong<br />
took to the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt,<br />
where the Koreans reached the quarter-finals.<br />
After the struggle to qualify under Choi<br />
with a squad featuring many of Korea’s old<br />
guard, the time had come to begin building<br />
an entirely new team with a philosophy that<br />
sees Hong borrow from the huge number of<br />
influences he has absorbed during his career.<br />
“We have very strong opponents so I<br />
think in order to compete at the World Cup<br />
having a lot of pace in the team is important,<br />
especially in terms of transition,” he says. “It<br />
is very important. I think the players in the<br />
squad have got excellent talent, so based on<br />
those facts, that’s why I picked them.<br />
“My strategy is based on the players. I<br />
know we have to analyse what the players<br />
can do best in each situation. Over the last<br />
two competitions – the under 20 World Cup<br />
and the Olympics – I experienced how to<br />
compete against other teams and coaches at<br />
world level and, based on that experience, my<br />
tactics are to make the team very compact<br />
and we will put our opponents under a lot of<br />
pressure.”<br />
Hong and his team will be under pressure<br />
of a different kind at home, with the Korean<br />
public expecting a lengthy run at the finals<br />
off the back of reaching the Round of 16 in<br />
South Africa – where they were eliminated<br />
by Uruguay – and the performance at the<br />
Olympics. But the head coach just hopes his<br />
players can go to the World Cup and perform<br />
free of fear.<br />
“At the moment in Korea, the fans here are<br />
saying I’ll be happy reaching the quarterfinals,<br />
but that’s their perspective,” says<br />
Hong.<br />
“Of course, the best thing would be to fulfill<br />
their expectations, however I think the most<br />
important thing is that we do our best. I want<br />
the team to do their best and have no regrets<br />
after the World Cup. Our team could qualify<br />
for the knockout stages, or not, but the most<br />
important thing is to play without regret.<br />
“When I was a player, the World Cup<br />
started with fear and it ended with regret.<br />
But if I look back at my experience, there’s<br />
no need to fear the World Cup. It’s directly<br />
related to confidence.<br />
“At the same time, from a tactical and<br />
psychological perspective the players have<br />
to be prepared. No one knows how far we<br />
can go, but me and my team want to do our<br />
best at the World Cup and finish the World<br />
Cup without regret.”<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 37
TEAM PROFILE: Korea Republic<br />
FIFA World Cup Record<br />
Qualified: 1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010<br />
Best Performance: Fourth place -2002<br />
Best Result: 2002 - 0-0 (won 5-3 on penalties) v Spain<br />
Wins: 5 Draws: 8 Losses: 15<br />
Formation 4-2-3-1<br />
FW Park Chu-young<br />
Hong Myung-bo will take a<br />
youthful squad to the finals<br />
of the FIFA World Cup as<br />
he seeks to build on Korea<br />
Republic’s success at the<br />
Olympic Games in London<br />
two years ago.<br />
Then, Hong steered the<br />
country’s U-23 team to their first-ever medal<br />
in the men’s competition, defeating Japan in<br />
the third place play-off match to record Asia’s<br />
best performance at the Olympics since the<br />
Japanese finished third in Mexico City in<br />
1968.<br />
Hong was appointed head coach of<br />
the full national side last year, replacing<br />
Choi Kang-hee, who had secured Korea’s<br />
place in the finals for an eighth straight<br />
tournament, and he has sought to increase<br />
the pace and energy of the team.<br />
Only five players remain from the squad<br />
that reached the Round of 16 in South<br />
Africa four years ago, with striker Park Chuyong<br />
gaining selection despite struggling in<br />
recent months with injury.<br />
Ki Sung-yueng sits at the heart of the<br />
midfield, controlling the team’s tempo, while<br />
Son Heung-min has become a fixture in<br />
the side under Hong after two impressive<br />
seasons in Germany.<br />
In a group featuring Russia, Belgium<br />
and Algeria, the Koreans will be hoping to<br />
advance to the knockout phase for a second<br />
World Cup in a row and, from there, build on<br />
their showing in 2010.<br />
LMF Son Heung-min CMF Koo Ja-cheol RMF Lee Chung-yong<br />
CM Ki Sung-yueng CM Han Kook-yong<br />
LB Yun Suk-young<br />
CB Kim Young-gwon<br />
CB Hong Jeong-ho<br />
RB Lee Yong<br />
Kim<br />
Young-gwon<br />
Ki<br />
Sung-yueng<br />
C<br />
entral<br />
defender<br />
Kim<br />
Young-gwon has<br />
been a key part<br />
of the Guangzhou<br />
Evergrande side<br />
that has dominated<br />
club football in the<br />
continent over the<br />
last two seasons.<br />
Club coach<br />
Marcello Lippi<br />
has hailed Kim as<br />
one of the finest<br />
defenders in Asia.<br />
O<br />
ne of only<br />
five players<br />
to survive<br />
from the squad that<br />
represented Korea<br />
Republic in South<br />
Africa four years<br />
ago, Ki Seung-yueng<br />
remains the fulcrum<br />
around which the<br />
rest of the team<br />
pivots. An elegant<br />
presence in the<br />
centre of midfield,<br />
he also presents<br />
a threat from set<br />
pieces.<br />
GK Jung Sung-ryeong<br />
Park<br />
Chu-young<br />
I<br />
njury<br />
and a<br />
lack<br />
of form<br />
looked set<br />
to deny<br />
Park Chu-young the opportunity to appear<br />
at a second straight FIFA World Cup, but the<br />
former Monaco forward was selected by Hong<br />
Myung-bo, as he was as an overage player for<br />
the Olympic Games in 2012.<br />
World Cup Schedule in Group H<br />
June 17 Korea Republic v Russia Cuiaba<br />
June 22 Korea Republic v Algeria Porto Alegre<br />
June 26 Korea Republic v Belgium Sao Paulo<br />
Squad<br />
Jung Sung-ryeong (Suwon Bluewings)<br />
Kim Seung-gyu (Ulsan Hyundai)<br />
Lee Bum-young (Busan I’Park)<br />
Park Joo-ho (Mainz, Germany)<br />
Yun Suk-young (QPR, England)<br />
Kim Young-gwon (Guangzhou Evergrande, China)<br />
Hwang Seok-ho (Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Japan)<br />
Hong Jeong-ho (Augsburg, Germany)<br />
Kwak Tae-hwi (Al Hilal, Saudi Arabia)<br />
Lee Yong (Ulsan Hyundai)<br />
Kim Chang-soo (Kashiwa Reysol, Japan)<br />
Ki Sung-yueng (Sunderland, England)<br />
Ha Dae-sung (Beijing Guoan, China)<br />
Han Kook-young (Kashiwa Reysol, Japan)<br />
Park Jung-woo (Guangzhou R&F, China)<br />
Son Heung-min (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany)<br />
Kim Bo-kyung (Cardiff City, Wales)<br />
Lee Chung-yong (Bolton Wanderers, England)<br />
Ji Dong-won (Augsburg, Germany)<br />
Koo Ja-cheol (Mainz, Germany)<br />
Lee Keun-ho (Sangju Sangmu)<br />
Park Chu-young (Arsenal, England)<br />
Kim Shin-wook (Ulsan Hyundai)<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 39
INTERVIEW: CARLOS QUEIROZ<br />
AGAINST<br />
ALL ODDS<br />
FORMER REAL MADRID<br />
COACH CARLOS<br />
QUEIROZ HEADS TO HIS<br />
THIRD FIFA WORLD CUP<br />
HOPING TO OVERCOME<br />
THE ODDS AND TAKE<br />
IRAN TO THE SECOND<br />
ROUND FOR THE<br />
FIRST TIME IN THEIR<br />
HISTORY, DESPITE THE<br />
OBSTACLES IN<br />
THEIR PATH.<br />
By: Michael Church Photos: World Sport Group<br />
For every team travelling<br />
to Brazil, preparation is<br />
key. For the major nations,<br />
those who have most,<br />
if not all, of their squad<br />
featuring in the game’s<br />
leading leagues, rest<br />
and recuperation after a<br />
grueling season are as important as the<br />
tactical and technical work done in the<br />
build-up to the finals.<br />
Carlos Queiroz, however, has a<br />
different problem; the Portuguese coach<br />
goes to Brazil wishing he could spend<br />
more time with his players in an effort to<br />
achieve the best result possible at Iran’s<br />
fourth FIFA World Cup appearance.<br />
“The difference with coaching in Iran,<br />
or in Asia, is that we need more time to<br />
prepare to have the opportunity to do well<br />
at the World Cup,” says the man who<br />
took South Africa to the 2002 finals before<br />
leading his native Portugal to the second<br />
round - where they lost to eventual<br />
champions Spain - four years ago. “The<br />
more opportunities we have to work with<br />
the players the better because it allows us<br />
to prepare for international games.<br />
“When everyone is working under the<br />
FIFA rules, it is difficult, but at the end<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 41
INTERVIEW: CARLOS QUEIROZ<br />
of the day this is the reality. The FIFA rules<br />
don’t help the developing nations to compete<br />
against the best teams in the world. It’s not<br />
enough for us to prepare in the same way or<br />
over the same time period that the Germans<br />
or the Spanish team do.<br />
“It’s very clear to me that we have two<br />
types of countries in world football: there<br />
are those who have players playing with the<br />
top clubs and who don’t need so much time<br />
together and there are those who should<br />
spend more time together as a national team.<br />
“When you have the same FIFA rules for<br />
everybody there is an imbalance between<br />
these two groups and then the gap between<br />
the top nations and everyone else grows<br />
bigger and bigger.”<br />
Queiroz knows the odds are stacked<br />
against his team in Brazil, where Team Melli<br />
will face the daunting task of taking on Lionel<br />
Messi’s Argentina as well as Nigeria and<br />
Bosnia-Herzegovina as they seek a first-ever<br />
appearance in the knockout phase of the<br />
World Cup.<br />
But their status as underdogs will not<br />
diminish their desire to make an impact at the<br />
finals.<br />
“We had to try to put a preparation<br />
programme together to allow us to compete<br />
against other national teams,” says Queiroz,<br />
whose team finalised their build-up to Brazil<br />
2014 with a 10-day camp in Austria before<br />
leaving for Sao Paulo.<br />
“We are going to go to Brazil to try to<br />
accomplish the goals we have in our mind.<br />
“We are going to be going there to do our<br />
best, to compete with honour and with dignity<br />
and to make the Iranian fans proud of our<br />
team. That’s the most important thing. When<br />
you play against some of the best teams in<br />
the world, this is what you have to do.<br />
“Argentina are one of the best teams in<br />
the world, Nigeria have many players playing<br />
in big clubs in Europe and Bosnia are a<br />
good side too, so we need to go there and<br />
compete with pride.<br />
“I think there is a clear situation that<br />
Argentina is clearly the favourite in the group,<br />
then you have two candidates for second<br />
position with Nigeria and Bosnia, and then<br />
you have us as outsiders.<br />
“As outsiders, we are going to play a<br />
cat and mouse game and wait for our<br />
opportunities, and when those opportunities<br />
come we have to take them.”<br />
To achieve success in the long run,<br />
Queiroz believes federations need to take<br />
a view to preparing for major tournaments<br />
that goes much further than the basic<br />
regulations that are in place.<br />
He is an advocate, too, for Asian<br />
nations finding ways to develop the game<br />
in their own way, rather than borrowing<br />
methods from other nations and other<br />
confederations.<br />
“The difference in the level between<br />
Europe, Africa and Asia is very high,” he<br />
says.<br />
“We need to think about the development<br />
of football in each country and we can’t<br />
stand behind FIFA rules when it comes to<br />
players’ availability. We can’t fall into that<br />
trap. It’s the responsibility of each federation<br />
to put in place the best preparation for the<br />
team and they must try to do the best for<br />
their national team.<br />
“If you stand behind the FIFA rules,<br />
you won’t go anywhere. You have to put<br />
together a long-term development plan and,<br />
secondly, you can’t just copy Europe in<br />
coach development, youth development and<br />
the systems you put in place. The systems<br />
and the methods you put in place and the<br />
organisation you use must be something<br />
that works for Asian players. If you copy, you<br />
won’t go anywhere. It needs to be done using<br />
innovative methods.<br />
“For the clubs, the AFC Champions League<br />
was more important and the Asian Football<br />
Confederation scheduled the competition to<br />
run until May, so because of the schedule<br />
it was difficult to do the preparation that<br />
we needed. But at the end of the day, it’s<br />
a problem for all of us. The preparation<br />
programme is the same for us, and for<br />
Germany and for Spain. The difference<br />
is, they have many years of work in place<br />
building up to this and we don’t.<br />
“But we have a strong belief and we will try<br />
to do the best that we can and compete with<br />
pride and honour, now is not the time to talk<br />
about coach education or development. You<br />
don’t do that so close to the World Cup. “<br />
Since taking over as head coach, Queiroz<br />
has sought to add strength and depth to<br />
his squad by integrating players either born<br />
or raised outside Iran to a squad made up<br />
predominantly of locally based players.<br />
Fulham wide man Ashkan Dejagah has<br />
made a major impact since making his debut<br />
for Iran in February 2012 against Qatar while<br />
Daniel Davari has become the first choice<br />
goalkeeper and Reza Ghoochenejad the<br />
team’s most potent striker.<br />
The coach, though, believes finding the<br />
right blend is more important than packing<br />
the side with overseas-based players.<br />
“There’s no doubt the players playing<br />
international football, and playing in<br />
European football, they bring important<br />
talents to the team; they have more<br />
international experience, they have better<br />
preparation and have better fitness compared<br />
to the locally based players,” he says.<br />
“But my only criteria for the selection<br />
of players are quality and experience. I<br />
want players who can bring good technical<br />
qualities to the team.<br />
“We want to create the best environment<br />
and the best squad we can, and it doesn’t<br />
matter if they are local players or from<br />
abroad. The four or five players we have<br />
who are based in Europe, they are better<br />
prepared from a physical and mental point of<br />
view and they have great qualities.”<br />
Despite Queiroz’s concerns, the<br />
61-year-old is setting his sights on<br />
making the dreams of Iran’s fans come<br />
true. The country’s record at the Word<br />
Cup is disappointing: in thee previous<br />
appearances, Iran have won one match –<br />
against the United States in 1998 – drawn<br />
twice and lost their remaining six fixtures.<br />
And yet fans in the football crazy nation<br />
crave not only another win, but a place in<br />
the knockout stages of the tournament.<br />
“There are a lot of people who feel that<br />
it is realistic that Iran can go to the second<br />
round,” he says.<br />
“That is being said all over the place<br />
and I don’t see anything wrong in having a<br />
dream and we will work hard in every game<br />
and in every minute to try to make that<br />
dream a reality.<br />
“We must play with one thing in mind, to<br />
try to do that and I see nothing wrong with<br />
that.<br />
“We are going to play against three of the<br />
best teams in the world and we qualified<br />
with the expectation that we would play<br />
against opponents who would be amongst<br />
the best in the world.”<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 43
TEAM PROFILE: IRAN<br />
FIFA World Cup Record<br />
Qualified: 1978, 1998, 2006<br />
Best Performance: Group Stages - 1978, 1998 & 2006)<br />
Best Result: 1998 - 2-1 v United States<br />
Wins: 1 Draws: 2 Losses: 6<br />
Formation 4-2-3-1<br />
FW Reza Ghoochannejhad<br />
Iran go to their fourth FIFA World Cup finals<br />
still looking for what has so far been an<br />
elusive place in the knockout stages of the<br />
game’s greatest event.<br />
With just one win in their previous three<br />
appearances – an historic victory over the<br />
