Category: AFC Asian Cup 2015

23/07/2016

Ben Williams is to retire.

news.com.au@jaibednall

IMAGINE spending more than two decades at the very top of your field, and then when you retire, witnessing widespread celebration you were finally quitting.

That’s life as a football referee and the reality veteran Australian whistleblower Ben Williams faced today after announcing Tuesday night’s International Champions Cup match between Juventus and Tottenham at the MCG would be his last match in Australia.

“After 22 years on the national panels and 12 years as a FIFA referee it feels like the right time to hang up the whistle,” Williams said. “I’m looking forward to spending time with my increased family and giving back to them for all the love and support they afforded me throughout my career.”

The referee who cruelly and unfairly red carded Mehrdad Pooladi in the quarter-final match against Iraq , is perhaps the most hated of all the referees by Iranian fans throughout the history. Not Only this dismissal was unjust to the player, it meant that the team had to play the rest of the match and extra time with one player short. Williams fell a victim of Iraqi goalkeeper play acting and was too naive at the scene. No Iranian will be missing this referee for sure. Good riddance is quite appropriate for a man that has gave a whole nation a hardship.

It’s some resume, but do you think it meant anything to A-League followers on Twitter? Of course not.

Australian betting company sportsbet.com.au — who are always attempting to find the lighter side of moments like this — were particularly savage.

One of their tweets — which included a gif of fans applauding the news — even prompted former ASADA boss Richard Ings to respond: “Why are people so unkind?”

But the betting gurus weren’t the only ones taking shots. This is how Twitter reacted.

Enjoy his tweet

David Schulze @davschulze

Is Ben Williams guide dog also retiring or will he be given to one of the other refs #mvfc

27/05/2015

Mehrdad Pooladi is not coming back!

Much has been said about Team Melli’s left back who was Iran’s best player in the FIFA World Cup 2014. Mehrdad Pooladi was accused by the authorities along with a large number of other footballers of submitting fake documents in order to get exemption from Military Service. The inspection which was carried out in 2014 also named several other Team Melli players like Hossein Mahini and Bakhtiar Rahmani in the list of unlawful certification. Consequently, these players must carry out the mandatory 2 years military service while they are only allowed to play football is limited number of military affiliated clubs like Malavan and Tractorsazi.

Unlike the other players, Pooladi was pursuing his career in Qatar. He was under professional contract for Al Shahaniya team in the QSL. After concerted efforts by the football federation and with support of the Ministry of Youth & Sports , Pooladi was given a special dispensation and allowed to play for Team Melli for the duration of the AFC Asian Cup, on the condition that he completes the compulsory Military Service as soon as football season ends.

Pooladi played in the Asian Cup and like the World Cup; he was one of the excellent players of the team until that dreaded moment against Iraq. Pooladi managed to get himself red carded in the quarter final match against Iraq to leave his team a man short. The aftermath of the dismissal varied with most fans blaming Australian referee for what seemed to be a harsh and hasty decision. The referee was put under pressure to produce a second yellow card by a number of Iraqi players surrounding him for what seemed to be an innocuous touch between Pooladi and Iraqi goalkeeper. Jalal Hassan Hachim, in goal for Iraq , truly dramatized the incident making a real scene and faking injury and pain. Benjamin Williams, under the influence of the Iraqi players, pulled the 2^nd yellow for Pooladi and subsequently the red leaving Team Melli to play the full second half and the two extra times and penalties with a man short.

Others blamed Pooladi for being sloppy and crude perhaps even cocky. Both of the two cards that he received could have been avoided by a disciplined professional player. In any case, it was the end the tournament for Pooladi and Team Melli as the penalty kicks were not too kind for Queiroz’s men.

After the Asian Cup Pooladi did not act on his case with the military service commission and did not seek any references for his future. When Queiroz was preparing the team for the European tour, Pooladi was one of his main players on the list, but he was informed that the left back cannot feature for Team Melli unless he sorts out his military service.

Pooladi was procrastinating and seemed to have lost interest in the whole case. He was negatively affected by the bad mouthing he received from some fans while the media was not exactly too kind to him either. One major sport daily headline read “The deserter is back” when Pooladi was called for duty for the AFC Asian Cup. Not exactly complimentary words for a player who was preparing to represent his country and play for its honor and pride.

