World Cup 2010 Blog: “Asian Cup Top Scorers” plus 2 more

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• Asian Cup Top Scorers
• Asian Cup Standings
• Asian Cup: Not Sterile, But Sterility Possible

Asian Cup Top Scorers Posted: 11 Jan 2011 08:29 PM PST Now that the first round of Asian Cup group matches are in the bag, the tournament is starting to come into focus a little. Some teams are already in a must-win (or at least must-not-lose) situation, and others are one win away from the knockouts. There have been 19 goals so far (see them all here), and luckily only one of those has been from the penalty spot, and we have a few goalscorers who have already racked up multiple goals. Here is the list, including all sixteen goalscorers so far. Updated 11-Jan-2011 Each * indicates a penalty 1st (Tied three ways – 2 goals each) Abdelrazaq Al Hussain (Syria) Tim Cahill (Australia) Ja-Cheol Koo (South Korea) 4th (Tied thirteen ways – 1 goals each) Faouzi Aaish (Bahrain)* Hasan Abdel Fattah (Jordan) Odil Ahmedov (Uzbekistan) Taisir Al-Jassim (Saudi Arabia) Zhouxiang Deng (China) Server Djeparov (Uzbekistan) Brett Holman (Australia) Harry Kewell (Australia) Younis Mahmoud (Iraq) Eman Mobali (Iran) Gholamreza Rezaei (Iran) Maya Yoshida (Japan) Linpeng Zhang (China)

Asian Cup Standings Posted: 11 Jan 2011 02:46 PM PST Harry Kewell has called the Asian Cup a ‘mini-World Cup’, which seems rather appropriate given the nature of the first round. There were the mildly colossal upsets (Uzbekistan over Qatar and Syria over Saudi Arabia), the big upset which will wind up a small upset (Jordan drawing with Japan) and the big boys takin’ care of business (Korea, Australia, Iran). A grand chunk of the spectrum of football possibilities, really, with bonus these-two-were-in-a-war-not-too-long-ago derby between Iraq and Iran, in which the latter righted the natural order of things and return volleyed the champions back to firm underdog status. Scenarios Group A: The group can be decided with wins by Uzbekistan and China, while the losers from the first round are both out with a loss. Home sweet home…not quite. Group B: Saudi Arabia canned coach Jose Peseiro after they were upset by Syria, and will have years free for reflection should they lose to Jordan, while Syria, of all teams, can seal a spot in the kayos with victory. Group C: Winner of Australia v South Korea is in; loser of Bahrain v India is out. Group D: Iran is in with a win, Iraq is out with a loss. The remaining Asian Cup schedule. [Via Soccerway]

Asian Cup: Not Sterile, But Sterility Possible Posted: 11 Jan 2011 09:18 AM PST Twas something of a foregone conclusion that China would bring the fun to the Asian Cup, be it from the realm of the not quite legal or shit-I-hope-he-has-a-good-lawyer. They seem to be as critical as anyone about their inspired attempt to combine martial arts and football, which makes it okay to fire them firmly under the bus. It wasn’t really expected that they would extract similar behavior from their opponents, like Kuwait’s Nada Masaed, who was so moved by Felipe Melo’s extracurriculars from a seated position, he booted his Chinese foe in the dumplings. Masaed was then sent off, and possibly cried. Is there a conspiracy to be had that he was hired by the Chinese gov’t to serve as an agent abroad for population control? Probably. [Spotted on Dirty Tackle]

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World Cup 2010 Blog: “10 Players to Watch in the Asian Cup” plus 2 more

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• 10 Players to Watch in the Asian Cup
• Sepp On Housewives, Pots & Kettles
• Asian Cup 2011 Opening Ceremony: Qatar Knows How To Party