United States in Lyon during France 1998<br />
– Carlos Queiroz’s side will be aiming to<br />
turn promise into results in a group featuring<br />
Argentina, Nigeria and Bosnia-Herzegovina.<br />
With Lionel Messi’s Argentina the<br />
favourites to win the group, the battle will be<br />
on for second place with all three sides<br />
evenly matched on paper going into the<br />
tournament.<br />
Queiroz has worked hard enhancing his<br />
squad since taking over following the AFC<br />
Asian Cup finals in Qatar in 2011, when the<br />
Iranians once again exited the competition<br />
at the quarter-final stage at the hands of<br />
Korea Republic.<br />
Overseas-born or raised players such<br />
as goalkeeper Daniel Davari, midfielder<br />
Ashkan Dejagah and forward Reza<br />
Ghoochenijhad have become vital to the<br />
team and, allied to home-grown stars<br />
such as Javad Nekounam and Andranik<br />
Teymourian, the Iranians have the talent to<br />
make an impact in Brazil.<br />
Ghoochenijhad, in particular, has delivered<br />
a much-needed cutting edge to the team<br />
that had previously struggled in front of goal,<br />
which relied too often on being bailed out<br />
by Nekounam with his customary all-action<br />
displays.<br />
LMF Masoud Shojaei CMF Ghasem Hadadifar RMF Ashkan Dejagah<br />
CM Javad Nekounam CM Andranik Teymourian<br />
LB Hashem Beikzadeh<br />
CB Amir Hossein Sadeghi<br />
CB Jalal Hosseini<br />
RB Pejman Montazeri<br />
Andranik<br />
Teymourian<br />
Javad<br />
Nekounam<br />
A<br />
ndranik Teymourian’s<br />
partnership in the<br />
centre of midfield<br />
with Javad Nekounam was<br />
the key ingredient in Iran’s<br />
qualification for the FIFA<br />
World Cup finals, and it<br />
remains vital to their hopes<br />
of success in Brazil. The<br />
former Bolton Wanderers<br />
midfielder brings industry<br />
and craft to the heart of<br />
the Iran midfield and can<br />
contribute the occasional<br />
spectacular strike from long<br />
range.<br />
V<br />
eteran midfielder<br />
and Team Melli<br />
captain Javad<br />
Nekounam remains<br />
the fulcrum of the side,<br />
controlling everything from<br />
the centre of the pitch and<br />
chipping in regularly with<br />
vital goals. Nekounam’s<br />
experience of playing in<br />
Europe, having spent<br />
several seasons in La<br />
Liga with Osasuna, will be<br />
key as Iran aim for a place<br />
in the knockout rounds<br />
for the first time in their<br />
history.<br />
GK Rahman Ahmadi<br />
Reza<br />
Ghoochannejhad<br />
Netherlandsraised<br />
striker Reza<br />
Ghoochannejhad<br />
burst<br />
on to the scene<br />
with Iran during qualifying for the FIFA World Cup finals,<br />
scoring three times as Team Melli booked their place in<br />
Brazil. Quick and skillful, the Charlton Athletic forward will<br />
use his pace to unsettle opposition defences. Known as<br />
‘Gucci’, he represented the Netherlands at youth level.<br />
World Cup Schedule in Group F<br />
June 16 Iran v Nigeria Curitiba<br />
June 21 Iran v Argentina Belo Horizonte<br />
June 25 Iran v Bosnia-Herzegovina Salvador<br />
Squad<br />
Daniel Davari (Grasshopper Club Zurich, Switzerland)<br />
Alireza Haghighi (Rubin Kazan, Russia)<br />
Rahman Ahmadi (Sepahan)<br />
Khosro Heydari (Esteghlal)<br />
Hossein Mahini (Persepolis)<br />
Steven Beitashour (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada)<br />
Pejman Montazeri (Umm Salal, Qatar)<br />
Jalal Hosseini (Persepolis)<br />
Amir Hossein Sadeghi (Esteghlal)<br />
Ahmad Alenemeh (Naft)<br />
Hashem Beikzadeh (Esteghlal)<br />
Ehsan Haji Safi (Sepahan)<br />
Mehrdad Pouladi (Persepolis)<br />
Javad Nekounam (Kuwait SC, Kuwait)<br />
Andranik Teymourian (Esteghlal)<br />
Reza Haghighi (Persepolis)<br />
Ghasem Hadadifar (Zob Ahan)<br />
Bakhtiyar Rahmani (Foolad)<br />
Alireza Jahanbakhsh (NEC Nijmegen, Netherlands)<br />
Ashkan Dejagah (Fulham, England)<br />
Masoud Shojaei (Las Palmas, Spain)<br />
Reza Ghoochannejhad (Charlton, England)<br />
Karim Ansarifard (Tractorsazi Tabriz)<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 45
FEATURE: RAVSHAN IRMATOV<br />
THE MAN IN<br />
THE MIDDLE<br />
RAVSHAN IRMATOV<br />
WILL MAKE HIS SECOND<br />
FIFA WORLD CUP<br />
APPEARANCE THIS<br />
SUMMER IN BRAZIL AFTER<br />
THE FOUR-TIME AFC<br />
REFEREE OF THE YEAR<br />
OFFICIATED THE OPENING<br />
GAME IN SOUTH AFRICA<br />
FOUR YEARS EARLIER.<br />
Interview: Behzod Nazarov • Photo: World Sport Group<br />
Uzbekistan’s<br />
heartbreaking play-off<br />
defeat by Jordan last<br />
year denied the Central<br />
Asian nation the chance<br />
to continue their bid for<br />
maiden appearance at<br />
the FIFA World Cup.<br />
But this summer in Brazil, Uzbekistan<br />
will be represented by four-time AFC<br />
Referee of the Year Ravshan Irmatov.<br />
The 36-year-old will be joined in Brazil<br />
by compatriot Abdukhamidullo Rasulov<br />
as well as Bakhadyr Kochkarov from<br />
Kyrgyzstan, who are both part of his<br />
regular team of officials.<br />
Kochkarov joined Irmatov at the 2010<br />
FIFA World Cup as the team took charge<br />
of the opening game between hosts South<br />
Africa and Mexico.<br />
“To be at the World Cup is like a<br />
trophy for each referee. Teams play for<br />
participation in the final stage over the<br />
years and during qualifying tournaments.<br />
Referees also have the same process,”<br />
says Irmatov.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 47
FEATURE: RAVSHAN IRMATOV<br />
Ravshan Irmatov<br />
Nationality:<br />
Uzbekistan<br />
DOB:<br />
09/08/1977<br />
Position:<br />
Referee<br />
Honours:<br />
AFC Referee of the Year –<br />
2008, 2009, 2010, 2011<br />
FIFA Club World Cup Final<br />
Referee – 2008, 2011<br />
FIFA World Cup Referee - 2010<br />
AFC Asian Cup Final Referee<br />
– 2011<br />
AFF Suzuki Cup Final<br />
Referee - 2012<br />
AFC Champions League<br />
Final Referee - 2013<br />
“There are a lot of high level referees all<br />
over the world. It is not easy to reach it. I<br />
cried from happiness when I knew about my<br />
participation in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.<br />
This is also what happened for 2014.”<br />
The honour of taking charge of the opening<br />
game of a FIFA World Cup completed<br />
Irmatov’s rise through the ranks having been<br />
added to the list of FIFA referees just seven<br />
years earlier.<br />
“I played football from my childhood. I<br />
began to play for Gazalkent club, but I injured<br />
my ankle and that finished my playing career.<br />
My father was a coach of the youth players<br />
and I helped him at that time during training.<br />
Once, my father offered me a chance to<br />
referee a match between some of the youth<br />
teams, and I did it,” says Irmatov.<br />
“After the game he told me to become<br />
a referee. He said I had a good chance to<br />
become a referee. He had spoken about<br />
it a lot of times before also, so I began my<br />
refereeing career after that day.”<br />
Irmatov soon progressed through the<br />
ranks and took charge of his first domestic<br />
game in Uzbekistan in 2001, with continental<br />
recognition following in the shape of the<br />
matches in the group stage of the 2002/03<br />
AFC Champions League.<br />
“I refereed some youth team matches<br />
and then I wrote an official letter to become<br />
a referee. I began to work in Uzbekistan<br />
championship matches,” he says. “At<br />
international level I went to Dalian in China<br />
for my first game as the home team played<br />
in the AFC Champions League.”<br />
At the end of 2002 Irmatov was<br />
recommended to join the list of FIFA<br />
referees for the following year having<br />
impressed during an Uzbekistan league<br />
game between Pakhtakor and Sogdiana in<br />
Tashkent.<br />
“It is a very proud thing for every referee,”<br />
says Irmatov of being added to the FIFA<br />
list. “You serve in these games in the name<br />
of your country or your continent so you<br />
should be ready for all situations during<br />
these games.”<br />
Appearances at the 2004 AFC Asian<br />
Cup, as well as FIFA U-17 and U-20 World<br />
Cups in 2007 followed before Irmatov took<br />
charge of the final between Manchester<br />
United and Liga Deportiva Universitaria de<br />
Quito at the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup.<br />
His achievements saw Irmatov named<br />
AFC Referee of the Year for the first time in<br />
2008, with subsequent recognition following<br />
in 2009, 2010 and 2011.<br />
“I can say honestly I had no any idea<br />
about becoming the best referee. I just<br />
wanted to show good refereeing and<br />
perform well. That has been my main target<br />
from the beginning of my career,” says<br />
Irmatov.<br />
“When the AFC announced my name<br />
I had so many emotions. I had the same<br />
emotion when I received it for the second,<br />
third and fourth time, just like it was the<br />
first time.”<br />
The award at the end of 2010 followed<br />
Irmatov becoming the first referee from<br />
Uzbekistan to officiate at the FIFA World<br />
Cup, a moment which was made even<br />
more special as he led out the two teams<br />
for the opening game at Johannesburg’s<br />
Soccer City.<br />
“It was unexpected for me as I was the<br />
youngest amongst all the referees. When<br />
I knew about it, I was surprised. To work<br />
at the FIFA World Cup is the dream for<br />
every referee. I had the opening match of<br />
the World Cup,” says Irmatov.<br />
“I think it shows the trust in Asian<br />
referees that I had this opportunity. If<br />
you work hard, you have a chance to<br />
become the best. We showed Asian<br />
referees could work well in important<br />
games. There is no border where are you<br />
from – Asia, Africa or Oceania. I felt great<br />
happiness on that day.”<br />
Irmatov and his team also took charge<br />
of the group stage games between<br />
England and Algeria as well as Greece<br />
and Argentina.<br />
The team were also appointed for<br />
the quarter-final between Argentina<br />
and Germany and the semi-final involving<br />
Uruguay and the Netherlands, but the trio<br />
missed out on the final.<br />
“If I was disappointed by missing out on the<br />
final it wouldn’t be good because I refereed<br />
five matches in the World Cup. I served in the<br />
quarter and semi-finals,” he says.<br />
“When I was at a FIFA seminar in Zurich in<br />
2007 for the first time, some referees told me<br />
I had no chance of going to the FIFA World<br />
Cup. I continued to work every day with my<br />
training process.<br />
“Going to the World Cup and refereeing<br />
five matches were the fruits of our hard work.”<br />
Irmatov, though, did not have to wait long<br />
to take charge of a major final as he was<br />
appointed for the last game of the 2011 AFC<br />
Asian Cup between Japan and Australia<br />
in Doha, although that had only be made<br />
possible following Uzbekistan’s elimination in<br />
the semi-finals.<br />
“I remember Uzbekistan’s match in<br />
the semi-final. I asked our instructor if I<br />
could go to the stadium to see the game.<br />
Unfortunately, Uzbekistan lost. If the national<br />
team had won that game it would have been<br />
a happy day for fans in Uzbekistan. Many<br />
people like football in my country,” he says.<br />
“When I was told I would serve in the final,<br />
I was happy and felt a great honour. The final<br />
of the Asian Cup is the dream of any referee<br />
from Asia.”<br />
The finals of the 2011 FIFA Club World<br />
Cup between Barcelona and Santos, the<br />
bronze medal play-off between Japan and<br />
Korea Republic at the 2012 Olympic Games<br />
and the second leg of the 2012 AFF Suzuki<br />
Cup final between Thailand and Singapore<br />
soon followed as Irmatov’s impressive<br />
resume grew stronger still.<br />
Irmatov, though, has not had it all his<br />
own way throughout his career following<br />
his much-publicised error in the match<br />
between Brazil and Italy at the 2013 FIFA<br />
Confederations Cup as he awarded Giorgio<br />
Chiellini’s goal despite having a split second<br />
earlier appeared to award Italy a penalty.<br />
“The referee’s role in football is very<br />
important. Sometimes fans or the media<br />
forget about the human factor. Referees<br />
make mistakes sometimes. You can’t do any<br />
work without mistakes,” he says.<br />
“Even the best players in the world make<br />
mistakes. Fans should understand that. I<br />
think referees should not pay attention to<br />
what fans say after mistakes. He has to<br />
forget his mistakes, but to analyse it and to<br />
prepare for the next match.<br />
“Referees have a difficult job. You have to<br />
decide right after one or two seconds of each<br />
situation. Football is very quick now as the<br />
ball goes from one end to the other in four or<br />
five seconds.”<br />
That ended the tournament for Irmatov and<br />
his team, but after they took charge of<br />
the first leg of the 2013 AFC Champions<br />
League final between FC Seoul and<br />
Guangzhou Evergrande, the Uzbek trio<br />
will be back in Brazil this summer with the<br />
AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia also just<br />
around the corner.<br />
“The proudest achievement of my<br />
career is the opening match of the 2010<br />
FIFA World Cup. It is the dream for each<br />
referee,” says Irmatov. “My hopes are to<br />
show a good performance at the 2014<br />
FIFA World Cup in Brazil and then go to<br />
AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia.”<br />
2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil<br />
Referees – Asian Zone<br />
REFEREES<br />
Nams<br />
Ravshan Irmatov<br />
Alireza Faghani<br />
Yuichi Nishimura<br />
Nawaf Shukralla<br />
Benjamin Williams<br />
Country<br />
International<br />
Since<br />
2003<br />
2008<br />
2004<br />
2007<br />
2005<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 49
IN FOCUS: SAUDI ARABIA<br />
MOVING<br />
FORWARD<br />
SAUDI ARABIA ARE ONE<br />
OF ASIA’S MOST<br />
SUCCESSFUL NATIONS<br />
AND, WITH A NEW<br />
PRESIDENT AT THE HELM<br />
OF THE FEDERATION, THE<br />
GREEN FALCONS ARE SET<br />
TO SOAR EVEN HIGHER.<br />
By: Michael Church Photos: World Sport Group/Courtesy of Saudi Arabian Football Federation<br />
Saeed Owairan’s<br />
mesmerizing run through<br />
the heart of the Belgian<br />
team will always remain<br />
a touch-stone moment<br />
for Saudi Arabian<br />
football; the day the<br />
team from the Middle<br />
East announced their arrival on the biggest<br />
stage of all, delivered with one of the<br />
game’s greatest ever goals.<br />
Twenty years ago this summer, Saudi<br />
Arabia became the first Asian nation to<br />
reach the knockout phase of the FIFA<br />
World Cup since DPR Korea advanced to<br />
the quarter-finals in England in 1966. With<br />
a team packed with young, exciting talent,<br />
the future belonged to the Green Falcons.<br />
The run to the second round in the<br />
United States – where they lost 3-1 to<br />
Sweden after emerging from a group<br />
featuring Belgium, the Netherlands and<br />
Morocco – was the high point of a golden<br />
era for Saudi football.<br />
After back-to-back AFC Asian Cup titles<br />
in 1984 and 1988 and a runners-up finish in<br />
1992, Saudi Arabia made an instant impact<br />
at their first-ever appearance at the World<br />
Cup. A third AFC Asian Cup title in 1996<br />
was followed by appearances at the 1998<br />
and 2002 World Cups, a run to the final of<br />
the 2000 Asian Cup and again in 2007.<br />
Three Gulf Cup titles from 1994 to 2003<br />
underlined their regional dominance, while<br />
the country’s clubs would be amongst<br />
the confederation’s finest, with Al Ittihad<br />
twice winning the AFC Champions League<br />
and Al Hilal claiming the old Asian Club<br />
Championship crown.<br />
But despite all the silverware, that day at<br />
RFK Stadium in Washington remains the<br />
high water mark; it is the standard by which<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 51
IN FOCUS: SAUDI ARABIA<br />
Below Saudi Arabian Football<br />
Federation President Ahmed Eid<br />
Al Harbi<br />
Left<br />
2011 Asian Cup<br />
all successive Saudi teams and performances<br />
have been judged.<br />
As a result, exiting the AFC Asian Cup at<br />