Somewhere along the line, Pooladi has made his decision. Calls from the football federation officials asking him about his status with the Military Service and his availability for Team Melli seemed to be answered vaguely or put on hold.

Pooladi must have made his mind up not to return to Iran. The season ended disappointingly for the ex-Persepolis player. Along with Masoud Shojaei , the Iranian couple could not manage to help Al Shahaniya avoid relegation. His future with his relegated club remains uncertain and so are his days with Team Melli.

It is a shame for Team Melli to lose such a quality player. Carlos Queiroz had a lot of faith in the left back and was his strongest supporter. On the field, Pooladi is robust, consistent and skillful defender. Off the field, he had his fair share of troubles with authority, displaying the same petulant attitude of many talented Iranian footballers.

12/02/2015

10 places up in FIFA ranking for Team Melli.

Team Melli climbed 10 places up in the latest FIFA/Coca Cola ranking issued today in Zurich. Iran is now 41^st in the world with 700 points one rank below Poland and one above its group rival in the World Cup 2014 , Nigeria who are 42^nd.

Iran continues to hold the top ranking in Asia, with South Korea placed second with 608 points followed by Japan with 605 on third. Australia, the Asian Cup winner has fourth with a massive 37 places rise in the table.

The Asian teams climbs are all attributed to the results of the recent Asian Cup 2015 held in Australia.

Rank	Team	Total Points	Previous Points	+/-	AVG 2015	Avg. 2014	AVG WGT 2014	Avg. 2013	AVG WGT 2013
41	Iran	700(700.50)	588	10	342.12	444.24	222.12	242.98	72.89
54	Korea Republic	608(608.24)	487	15	343.57	225.59	112.80	277.31	83.19
55	Japan	605(604.87)	563	-1	327.02	205.07	102.53	386.87	116.06
63	Australia	548(548.21)	329	37	272.38	259.19	129.59	229.34	68.80
66	United Arab Emirates	529(528.94)	408	14	245.47	377.77	188.88	241.93	72.58
71	Uzbekistan	493(492.64)	464	0	202.48	287.67	143.84	331.28	99.38
82	China PR	429(429.19)	339	14	244.98	189.38	94.69	140.03	42.01
91	Oman	368(367.51)	346	2	146.02	255.33	127.66	167.45	50.23
94	Iraq	360(360.10)	269	20	225.82	59.48	29.74	163.04	48.91
97	Jordan	353(352.54)	346	-4	102.88	310.32	155.16	160.85	48.25
98	Saudi Arabia	351(351.10)	318	4	122.58	297.06	148.53	127.91	38.37
103	Bahrain	322(322.48)	292	7	162.53	183.65	91.82	108.93	32.68
109	Qatar	305(305.34)	347	-17	141.62	150.66	75.33	173.98	52.19

08/02/2015

“Queiroz support has turned into a theatrical show ” Amir Ghalenoei .

Amir Ghalenoei once again invigorated his clash with Carlos Queiroz and accused the Portuguese coach suitors of turning a national mayhem after the defeat against Iraq into a patriotic triumph by manipulating the Iranian people’s fervor for Team Melli.

“It was all a big show. I swear that all this was orchestrated and arranged by people whose interest and livelihood are depended on Queiroz being the coach of Team Melli. Nothing like what we have experienced recently has been seen in Iran football before. No Team Melli coach had been spared the wrath of the media and had so much support after defeat in the Asian Cup. Queiroz lost to Iraq but his supporters are turning this defeat into a victory similar to when our team hit six goals past the mighty South Koreans in Asian Cup 1996!”

Ghalenoei and Queiroz have been entangled in a war of word for nearly two seasons. There is no love lost between the two with accusations and counter accusation becoming a routine and regular event. Neither of the two is willing to put a cap on it.

