AFC Cup Preview: Al Kuwait v New Radiant

Al Kuwait head into the second leg of their AFC Cup quarter-final with New Radiant knowing they are on the cusp of reaching the last four.

Marin Ion's men cruised to a 7-2 victory in the first leg in the Maldives and securing their progress to the semi-finals on Tuesday should be a formality.

Tunisian striker Issam Jemaa was the key man in the first leg, the 29-year-old finding the net four times as the Kuwaiti champions picked apart the New Radiant defence.

That result should give the hosts supreme confidence going into the second leg, but they will be eager to guard against complacency.

Still, the defending champions will be heavy favourites for the game at the Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium, with the focus sure to be on Jemaa as he looks to add to his tally of 10 goals in this competition so far.

Both sides will have to make changes ahead of the game, with Mohamed Umair suspended for New Radiant, and Abudulhadi Khamis banned for Al Kuwait after both players were dismissed in the closing stages of the first leg.

New Radiant displayed great spirit in the second half of that contest, Ali Fasir and Ali Ashfaq pulling goals back after they had fallen 6-0 behind before the interval.

Chedi Hammami's late penalty all but ended their hopes but Velizar Popov's men should be keen to regain some respectability and avoid another dismal loss.

Popov will likely look to striker Ali Ashfaq - who has nine goals in the competition so far - to inspire them to victory.

The winner of the tie will face either East Bengal or Semen in the last four.

Source: http://int.soccerway.com/news/2013/September/21/afc-cup-preview-al-kuwait-v-new-radiant/

Maldives run with the wind

The tiny Indian Ocean nation of Maldives may be more famous as an idyllic getaway than a footballing powerhouse. However, in recent times football has been taking an increasing hold in the archipelago. Maldives soared nine places to 149 in May's FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking courtesy of some inspiring performances in April's qualifying for the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup.

Although not the highest position reached in the global pecking order, [they hit 126 in July 2006] it is undoubtedly a remarkable achievement for a tiny nation where registered players number just a few thousand.

The country's current placing also indicative of steady improvement over the last decade, marking an improvement of 34 places above their lowest ebb in August 1997 when they languished at 183. Making for even more impressive reading is the fact that Maldives have leapfrogged the likes of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan to rank 25 amongst the AFC's 46 nations.

Qualifying near-miss
The Maldives stunned many onlookers last year when they defeated India by a solitary goal in the final to lift the 2008 South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship trophy. Boosted by the unprecedented success, the islanders looked to transform their regional triumph onto the continental stage when they played hosts to the recent AFC Challenge Cup qualifying campaign.

Their ambitions, however, were dealt a serious blow when they suffered an opening 3-1 defeat to Turkmenistan. Under Hungarian mentor Istvan Urbanyi, Maldives bounced back to overcome Philippines 3-2 in the second game before firing five unanswered goals against Bhutan to round off their campaign in style.

Despite the two late victories, their opening loss to Turkmenistan proved fatal with the Central Asians progressing to the continental finals at the expense of the host nation. Of greater disappointment though was conceding the runners-up berth to Bangladesh, who narrowly advanced to the by virtue of superior goal difference.

Fazeel the talisman
While the Maldives had again failed to secure a maiden appearance on the continental stage their fans were there were a number of positives. Aside from the hosts side's excellent display, striker Ibrahim Fazeel displayed an eye for goal by netting four times to top the team's scoring chart.

The 28-year-old opened his account against Turkmenistan, pulling one back for the hosts after they were two goals down, only to see the strongly-favoured visitors coasting to an opening win. The Victory SC marksman was on target again in their defeat of the Philippines before completing a brace in their demolition of Bhutan. The other stand-out was captain Ali Ashfaq, who grabbed three goals in as many games as Fazeel's attacking partner.

In the centre of the park, midfielder Mukhthar Naseer, who scored the title-winning goal against India in last year's SAFF Championship final, further enhanced his reputation as a scorer of crucial goals by grabbing the winner against the Philippines.