the group stages in 2011 and missing out on<br />
a second successive FIFA World Cup – this<br />
time not even progressing to the final phase of<br />
qualifying – has rung the changes.<br />
Prince Sultan bin Fahd stood down from his<br />
position as president of the federation after<br />
the exit from the Qatar Asian Cup while his<br />
successor, his nephew Prince Nawaf bin Faisal,<br />
stepped aside following the national team’s<br />
failure to advance to the final round of qualifying<br />
for Brazil 2014.<br />
Change was about to come to Saudi Arabia;<br />
not just the football fraternity, but society itself.<br />
In a country that has been ruled as an absolute<br />
monarchy since its creation in 1932, the Saudi<br />
Arabia Football Federation was to become<br />
the first official body in the country’s history to<br />
institute an election for the position of president.<br />
Ahmed Eid Al Harbi was instrumental in<br />
what would turn out to be an historic move.<br />
A former goalkeeper with both Al Ahli and the<br />
national team, Eid had long been one of the<br />
most progressive voices within Saudi football.<br />
Following Prince Nawaf’s resignation, he –<br />
along with Dr Salah bin Nasser and Dr Majed<br />
Garoub – stepped in to run the federation<br />
and set about ringing the changes that would,<br />
eventually, lead to a first-ever election.<br />
In the months after Prince Nawaf’s departure,<br />
the federation’s general assembly was<br />
enhanced, relationships between the clubs,<br />
the league and governing body improved and<br />
statutes were put in place. By the end of<br />
2011, the restructuring of the governance of<br />
Saudi football had begun.<br />
“We started to get help from the clubs,<br />
the players, referees, trainers, everyone,”<br />
says Eid. “I was very close to the Olympic<br />
committee, too. They have three members,<br />
and Prince Nawaf was heading up the<br />
committee, and so we reached the final<br />
stages. It was approved in order to do the<br />
general assembly.<br />
“The first general assembly was at the<br />
end of 2011, so we made an election for the<br />
general assembly. Due to the regulations, we<br />
had to have appointed 63 members, so we<br />
did that according to the statutes.”<br />
With the first step complete, the election of<br />
the new president was the next phase, with<br />
the understanding that Eid – in recognition<br />
of his work and dedication in rebuilding the<br />
federation – would stand unopposed. That<br />
was until a challenger emerged.<br />
“Khaled Al Muammar came in as the<br />
second candidate,” says Eid. “I was a little bit<br />
concerned about how things went because<br />
we had decided that the first election would<br />
be me and then after we would have any<br />
other candidate.<br />
“It wasn’t the news I wanted to hear at that<br />
moment, but I accepted it and went back to<br />
Saudi to focus on my plan.”<br />
Election fever gripped Saudi Arabia. Both<br />
candidates canvassed for votes, attempting<br />
to swing public opinion in their favour via the<br />
media while, two days ahead of the vote, a<br />
televised debate was held and broadcast across<br />
the nation. Despite only the 62 members of the<br />
General Assembly being eligible to vote, the<br />
entire country was engaged in the debate.<br />
“When we were face-to-face, I went back to<br />
my old ways from when I was a goalkeeper and<br />
I was facing an opponent,” says Eid. “I started<br />
to look at his eyes, to see him in a different way<br />
and I think I made him nervous.<br />
“In my playing days, I knew that me and my<br />
colleagues on the team were there for each<br />
other and I knew the opponents very well and<br />
that there is someone there to help me.<br />
“But face-to-face there is nothing to help<br />
you, except for your ability. During the debate<br />
I could feel how important this was, and I was<br />
speaking to the people and trying to give them<br />
the encouragement that I was supporting them.<br />
And I was paying back to the people in Saudi<br />
Arabian football what they had given me since I<br />
was a boy, playing in the street in bare feet and<br />
now I’m here.”<br />
Two days after the debate, Eid would<br />
eventually win the vote, emerging victorious<br />
from a nerve-racking count by just two votes, 32<br />
to 30. He embraced his opponent and waved to<br />
the crowd, maintaining a dignified, calm exterior.<br />
Inside, though, it was a different matter.<br />
“The pressure of my blood went to my head,<br />
and it was like Sami Al Jaber scoring for the<br />
national team! I’ve never been so happy in my<br />
life, except when we win the championship with<br />
the national team,” he says.<br />
After the euphoria subsided, the real work<br />
started: how to return Saudi Arabia to the<br />
summit of Asian football.<br />
“Before the federation was run through the<br />
welfare agency of the government, but now we<br />
need to think like we are in the private sector,<br />
thinking like a profitable company and when<br />
you talk about that then you have to change the<br />
whole structure of the federation with the help<br />
of FIFA and hiring the right people in the right<br />
places,” says Eid.<br />
“Before we set up all the three elements<br />
that need to done in the right way – the<br />
administrative, organization, finance – we<br />
have to have our budget due to what we need<br />
and build a full technical department to set up<br />
everything for the federation and for the clubs.<br />
“I have two examples I always try to follow:<br />
the German federation and the Japanese.<br />
I can do much better by following those<br />
federations, but customised for our own<br />
culture. Also, when you look at Saudi Arabia, it<br />
is similar to Australia. We have a similar sized<br />
population and also the structure is similar to<br />
Australia and I have had several meetings<br />
with the federation and we have extended our<br />
relationship and the Asian Cup in 2015 will give<br />
us a chance to adapt to working with Australia.<br />
“I think if we finish our plan in line with what<br />
we have now, Saudi Arabia will be back at<br />
the 2018 and 2022 World Cups with a strong<br />
national team. It might happen before because<br />
we have a very strong environment and we<br />
have very good young players and very good<br />
grassroots development.”<br />
But just as important as the on-field<br />
Above<br />
Saud Kariri<br />
improvements, Eid hopes the election can have<br />
a major impact on Saudi society at large.<br />
“I believe this election should be studied in<br />
terms of culture, in terms of freedom, to be free<br />
to go to the box and put the name that you want<br />
and with no one pushing you,” he says. “I want<br />
this election to be brought out to the clubs and<br />
most of the society, especially the young.<br />
“I want the young people in Saudi Arabia<br />
to learn about this election in schools, in<br />
universities and in communities. Leadership<br />
is not easy to find, you have to work for it and<br />
we have to study and teach our children what<br />
the vote means. You don’t give your vote to the<br />
friend you know, but to someone who will do<br />
something for the society, whether that’s the<br />
football society or in the world.”<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 53
CLUB PROFILE: PUNE FC<br />
THE<br />
PUNE WAY<br />
PUNE FC WERE ONLY<br />
FOUNDED IN 2007,<br />
BUT HAVE QUICKLY<br />
ESTABLISHED THEMSELVES<br />
AS A SHINING LIGHT IN<br />
INDIA BOTH ON AND OFF<br />
THE FIELD.<br />
By: Amoy Ghoshal Photos: World Sport Group/Courtesy of Pune FC<br />
Becoming professional<br />
remains one of the biggest<br />
challenges for Indian<br />
football clubs, but one<br />
club that is making huge<br />
progress on that front is<br />
Pune FC.<br />
A proof of their good<br />
work is the fact that they were the only Indian<br />
club to be granted the national club license<br />
last year after fulfilling the AFC criteria.<br />
That eventually earned them a place in the<br />
2014 AFC Champions League play-offs, and<br />
although Pune lost to Vietnam’s Hanoi T&T in<br />
the first round, they did make their debut in the<br />
AFC Cup to cap a remarkable rise having only<br />
been formed in 2007.<br />
Based in the city of Pune, which is located<br />
in the state of Maharashtra in Western India,<br />
the club was formed by the Mumbai-based<br />
Ashok Piramal Group.<br />
And the club has since gone on to become<br />
a benchmark for other clubs in India’s<br />
domestic league, the I-League, by setting high<br />
standards in youth development and creating<br />
a professional environment for players to<br />
flourish.<br />
They are one of the few clubs to have<br />
specialists in every department including video<br />
analysis and scouting, while Pune have also<br />
achieved many other firsts as they received<br />
the first-ever transfer fee in Indian football,<br />
were the first to organise annual club awards<br />
and the first to have their own online channel.<br />
The club’s youth policy, though, is<br />
their standout quality and it is even more<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 55
CLUB PROFILE: PUNE FC<br />
commendable because more established Indian<br />
clubs do not have their own academies.<br />
Pune started their own residential academy<br />
in 2011 for the U-17s and U-19s, while there are<br />
plans to introduce U-15s to the same structure.<br />
Twice-weekly soccer schools also take place all<br />
year round for U-13 and U-10 teams.<br />
Following its inception in 2007, the club<br />
competed in Indian football’s second tier in<br />
2008, but narrowly missed out on promotion to<br />
the I-League.<br />
But they secured a place in the 2009-10<br />
I-League a year later with key contributions from<br />
current India international Jeje Lalpekhlua, who<br />
was actually the club’s first-ever signing.<br />
Jeje, who is now with Kolkata’s Mohun<br />
Bagan, was only 16 when he signed for Pune<br />
after being spotted during an India youth camp<br />
and spent five seasons at the club.<br />
“My time at Pune FC was very special as they<br />
gave me the platform to perform,” said Jeje,<br />
who arrived as a teenager but had established<br />
himself as one of the country’s best strikers by<br />
the time he left the club.<br />
“I have had some great highs with the club ,<br />
but the I-League promotion was the highlight. I<br />
still remember we needed a win in the last game<br />
against Sesa Football Academy to qualify for<br />
the I-League.<br />
“We managed to do that and I also got on the<br />
scoresheet.”<br />
Besides launching the careers of many<br />
Indian footballers in the last seven years, the<br />
club has also been one of the most consistent<br />
teams in the I-League as they have finished in<br />
the top five in four of their five seasons.<br />
Pune are yet to win any major trophy, but<br />
have implemented a self-sustainable business<br />
model meaning they do not spend their entire<br />
budget on players and instead have looked to<br />
run the club professionally.<br />
They have attracted a number of co-sponsors<br />
and partners, ensured the best possible facilities<br />
for the players and coaching staff, while Pune<br />
have also built a reputation for promoting youth<br />
through their own academy as well as selecting<br />
promising players from around the country.<br />
“We want to try and make Pune FC a selfsustaining<br />
business,” said chairman Nandan<br />
Piramal. “Every organisation that is being built<br />
will have the goal of being self-sustaining and<br />
not dependent on any one person putting<br />
money in. That way, the institution lasts long.<br />
That is our aim - to build an institution.”<br />
Pune eventually finished third in their debut<br />
I-League campaign before claiming the runnersup<br />
spot in the 2012-13 season.<br />
Indian Derrick Pereira has been the coach<br />
in the first four I-League seasons, although<br />
he left in 2013 and was replaced by Dutch<br />
coach Mike Snoei. Under Snoei, Pune finished<br />
seventh in the 2013-14 I-League although during<br />
that campaign they did make their maiden<br />
appearance in the AFC Cup.<br />
Pune were eliminated in the group stage, but<br />
were unbeaten against the top two sides in their<br />
group and recorded their first-ever continental<br />
win, against Kitchee.<br />
“We have been fairly consistent with four<br />
consecutive top-five finishes since we got<br />
promoted to the I-League in 2009,” said Pune’s<br />
head of operations Chirag Tanna.<br />
“This season we have finished seventh,<br />
that’s been our lowest ranking since 2009<br />
and everyone at the club is very motivated<br />
to improve our performance for the 2014-15<br />
season. That being said, we have a very young<br />
squad and this season a lot of the players<br />
experienced AFC Cup fixtures for the first time. I<br />
am sure the experience gained this season will<br />
hold us in good stead going forward.”<br />
One of the features of Pune this season has<br />
been the presence of several academy products<br />
in their first-team squad, with the club benefitting<br />
from their long-term vision of producing their own<br />
players.<br />
They won the youth I-League in 2012 and<br />
2013 and many members from those two teams<br />
are now pursuing their careers either at Pune or<br />
elsewhere in the I-League.<br />
“I think that our youth coaches have done an<br />
outstanding job over the past three to four years<br />
to develop the best young talent in the country,”<br />
said Tanna.<br />
“Currently, eight players from our squad of 30<br />
have come through our youth set-up. However,<br />
we cannot rest on our laurels and need to<br />
ensure that going forward more players come<br />
through our academy set-up and play the Pune<br />
FC way.”<br />
Pune, though, have a long way to go in terms<br />
of results, while they have further ambitions off<br />
the field, including building their own stadium to<br />
reflect a growing fan base.<br />
But their progress thus far has been<br />
staggering. Many established clubs in India<br />
are being forced to play catch-up with the<br />
professional environment within the club that<br />
Top Coach Mike Snoei<br />
Top Left Last home game<br />
of the 2013/14 I-League<br />
season.<br />
Bottom Left<br />
First I-League game<br />
against East Bengal.<br />
Above Youth I-League<br />
Champions 2013.<br />
Right Arata Izumi<br />
(right) playing against<br />
Hong Kong’s Kitchee in the<br />
AFC Cup this season.<br />
helps bring out the best from players, with<br />
Japanese-born Arata Izumi a shining example<br />
of what can be achieved.<br />
Midfielder Arata, who was born to an Indian<br />
father and Japanese mother, joined Pune in<br />
2009 and after becoming an Indian citizen in<br />
2012, made his international debut a year later.<br />
“I came to India in 2006, but it was only after<br />
joining Pune FC that I got closer to the country<br />
and took the decision of becoming an Indian<br />
citizen,” said current Pune midfielder Arata.<br />
“Pune are a highly professional club and that<br />
is very comforting for the players.<br />
“It was the club’s dream to play in the AFC<br />
Cup and I am glad that I could help them<br />
realise it.”<br />
Success on the field has brought with it a<br />
continued growth of Pune’s fan base, with<br />
the club only one of four I-League teams to<br />
have reached 100,000 likes on their official<br />
Facebook page.<br />
Their online channel ‘PFC TV’ which offers<br />
live streaming of domestic matches, as well<br />
as highlights, interviews and news is being<br />
pioneered in India by Pune, with many other<br />
clubs now turning to similar initiatives.<br />
Pune also engages in various community<br />
development activities including school contact<br />
programmes, regular coaching clinics and<br />
inter-corporate and inter-school tournaments.<br />
They work with various non-governmental<br />
organisations and have formed partnerships<br />
to promote the sport largely among school<br />
children from low income communities.<br />
The club also makes arrangements for<br />