“These people, the ones who profit from Quieroz, have an agenda and have set a careful program. Every time there is something negative happening to Team Melli, they act. This Team Melli which had the highest budget allocated to it in the history of our Football gets beaten by the weakest and the most ill prepared Iraqi team with the lowest possible budget, so , his cohorts get into action with their goodies and start their campaign of support. If Carlos Queiroz is a great coach, why does he need a telephone poll to prove it? He should prove his worth in the football field and start bringing trophies. They push Team Melli players into the media directing them to say that Queiroz must stay to the extent that some spell doom and gloom for our football if Queiroz leaves! You don’t have to believe me, go and do some research and then come back and tell me if I am wrong.” Esteghlal’s head coach told the media in the pre-match press conference before his team match against Peykan on Sunday.

Queiroz was not the only recipient of Ghalenoei’s strong words, as the fiery Esteghlal coach gave Fereydoon Moeini , an ex-Team Melli player and a member of the feeble and benign Technical Committee of the FFIRI, a piece of his mind.

“This Mr. Fereydoon Moeni, and without much thought , comes up and claims that Queiroz is the only coach in the history who gave young players the chance to play in Team Melli! Where were you when Mayeli-Kohan, Ali Daei , Ghotbi and me introduce so many new players to Team Melli? Where were when I was the coach of Team Melli and created a brand new team that actually won a title for Iran? I have no issues with anyone who wants to support Queiroz , but don’t lie to people , don’t fabricate or twist facts to turn it to his benefit. Don’t insult the rest of Iranian coaches to elevate this man, you are insulting a nation.”

And the war of words continues an abated.

07/02/2015

Controversial referee Ben Williams hit back.

Chris Wilson

Sports editor at The Canberra Times

Canberra referee Ben Williams has retaliated to media commentary of his controversial officiating at the Asian Cup, calling it “ill-informed” and questioning the relevance of some former players in the broadcasting box.

The Asian Football Confederation referee of the year in 2013 and the first Australian to officiate in the second round of a World Cup, in Brazil last year, Williams hit back at knockers who have accused him of being trigger-happy with yellow and red cards.

Former Socceroos and now commentators John Aloisi, Mark Bosnich and Robbie Slater criticised Williams’ handling of the Asian Cup quarter-final between Iran and Iraq at Canberra Stadium, where the whistleblower issued nine yellow cards and a controversial red-card to Iran’s Mehrdad Pooladi.

Iran coach Carlos Queiroz, fined for criticising Williams in the earlier rounds of the Asian Cup, then asked how the referee could sleep at night after Iran’s 7-6 loss on penalties.

The criticism came after Sydney FC coach Graham Arnold labelled Williams’ “an embarrassment” when he issued a controversial card to Sydney FC defender Nikola Petkovic in the closing stages of an FFA Cup in October last year. The A-League match review panel upheld the decision, but stood Williams down for a game.

Williams hit back in an interview on ABC Radio on Saturday, backing his own ability and taking aim at those making comment from afar.

“I don’t listen to any of the media after any contentious games, I don’t flick on the TV, I don’t read the papers, I don’t get on the internet to see what people have said about me because most of it is negative and most of it’s ill-informed,” Williams said.

“Some of the people who talk in the media have got no idea about refereeing, a lot of them are ex-players who haven’t played for 15 to 20 years and have played in different leagues around the world but don’t have an impact of international football as it currently stands. I’m probably the most qualified to sit back and analyse my own performance, so I do.

“People are entitled to their opinion, football is a game of opinion, some people believe their opinion is greater than others. If you believed everything that was written about you you’d lose your mind.”

“All you can do at the moment is give the decision you believe is best with the information you have at hand. Whatever happens after that, whether it’s coaches getting angry or players getting angry or media beat-up, that’s out of our control.”

Williams said referees, like players, made mistakes. But he felt a referee’s mistake was “seen as taboo”.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect referee because we’re all human as well and we are going to make mistakes, the same as a player. There’s no player who will go through any match and never make a mistake, never turn a ball over or hit one over the cross bar or miss a tackle. We’re all human just like the players.”

FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson, also of Canberra, is part of a push for soccer to have full-time professional officials.

“He’s been pushing for it as well and it is a matter of time, we hope it happens sooner rather than later,” Williams said.