10 Players to Watch in the Asian Cup Posted: 07 Jan 2011 01:00 PM PST The Asian Cup is upon us, and although the sixteen teams represent the best of Asian football, many of the players will be unfamiliar to American and European fans. Here are ten names that you’d do well to remember – they could well be the stars of the tournament. Shinji Kagawa (Japan) Keisuke Honda may be better known after the World Cup, but Kagawa (who missed the final cut for South Africa) is the one grabbing all the headlines at the moment. An attacking midfielder he is currently starring, and often scoring, for runaway Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund. If he can work well with Honda, great things could follow for Japan. Son Heung-Min (South Korea) An 18 year old striker making waves at Hamburg currently, and winning plaudits from the likes of Franz Beckenbauer. Yasser Al-Qahtani (Saudi Arabia) Nicknamed "the sniper" so I'm sure you can guess he is a striker. Top scorer last time around in 2007 he will hope to bang a few more in this time too. Ismaeel Abdullatif (Bahrain) Scored the dramatic last gasp winner in Saudi Arabia to take Bahrain through to their fateful World Cup playoff with New Zealand, and also banged in a hat-trick during Asian Cup qualification. Bahrain will need him at his best if they are to progress. Tim Cahill (Australia) In my opinion one of the best Premier League players not at a "top" club. Consistently scoring from midfield, especially with headers which is impressive considering his size. A lot of Australia's hopes will rest with Cahill. Server Djeparov (Uzbekistan) What more do you want from your former-Soviet nation than a hero with a dodgy mullet? Step forward attacking midfielder Server Djeparov, who has already scored his first Asian Cup goal in the opener over Qatar. Javad Nekounam (Iran) One of two Iranians playing for Osasuna in Spain. He is the rock of the Iranian midfield. Sebastian Soria (Qatar) What's this? A Qatari striker with a distinctly un-Arabic name? Shocking! The first of many as 2022 gets closer I suspect. Soria is Uruguayan born, and can be a good striker on his day. Qatar will hope his day is imminent. Khalfan Ibrahim (Qatar) And let's balance things out for the hosts with a true Doha native. Striker Ibrahim was Asian player of the year in 2006 as a mere teenager, partly in recognition of a good performance at the Under 17 World Cup, and best player in the entire Arabic world (yes, there is such an award) in 2007. Now at the grand old age of 22 he has amassed 47 caps, scoring 15 times, and like with Soria he will need to be having a good month if Qatar are to progress. Jong Tae-Se (North Korea) “The Korean Rooney” as he is sometimes known caught the world's attention with his patriotic tears at the World Cup, but is also a very good striker. He now plays in the 2.Bundesliga having been extremely successful in the Japanese league previously. A real piece of quality in a hard working team.

Sepp On Housewives, Pots & Kettles Posted: 07 Jan 2011 10:10 AM PST Uber-creep Sepp is back to his old tricks, offering up his weekly soundbite that is both confusing and probably a little bit offensive. This week’s target: economically-challenged housewives. A group that, according to his Seppness, deserves to be randomly fired under the bus from time to time. And a group which had absolutely nothing to do with the subject at hand, which was at the time the IOC and their handling of financial matters. He says “our accounts are open to everyone. … The IOC does it like a housewife. She receives some money and she spends some money.” Blatter also says the IOC “has no transparency,” and that any transparency was left to the Olympic-sanctioned sports themselves. What does this even mean? Housewives don’t know how to open a savings account? And doesn’t everyone “receive some money and then spends some money”? Isn’t that the basic crux of economics, when boiled down to something which could be explained to five year olds? And while FIFA’s supposed “transparency” is great, it doesn’t mean opening the curtains to reveal the organizational equivalent of a hairy nude fellow killing a hooker is okay.

Asian Cup 2011 Opening Ceremony: Qatar Knows How To Party Posted: 07 Jan 2011 08:27 AM PST Opening ceremonies are typically an exercise in finding out just what the hell is in the fridge. Not only are they by and large terrible, but some, like the dolls from Euro 2008, are even scarring. Qatar has no such problem, mostly because they’ve nailed the five year old’s guide to staying interested: Pretty lights, lots of color and big booms. Now project this times a thousand in 2022.

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