children from various local schools and nongovernmental<br />
organisations to attend their<br />
home games at Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports<br />
Complex in Pune.<br />
So with Pune making all the right moves on<br />
and off the field, the next logical step is a first<br />
piece of silverware; a reward for a remarkable<br />
seven years of progress.<br />
“We have come close on a couple<br />
occasions, but we really need to overcome the<br />
final hurdle and win something next season,”<br />
added Tanna.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 57
AFC Asian Cup UPDATE<br />
Palestine Complete<br />
Asian Cup Line-Up<br />
A GOAL FROM ASHRAF AL FAWAGHRA GAVE PALESTINE A LANDMARK<br />
VICTORY AT THE AFC CHALLENGE CUP IN THE MALDIVES, AS THE WEST ASIANS<br />
CLAIMED THE FINAL PLACE AT THE AFC ASIAN CUP AUSTRALIA 2015<br />
Palestine will be the only<br />
debutants appearing at the<br />
AFC Asian Cup Australia<br />
2015 following their victory<br />
over the Philippines in the<br />
final of the AFC Challenge<br />
Cup at the end of May.<br />
A second half free-kick<br />
from tournament leading scorer Ashraf Al<br />
Fawaghra proved the difference in the final at<br />
the National Stadium in Male as Palestine’s<br />
1-0 win completed an unbeaten campaign<br />
without conceding a goal.<br />
And with the fifth and final edition of the<br />
AFC Challenge Cup also offering the winner<br />
the 16th and final berth at the AFC Asian<br />
Cup, Palestine will join defending champions<br />
Japan, two-time quarter-finalists Jordan and<br />
2007 winners Iraq in Group D in Australia<br />
next year.<br />
“We had many players who could not<br />
come with us this time due to problems, but<br />
we hope they can come with us to Australia,”<br />
said Palestine coach Jamal Mahmoud, a<br />
former Jordan international with Palestinian<br />
heritage who guided Palestine to the semifinals<br />
of the AFC Challenge Cup in 2012<br />
having been appointed a year earlier.<br />
“And we need to make more training<br />
camps and more tough friendly matches<br />
before the Asian Cup.”<br />
Palestine, though, face the daunting<br />
prospect of opening their maiden AFC<br />
Asian Cup campign against four-time<br />
champions Japan on January 12 at<br />
Newcastle Stadium before facing Jordan<br />
at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium four<br />
days later.<br />
And with Group D paired with Group<br />
C that includes Iran, the United Arab<br />
Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain in terms of<br />
quarter-final opponents, Palestine will<br />
round off their group stage campaign<br />
against 2007 champions Iraq on January<br />
20 at Canberra Stadium.<br />
“I think all of the people in Jordan are<br />
happy for me,” said Mahmoud, who made 25<br />
appearances for Jordan.<br />
“They have always supported me. I think<br />
this is very good for Jordan to have a coach<br />
from Jordan achieving this success.”<br />
As for the AFC Asian Cup opener against<br />
Japan, a smiling Mahmoud said: “We<br />
will see what we can do.”<br />
With two-time AFC Challenge Cup<br />
winners DPR Korea having already<br />
secured their qualification for Australia<br />
following their win over Turkmenistan in<br />
the 2012 final, the Central Asians were<br />
the most experienced of the eight sides<br />
in the Maldives.<br />
And Turkmenistan made the ideal<br />
start to their campaign in Group B with<br />
a 5-1 win over debutants Laos thanks<br />
to two goals from Didar Durdiyev, while<br />
the highly-anticipated meeting between<br />
the Philippines and SAFF champions<br />
Afghanistan ended goalless.<br />
But Turkmenistan’s hopes of progress<br />
suffered a blow two days later as<br />
Afghanistan made a belated start to their<br />
campaign by posting a 3-1 win.<br />
The Philippines also registered their first<br />
win as Simone Rota and Patrick Reichelt<br />
scored in each half at the Azkals beat Laos.<br />
And Philippines and Afghanistan sealed<br />
their qualification at the expense of<br />
Turkmenistan as Reichelt was again<br />
on target with 17 minutes remaining<br />
against the Central Asians after 2012<br />
AFC Challenge Cup top scorer Phil<br />
Younghusband had opened the scoring just<br />
after half-time.<br />
Afghanistan also completed their group<br />
stage campaign with an unbeaten record,<br />
although the SAFF champions were forced<br />
to settle for second place following a<br />
goalless draw with Laos.<br />
The draw handed Laos their first point at<br />
a continental competition after Khampheng<br />
Sayavutthi had earlier netted his side’s first<br />
AFC Challenge Cup goal in spectacular<br />
fashion in their tournament opener against<br />
Turkmenistan.<br />
In Group B, the Maldives endured a<br />
disappointing opening to their campaign<br />
as Myanmar claimed a thrilling 3-2 win<br />
thanks to two goals from Kyaw Ko Ko,<br />
while Abdulhamid Abuhabib scored<br />
in the sixth minute of stoppage time<br />
as Palestine dramatically edged out<br />
Kyrgyzstan.<br />
But the Maldives delighted the<br />
home fans as captain Ali Ashfaq<br />
scored twice in the second half to<br />
secure a 2-0 win over Kyrgyzstan two<br />
days later.<br />
Palestine, meanwhile, maintained<br />
their 100% record as Abuhabib and<br />
Al Fawaghra scored either side of<br />
half-time to secure a 2-0 win over<br />
Myanmar, who were the only side in<br />
the Maldives with previous AFC Asian<br />
Cup experience having finished as<br />
runners-up at the 1968 edition.<br />
And with the table-toppers Palestine and<br />
the Maldives sharing a goalless draw on<br />
the final Matchday to secure qualification<br />
from Group B after all four sides headed<br />
into the final round of fixtures still in<br />
contention for a place in the semi-finals,<br />
both Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar saw their<br />
Group A<br />
P W D L GF GA GD Pts<br />
Palestine 3 2 1 0 3 0 3 7<br />
Maldives 3 1 1 1 4 3 1 4<br />
Kyrgyzstan 3 1 0 2 1 3 -2 3<br />
Myanmar 3 1 0 2 3 5 -2 3<br />
19/05/14<br />
Palestine 1 (Abdulhamid Abuhabib 90+6) Kyrgyzstan 0<br />
Maldives 2 (Mohamed Umair 55, Ali Ashfaq 90+6)<br />
Myanmar 3 (Kyaw Ko Ko 39, 90+5, Nyein Chan Aung<br />
45+1)<br />
21/05/14<br />
Myanmar 0 Palestine 2 (Abdulhamid Abuhabib 45+4,<br />
Ashraf Al Fawaghra 50)<br />
Kyrgyzstan 0 Maldives 2 (Ali Ashfaq 61, 71)<br />
23/05/14<br />
Maldives 0 Palestine 0<br />
Kyrgyzstan 1 (Vladimir Verevkin 18) Myanmar 0<br />
Group B<br />
P W D L GF GA GD Pts<br />
Philippines 3 2 1 0 4 0 4 7<br />
Afghanistan 3 1 2 0 3 1 2 5<br />
Turkmenistan 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3<br />
Laos 3 0 1 2 1 7 -6 1<br />
20/05/14<br />
Turkmenistan 5 (Dovlet Bayramov 42, Didar Durdiyev 50,<br />
85, Vathana Keodouangdeth 55 OG, Bahtiyar Hojaahmedov<br />
87) Laos 1 (Khampheng Sayavutthi 34)<br />
Philippines 0 Afghanistan 0<br />
22/05/14<br />
Laos 0 Philippines 2 (Simone Rota 41, Patrick Reichelt 63)<br />
Afghanistan 3 (Haroon Fakhrudin 45+1, Ahmad Hatifi<br />
61, Faisal Sakhizada 86) Turkmenistan 1 (Suleyman<br />
Muhadov 64)<br />
24/05/14<br />
Turkmenistan 0 Philippines 2 (Phil Younghusband 49,<br />
Patrick Reichelt 73)<br />
Afghanistan 0 Laos 0<br />
Semi-Finals<br />
Third Place Play-Off<br />
Final<br />
27/05/14<br />
Palestine 2 (Ashraf Al Fawaghra 43, 47) Afghanistan 0<br />
Philippines 3 (Phil Younghusband 19, Jerry Lucena 38, Chris<br />
Greatwich 104) Maldives 2 (Mohamed Umair 36, Asadhulla<br />
Abdulla 66) AET<br />
29/05/14<br />
Afghanistan 1 (Hamid Karimi 114) Maldives 1 (Ali Fasir<br />
118) AET<br />
Maldives win 8-7 penalties<br />
30/05/14<br />
Palestine 1 (Ashraf Al Fawaghra 59) Philippines 0<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 61
AFC Asian Cup UPDATE<br />
campaigns end in the group stage despite<br />
Vladimir Verevkin’s 18th minute strike<br />
securing a 1-0 win over the Central Asians.<br />
And Group B winners Palestine built<br />
on their run to the semi-finals in 2012 as<br />
Al Fawaghra scored twice to edge out an<br />
injury-depleted Afghanistan side 2-0 in their<br />
semi-final.<br />
The Maldives, though, failed to make full<br />
use of home advantage having won the 2008<br />
SAFF Championship on home soil as<br />
Chris Greatwich’s 104th minute winner<br />
secured the Philippines a place in the<br />
final following a thrilling 3-2 win after<br />
extra-time.<br />
But despite missing out on a place in<br />
the final, the Maldives were able to end<br />
their campaign on a high as Ibrahim<br />
Fazeel scored the winning penalty as<br />
the tournament hosts claimed third<br />
place after edging out Afghanistan 8-7<br />
on penalties following a 1-1 draw after<br />
extra-time.<br />
SAFF champions Afghanistan had<br />
dominated a goalless 90 minutes<br />
and finally opened the scoring in the<br />
113rd minute through Hamid Karimi only for<br />
substitute Ali Fasir to dramatically equalise for<br />
the Maldives with two minutes remaining.<br />
And after Maldives goalkeeper Mohamed<br />
Imran saved from Faisal Shayesteh having<br />
earlier also denied Mustafa Hadid in a tense<br />
shootout, Fazeel held his nerve to claim<br />
victory for the home side.<br />
“We must be satisfied with the bronze<br />
medal. Turkmenistan are two-time runners-up<br />
and they could not go past the group stage.<br />
All the teams are strong and that’s why the<br />
level is higher than the SAFF Championship,”<br />
said Maldives coach Drago Mamic.<br />
“We had home advantage, but without<br />
extraordinary quality within the team we<br />
could not achieve this. This game was the<br />
same as the final for me. I would have been<br />
disappointed if we did not finish third, but<br />
fourth would also have been good.<br />
“This is a good platform for the future.<br />
With additional work in the clubs we can<br />
achieve better results in the next year or two.<br />
This bronze medal means something for the<br />
future.”<br />
But it was Palestine who were left<br />
celebrating after 12 days in the Maldives as<br />
Al Fawaghra’s 59th minute free-kick denied<br />
the Philippines as Mahmoud’s side gained<br />
revenge for losing to the Azkals in the third<br />
place play-off two years earlier in Nepal.<br />
Al Fawaghra’s goal secured victory<br />
for Palestine in the last edition of the<br />
tournament with the AFC revealing plans to<br />
revamp the qualification process for both the<br />
AFC Asian Cup and FIFA World Cup.<br />
Under the new format, the AFC Asian Cup<br />
will be expanded to 24 teams, with the next<br />
edition set to take place in 2019.<br />
The proposals will also see the preliminary<br />
round of qualifiers for both the AFC Asian<br />
Cup and FIFA World Cup merged.<br />
And the eight group winners and<br />
four best second teams will then<br />
remain in contention to qualify for<br />
both tournaments through separate<br />
qualifiers.<br />
The next best 24 teams from the<br />
preliminary round will then compete for<br />
the remaining place at the AFC Asian<br />
Cup.<br />
Palestine’s victory also came just<br />
days before individual match tickets<br />
for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup went on<br />
sale to the general public after sales of<br />
venue packs for the games in Sydney,<br />
Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and<br />
Newcastle had started in mid-May.<br />
“I can assure everyone a warm Aussie<br />
welcome awaits them,” said AFC Asian Cup<br />
Local Organising Committee CEO Michael<br />
Brown.<br />
“We want fans to come to Australia from<br />
all around Asia, and the rest of the world, to<br />
experience a true festival of football and take<br />
home memories that will last a lifetime.<br />
“Fans coming to Australia will see the best<br />
Asia has to offer, and they will see it at prices<br />
that are very affordable and family-friendly.”<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 63
REVIEW: AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE<br />
Defending champions<br />
Guangzhou Evergrande<br />
as well as former Asian<br />
champions Pohang<br />
Steelers, Al Ain, Al Ittihad,<br />
Al Sadd and Al Hilal<br />
secured qualification for the<br />
quarter-finals of the AFC<br />
Champions League in May.<br />
China’s Guangzhou recorded a 5-2<br />
aggregate victory over Japan’s Cerezo Osaka<br />
despite losing the return fixture 1-0 at home;<br />
while Pohang, Al Ain, Al Ittihad, Al Sadd and<br />
Al Hilal all recorded second leg wins to claim<br />
victory in their respective ties.<br />
Former finalists FC Seoul and Australian<br />
newcomers Western Sydney Wanderers<br />
completed the quarter-final line-up.<br />
“We didn’t do well. Our goalkeeper,<br />
defenders and midfielders made lots of<br />
mistakes which led to a sense of insecurity<br />
for the entire team,” said Guangzhou coach<br />
Marcello Lippi.<br />
“Our opponents didn’t send their best<br />
team, so mentally our team was too relaxed.<br />
This game will be worth reviewing, and it also<br />
proved that Guangzhou Evergrande is not a<br />
great team because a great team wouldn’t<br />
show such a loose attitude in an important<br />
match like this.”<br />
An own goal from Liao Lisheng in the<br />
49th minute secured the win for Cerezo, but<br />
Guangzhou had already done the damage<br />
a week earlier after two goals each from<br />
Brazilian duo Elkeson and Muriqui secured a<br />
5-1 win at Nagai Stadium.<br />
“Sometimes our players seem lost, even<br />
though we are at the top in the domestic<br />
league and have also qualified in the AFC<br />
Champions League. But we need more and to<br />
improve continuously, and that is how we can<br />
become a great team,” added Lippi.<br />
“However, the<br />
most important<br />
thing is that we<br />
qualified. Not all<br />
the Chinese teams<br />
were able to reach<br />
the last eight of the<br />
AFC Champions<br />
League. We have<br />
three games to<br />
play before the<br />
next round, and in<br />
the second half of<br />
the year we have<br />
to sprint in every<br />
competition.”<br />
Three-time Asian champions Pohang,<br />
meanwhile, secured a return to the quarterfinals<br />
for the first time in three years as their<br />
1-0 second leg victory over fellow K-League<br />
Champion Line-Up<br />
For Quarter-Finals<br />
Classic side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors sealed a<br />
3-1 win on aggregate.<br />
Kim Seung-dae’s sixth minute strike at<br />
The Steelyard extended Pohang’s advantage<br />
having won the previous week’s first leg 2-1 at<br />
Jeonju World Cup Stadium.<br />
In the West, Asamoah Gyan scored twice<br />
as inaugural AFC Champions League winners<br />
Al Ain came from a goal down to beat United<br />
Arab Emirates league rivals Al Jazira 2-1 in<br />
their second leg to advance to the quarterfinals<br />
for the first time since 2006 after<br />
completing a 4-2 aggregate win.<br />
“We had a great game against Al Jazira and<br />
we deserved to win<br />
and celebrate at home<br />
with our fans,” said<br />
Al Ain coach Zlatko<br />
Dalic.<br />
“The players<br />
worked very hard<br />
in the previous<br />
period and I want to<br />
thank them for the<br />
comeback victory.<br />
“We didn’t have<br />
a good start to<br />
the match and we<br />
conceded a goal<br />
which affected us. However, there was good<br />
determination from the players to make a good<br />
comeback and we eventually scored two goals<br />
to win the match.”<br />
Elsewhere, teenager Fahad Al Muwallad<br />
scored twice as two-time winners Al Ittihad<br />
stunned Saudi rivals Al Shabab 3-1 in their<br />
second leg to secure a place in the quarterfinals<br />
for the seventh time after securing a<br />
4-1 aggregate victory.<br />
And Al Sadd advanced to the last eight<br />
for the first time since winning the AFC<br />
Champions League in 2011 after a thrilling<br />
2-2 draw with Foolad Khouzestan in Iran<br />
saw the Qatari side advance on away goals.<br />
Goals from Nadir Belhadj and Khalfan<br />
Ibrahim put the Qatari side in charge,<br />
but they endured a nervous finish after<br />
Abdelkarim Hassan was sent-off and<br />
Brazilian striker Chimba scored twice to<br />
level the score for Khouzestan, who exited<br />