“It’s not a money hungry selfish grab, trying to earn a contract for football for us. It’s about we want to prepare the best we can so that when we go out on the weekends we know we haven’t left anything to chance.”

Comment on Williams self-defense.

While Williams has the full right to defend himself , and there can’t be too much arguments on the plainly obvious statements that he uttered such ; there is no perfect referee, human error , people are entitled to their opinion; the Australian referee has shown his class , or lack of it , when he states that he ignores everything and everyone opinion but himself! So , although he talks about players and referees committing mistakes, he seems to have excluded himself normal people and elevated himself to the category beyond the normal. He does not thinks he commits and does not need anyone to tell him that. Any decent professional will always review and analyse his performance to try to mitigate any errors in his performance. Accpeting criticsm is part of that process. Obviously , Williams is different and judging by his own philosophy , he does not give a hoot about what others think of him !

“Some of the people who talk in the media have got no idea about refereeing” Williams says.

Refereeing is not a nuclear science either and you do not to be a brain surgeon to master it. Football laws are clear and simple enough even for the average layman to understand it. Referees are not elite either and do not have to attend a 3 years university coach to qualify. The main advantage the referee has over the fans is that he is closer to the action, however , with the advent of TV and slo-mo replays , even that advantage is taken away from him.

Instead of admitting that he screwed up and made a mistake , Williams is trying to fool the masses by a rhetoric that simply gives away a lot about his character. uncompromising , error-prone , happy whistle and fast trigger pulling referee. Not at all worthy of refereeing important international matches.

03/02/2015

Bright new stars light up Asia.

(FIFA.com) Tuesday 3 February 2015

The 2015 edition of the AFC Asian Cup provided high-quality and entertaining football throughout the 32-match, three-week competition. Among the most attractive aspects were the performances of a host of youngsters who put themselves into the spotlight and proved they are likely to be grabbing headlines during the build-up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ and beyond.

FIFA.com takes a look at five names that shone brightly at Australia 2015.

Omar Abdulrahman (United Arab Emirates)
No player cut such a distinctive figure as mop-haired United Arab Emirates ace Omar Abdulrahman. The Al Ain-based No10 delivered in every department, featuring prominently in each TV highlights reel from the tournament. The Riyadh-born midfielder of Yemeni extraction has a repertoire of flicks and tricks that would be the envy of any futsal superstar, while his left-foot slalom dribbles boast a hint of Diego Maradona during the Argentine’s mid-1980s pomp. Abdulrahman provided four assists among UAE’s ten goals in their run to the semi-finals. His passing and understanding with free-running forwards Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil helped the pair share nine goals, and ensures the UAE will be dangerous opponents heading into Russia 2018 qualifying. Though he made his national team debut back in 2010, Abdulrahman has now made a definitive statement on the international stage.

Massimo Luongo (Australia)
Arguably no one was as influential in Australia’s charge to their maiden Asian Cup crown as Massimo Luongo. So much so that the previously unheralded Sydneysider was named player of the Asian Cup for his tournament-high involvement in six goals (including four assists). That the 22-year-old Luongo wasn’t expected to be in the Socceroo starting side at the beginning of January makes his rise all the more meteoric. Luongo is an all-action, attack-minded central midfielder who likes to dribble at pace, link with fellow attackers and position himself between the lines. The Swindon Town-based Luongo was the only third-tier player to feature in the final, yet his all-round game was pivotal in Australia’s win over Korea Republic. His desperate block of Son Heungmin’s shot in defence was almost immediately followed by a classy turn and strike at the other end for the game’s opening goal.

Sardar Azmoun (Iran)
Iran‘s big-name stars were to some degree eclipsed by a lean, newly-capped striker who garnered many of the headlines. Sardar Azmoun scored arguably the goal of the tournament with a deft balletic turn and prodded finish to net the only goal of the game against Qatar, securing a win which ultimately ensured Team Melli qualified at the top of their group. All this from a player who turned 20 just days prior to the tournament, and who had scored his first international goal only two months earlier. Azmoun, the son of an international volleyballer, was picked up by Russia’s Rubin Kazan at just 17 and has since been linked with numerous major clubs in Europe. The tall and athletically built forward seems to have all the potential needed to be an Iran star for years to come.