the tournament despite not losing a game.<br />
Two-time Asian Club Championship<br />
winners Al Hilal, meawhile, romped to a 3-0<br />
win over Uzbekistan champions Bunyodkor<br />
in Riyadh with goals from captain Yasser Al<br />
Qahtani, Nassir Al Shamrani and Salem Al<br />
Dawsari completing a 4-0 aggregate victory.<br />
In the East, Brendon Santalab struck with<br />
five minutes remaining as AFC Champions<br />
League debutants Western Sydney qualified<br />
for the quarter-finals on away goals after<br />
recording a crucial 2-0 win over J. League<br />
champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima.<br />
And finally, at Seoul World Cup Stadium,<br />
2013 finalists FC Seoul advanced to the<br />
quarter-finals for a fourth time in six years<br />
on away goals despite suffering a 2-1 defeat<br />
by Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale.<br />
Group A<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Al Shabab (KSA) 6 5 0 1 12 8 4 15<br />
Al Jazira (UAE) 6 3 1 1 12 10 2 10<br />
Esteghlal (IRN) 6 2 1 3 7 7 0 7<br />
Al Rayyan (QAT) 6 1 0 5 9 15 -6 3<br />
25/02/14<br />
Al Jazira 3 (Felipe Caicedo 3, Abdelaziz Barrada 9, Ahmed<br />
Gheilani 73) Al Rayyan 2 (Lucho Gonzalez 59, Kalu<br />
Uche 90+2)<br />
Esteghlal 0 Al Shabab 1 (Imad Khalili 58)<br />
11/03/14<br />
Al Rayyan 1 (Kalu Uche 14) Esteghlal 0<br />
Al Shabab 1 (Ahmed Otayf 53) Al Jazira 3 (Ali Mabkhout<br />
7, Abdulla Qasem 12, Jucelei 56)<br />
18/03/14<br />
Esteghlal 2 (Mohammad Ghazi 17, Hanif Omranzadeh<br />
65) Al Jazira 2 (Abdelaziz Barrada 6, 56)<br />
Al Shabab 4 (Majed Al Marshadi 3, Ahmed Otayf 22,<br />
Rafinha 48, 56) Al Rayyan 3 (Kalu Uche 9, 41; Sayaf<br />
Mohsin 18)<br />
02/04/14<br />
Al Jazira 0 Esteghlal 1 (Mohammad Gazi 69)<br />
Al Rayyan 0 Al Shabab (Essa Al Mahyani 7, Hassan<br />
Fallatah 90+2)<br />
16/04/15<br />
Al Rayyan 2 (Yakubu 48, Musa Haroon 53) Al Jazira 3<br />
(Abdelaziz Barrada 45, Ali Mabkhout 60, Cho Yong-hyung<br />
90OG)<br />
Al Shabab 2 (Fernando Menegazzo 82, Saeed Al Dosari<br />
90+5) Esteghlal 1 (Arash Bohrani 47)<br />
23/04/15<br />
Al Jazira 1 (Salim Ali 58) Al Shabab 2 (Abdulmajeed<br />
Al Ruwaili 35, 89)<br />
Esteghlal 3 (Boubacar Kebe 54, 73, Mohammad Ghazi 60)<br />
Al Rayyan 1 (Fahad Khalfan 81)<br />
Group E<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Pohang (KOR) 6 3 3 0 11 6 5 12<br />
Cerezo (JPN) 6 2 2 2 10 9 1 8<br />
Buriram (THA) 6 1 3 2 5 9 -4 6<br />
Shandong (CHN) 6 1 2 3 9 11 -2 5<br />
25/02/14<br />
Shandong 1 (Liu Bin Bin 83) Buriram 1 (Adisak<br />
Kraisorn 90+2)<br />
Pohang Steelers 1 (Bae Chun-suk 61) Cerezo 1<br />
(Yoichiro Kakitani 11)<br />
11/03/14<br />
Buriram 1 (Adisak Kraisorn 69) Pohang 2 (Kim Tae-soo<br />
19, Kim Seung-dae 24)<br />
Cerezo 1 (Yoichiro Kakitani 84) Shandong 3 (Aloisio 5,<br />
Vagner Love 26, 56)<br />
18/03/14<br />
Pohang 2 (Kim Tae-soo 32, Kim Seung-dae 78)<br />
Shandong 2 (Vagner Love 13, 23)<br />
Cerezo 4 (Yoichiro Kakitani 4, Takumi Minamino 34, 82,<br />
Diego Forlan 90+3) Buriram 0<br />
02/04/14<br />
Shandong 2 (Du Wei 85, Hang Peng 90+3) Pohang<br />
4 (Go Moo-yul 35, Kim Tae-su 65, Kim Seung-dae 71, Liu<br />
Bin Bin 83 OG)<br />
Buriram 2 (Theerathon Bunamathan 10, Suchao Nutnum<br />
41) Cerezo 2 (Tatsuya Yamashita 65, 88)<br />
16/04/15<br />
Buriram 1 (Kai Hirano 35) Shandong 0<br />
Cerezo 0 Pohang 2 (Lee Myung-joo 23, Kim Seung-dae<br />
65)<br />
23/04/14<br />
Shandong 1 (Vagner Love 19) Cerezo 2 (Yoichiro<br />
Kakitani 46, Diego Forlan 48)<br />
Pohang 0 Buriram 0<br />
Guangzhou Evergrande v Cerezo Osaka<br />
06/05/14<br />
Cerezo 1 (Ariajasuru Hasegawa 30) Guangzhou 5<br />
(Muriqui 22, 84, Elkeson 34, 37, Gao Lin 78)<br />
13/05/14<br />
Guangzhou 0 Cerezo 1 (Liao Lisheng 49 OG)<br />
Guangzhou Evergrande win 5-2 on aggregate<br />
Pohang Steelers v Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors<br />
06/05/14<br />
Jeonbuk 1 (Lee Jae-sung 54) Pohang 2 (Son Jun-ho 58,<br />
Go Moo-yul 74)<br />
13/05/14<br />
Pohang 1 (Kim Seung-dae 6) Jeonbuk 0<br />
Pohang Steelers win 3-1 on aggregate<br />
Group B<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Foolad (IRN) 6 4 2 0 11 3 8 14<br />
Bunyodkor (UZB) 6 2 2 2 7 7 0 8<br />
El Jaish (QAT) 6 2 2 2 6 6 0 8<br />
Al Fateh (KSA) 6 0 2 4 3 11 -8 2<br />
25/02/14<br />
Al Fateh 0 Bunyodkor 0<br />
El Jaish Foolad Khouzestan 0<br />
11/03/14<br />
Foolad Khouzestan 1 (Bakhtiar Rahmani 68) Al<br />
Fateh 0<br />
Bunyodkor 1 (Bakhodir Pardaev 90+3) El Jaish 2<br />
(Nilmar 34, 69)<br />
19/03/14<br />
Bunyodkor 1 (Vokhid Shodiev 90+2) Foolad Khouzestan<br />
1 (Abdollah Karami 74)<br />
Al Fateh 0 El Jaish 0<br />
01/04/14<br />
Foolad Khouzestan 1 (Ayoub Vali 77) Bunyodkor 0<br />
El Jaish 2 (Nilmar 58, Rami Fayez 89) Al Fateh 0<br />
16/04/15<br />
Foolad Khouzestan 3 (Rahmani Bakhtiar 21, Gholam<br />
Reza Rezaei 45, Luciano Pereira 90+3) El Jaish 1 (Nilmar<br />
10)<br />
Bunyodkor 3 (Oleg Zoteev 43, Vokhid Shodiev 83, Alibobo<br />
Rakhmatullaev 85) Al Fateh 2 (Doris Salomo 68, Hamdan<br />
Al Hamdan 79)<br />
23/04/14<br />
Al Fateh 1 (Badr Al Nakly 62) Foolad Khouzestan 5<br />
(Luciano Pereira10, 36, 44, Gholam Reza Resaei 78, 90+4)<br />
El Jaish 1 (Mohammed Muntari 52) Bunyodkor 2<br />
(Sergii Symonenko 13, Sardor Rashidov 90+4)<br />
Group F<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
FC Seoul (KOR) 6 3 2 1 9 6 3 11<br />
Sanfrecce (JPN) 6 2 3 1 9 8 1 9<br />
Beijing (CHN) 6 2 0 4 4 7 -3 6<br />
Central Coast (AUS) 6 2 0 4 4 7 -3 6<br />
25/02/14<br />
Sanfrecce 1 (Kazuhiko Chiba 77) Beijing 1 (Ha<br />
Dae-sung 62)<br />
FC Seoul 2 (Osmar Barba 32, Yun Il-lok 56) Central<br />
Coast 0<br />
11/03/14<br />
Beijing 1 (Peter Utaka 20) FC Seoul 1 (Go Yo-han 71)<br />
Central Coast 2 (Mile Sterjovski 23, 32) Sanfrecce<br />
1 (Tsukasa Shiotani 21)<br />
19/03/14<br />
Sanfrecce 2 (Yojiro Takahagi 53, Tsukasa Shiotani 79)<br />
FC Seoul 1 (Rafael Costa 60)<br />
Beijing 2 (Shao Jiayi 45, Peter Utaka 63) Central<br />
Coast 1 (Nick Fitzgerald 86)<br />
01/04/14<br />
FC Seoul 2 (Yun Il-lok 53, Rafael Costa 90+4)<br />
Sanfrecce 2 (Gakuto Notsuda 20, Hwang Seok-ho 70)<br />
Central Coast 1 (Marcel Seip 73) Beijing 0<br />
16/04/15<br />
Beijing 2 (Shao Jiayi 55, Joffre Guerron 60) Sanfrecce 2<br />
(Naoki Ishihara 66, Zhao Hejing 70 OG)<br />
Central Coast 0 FC Seoul 1 (John Hutchinson<br />
90+2OG)<br />
23/04/14<br />
Sanfrecce 1 (Satoru Yamagishi 72) Central Coast 0<br />
FC Seoul 2 (Kang Seung-jo 43, Yun Ju-tae 57) Beijing<br />
1 (Yu Yang 88)<br />
Group Stage<br />
Group C<br />
Round of 16<br />
Western Sydney Wanderers v Sanfrecce Hiroshima<br />
07/05/14<br />
Sanfrecce 3 (Naoki Ishihara 51, 65; Kosei Shibasaki 90+1)<br />
Western Sydney 1 (Tomas Juric 78)<br />
14/05/14<br />
Western Sydney 2 (Shannon Cole 55, Brendon Santalab<br />
85) Sanfrecce 0<br />
Western Sydney Wanderers win on away<br />
goals following 3-3 draw on aggregate<br />
FC Seoul v Kawasaki Frontale<br />
07/05/14<br />
Kawasaki 2 (Yu Kobayashi 49, Renato 61) FC Seoul 3<br />
(Sergio Escudero 51, Kim Chi-woo 83, Yun Il-lok 90+3)<br />
14/05/14<br />
FC Seoul 1 (Sergio Escudero 9) Kawasaki 2 (Yu<br />
Kobayashi 29, Yasuhito Morishima 90+2)<br />
FC Seoul win on away goals following a 4-4<br />
draw on aggregate<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Al Ain (UAE) 6 3 2 1 14 7 7 11<br />
Al Ittihad (KSA) 6 3 1 2 8 6 2 10<br />
Lekhwiya (QAT) 6 2 1 3 5 10 -5 7<br />
Tractorsazi (IRN) 6 1 2 3 4 8 -4 5<br />
26/02/14<br />
Tractorsazi Tabriz 1 (Karim Ansarifard 82) Al Ittihad 0<br />
Al Ain 2 (Ibrahim Diaky 13, Asamoah Gyan 65)<br />
Lekhwiya 1 (Vladimir Weiss 40)<br />
12/03/14<br />
Lekhwiya 0 Tractorsazi Tabriz 0<br />
Al Ittihad 2 (Mukhtar Fallatah 68, 75) Al Ain 1 (Asamoah<br />
Gyan 38)<br />
18/03/14<br />
Lekhwiya 2 (Sebastian Soria 22, Nam Tae-hee 79)<br />
Al Ittihad 0<br />
Al Ain 3 (Asamoah Gyan 16, 73, Mohamed Abdulrahman<br />
37) Tractorsazi Tabriz 1 (Milad Fakhroddini 42)<br />
01/04/14<br />
Al Ittihad 3 (Mukhtar Fallatah 16, Abdulfattah Asiri 26, 79)<br />
Lekhwiya 1 (Adel Lamy 21)<br />
Tractorsazi Tabriz 2 (Saeed Daghighi 20, Farshad<br />
Ahmadzadeh 61) Al Ain 2 (Asamoah Gyan 54, Mohamed<br />
Abdulrahman 59)<br />
15/04/15<br />
Lekhwiya 0 Al Ain 5 (Ibrahim Diaky 26, Alex Brosque 43,<br />
Mohamed Abdulrahman 57,Asamoah Gyan 70, 90+2)<br />
Al Ittihad 2 (Abdulfattah Asiri 18, Mukhtar Fallatah 60)<br />
Tractorsazi Tabriz 0<br />
22/04/14<br />
Al Ain 1 (Mansour Sharahili 22 OG) Al Ittihad 1 (Abdulrahman<br />
Al Ghamdi 36)<br />
Tractorsazi Tabriz 0 Lekhwiya 1 (Madjid Bougherra 73)<br />
Group G<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Guangzhou (CHN) 6 3 1 2 10 8 2 10<br />
Jeonbuk (KOR) 6 2 2 2 8 7 1 8<br />
Melbourne (AUS) 6 2 2 2 9 9 0 8<br />
Yokohama (JPN) 6 2 1 3 7 10 -3 7<br />
26/02/14<br />
Jeonbuk 3 (Lee Seung-gi 61, 69,<br />
Leonardo 72) Yokohama 0<br />
Guangzhou 4 (Huang Bowen 59, Alessandro Diamanti<br />
65, 85 Elkeson 71) Melbourne 2 (Pablo Contreras 37,<br />
Leigh Broxham 41)<br />
12/03/14<br />
Melbourne 2 (Nicholas Ansell 31, Kosta<br />
Barbarouses 80) Jeonbuk 2 (Lee Dong-gook 76, 79)<br />
Yokohama 1 (Jin Hanato 21) Guangzhou 1<br />
(Alessandro Diamanti 38)<br />
18/03/14<br />
Guangzhou 3 (Gao Lin 17, 21, Liao Lisheng 61)<br />
Jeonbuk 1 (Lee Dong-gook 39)<br />
Melbourne 1 (Kosta Barbarouses 18) Yokohama 0<br />
02/04/14<br />
Jeonbuk 1 (Leonardo 76) Guangzhou 0<br />
Yokohama 3 (Sho Ito 21, Kosuke Nakamachi 27, Shingo<br />
Hyodo 89) Melbourne 2 (James Troisi 7, James Jeggo 90)<br />
15/04/15<br />
Melbourne Victory 2 (Mark Milligan 2, James Troisi<br />
90+1) Guangzhou 0<br />
Yokohama 2 (Manabu Saito 64, 65) Jeonbuk 1 (Han<br />
Kyo-won 7)<br />
22/04/15<br />
Guangzhou 2 (Elkeson 11, 38) Yokohama 1 (Manabu<br />
Saito 85)<br />
Jeonbuk 0 Melbourne 0<br />
Al Ain v Al Jazira<br />
06/05/14<br />
Al Jazira 1 (Musallem Fayez 58) Al Ain 2 (Asamoah<br />
Gyan 11, Omar Abdulrahman 15)<br />
13/05/14<br />
Al Ain 2 (Asamoah Gyan 61, 81) Al Jazira 1 (Ali<br />
Mabkhout 17)<br />
Al Ain win 4-2 on aggregate<br />
Al Hilal v Bunyodkor<br />
07/05/14<br />
Bunyodkor 0 Al Hilal 1 (Salem Al Dawsari 38)<br />
14/05/14<br />
Al Hilal 3 (Yasser Al Qahtani 20, Nassir Al Shamrani 47,<br />
Salem Al Dawsari 58) Bunyodkor 0<br />
Al Hilal win 4-0 on aggregate<br />
Group D<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Al Hilal (KSA) 6 2 3 1 12 7 5 9<br />
Al Sadd (QAT) 6 2 2 2 8 14 -6 8<br />
Al Ahli (UAE) 6 1 4 1 6 6 0 7<br />
Sepahan (IRN) 6 2 1 3 9 8 1 7<br />
26/02/14<br />
Al Sadd 3 (Khalfan Ibrahim 18, Nadir Belhadj 87, Rodrigo<br />
Tabata 90+2) Sepahan 1 (Mehdi Sharifi 78)<br />
Al Hilal 2 (Nassir Al Shamrani 60, 74) Al Ahli 2 (Luis<br />
Jimenez 53, Grafite 58)<br />
12/03/14<br />
Sepahan 3 (Ervin Bulku 18, Mehdi Sharifi 72, Xhevahir<br />
Sukaj 90+1) Al Hilal 2 (Segundo Castillo 28, Thiago Neves 33)<br />
Al Ahli 1 (Grafite 68) Al Sadd 1 (Nadir Belhadj 24)<br />
19/03/14<br />
Sepahan 1 (Sergio Van Dijk 74) Al Ahli 2 (Ahmed Khalil<br />
39, Ismail Al Hammadi 90+5)<br />
Al Sadd 2 (Talal Al Bloushi 26, Nadir Belhadj 66) Al Hilal<br />
2 (Thiago Neves 45+1, 56)<br />
01/04/14<br />
Al Ahli 0 Sepahan 0<br />
Al Hilal 5 (Yasser Al Qahtani 3, Sultan Al Duayyi 28, Nassir<br />
Al Shamrani 34, 58, 62) Al Sadd 0<br />
15/04/15<br />
Sepahan 4 (Mehdi Sharifi 48, 56, Xhevahir Sukaj 63,<br />
Ibrahim Majed 90+3 OG) Al Sadd 0<br />
Al Ahli 0 Al Hilal 0<br />
22/04/14<br />
Al Sadd 2 (Khalfan Ibrahim 34, Rodrigo Tabata 79) Al Ahli<br />
1 (Grafite 15)<br />
Al Hilal 1 (Nassir Al Shamrani 45+2) Sepahan 0<br />
Group H<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Western Sydney (AUS) 6 4 0 2 11 5 6 12<br />
Kawasaki (JPN) 6 4 0 2 7 5 2 12<br />
Ulsan (KOR) 6 2 1 3 8 10 -2 7<br />
Guizhou (CHN) 6 1 1 4 4 10 -6 4<br />
26/02/14<br />
Kawasaki 1 (Renato 31) Guizhou Renhe 0<br />
Western Sydney 1 (Brendon Santalab 1) Ulsan 3 (Kim<br />
Shin-wook 35, Ko Chang-hyun 43, Kang Min-soo 66)<br />
12/03/14<br />
Ulsan 2 (Yoo Jun-soo 84, Kim Shin-wook 90+3)<br />
Kawasaki 0<br />
Guizhou 0 Western Sydney 1 (Mark Bridge 10)<br />
19/03/14<br />
Ulsan 1 (Rafinha 58) Guizhou 1 (Yang Hao 87)<br />
Western Sydney 1 (Labinot Haliti 3) Kawasaki 0<br />
01/04/14<br />
Guizhou 3 (Chen Zijie 39, 89, Qu Bo 52) Ulsan 1 (Yoo<br />
Jun-soo 34)<br />
Kawasaki 2 (Kengo Nakamura 74, Ryota Oshima 88)<br />
Western Sydney 1 (Labinot Haliti 24)<br />
15/04/15<br />
Ulsan 0 Western Sydney 2 (Mark Bridge 60,<br />
Brendon Santalab 80)<br />
Guizhou 0 Kawasaki 1 (Kengo Nakamura 38)<br />
22/04/14<br />
Kawasaki 3 (Yu Kobayashi 32, Yoshito Okubo 34, Jeci 77)<br />
Ulsan H1 (Rafinha 35)<br />
Western Sydney 5 (Shannon Cole 7, Labinot Haliti 75,<br />
Aaron Mooy 81, Shinji Ono 85, Nokolai Topor-Stanley 88)<br />
Guizhou 0<br />
Al Shabab v Al Ittihad<br />
06/05/14<br />
Al Ittihad 1 (Mukhtar Fallatah 77) Al Shabab 0<br />
13/05/14<br />
Al Shabab 1 (Abdulmajeed Al Ruwaili 80) Al Ittihad 3<br />
(Mukhtar Fallatah 8, Fhad Al Muwallad 72, 90+1)<br />
Al Ittihad win 4-1 on aggregate<br />
Foolad Khouzestan v Al Sadd<br />
07/05/14<br />
Al Sadd 0 Foolad 0<br />
14/05/14<br />
Foolad 2 (Luciano Pereira 77, 87) Al Sadd 2 (Nadir<br />
Belhadj 16, Khalfan Ibrahim 29)<br />
Al Sadd win on away goals following a 2-2<br />
draw on aggregate<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 65
REVIEW: AFC CUP<br />
Defending champions<br />
Kuwait SC as well as<br />
former finalists Qadsia SC<br />
and Arbil joined Al Hidd,<br />
Persipura Jayapura, Hong<br />
Kong champions Kitchee<br />
and Vietnamese pair XM<br />
Vissai Ninh Binh and<br />
Hanoi T&T in securing qualification for the<br />
quarter-finals of the AFC Cup in May.<br />
In the Round of 16, all but one of the<br />
group stage winners drawn at home in the<br />
one-legged knockout stage progressed to<br />
the last eight.<br />
Tournament debutants and Group C<br />
runners-up Al Hidd of Bahrain pulled off<br />
the lone upset to defeat the previously<br />
undefeated Lebanese double-champions<br />
Safa at Beirut’s Sports City Stadium.<br />
Three-time winners and Group B toppers<br />
Kuwait SC crushed Al Hidd’s compatriots<br />
Riffa 3-0 at home, while Qadsia SC,<br />
Jayapura, Kitchee, Ninh Binh and Hanoi all<br />
recorded comfortable home wins.<br />
“The match was not easy as Riffa are a<br />
good side and they have good players who<br />
work well as a team,” said newly appointed<br />
Kuwait SC coach Abdulaziz Hamada.<br />
“We tried our best to use good attacks in<br />
the second period in order to keep Riffa at<br />
bay and we managed to do so.<br />
“We hope that we can continue with the<br />
same performances in the next matches and<br />
we have a lot of work to do in order to retain<br />
our title.”<br />
Issam Jemaa opened the scoring for<br />
Kuwait SC just before half-time against the<br />
2010 semi-finalists and Husain Hakim and<br />
Jarah Al Ateeqi converted late free-kicks<br />
for the home side as they advanced to the<br />
quarter-finals for the fifth time in six seasons.<br />
Two-time runners-up Qadsia SC,<br />
meanwhile, made<br />
a clear statement<br />
of intentions as the<br />
Group C winners<br />
raced into a 3-0<br />
lead by half-time<br />
against Jordan’s<br />
That Ras Club<br />
with goals from<br />
Omar Al Soma,<br />
Saif Al Hashan<br />
and Mesaed Nada<br />
before Bader Al<br />
Mutwa sealed the<br />
victory with a fourth<br />
goal late in the game.<br />
In Indonesia, Liberian striker Eddie Foday<br />
scored five goals as Jayapura followed up<br />
their Group E dominance by easing into<br />
the last eight for the second time with a<br />
Kuwait SC Remain<br />
On Course<br />
stunning 9-2 win over 10-man Yangon United<br />
of Myanmar.<br />
It was the biggest-ever victory for a team<br />
in the AFC Cup knockout rounds, surpassing<br />
Vietnamese side Binh Duong’s 8-2 rout of<br />
Malaysia’s Kedah in the last 16 in 2009.<br />
Jayapura also became just the second team<br />
to score nine goals in an AFC Cup game after<br />
Nasaf of Uzbekistan, who thrashed Indian side<br />
Dempo 9-0 in 2011.<br />
“We are very pleased and excited with<br />
this victory that has<br />
taken Persipura to<br />
the quarter-finals,”<br />
said Jayapura coach<br />
Jacksen Tiago.<br />
“This is a victory<br />
to be proud of,<br />
thanks to the good<br />
cooperation between<br />
the players, coaches<br />
and management<br />
of the club and the<br />
support of the people<br />
of Papua.”<br />
Also in the East,<br />
Vietnam champions Hanoi T&T secured<br />
their own passage into the next round of<br />
the competition as Nigerian striker Samson<br />
Kayode scored twice to secure a 5-0 win over<br />
Myanmar’s Nay Pyi Taw.<br />
Trinidad & Tobago midfielder Hughton<br />
Hector, Thach Bao Khanh and Pham Thanh<br />
Luong also scored at Hang Day Stadium<br />
as the Group F winners recorded a sixth<br />
victory in seven games in the AFC Cup this<br />
season.<br />
And joining them from the Southeast<br />
Asian nation were unbeaten Group G<br />
winners Ninh Binh who earned a 4-2 victory<br />
of India’s Churchill Brothers thanks to a<br />
brace from Pham Van Quyen and goals by<br />
Le Van Thang and Sim Woon-sub.<br />
Meanwhile, two goals inside the<br />
opening 10 minutes by Jan Kyung-jin and<br />
Lam Ka Wai were enough for Group H<br />
winners Kitchee to progress to a second<br />
consecutive quarter-final apperencce after<br />
their 2-0 win over Arema Indonesia.<br />
Elsewhere, 2012 runners-up Arbil booked<br />
their place in the last eight after edging out<br />
Lebanese side Nejmeh 3-0 on penalties.<br />
After a goalless 120 minutes at the<br />
Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium, Jalal Hassan<br />
emerged as the hero for Arbil as the<br />
goalkeeper saved penalties from by Khaled<br />
Takaji, Khaled Hamieh and Kassem El Zein.<br />
Finally, Bahraini newcomers Al Hidd<br />
advanced to the last eight in their maiden<br />
AFC Cup campaign as a second half goal<br />
from Abdulwahab Al Malood secured victory<br />
over Safa.<br />
Group A<br />
Safa SC v Al Hidd<br />
13/05/14<br />
Safa SC 0 Al Hidd 1 (Abdulwahab Al Malood 53)<br />
Qadsia SC v That Ras Club<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Safa (LIB) 6 5 1 0 13 1 12 16<br />
That Ras Club (JOR) 6 3 2 1 9 4 5 11<br />
Al Suwaiq (OMA) 6 2 1 3 8 4 4 7<br />
FC Ravshan (TJK) 6 0 0 6 5 26 -21 0<br />
25/02/14<br />
Safa SC 1 (Rony Azar 84) That Ras Club 0<br />
Al Suwaiq 3 (Mohammed Al Ghassani 30, Abdulrahman<br />
Al Alawi 59, Seidah Siriki 80) FC Ravshan 1 (Numondzhon<br />
Khakimov 78)<br />
11/03/14<br />
That Ras Club 1 (Mohammed Talaat 84) Al Suwaiq 0<br />
12/03/14<br />
FC Ravshan1 (Solomon Takyi 69) Safa SC 2 (Nour<br />
Mansour 23, Hassan Hazimeh 82)<br />
18/03/14<br />
FC Ravshan 2 (Numondzhon Khakimov 35, Solomon<br />
Takyi 79) That Ras Club 3 (Ahmed Mjarmmesh 21,<br />
Mahmoud Mowafi 37, Baha’ Abdelrahman 89)<br />
Al Suwaiq 0 Safa SC 1 (Ali Nassereddine 18)<br />
02/04/14<br />
Safa SC 1 (Ali Karaki 74) Al Suwaiq 0<br />
That Ras Club 5 (Baha’ Abdelrahman 27, 75, Fahad<br />
Youssef 49, 51, Mohammed Talaat 67) FC Ravshan 1<br />
(Sayriddin Gafforov 62)<br />
09/04/14<br />
That Ras Club 0 Safa SC 0<br />
10/04/14<br />
FC Ravshan 0 Al Suwaiq 5 (Mohammed Al Ghassani<br />
24, 64, Ouday Abduljaffal 51, Al-Abd Al Nofli 54, Belal<br />
Abdul Daim 76)<br />
23/04/14<br />
Safa SC 8 (Ali Nassereddine 13, 52, Rony Azar 33,<br />
Mohamad Tahan 40, Ali Karaki 56, Nour Mansour 68, Jared<br />
Chouman 69, Taha Dyab 80) FC Ravshan 0<br />
Al Suwaiq 0 That Ras Club 0<br />
Group E<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Jayapura (IDN) 6 3 2 1 9 4 5 11<br />
Churchill (IND) 6 3 1 2 10 7 3 10<br />
New Radiant (MDV) 6 3 1 2 8 6 2 10<br />
Home United (SIN) 6 1 0 5 2 12 -10 3<br />
25/02/14<br />
Persipura Jayapura 2 (Boaz Solossa 48, Ferinando<br />
Pahabol 62) Churchill Brothers 0<br />
New Radiant SC 1 (Mohamed Umair 53) Home<br />
United 0<br />
11/03/14<br />
Churchill Brothers 3 (Cristhian Lagos 31, 75, Anthony<br />
Wolfe 53) New Radiant 0<br />
Home United 1 (Yasir Hanapi 26) Persipura Jayapura<br />
1 (Ferinando Pahabol 74)<br />
18/03/14<br />
Persipura Jayapura 3 (Ian Kabes 43, Imanuel Wanggai<br />
63, 68) New Radiant 0<br />
Churchill Brothers 3 (Anthony Wolfe 16, Yunman Raju<br />
26, Balwant Singh 90+1) Home United 1 (Qiu Li 10)<br />
02/04/14<br />
New Radiant SC 0 Persipura Jayapura 2 (Boaz<br />
Solossa 37, 69)<br />
Home United 2 (Fazrul Hameed 25, Indra Daud 72)<br />
Churchill Brothers 1 (Emuejeraye Precious 27 OG)<br />
09/04/14<br />
Churchill Brothers 1 (Balwant Singh 84) Persipura<br />
Jayapura 1 (Boaz Solossa 78)<br />
Home United 2 (Qiu Li 28, Bruno Castanheira 61)<br />
New Radiant SC 0<br />
23/04/14<br />
Persipura Jayapura 0 Home United 2 (Fazrul<br />
Hameed 14, Juma’at Jantan 23)<br />
New Radiant SC 1 (Mohammad Umair 40) Churchill<br />
Brothers 2 (Naveen Kumar 64, Anthony Wolfe 67)<br />
13/05/14<br />
Qadsia SC 4 (Omar Al Soma 7, Saif Al Hashan 14,<br />
Mesad Nada 39, Bader Al Mutwa 74) That Ras Club 0<br />
Group B<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Kuwait SC (KUW) 6 4 1 1 12 4 8 13<br />
Nejmah (LIB) 6 2 3 1 4 3 1 9<br />
Fanja (OMA) 6 1 3 2 2 6 -4 6<br />
Al Jaish (SYR) 6 0 3 3 0 5 -5 3<br />
25/02/14<br />
Kuwait SC 2 (Javad Nekounam 67, Waleed Jumah 90+3)<br />
Nejmah 1 (Akram Moghrabi 75)<br />
26/02/14<br />
Al Jaish 0 Fanja 0<br />
11/03/14<br />
Nejmah 0 Al Jaish 0<br />
Fanja 2 (Abdulaziz Maqbali 42, Cisse Ely 53) Kuwait SC<br />
1 (Javad Nekounam 65)<br />
19/03/14<br />
Nejmah 1 (Akram Moghrabi 60) Fanja 0<br />
Kuwait SC 2 (Javad Nekounam 42, Chadi Hammani 85)<br />
Al Jaish 0<br />
01/04/14<br />
Al Jaish 0 Kuwait SC 2 (Issam Jemaa 67, 90+1)<br />
Fanja 0 Nejmeh 0<br />
09/04/14<br />
Nejmeh 1 (Akram Moghrabi 90+2) Kuwait SC 1 (Ali<br />
Al Kandari 82)<br />
Fanja 0 Al Jaish 0<br />
24/04/14<br />
Kuwait SC 4 (Rogerinho 14, 58, Ahmad Al Saqer 24,<br />
Abdullah Hashem 62) Fanja 0<br />
Al Jaish 0 Nejmeh 1 (Akram Moghrabi 27)<br />
Group F<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Hanoi T&T (VIE) 6 5 0 1 14 7 7 15<br />
Arema (IDN) 6 3 1 2 10 9 1 10<br />
Selangor (MAS) 6 2 2 2 9 6 3 8<br />
Maziya (MDV) 6 0 1 5 7 18 -11 1<br />
25/02/14<br />
Hanoi T&T 5 (Nguyen Van Quyet 18, 75, 84, Nguyen Ngoc<br />
Duy 77, Pham Van Thanh 88) Maziya Sports &<br />
Recreation 1 (Ahmed Nashid 43)<br />
Selangor 1 (Paulo 9) Arema Indonesia 1 (Victor<br />
Igbonefo 72)<br />
11/03/14<br />
Maziya Sports & Recreation 1 (Mohamed Ahmed 51)<br />
Selangor 1 (Steve Pantelidis 43)<br />
Arema Indonesia 1 (Alfaro Gonzalez 27) Hanoi T&T 3<br />
(Gonzalo Marronkle 20, 33, Nguyen Van Quyet 89)<br />
19/03/14<br />
Maziya Sports & Recreation 1 (Ali Amdhan 25)<br />
Arema Indonesia 3 (Gustavo Lopez 31, Dendi Santoso 68)<br />
Hanoi T&T 1 (Nguyen Van Quyet 52) Selangor 0<br />
01/04/14<br />
Arema Indonesia 3 (Alfaro Gonzales 25, 90+1, Gustavo<br />
Lopez 26) Maziya Sports & Recreation 2 (Ali Amdhan<br />
62, Abdulla Ibrahim 65)<br />
Selangor 3 (Paulo 21, 32, 43) Hanoi T&T 1 (Gonzalo<br />
Marronkle 36)<br />
09/04/14<br />
Maziya Sports & Recreation 1 (Mohamed Ahmed<br />
59) Hanoi T&T 2 (Gonzalo Marronkle 11, Nguyen Van<br />
Quyet 22)<br />
16/04/14<br />
Arema Indonesia 1 (Gustavo Lopez 45) Selangor 0<br />
23/04/14<br />
Hanoi T&T 2 (Nguyen Ngoc Duy 68, 75) Arema Indonesia<br />
1 (Alfaro Gonzales 15)<br />
Selangor 4 (Paulo 34, 63, 79, Mohamad Azmi 83)<br />
Maziya Sports & Recreation 1 (Abdulla Asadhulla 10)<br />
Persipura Jayapura v Yangon United<br />
13/05/14<br />
Persipura Jayapura 9 (Eddie Foday 2, 23, 41, 43, 86,<br />
Tinus Pae 10, Ian Kabes 28, 53, Titus Bonai 57) Yangon<br />
United 2 (Cezar Augusto 16, Kyaw Ko Ko 21)<br />
XM Vissai Ninh Binh v Churchill Brothers<br />
13/05/14<br />
XM Vissai Ninh Binh 4 (Le Van Thang 23, Sim Woonsub<br />
28, Pham Van Quyen 67, 88) Churchill Brothers 2<br />
(Balwant Singh 21, Abdelhamid Shabana 76)<br />
Group Stage<br />
Group C<br />
Round of 16<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Qadsia SC (KUW) 6 3 2 1 11 5 6 11<br />
Al Hidd (BHR) 6 3 2 1 10 6 4 11<br />
Al Shorta (IRQ) 6 1 4 1 3 4 -1 7<br />
Al Wahda (SYR) 6 0 2 4 5 14 -9 2<br />
26/02/14<br />
Al Shorta 0 Qadsia SC 0<br />
Al Hidd 3 (Akarandut Orok 15, 89, Abdulla Al Saqer 56) Al<br />
Wahda 1 (Maher Said 25)<br />
12/03/14<br />
Al Wahda 1 (Mohammad Bashbayouk 30) Al Shorta 3<br />
(Amjed Kalaf 59, 60, Mahdi Kareem 90+3)<br />
Qadsia SC 2 (Saif Al Hashem 72, Omar Al Soma 85)<br />
Al Hidd 0<br />
18/03/14<br />
Al Hidd 0 Al Shorta 0<br />
Al Wahda 1 (Osama Omari 87) Qadsia SC 3 (Saif Al<br />
Hashem19, Omar Al Soma 38, Michel Simplicio 84)<br />
21/03/14<br />
Qadsia SC 1 (Omar Al Soma 39) Al Wahda 1 (Maher<br />
Al Said 29)<br />
02/04/14<br />
Al Shorta 0 Al Hidd 0<br />
08/04/14<br />
Qadsia SC 3 (Omar Al Soma 3, 50, 74) Al Shorta 0<br />
09/04/14<br />
Al Wahda 1 (Maher Al Said 78) Al Hidd 4 (Isa Musabbeh<br />
6, Mohammad Al Daoud 42, Sayed Adnan 45+1, Paulo<br />
Roberto 56)<br />
22/04/14<br />
Al Hidd 3 (Abdulwahab Al Malood 11, Abdulla Fatadi 38,<br />
Akarandut Orok 60)<br />
Qadsia SC 2 (Soud Al Mejmed 32, 45)<br />
Al Shorta 0 Al Wahda 0<br />
Group G<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Ninh Binh (VIE) 6 5 1 0 18 7 11 16<br />
Yangon (MYA) 6 3 0 3 16 17 -1 9<br />
South China (HKG) 6 2 1 3 11 11 0 7<br />
Kelantan (MAS) 6 1 0 5 9 19 -10 3<br />
26/02/14<br />
Yangon United 5 (Emerson Luiz 8, 45, Kyaw Ko Ko 28,<br />
52, 89) Kelantan 3 (Wan Zaharul 47, Badhri Radzi 63, 90+4)<br />
South China 1 (Chan Siu Ki 58) XM Vissai Ninh Binh 3<br />
(Bryan Elroy 12, Dinh Van Ta 26, Tambwe Patiyo 50)<br />
12/03/14<br />
XM Vissai Ninh Binh 3 (Dinh Van Ta 12, 45, Vionea<br />
Petrisor 17) Yangon United 2 (Cezar Augusto 27, 89)<br />
Kelantan 2 (Wan Zaharul 72, Mohamad Ghaddar 84)<br />
South China 0<br />
18/03/14<br />
Yangon United 2 (Cezar Augusto 36, Emerson Luiz 77)<br />
South China 0<br />
Kelantan 2 (Muhamad Nazri 37, Mohamed Khairul<br />
45+2) XM Vissai Ninh Binh 3 (Bryan Elroy 24, Tambwe<br />
Patiyo 50, Vionea Petrisor 62)<br />
02/04/14<br />
XM Vissai Ninh Binh 4 (Vionea Petrisor 11, Phan Anh<br />
Tuan 52, Le Van Thang 76, Bryan Elroy 80) Kelantan 0<br />
South China 5 (Chi Ho Luk 8, Sasa Kajkut 15, 36, Chan<br />
Siu Ki 56, Lee Hong Lim 61) Yangon United 3 (Kyaw Ko<br />
Ko 21, David Htan 45+1, Cezar Augusto 76)<br />
08/04/14<br />
XM Vissai Ninh Binh 1 (Pham Van Quy 86) South<br />
China 1 (Sasa Kajkut 32)<br />
Kelantan 2 (Mohamed Khairul 50, Wan Zaharul 55) Yangon<br />
United 3 (Cezar Augusto 25, Emerson Luiz 64, Kyaw Ko Ko 80)<br />
22/04/14<br />
Yangon United 1 (Cezar Augusto 54) XM Vissai Ninh<br />
Binh 4 (Dinh Van Ta 4, 85, Bryan Elroy 6, Hoang Vissai 65)<br />
South China 4 (Lee Hong Lim 42, Andrew Barisic 75,<br />
90+3, Lo Kong Wai 82) Kelantan 0<br />
Kuwait SC v Riffa<br />
14/05/14<br />
Kuwait SC 3 (Issam Jemaa 44, Husain Al Shammari 82,<br />
Jarah Al Ateeqi 90+4) Riffa 0<br />
Arbil v Nejmeh<br />
14/05/14<br />
Arbil 0 Nejmeh 0<br />
Arbil win 3-0 on penalties<br />
Group D<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Arbil (IRQ) 6 5 0 1 19 5 14 15<br />
Riffa (BHR) 6 3 1 2 7 7 0 10<br />
Shabab Al Ordon (JOR) 6 3 0 3 9 10 -1 9<br />
Alay FC (KGZ) 6 0 1 5 1 14 -13 1<br />
26/02/14<br />
Alay FC 0 Riffa 0<br />
Shabab Al Ordon 1 (Papa Diop 36) Arbil 3 (Luay Saleh<br />
53, Amjed Radhi 61, Borja Rubiato 88)<br />
12/03/14<br />
Arbil 6 (Hawar Mohammed 34, 52, 85, Jorge Blas 45, Halkor<br />
Mohammad 56, Farhan Tawfeeq 89) Alay FC 0<br />
Riffa 2 (Saad Al Amer 55, 61) Shabab Al Ordon 0<br />
19/03/14<br />
Arbil 1 (Halkor Mohammad 35) Riffa 2 (Mohamed Daije<br />
40, Burhan Sahyouni 68 OG)<br />
Shabab Al Ordon 2 (Oday Zahran 20, Ahmad Al Essawi<br />
40) Alay FC 1 (Vitalii Timofeev 25)<br />
01/04/14<br />
Alay FC 0 Shabab Al Ordon 1 (Abdelhadi Al<br />
Maharmeh 89)<br />
Riffa 0 Arbil 3 (Luay Salah 74, Borja Rubiato 85, 90)<br />
08/04/14<br />
Arbil 3 (Luay Salah 3, 72, Borja Rubiato 89) Shabab Al<br />
Ordon 2 (Rawad Abu Khizaran 45, Mohammed Shishani 80)<br />
Riffa 2 (Geilson 45, Saad Al Amer 71) Alay FC 0<br />
22/04/14<br />
Alay FC 0 Arbil 3 (Borja Rubiato 16, Nabeel Zghair 54,<br />
Hawar Mohammed 65)<br />
Shabab Al Ordon 3 (Oudi Al Qara 6, Oday Zahran 36,<br />
Mohammad Al Amleh 87) Riffa 1 (Abdulla Shallal 85)<br />
Group H<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Kitchee (HKG) 6 4 1 1 15 5 10 13<br />
Nay Pyi Taw (MYA) 6 2 2 2 10 10 0 8<br />
Tampines (SIN) 6 2 0 4 9 16 -7 6<br />
Pune FC (IND) 6 1 3 2 12 15 -3 6<br />
26/02/14<br />
Pune FC 2 (Mustapha Riga 9, Pierre Douhou 88) Nay<br />
Pyi Taw 2 (Zaw Lin 17, Khaing Htoo 85)<br />
Tampines Rovers 0 Kitchee 5 (Jorge Tarres 40, 45+1,<br />
Chan Man Fai 47, Xu Deshuai 56, Juan Belencoso 90)<br />
12/03/14<br />
Nay Pyi Taw 3 (Michele Di Piedi 39, Jung Yoon-sik 60, 67)<br />
Tampines Rovers 1 (Aleksandar Duric 70)<br />
Kitchee 2 (Nando 29, Juan Belencoso 43) Pune FC 2<br />
(Mirjan Pavlovic 55, Gabriel Fernandes 74)<br />
19/03/14<br />
Tampines Rovers 3 (Miljan Mrdakovic 38, 69, Gonzalez<br />
Closa 62) Pune FC 1 (Mustapha Riga 16)<br />
Kitchee 2 (Juan Belencoso 8, 46) Nay Pyi Taw 0<br />
01/4/14<br />
Nay Pyi Taw 1 (Carlos Delgado) Kitchee 2 (Chan Man<br />
Fai 6, Juan Belencoso 80)<br />
Pune FC 2 (Mustapha Riga 12, Anthony D’Souza 14)<br />
Tampines Rovers 5 (Miljan Mrdakovic 5, Jamil Ali 43,<br />
Aleksandar Duric 57, 69, Mustafic Fahrudin 60)<br />
08/04/14<br />
Nay Pyi Taw 3 (Aung Kyaw Naing 41, Nyein Tazar Win<br />
62, Khaing Htoo 72) Pune FC 3 (Shamboi Haokip 36,<br />
Arata Izumi 55, Calum Angus 80)<br />
Kitchee 4 (Juan Belencoso 35, 62, 85, Jorge Tarres 82)<br />
Tampines Rovers 0<br />
22/04/14<br />
Tampines Rovers 0 Nay Pyi Taw 1 (Carlos Delgado<br />
79)<br />
Pune FC 2 (Zohmingliana Ralte 74, 80) Kitchee 0<br />
Hanoi T&T v Nay Pyi Taw<br />
14/05/14<br />
Hanoi T&T 5 (Hughtun Hector 34, Samson Kayode 45,<br />
67, Thach Bao Khanh 62, Pham Thanh Luong 88) Nay<br />
Pyi Taw 0<br />
Kitchee v Arema Indonesia<br />
14/05/14<br />
Kitchee 2 (Jang Kyung-jin 5, Lam Ka Wai 9) Arema<br />
Indonesia 0<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 67
REVIEW: AFC President’s Cup QUALIFIERS<br />
Debutant Trio Advance to<br />
President’s Cup Finals<br />
Debutants Rimyongsu<br />
Club from DPR Korea,<br />
Bangladesh’s Sheikh<br />
Russel Krira Chakra<br />
Limited and Sri Lanka<br />
Air Force will feature<br />
in the finals of the AFC<br />
President’s Cup after<br />
progressing from May’s group stage.<br />
Former semi-finalists FC Httu of<br />
Turkmenistan, Nepal’s Manang Marshyangdi<br />
Club and Mongolian champions FC Erchim<br />
completed the line-up for the decisive stage<br />
of the 10th and final edition of the AFC<br />
President’s Cup, which will be played in<br />
September.<br />
In Group A, unbeaten Sheikh Russel<br />
topped the table ahead of Sri Lanka Air<br />
Force to eliminate 2013 finalists KRL Football<br />
Club of Pakistan.<br />
Sheikh Russel and KRL had shared a<br />
goalless draw in their group opener, but<br />
despite the Pakistani champions beating<br />
Ugyen Academy of Bhutan, they suffered<br />
a surprise exit after losing their final group<br />
stage fixture 3-0 to Sri Lanka Air Force.<br />
Bangladesh league champions Sheikh<br />
Russel had followed up their draw with KRL<br />
by thrashing Sri Lanka Air Force and Ugyen<br />
Academy to ensure their spot in the final<br />
stage of the tournament with an undefeated<br />
record after scoring nine goals without<br />
conceding.<br />
Sri Lanka Air Force, meanwhile, secured<br />
a crucial 1-0 opening victory over Ugyen<br />
Academy and, although beaten heavily by<br />
Sheikh Russel, bounced back to qualify at<br />
the expense of KRL.<br />
Chinese Taipei’s Tatung Company, who<br />
were second only to KRL in terms of previous<br />
AFC President’s Cup campaigns of the sides<br />
featuring in this year’s group stage, also<br />
failed to advance after losing to qualifiers<br />
Rimyongsu and FC Httu as well as Ceres La<br />
Salle from the Philippines in Group B.<br />
FC Httu topped the group with an<br />
unbeaten record ahead of Rimyongsu, who<br />
crucially finished a point clear of hosts Ceres<br />
La Salle.<br />
Finally, Manang Marshyangdi and hosts<br />
FC Erchim advanced from Group C ahead of<br />
Svaireng of Cambodia.<br />
Group C had kicked off in enthralling<br />
fashion as Manang Marshandi came out on<br />
top of a nine-goal thriller with Svaireng in<br />
Ulaanbaatar.<br />
Home favourites FC Erchim then secured<br />
a 3-1 win over Svaireng, before a goalless<br />
draw saw the home side advance alongside<br />
Manag Marshandi.<br />
The final stage of the AFC President’s Cup<br />
will be held from 22–28 September.<br />
Group A<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Sheikh Russel 3 2 1 0 9 0 9 7<br />