Abdelkarim Hassan (Qatar)
Though Qatar exited in the group stage, the class of left-sided defender Abdelkarim Hassan is evidence of a bright future for Al Annabi. Hassan, a graduate of the famed Aspire Academy in Doha, not only boasts strong athletic capabilities but also a natural game sense. Watching Hassan push down the flanks and linking with team-mates, it is hard to believe he is still only 21, though now in his fifth year of senior football. Along with the likes of striker Mohammed Muntari, Hassan represents the vanguard of young players that could form the basis of Qatar’s team when they host the 2022 World Cup.

Lee Jeonghyeop (Korea Republic)
Lee Jeonghyeop proved to be another unlikely star of the 2015 Asian Cup. Uncapped prior to this year and away from the spotlight at unglamorous Sangju Sangmu, Lee suddenly found himself a pivotal part of Uli Stielike’s forward line as Korea Republic marched all the way to the final. Tall and boasting trademark South Korean spirit, Lee netted twice, celebrating with an army salute to acknowledge his military service. The winner against Australia in the group stage and the semi-final opener against Iraq proved crucial goals for an injury-hit South Korean side missing the considerable talents of Koo Jacheol and Lee Chungyong.

02/02/2015

Is there a shift in Iranian fans’ mentality ?

An intriguing enigma has developed lately in Iran’s football that might be the beginning of a new era, at least from the fans side of the, if not with the whole of the system.

Iran has the largest football fan base in Asia, even more that China that has several folds more population. People just love football in this country and if you have ever missed it , you should look at the attendance of the local derby between Perpsolis and Esteghlal , the two highest fanbase teams in Iran and beyond. It is always one of the biggest match attendance in the world.

Persepolis and Esteghlal are the two most popular teams in Iran.

Like many other countries, football fans in Iran have more loyalty to their clubs than the national team. For decades these two teams had a monopoly on the number of players in Team Melli. It was unthinkable of announcing a squad without any player from the reds of Persepolis or the blues of Esteghlal.

Not anymore. The original squad for AFC Asian Cup 2015 did not have a single player from Persepolis. That was a historic first. The trend of breaking the monopoly if the 2 top teams on Team Melli started way back during Branko Ivankovic days and reached its peak a decade or so later during Carlos Queiroz. Former Team Melli managers will deny it, but it is a common knowledge that pressure was excreted upon them to include as many as Persepolis and Esteghlal players in the team to assure the federation of fans attendance and support in the 100,000 capacity Azadi Stadium.

After the elimination of Team Melli from the Asian Cup, Queiroz embarked on a vicious ward of words against Amir Ghalenoei and Hamid Derakhshan accusing them of treachery, amongst many other allegations. Team Melli head coach war of attrition with local club coaches has started sometimes ago, but his conflict with Persepolis and Esteghlal coach seemed to have hit the peak after the failing of the Asian Cup.

Queiroz in a feeble attempt to justify the team’s elimination pointed the fingers at Ghalenoei and Derakhshan as contributory factors to the team’s failure!

Essentially , Queiroz was telling them “You are getting a taste of your own medicine!”

Aside from the others reactions to Queiroz tongue–lashing, many Persepolis and Esteghlal fans took exception to it and defended their club coaches, some in fact even marched with banners and had to be restrained by security personnel at the two clubs respective training grounds.

Up to here, the plot is progressing normally as expected under such circumstances but the shock that has awaken everyone was in NAVAD TV show. The popularity of Carlos Queiroz when a poll was conducted in Navad TV reached an overwhelming 88%!

Let us carefully run through some facts.

Fact 1) the absolute majority (greater than 80%) of Iranian football fans polled before the Asian Cup, believed that Team Melli will win the title or be in the final match at least. Less than 10% thought Iran will not make it past the quarter finals. So, we assume that 80% of the fans are quite disappointed by the result.

Fact 2) Team Melli has failed to progress beyond the group matches in the World Cup , ranked by FIFA as 31 out of 32 teams with some embarrassing performance figure. It has failed to win any championship or titles, even the good old WAFF championship, failed in Asian Cup , and very miserably so in the Asian Games( U 23 team).