Sri Lanka Air Force 3 2 0 1 4 5 -1 6<br />
KRL Football Club 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4<br />
Ugyen Academy 3 0 0 3 0 8 -8 0<br />
Group B<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
FC Httu 3 2 1 0 5 2 3 7<br />
Rimyongsu Club 3 1 2 0 8 3 5 5<br />
Ceres La Salle 3 1 1 1 5 4 1 4<br />
Tatung Compan 3 0 0 3 0 9 -9 0<br />
Group C<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Manang Marshyangdi Club 2 1 1 0 6 3 3 4<br />
FC Erchim 2 1 1 0 3 1 2 4<br />
Svarieng 2 0 0 2 4 9 -5 0<br />
07/05/14<br />
Sri Lanka Air Force 1 Ugyen Academy 0<br />
KRL Football Club 0 Sheikh Russel Krira<br />
Chakra Limited 0<br />
09/05/14<br />
Ugyen Academy 0 KRL Football Club 3<br />
Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra Limited 5 Sri<br />
Lanka Air Force 0<br />
11/05/14<br />
Sri Lanka Air Force 3 KRL Football Club 0<br />
Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra Limited 4 Ugyen<br />
Academy 0<br />
06/05/14<br />
Ceres La Salle 2 Rimyongsu Club 2<br />
FC Httu 2 Tatung Company 0<br />
08/05/14<br />
Rimyongsu Club 1 FC Httu 1<br />
Tatung Company 0 Ceres La Salle 2<br />
10/05/14<br />
Ceres La Salle 1 FC Httu 2<br />
Tatung Company 0 Rimyongsu Club 5<br />
01/05/14<br />
Manang Marshyangdi Club 6 Svarieng 3<br />
03/05/14<br />
Svarieng 1 FC Erchim 3<br />
05/05/14<br />
Erchim 0 Manang Marshyangdi Club 0<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 69
REVIEW: AFC WOMEN’S ASIAN CUP<br />
Azusa Iwashimizu’s<br />
goal ended 37 years of<br />
continental drought as<br />
Japan won their first-ever<br />
AFC Women’s Asian Cup<br />
title by dethroning defending<br />
champions Australia with a<br />
1-0 victory in May’s final in<br />
Ho Chi Minh City.<br />
After netting a late extra-time winner in<br />
the semi-final against eight-time champions<br />
China, defender Iwashimizu’s was on<br />
the scoresheet after 28 minutes of the<br />
tournament’s showpiece with her second vital<br />
contribution in consecutive games.<br />
Rising highest to meet a cross from Rumi<br />
Utsugi at the back-post, Iwashimizu forced<br />
home a header past Australia goalkeeper<br />
Lydia Williams that would ultimately conclude<br />
an undefeated campaign in Vietnam for Norio<br />
Sasaki’s all-conquering side, who added the<br />
continental championship to the 2011 FIFA<br />
Women’s World Cup.<br />
“I thought to win the AFC Women’s Asian<br />
Cup was one of my biggest projects, so the<br />
players did a great job. We came here to<br />
Japan Finally Land<br />
Asian Cup Crown<br />
Vietnam with one aim: to win the tournament<br />
and end Japan’s jinx. We’ve done that, so it’s<br />
mission accomplished,” said FIFA Women’s<br />
World Cup-winning coach Sasaki.<br />
“For this Asian Cup campaign I couldn’t<br />
bring some players because of conflicts with<br />
their club schedules, but the young players<br />
who played instead of them have shown<br />
me they have good potential and have<br />
experienced good lessons for the future.<br />
“The task for the next 12 months will be to<br />
combine these new youngsters with our more<br />
experienced players into one unit so we can<br />
have a successful World Cup next year.”<br />
The competition finale was Japan’s second<br />
meeting with Australia after they shared a 2-2<br />
draw in their tournament opener before the<br />
Nadeshiko secured comfortable wins over<br />
hosts Vietnam and Jordan to take top spot in<br />
Group A ahead of the Matildas by virtue of a<br />
superior goal difference.<br />
Then came Iwashimizu’s dramatic<br />
intervention in the final seconds of extra-time<br />
against China as Japan secured a 2-1 win<br />
and booked their meeting with Alen Stajcic’s<br />
Australia side who edged out free-scoring<br />
Korea Republic 2-1 in their semi-final.<br />
“Japan showed us why they are one of<br />
the top two teams in the world. They kept<br />
the ball well, defended well when they had<br />
to and took their chances well. They have<br />
outstanding players and are a fantastic team,”<br />
said Australia coach Stajcic following the<br />
final.<br />
“My players fought to the death and<br />
showed tremendous effort but we need to<br />
improve just that little bit further in technique<br />
and execution if we want to be challenging<br />
the big teams like Japan on a regular basis.”<br />
China had earlier edged out Korea in the<br />
third place play-off when a last-minute goal from<br />
forward Yang Li secured a 2-1 victory.<br />
“After playing 125 minutes against Japan in<br />
the semi-final only to lose in the last second, it<br />
was very special to win this match,” said China<br />
coach Hao Wei.<br />
“The players did very well in both the mental<br />
and physical aspect of this match. Winning<br />
this match and<br />
being third will<br />
help to bring<br />
promotion to<br />
women’s football<br />
in China.”<br />
With the<br />
competition<br />
doubling up as<br />
a qualifier for<br />
the 2015 FIFA<br />
Women’s World<br />
Cup all four<br />
semi-finalists<br />
automatically<br />
received a ticket<br />
for the global tournament in Canada next year.<br />
And with an additional place at next year’s<br />
FIFA Women’s World Cup available for the team<br />
finishing in fifth-place, Kanjana Sung-Ngoen<br />
scored twice as Thailand secured a pulsating<br />
2-1 victory over hosts Vietnam to advance to<br />
the international showpiece for the first time in<br />
their history, despite a late long range strike from<br />
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung.<br />
“This victory and thereby qualifying for the<br />
World Cup is a very important milestone in our<br />
development,” said Thailand coach Nuengrutai<br />
Srathongvian.<br />
“This is the first time we’ve ever qualified for a<br />
global event like this, so I can say this is a first real<br />
step for woman’s football in Thailand.”<br />
Japan captain Aya Miyama was named the MVP<br />
of the tournament, while<br />
Korea’s powerful striker<br />
Park Eun-sun netted<br />
six goals in five games<br />
to claim the top goal<br />
scorer honour.<br />
Park finished at the<br />
top of the scoring charts<br />
alongside China’s Yang,<br />
but the Korean striker<br />
claimed the award<br />
having contributed one<br />
more assist.<br />
“Of course I’m sad<br />
that the team didn’t<br />
finish as high as<br />
possible, so while this award is good, it’s bitter<br />
sweet as we didn’t finish where we wanted,” said<br />
Park.<br />
“I hadn’t been called up to the national team for<br />
a while and it took me some time to get used to<br />
all the systems again. The tournament went well,<br />
though, I scored lots of goals and bonded with the<br />
team.”<br />
Group A<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Japan 3 2 1 0 13 2 11 7<br />
Australia 3 2 1 0 7 3 4 7<br />
Vietnam 3 1 0 2 3 7 -4 3<br />
Jordan 3 0 0 3 2 13 -11 0<br />
14/05/14<br />
Vietnam 3 (Nguyen Thi Muon 18, Le Thu Thanh Huong<br />
36, 84) Jordan 1 (Maysa Jbarah 34)<br />
Australia 2 (Caitlin Foord 21, Lisa De Vanna 64)<br />
Japan 2 (Claire Polkinghorne 71 OG, Yuki Ogimi 84)<br />
16/05/14<br />
Japan 4 (Nahomi Kawasumi 44, 87, Nanase Kiryu 65,<br />
Yuki Ogimi 69) Vietnam 0<br />
Jordan 1 (Stephanie Al Naber 71) Australia 3 (Kathryn<br />
Gill 36, 51, Katrina Gorry 61)<br />
18/05/14<br />
Vietnam 0 Australia 2 (Le Thi Thuong 42 OG, Katrina<br />
Gorry 90)<br />
Japan 7 (Chinatsu Kira 25, 90+3, Emi Nakajima 45+1,<br />
75, Mizuho Sakaguchi 49, 81, Enshirah Al Hyasat 69<br />
OG) Jordan 0<br />
Group B<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Korea Republic 3 2 1 0 16 0 16 7<br />
China 3 2 1 0 10 0 10 7<br />
Thailand 3 1 0 2 2 12 -10 3<br />
Myanmar 3 0 0 3 1 17 -16 0<br />
15/05/14<br />
Korea Republic 12 (Ji So-yun 4, Park Eun-sun 17,<br />
43, Park Hee-young 33, Jeon Ga-eul 36, 40, 63, Cho<br />
So-hyun 45+3, 61, 82, Kwon Hah-nul 58, Yeo Min-ji<br />
76) Myanmar 0<br />
China 7 (Li Dongna 6, Li Ying 8, Yang Li 16, 45+1,<br />
64, 90+1, Xu Yanlu 75) Thailand 0<br />
17/05/14<br />
Myanmar 0 China 3 (Ren Guixin 10, Ma Xiaoxu<br />
60, Yang Li 87)<br />
Thailand 0 Korea Republic 4 (Ji So-yun 11, Park<br />
Eun-sun 12, 47, 84)<br />
19/05/14<br />
Korea Republic 0 China 0<br />
Thailand 2 (Kanjana Sung-Ngoen 27, Sritala Duangnapa<br />
59) Myanmar 1 (Yee Yee Oo 45+1)<br />
Fifth Place Play-Off<br />
21/05/14<br />
Vietnam 1 (Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung 86) Thailand 2<br />
(Kanjana Sung-Ngoen 48, 65)<br />
Semi-Finals<br />
22/05/14<br />
Japan 2 (Homare Sawa 51, Azusa Iwashimizu 120+2)<br />
China 1 (Li Dongna 80) AET<br />
Korea Republic 1 (Park Eun-sun 53) Australia 2<br />
(Katrina Gorry 47, Elise Kellond-Knight 77)<br />
Third Place Play-Off<br />
25/05/14<br />
China 2 (Park Eun-sun 3 OG, Yang Li 90+3) Korea<br />
Republic 1 (Yoo Young-ah 80)<br />
Final<br />
25/05/14<br />
Japan 1 (Azusa Iwashimizu 28) Australia 0<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 71
REVIEW: AFC Futsal Championship<br />
Defending champions<br />
Japan claimed a third AFC<br />
Futsal Championship title<br />
after edging out 10-time<br />
champions Iran on penalties<br />
following a 2-2 draw after<br />
extra-time in May’s final in<br />
Vietnam.<br />
Goalkeeper Yushi Sekiguchi saved three<br />
penalties in the shootout to hand Japan a<br />
3-0 victory having twice come from behind<br />
courtesy of Kotaro Inaba and an extra-time<br />
own goal from Hamid Ahmadi after Farhad<br />
Tavakoli and Hossein Tayebi had given Iran<br />
the lead.<br />
Uzbekistan, who beat Japan 2-1 in the group<br />
stage before losing to Iran in the semi-finals,<br />
finished third after beating Kuwait 2-1 thanks<br />
to goals from Dilshod Rakhmatov and Farkhod<br />
Abdumavlyanov.<br />
“That defeat by Uzbekistan made us even<br />
stronger and a more solid family,” said Japan<br />
coach Miguel Rodrigo. “If the group is initially<br />
united, these types of defeats unite us even<br />
more.”<br />
Japan, having begun the defence of their title<br />
Sekiguchi On The Spot<br />
As Japan Retain Title<br />
with a 12-0 win over Korea Republic, were<br />
able to recover from conceding in the last<br />
minute against Uzbekistan although the 4-0<br />
win over Kyrgyzstan was only good enough to<br />
secure a runner-up finish in Group D.<br />
But after beating 2012 finalists Thailand<br />
3-2 in the quarter-finals, Japan sealed their<br />
place in the final for an eighth time with a 6-1<br />
win over Kuwait semi-finals.<br />
“To join this new team I made a dangerous<br />
bet by cutting off one or two players who had<br />
the experience of being champions,” added<br />
Rodrigo, who was in charge two years ago<br />
in Dubai.<br />
“And I thought of a plan that will continue<br />
to 2016 and our target is to get to the quarterfinals<br />
at least in the World Cup in two years’<br />
time.” Iran came into the final with a 100%<br />
record after easing their way through their<br />
group stage with wins over Indonesia, China<br />
and Australia.<br />
Jesus Candelas’ side then beat<br />
tournament hosts Vietnam in the quarterfinals<br />
before downing Uzbekistan 10-0 in the<br />
semi-finals to take their tally to 50 goals in<br />
five games.<br />
“I think that we were the best team<br />
throughout the competition, but that did not<br />
matter when it came to the final match,” said<br />
Iran coach Candelas.<br />
Artur Yunusov’s header with just under<br />
eight seconds remaining saw Uzbekistan<br />
snatch a dramatic 2-1 win over Japan in the<br />
group stage.<br />
But after beating Lebanon in the quarterfinals,<br />
Uzbekistan found Iran one step too<br />
far as Bahodir Ahmedov’s side lost 10-0 in<br />
what was their only defeat of the campaign.<br />
“Uzbekistan were not bad in this<br />
tournament, but we should now think about<br />
the next AFC Futsal Championship because<br />
it will give us a chance to qualify for the next<br />
World Cup, and that is why we brought a<br />
very young team,” said Uzbekistan coach<br />
Ahmedov.<br />
Iran duo Hossein Tayebi and Asghar<br />
Hassanzadeh, meanwhile, claimed the<br />
individual awards.<br />
Tayebi scored 15 goals to top the scoring<br />
charts ahead of team-mate Hassanzadeh,<br />
who scored eight times to earn the MVP<br />
accolade.<br />
Group A<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Kuwait 3 2 0 1 11 5 6 6<br />
Vietnam 3 2 0 1 13 7 6 6<br />
Iraq 3 2 0 1 11 7 4 6<br />
Tajikistan 3 0 0 3 5 21 -16 0<br />
30/04/14<br />
Kuwait 5 (Hamad Hayat 3, 22, Abdulrahman Al Taweel 13,<br />
38, 39) Tajikistan 0<br />
Vietnam 1 (Hussein Al Zubaidi 25 OG) Iraq 2 (Firas<br />
Mohammed 22, Waleed Khalid 40)<br />
02/05/14<br />
Iraq 3 (Amjad Kareem 18, Waleed Khalid 34, Karrar Al<br />
Thabeti 35) Kuwait 5 (Ahmad Al Farsi 2, Abdulrahman Al<br />
Taweel 16, 29, 30, Abdulrahman Al Mosabehi 25)<br />
Tajikistan 4 (Khurshed Makhmudov 11, 28, Mansur<br />
Mamedbabaev 17, Sherzod Jumaev 28) Vietnam 10 (Tran<br />
Van Vu 10, Phung Trong Luan 12, 27, Ngo Ngoc Son 13, 27, Le<br />
Quoc Nam 15, Pham Duc Hao 16, Nguyen Bao Quan 25, 33,<br />
Ly Khanh Hung 37)<br />
04/05/14<br />
Vietnam 2 (Ahmad Al Farsi 18 OG, Phung Trong Luan 24)<br />
Kuwait 1 (Abdulrahman Al Mosabehi 40)<br />
Tajikistan 1 (Khurshed Makhmudov 13) Iraq 6 (Mustafa<br />
Bachay 1, 24, Hasan Ali 15, 28, Waleed Khalid 27, Karrar Al<br />
Thabeti 35)<br />
Group B<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Iran 3 3 0 0 25 2 23 9<br />
Australia 3 2 0 1 8 9 -1 6<br />
Indonesia 3 1 0 2 5 13 -8 3<br />
China 3 0 0 3 4 18 -14 0<br />
30/04/14<br />
Iran 5 (Hossein Tayebi 8, Farhad Tavakoli 17, 17, Asghar<br />
Hassanzadeh 18, Vahid Shafiei 38) Indonesia 1 (Andri<br />
Kustiawan 30)<br />
Australia 2 (Tobias Seeto 6, 39) China 1 (Zhang Wen 3)<br />
02/05/14<br />
Indonesia 0 Australia 5 (Wade Giovenali 14, Fernando<br />
De Moraes 20, Gregory Giovenali 38, Tobias Seeto 39, Daniel<br />
Fogarty 40)<br />
China 0 Iran 12 (Asghar Hassanzadeh 1, 2, 25, Hossein<br />
Tayebi 1, 12, 27, 35, Farhad Tavakoli 5, Vahid Shafiei 10, 28,<br />
Farhad Fakhim 24, Hamid Ahadi 40)<br />
04/05/14<br />
Iran 8 (Hossein Tayebi 2, 10, 11, Mohammad Taheri 10, 29,<br />
Alireza Vafaei 15, Vahid Shafiei 17, Ahmad Esmaeilpour 28)<br />
Australia 1 (Daniel Fogarty 7)<br />
China 3 (Zhao Liang 9, Wang Tianyi 11, Agustin Andriansyah<br />
40 OG) Indonesia 4 (Andri Kustiawan 3, 30, Caisar<br />
Silitonga 12, 26)<br />
Group C<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Thailand 3 2 1 0 15 6 9 7<br />
Lebanon 3 1 1 1 12 13 -1 4<br />
Chinese Taipei 3 1 0 2 10 15 -5 3<br />
Malaysia 3 1 0 2 8 11 -3 3<br />
01/05/14<br />
Thailand 7 (Jirawat Sornwichian 11, 12, Suphawut Thueanklang<br />
26, 28, 36, Wiwat Thaijaruen 31, Zubaidi Alwee 39 OG)<br />
Malaysia 1 (Asmie Zahari 11)<br />
Lebanon 8 (Moustafa Serhan 2, Ali Tneich 17, 23, Mohamad<br />
Kobeissy 23, 23, 39, Ahmad Kheir El Dine 28, Hassan Zeitoun<br />
35) Chinese Taipei 5 (Chu Chia-Wei 9, Liu Chi-Chao 11,<br />
Huang Cheng-Tsung 18, 19, Le Chih-En 27)<br />
03/05/14<br />
Malaysia 5 (Muhammad Shamsul 1, 23, Nizam Ali 5, 11, Aula<br />
Ahmed 34) Lebanon 1 (Ali Tneich 16)<br />
Chinese Taipei 2 (Lo Chih-An 24, Huang Cheng-Tsung 33)<br />
Thailand 5 (Suphawut Thueanklang 3, Jetsada Chudech 4,<br />
Piyapan Ratana 9, Kritsada Wongkaeo 24, Jirawat Sornwichian<br />
33)<br />
05/05/14<br />
Thailand 3 (Kritsada Wongkaeo 21, Suphawut Thueanklang<br />
33, 40) Lebanon 3 (Ali Tneich 1, Karim Abou Zeid 17, 40)<br />
Chinese Taipei 3 (Chang Hao-Wei 14, Huang Cheng-Tsung<br />
17, Weng Wei-Pin 26) Malaysia 2 (Asmie Zahari 20, Fitri<br />
Yatim 29)<br />
Group D<br />
P W D L F A +/- Pts<br />
Uzbekistan 3 2 1 0 7 3 4 7<br />
Japan 3 2 0 1 17 2 15 6<br />
Kyrgyzstan 3 1 1 1 6 7 -1 4<br />
Korea Republic 3 0 0 3 1 19 -18 0<br />
01/05/14<br />
Japan 12 (Kazuhiro Nibuya 3, 35, Nobuya Osodo 6, 20, 31,<br />
Yusuke Nakamura 16, 33, 38, Akira Minamoto 29, Shunta<br />
Uchimura 31, Toru Sato 36, Kaoru Morioka 39) Korea<br />
Republic 0<br />
Kyrgyzstan 2 (Ulan Ryskulov 38, Emil Kanetov 39) Uzbekistan<br />
2 (Erkin Tabaldiev 5 OG, Farkhod Abdumavlyanov 17)<br />
03/05/14<br />
Korea Republic 1 (Shin Jong-hoon 32) Kyrgyzstan 4<br />
(Rustam Ermekov 17, 27, Marat Duvanaev 37, Vadim<br />
Kondratkov 40)<br />
Uzbekistan 2 (Andrey Shlema 10, Artur Yunusov 40) Japan<br />
1 (Ryosuke Nishitani 9)<br />
05/05/14<br />