Fact 3) Team Melli has not been displaying a pretty or entertaining football with a stern defensive style and mostly sticking to the same faces and names.

Fact 4) Carlos Queiroz has made more enemies in Iran that anyone can think of. From Omid Namazi , Rahmati , Aghili , Salih etc and all the way to Ali Karimi who abandoned ship in the last hours.

The above mentioned are facts, not speculations or rumors. So, how on earth one can explain the popularity of such a character?

Is there a shift in mentality in Iranians fans? are they sick of the archaic Iranian establishment ? Are they tired of Iranian coaches and their antics? Are they sending some kind of a message to the hierarchies? Are they “Blue eyes worshippers” as Ghalanoei alleged ?

In Europe and certainly some of the Persian Gulf Countries, National Team Managers that have achieved much better than Queiroz have lost their jobs, yet Iran is an exception. It defies the common logic for a coach to have such popularity without being able to win anything.

Not that Carlos Queiroz is to be blamed for the whole of Iran’s football deficiencies, but in essence, he is part of the system that has disappointed and failed the fans and an important one for that matter. It is criminal to shield him from criticism while blame the failing on the rest of the establishment.

In any case despite the fact that Queiroz has not won anything for Iran, he managed to win the heart of the fans.

NOW..

Go Figure.

01/02/2015

Great tournament but Asia still fights credibility gap

By Nick Mulvenney

SYDNEY Sun Feb 1, 2015 3:48am GMT

(Reuters) – There is no doubt that to some jaundiced eyes, Australia winning the Asian Cup at their third attempt will be just further evidence of the weakness of the game on the world’s most populous continent.

The Socceroos became the eighth different winners of the title in the 16th edition of the continental tournament with their 2-1 victory over South Korea after extra time in front of 76,000 fans at Stadium Australia.

It was a Saturday night thriller worthy of bringing a close to a tournament that was organised with usual Australian efficiency and embraced by a nation normally in thrall to cricket and tennis at this time of year.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I thought it was a beautiful game. It’s what football is all about,” Australia coach Ange Postecoglou told reporters after a pulsating match.

“It’s a final. It’s two teams going at it, giving everything they’ve got because they know what’s on the line. No team took a backward step.”

Postecoglou had joked earlier in the tournament about his team giving headaches to FIFA statisticians trying to figure out how such a lowly ranked team could be playing such good football.

The fact is though, for all the anomalies of the ranking system, Saturday night’s final matched the 100th-ranked hosts against the 69th ranked Taegeuk Warriors.

Both countries were among a four-strong Asian contingent that returned from last year’s World Cup in Brazil without a win between them.

Player of the Tournament, Australia midfielder Massimo Luongo, will fly back to Europe this week to rejoin Swindon’s campaign for promotion from England’s third tier.

The energetic 22-year-old may not be stuck in Wiltshire for too long, though, after he sealed a breakthrough campaign with a well-struck goal to give Australia the lead in the final.

That goal undoubtedly helped him edge out Omar Abdulrahman for the top player award despite the 23-year-old Emirati leaving a bigger stamp on the tournament with his exquisite ball skills and imagination.

Another of the standout players of the tournament, attacking midfielder Son Heung-min, recovered from illness early in his stay in Australia to take South Korea very close to ending their 55-year wait for a third Asian title.

There was plenty of quality goalkeeping on show as well with Australia’s 22-year-old Mat Ryan taking the award for the top shotstopper and also perhaps destined for a bigger European league than Belgium’s top flight.

Kim Jin-hyeon might have claimed the award had South Korea won the final having helped his team keep clean sheets in all their matches until the final, while Uzbekistan custodian Ignatiy Nesterov also deserved a mention.

GREAT ACHIEVEMENT

Ali Makhbout was the top goalscorer of the tournament with five and his combination in attack with Abdulrahman and Ahmed Khalili made United Arab Emirates a threat to any side.

Of the bigger names to coming into the tournament, Tim Cahill’s brace in the quarter-final defeat of China took his tally to 39 goals in 80 internationals and proved there was plenty of life yet in the 35-year-old.