Japan 4 (Akira Minamoto 4, Kazuhiro Nibuya 9, Nobuya<br />
Osodo 17, 35) Kyrgyzstan 0<br />
Uzbekistan 3 (Shuhrat Tojiboev 16, Davron Choriev 34,<br />
Dilshod Rakhmatov 39) Korea Republic 0<br />
QUARTER-FINALS<br />
07/05/14<br />
Kuwait 5 (Hamad Hayat 21, 32, Abdulrahman Al Taweel<br />
29, Abdulrahman Al Wadi 32, 34) Australia 2 (Tobias Seeto<br />
33, Jarrod Basger 38)<br />
Thailand 2 (Suphawut Thueanklang 20, Jirawat Sornwichian<br />
25) Japan 3 (Kazuhiro Nibuya 7, Nobuya Osodo 14,<br />
Maoru Morioka 36)<br />
Iran 15 (Hossein Tayebi 3, 10, 25, Vahid Shafiei 11,<br />
Mohammad Shajari 12, 30, 32, Alireza Vafaei 16, 37, Asghar<br />
Hassazzadeh 25, 25, 27, Behroz Jafari 30, Farhad Fakhim 37,<br />
38) Vietnam 4 (Phung Trong Luan 12, 28, Ly Khanh Hung<br />
33, Pham Thanh Dat 34)<br />
Uzbekistan 6 (Andrey Shlema 10, Andrey Shlema 25,<br />
32, Shurat Tojiboev 26, Farkhod Abdumavlyanov 30,<br />
Artur Yunusov 30) Lebanon 2 (Ahmad Kheir El Dine 38,<br />
Moustafa Serhan 40)<br />
SEMI-FINALS<br />
Kuwait 1 (Mohammad Mohamad 15) Japan 6 (Kotaro<br />
Inaba 5, 22, Akira Minamoto 21, Nobuya Osodo 24, 27,<br />
Shota Hoshi 29)<br />
Iran 10 (Alireza Vafaei 1, Asghar Hassanzadeh 5, Hossein<br />
Tayebi 5, 25, 27, Ahmad Esmaeilpour 7, Vahid Shafiei 9, 24,<br />
31, Mohammad Shajari 30) Uzbekistan 0<br />
THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF<br />
Kuwait 1 (Mohammad Mohamad 15) Japan 6 (Kotaro<br />
Inaba 5, 22, Akira Minamoto 21, Nobuya Osodo 24, 27,<br />
Shota Hoshi 29)<br />
Iran 10 (Alireza Vafaei 1, Asghar Hassanzadeh 5, Hossein<br />
Tayebi 5, 25, 27, Ahmad Esmaeilpour 7, Vahid Shafiei 9, 24,<br />
31, Mohammad Shajari 30) Uzbekistan 0<br />
FINAL<br />
Japan 2 (Kotaro Inaba 26, Hamid Ahmadi 46 OG)<br />
Iran 2 AET (Farhad Tavakoli 9, Hossein Tayebi 42)<br />
Japan wins 3-0 on penalties<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 73
Inside AFC<br />
O<br />
A<br />
ACL Criteria &<br />
Slots Explained<br />
fficials from the member associations and leagues<br />
attended a meeting in Kuala Lumpur at the end<br />
of April to learn about the latest participation<br />
criteria and slot allocation decision methods for the AFC<br />
Champions League.<br />
The briefing introduced the new decision methods<br />
for AFC Champions League participation while also<br />
introducing revised criteria and club licensing matters.<br />
The briefing also covered reports from the AFC Special<br />
Mission Teams since 2010.<br />
“There were lots of decisions made by the AFC in<br />
November and January pertaining to our competitions’<br />
participation criteria and decision methods. The decisions<br />
made in January also have a sustaining effect on our<br />
competitions,” said AFC Deputy General Secretary Dato’<br />
Windsor John.<br />
“We have also taken feedback from the last CEO<br />
mbassadors Steve McMahon and Do Thi Ngoc<br />
Cham leant their support in raising awareness<br />
of the importance of child nutrition during an<br />
educational tour highlighting various<br />
projects of the campaign in Vietnam.<br />
Former Vietnam women’s<br />
international Ngoc Cham and former<br />
Liverpool and England midfielder McMahon participated<br />
in activities aimed at educating mothers about the<br />
importance of preparing nutritious meals.<br />
Ngoc Cham and McMahon exchanged experiences,<br />
stories and gifts with the children during the activities held<br />
workshop we held from which<br />
we drew up some proposals<br />
of change to the criteria. The<br />
workshop also helped us<br />
decide on the competition<br />
slots for a longer period of<br />
time.<br />
“Therefore, the reason<br />
for having this briefing is<br />
to update the member<br />
associations and leagues about the decisions made which<br />
will have a great impact on club competitions in Asia.<br />
“Through this briefing, we aim to ensure these decisions<br />
are clearly explained to you so that we can move forward<br />
and take our club competitions to the next level.”<br />
Under the AFC-UEFA Memorandum of Understanding,<br />
UEFA consultant Alex Phillips also attended the briefing.<br />
One Goal Visits Vietnam<br />
at nutrition clubs formed by World Vision Vietnam, who are<br />
focused on promoting good nutrition for children.<br />
They also participated in training sessions and activities<br />
with football clubs as part of the child<br />
and grassroots football development<br />
programme Football for All in<br />
Vietnam.<br />
The tour was organised by the AFC and One Goal,<br />
a partner driven campaign which includes the AFC and<br />
additional partners World Vision, Global Alliance for<br />
Improved Nutrition, Royal DSM and the Asian Football<br />
Development Project.<br />
T<br />
AFC Medical Committee<br />
Meets In New Delhi<br />
he AFC Medical Committee met for the seventh<br />
time at the end of April as the 2015 AFC Medical<br />
Conference was launched in New Delhi.<br />
The committee, under the guidance of chairman<br />
Dato’ Dr. Gurcharan<br />
Singh, established<br />
guidelines concerning<br />
safe participation in<br />
AFC tournaments in hot<br />
conditions which, subject<br />
to approval by the AFC<br />
Executive Committee,<br />
would see breaks<br />
introduced during games<br />
to prevent heat-related<br />
injuries.<br />
The committee also<br />
agreed to introduce a<br />
strategic development<br />
plan for football medicine<br />
in Asia aimed at providing<br />
comprehensive medical<br />
care and facilities for<br />
players at all levels.<br />
A pool of instructors will also be established to implement<br />
FIFA Football for Health Projects in Asia, while an<br />
international seminar for team physiotherapists will also be<br />
arranged every two years.<br />
round 300 children including 80 girls attended<br />
Tajikistan’s second grassroots festival in April.<br />
A The children, who were mostly aged under 12,<br />
came to Central Stadium in Qumsangir from Kumsangir,<br />
Rumi, Jilikul and Panj to participate in recreational<br />
programmes including football skills and games.<br />
All the children who participated in the festival were<br />
given a football to encourage their further interest and<br />
development in the sport.<br />
“The aim of the festival is not only bringing up good<br />
players, but at the same time to inspire children into the<br />
sport, to keep them away from bad habits, to encourage<br />
healthy lifestyles and to develop both physical, moral and<br />
volitional qualities,” said Anvar Mirzoyev, the head of the<br />
Tajikistan Football Federation’s Youth Department.<br />
Tajikistan, along with other AFC member associations,<br />
have implemented their own grassroots initiatives spurred<br />
by the AFC’s Grassroots Year which was observed in<br />
2013.<br />
The committee also recommended using the World<br />
Anti-Doping Agency accredited laboratory in Sydney for the<br />
analysis of samples during the AFC Asian Cup Australia<br />
2015.<br />
Dato’ Dr. Gurcharan<br />
Singh also updated<br />
committee members on the<br />
progress of the organisation<br />
of the fifth AFC Medical<br />
Conference which will be<br />
held in New Delhi next<br />
year and is expected to<br />
be attended by 800-1000<br />
delegates from around the<br />
world.<br />
The committee’s<br />
chairman also expressed<br />
his happiness following the<br />
productive joint meeting<br />
between the AFC Medical<br />
Committee and the All India<br />
Football Federation (AIFF)<br />
Medical Committee.<br />
“With the formation of the AIFF Medical Committee, the<br />
AIFF has taken a positive step forward keeping in view the<br />
varied important oncoming football activities that augur<br />
well for the development of football in India,” said Dato’ Dr.<br />
Gurcharan Singh.<br />
Tajikistan Holds Second<br />
Grassroots Festival<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 75
Inside AFC<br />
Coach Asia<br />
Programme Begins<br />
total of 26 coaches have enrolled in the new<br />
AFC Coach Asia programme, which began in<br />
A Kuala Lumpur in April and is aimed at developing<br />
knowledge and experience.<br />
The new initiative, which qualifies participants for the<br />
AFC Professional Coaching<br />
Diploma commonly known as<br />
the Pro Diploma, began with<br />
a fitness module which is the<br />
first of five modules under the<br />
two-year programme.<br />
Professor Jens Bangsbo<br />
from Denmark and Dr. Magni<br />
Mohr from the Faroe Islands<br />
delivered the 11-day fitness<br />
module of the course.<br />
“The AFC should be<br />
commended for its proactive<br />
and groundbreaking coach<br />
education efforts,” said<br />
Bangsbo.<br />
“For one, the AFC has clearly defined the lines in fitness<br />
training in the various levels of coach training, from the ‘C’<br />
and ‘B’ certificates to the ‘A’ certificate and Pro Diploma.<br />
“And there’s a gradual increase in the intensity of fitness<br />
training learning from the ‘C’ to the Pro Diploma. The AFC<br />
is the only confederation to do coach education this way.”<br />
Abdalnasser Barakat was one of the participants to<br />
attend the course, and was excited by the prospect of being<br />
given the opportunity to eventually become Palestine’s first<br />
recipient of the Pro Diploma.<br />
“There is a lot of new<br />
information that we learned<br />
from this course,” said<br />
Barakat.<br />
“I will ensure that with<br />
this new knowledge and<br />
experience from the Coach<br />
Asia programme, the<br />
Palestinian game develops.<br />
With this new knowledge and<br />
skills, I feel that I have taken a<br />
greater responsibility.<br />
“The instructors were<br />
excellent. They taught us<br />
about fitness that reflected the reality of football. It was not<br />
just general fitness. The fitness we learned was specific<br />
to not just football, but also to each individual player’s<br />
position. It’s fitness training with the ball, instead of without<br />
the ball like in general fitness training.”<br />
AFC Can Build On<br />
Grassroots Success<br />
FC President Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al<br />
Khalifa has backed Member Associations to build<br />
Aon the success of AFC Grassroots Year 2013.<br />
Last year, 14 Member Associations celebrated<br />
AFC Grassroots Day, and in 2014, 29 countries have<br />
officially declared their commitment to marking<br />
the occasion that coincides with United<br />
Nations International Day of Families.<br />
“Last year was declared AFC Grassroots<br />
Year and I was delighted to see the way<br />
our Member Associations embraced the<br />
initiative, as children, parents, teachers, and<br />
other volunteers joined those in the football<br />
industry in enjoyable and educational events<br />
and activities that took place all over Asia<br />
throughout 2013,” said Shaikh Salman.<br />
“And I am particularly pleased that many<br />
of our member associations have continued to build<br />
on this as they continue to utilise the support and<br />
resources from the AFC and FIFA in addition to<br />
introducing their own grassroots projects.”<br />
The AFC’s initiatives have included the organisation<br />
of workshops to share the best grassroots practices as<br />
well as the introduction of an AFC Grassroots Coaching<br />
Course Curriculum and the introduction of awards<br />
recognising the developmental work of the Member<br />
Associations.<br />
“We often refer to the AFC and our Member<br />
Associations as a family. This is a fitting<br />
description as we share many of the same<br />
principles of families such as unity, support<br />
and understanding,” added Shaikh Salman.<br />
“And the AFC will continue to support<br />
our member associations as we cannot<br />
underestimate the importance of grassroots<br />
development.<br />
“Grassroots football is not just about<br />
the first steps on the pathway to finding<br />
the players and coaches for the clubs and<br />
national teams of the future. It is about using football as<br />
a vehicle for social development and for fostering the<br />
enjoyment of a healthy and active lifestyle in children<br />
regardless of their ability, every bit as much as it is to<br />
identify those youngsters with great potential.”<br />
A<br />
FC President Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al<br />
Khalifa visited Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Bahrain<br />
and Qatar in May.<br />
Having celebrated the Hong Kong Football<br />
Association’s 100th anniversary alongside FIFA<br />
President Sepp Blatter at the end of April, Shaikh<br />
Salman attended the opening of King Abdulla bin<br />
Abdulaziz Sports City as well as the final of Saudi<br />
Arabia’s King’s Cup between Al Shabab and Al Ahli in<br />
Jeddah at the start of May.<br />
Shaikh Salman then attended the opening ceremony<br />
A<br />
AFC President<br />
Visits Gulf Quartet<br />
Coaches Take First<br />
Step In Lebanon<br />
total of 27 people took part in the AFC ‘C’<br />
Coaching Certificate course which took place<br />
in Lebanon in<br />
April.<br />
The 13-day course,<br />
which requires a<br />
minimum of 85 hours<br />
of study time for both<br />
the practical and<br />
theoretical sessions,<br />
is designed to teach<br />
coaches to organise,<br />
direct and conduct<br />
basic coaching<br />
practices targeting<br />
young players.<br />
“We have finished the first part of the coaching<br />
course and we will continue with the next one,” said<br />
of the first phase of the Michel Suleiman Sports Village<br />
in Beirut before receiving the National Order of Cedar<br />
from Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.<br />
The AFC President also held a meeting with South<br />
Asian Football Federation (SAFF) officials in Bahrain<br />
before attending the Emir’s Cup final in Qatar as Al<br />
Sadd beat Al Sayliyah.<br />
Shaikh Salman rounded off a busy month by<br />
attending the UEFA Champions League final between<br />
Spanish duo Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in<br />
Portugal.<br />
course instructor Mazen Mroueh.<br />
In the final examination, the students will be assessed<br />
on their practical<br />
coaching abilities and<br />
knowledge of the laws<br />
of the game, as well<br />
as their understanding<br />
of the theory contents<br />
of football.<br />
Holders of the<br />
‘C’ certificate can,<br />
after meeting other<br />
requirements,<br />
progress through the<br />
‘B’ and ‘A’ certificates<br />
before being eligible to sit the continent’s highest<br />
coaching qualification, the AFC Professional Coaching<br />
Diploma which is commonly known as the Pro Diploma.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 77
Great Grounds of Asia<br />
NATIONAL<br />
OLYMPIC STADIUM<br />
Tokyo, Japan<br />
The 57,363 capacity National<br />
Olympic Stadium is an iconic<br />
sporting venue located to the<br />
south-east of Tokyo’s central<br />
business district of Shinjuku.<br />
Completed in March 1958,<br />
the stadium hosted the first ever<br />
Olympics held in Asia, serving<br />
as the main venue for the opening and closing<br />
ceremonies, as well as the track and field<br />
events at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games.<br />
The National Olympic Stadium was also<br />
the host of the 1991 World Championships in<br />
Athletics, as well as the Intercontinental Cup<br />
between 1980 and 2001.<br />
As a multi-purpose venue, the stadium is<br />
the home of the Japan football team and bore<br />
witness to their historic 1998 FIFA World Cup<br />
qualifying campaign, as the Samurai Blue<br />
advanced to the finals for the first time.<br />
The climax to the AFC Champions League<br />
also took place on two occasions as Pohang<br />
Steelers lifted the title in 2009 with fellow<br />
Korean side Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma doing<br />
the same a year later.<br />
In February 2012, it was confirmed that the<br />
stadium would be demolished in 2015 and a<br />
new national stadium built in its place to be<br />
completed in March 2019 and set to host the<br />
2020 Summer Olympics.<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 78
“This was a<br />
historic<br />
match and<br />
a historic<br />
achievement.”<br />
Palestine coach<br />
Jamal Mahmoud