AC Milan striker Keisuke Honda’s disappointing campaign reflected that of Japan with their continuing problem of converting well-worked approach play into goals.

It was perhaps summed up when he blasted the opening penalty in the shootout against the UAE, that saw the defending champions crash out in the quarter-finals, high over the bar.

That came on the same night as the match of the tournament, when Iraq overcame Iran in a two-and-a-half hour rollercoaster ride played out in a sensational atmosphere in Canberra that ended with a 7-6 shootout victory to the 2007 champions.

That the match probably turned on the controversial dismissal of Iran’s Mehrdad Pooladi by Australian referee Ben Williams was a reminder that Asia still has plenty of work to do to improve the quality of officiating in the region.

Qatar’s early departure does not augur well for their hopes of qualifying at least once for the World Cup in 2018 before hosting the finals in 2022, while the decline of three-times champions Saudi Arabia continued as they were bounced out in the group stage for the second tournament in a row.

Carlos Queiroz’s work with Iran proved the value of quality coaching to mould raw Asian talent, while Postecoglou, South Korea’s Uli Stielike, Alain Perrin with a fast-improving China and Emirati Mahdi Ali also had good tournaments.

Postecoglou and German Stielike are at different stages in rejuvenation projects but after their experiences in the Asian Cup, will be confident of taking much stronger sides to represent the continent at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

“The goal for this confederation should be to break the European and South American monopoly on the World Cup,” Postecoglou said.

“It’s a great achievement but it’s not the end of the journey. It’s the beginning for us.”

31/01/2015

Australia lifts the AFC Asian Cup.

AUSTRALIA has been crowned champion of Asia after a thrilling 2-1 win against South Korea in tonight’s Asian Cup final.

James Troisi’s extra time strike proved the difference as the home side delivered a performance a whole nation can be proud of.

“It has to be our biggest achievement, we won a trophy,” former Socceroo John Aloisi said.

Massimo Luongo — who was named player of the tournament — further enhanced his reputation as a man to carry the national team into the post-Tim Cahill era by scoring the opening goal.

South Korea spoiled the party by equalising in second half injury time, but Australia bounced back in extra time.

“I’m no good for words right now, I’m just super proud of everyone … I couldn’t be happier,” Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou said.

“The courage the players showed tonight was enormous.

“I knew we’d finish stronger. We pride ourselves on being fit … it was just a matter of taking our chances and we did it.”

Postecoglou was thrilled with what the victory could do for the game in Australia.

“I know the whole country will be off their couches and won’t be able to sleep tonight,” he said.

“Hopefully from now on our Aussies can take on the world.”

The only negative on a banner night for the world game Down Under was what appeared to be another serious injury to Robbie Kruse.

Continue reading for all the highlights of the game.

30/01/2015

Daei denounces unrealistic expectations.

Ali Daei came to the defense of Team Melli coaches after the elimination from AFC Asian Cup 2015.

“What have we provided this team and Queiroz to demand success? Have we given them the perfect resources and arranged the ideal condition for the squad to have the right to demand winning back the Asian Cup? For decades we have failed to lift the Asian Cup and suddenly people expect miracle form Queiroz. When we fail to win the Asian cup with local and foreign coach, it means that there are fundamental problems with our football not the coaches. If you are bankrupt and have no money, then don’t expect to win millions in the bank’s lucky draw.” Ali Daei said.

The legendary goal scorer was on his way to Australia as a special guest of the AFC to attend the Final match of the AFC Asian Cup 2015. Accompanying Daei , is another legend from the 70’s generation , Homayoun Behzadi.

Daei criticized the fact that Team Melli was ill prepared and poorly arranged for the Asian Cup added “If you think that the coach is most important element in the success of a football team, then we might as well bring the most expensive coach in the world so win the Asian Cup.”

Daei added “We don’t operate according to modern plans, we have no strategy, we lack resources, we have little appreciation and support for football at younger age levels, we have poor facilities, why are we raising our expectations so high? Everywhere else in the world, the National Team manager is as good as the players he is provided from the league. He picks the best that are available to him and if that group is not good enough then the results will reflect that. If a player reaching 30 years in age and he still has not mastered his football, what can the Team Melli coach do?”