With a steady increase in both talent and performance, the Maldives are proving more than just an irritation, a point borne out in their qualifying campaign for the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ when they held Korea Republic to a surprise goalless draw. Despite their near-miss in their AFC Challenge Cup bid, it seems that they are set to continue to progress and break new ground in the coming months and years.

Source: fifa.com

Seedings of 2011 Asian Cup qualifying

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Thursday announced the seeds for qualifying for the 2011 Asian Cup, based on results from the 2007 tournament.

1.Iraq 2.Saudi Arabia 3.South Korea 4.Japan 5.Australia 6.Iran 7.Uzbekistan 8.Vietnam 9.China 10.Thailand 11.Indonesia 12.UAE 13.Bahrain 14.Oman 15.Malaysia 16.Jordan 17.Syria 18.Hong Kong 19.Yemen 20.Kuwait 21.Singapore 22.India 23.Lebanon 24.North Korea 25.Myanmar 26.Maldives 27.Turkmenistan.

In round one, the eight teams ranked 20-27 will be paired into two groups of four with the top two from each group progressing to round two.

The second round will see those four teams joining the 16 teams ranked 4-19, who will be divided into five groups of four.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the tournament along with Iraq. Saudi Arabia and South Korea, who automatically go through after finishing as the top three teams at the 2007 Asian Cup.

AFC Challenge Cup competitions in 2008 and 2010.
The first round draw takes place on Monday, December 17.

Source: AFP

Vietnam club confident ahead of AFC Cup match in Maldives

Hoa Phat Hanoi is hopeful of beating Victory FC of the Maldives in an AFC Cup away match Tuesday, the technical director of the Vietnamese club, Tran Binh Su, said.

“Hoa Phat will definitely not fear its rivals though we are to play on their home ground,” he said.

“We will beat them with speedy play.”

In its two previous matches in group D, Hoa Phat drew Malaysia’s Negeri Sembilan 0-0 and lost 1-2 to Xiangzue Sun Hei (Hong Kong), while Victory drew 2-2 with Negeri Sembilan and lost 0-2 to Sun Hei.

Source: Thanhnien

Football / AFC Cup: Do-or-die for Negri, Pahang

NEGRI Sembilan, after being edged 2-1 by Selangor in a Malaysian Super League (MSL) match last weekend, must pick themselves up for their AFC Cup clash with Xiangzue Sun from Hong Kong at the Mongkok Stadium in Hong Kong tonight.
Xiangzue Sun top Group D with wins over Victory FC (2-0) from Maldives and Vietnam’s Hoa Pat Hanoi (2-1).

Negri have drawn their two matches to date and must win tonight’s match if they hope to advance to the second round. Negri drew 0-0 with Hoa Pat Hanoi and 2-2 with Victory FC in Male.

"I hope we can collect three points here (in Hong Kong) which will keep our hopes of advancing to the next stage alive," said Negri coach Hatem Souissi.

The other Group D match sees Victory SC take on Hoa Pat Hanoi at the National Stadium in Male.

Pahang, Malaysia’s other representative in the AFC Cup, take on Singapore’s Tampines Rovers in a Group F match at the MPPJ Stadium. Pahang are at the bottom of the table after defeats to Osotpa 150 FC of Thailand (4-0) and Mohun Bagan of India (2-1).

Pahang, who have been having a bad spell of late, lost 3-0 to TMFC in a MSL match last weekend.

Osotspa 150 FC host Mohun Bagan in the other Group F match at the Royal Thail Army Stadium tonight.

Source: NST Online

Abdulghafoor Abdulhamid of Maldives is Match Commisoner of APC Cup

BAHRAIN champions Muharraq will complete their preparations today for their opening clash with Turkmenistan's MTTU in the 2007 AFC Soccer Cup Group 'B' match scheduled for tomorrow at 6.30pm at the National Stadium in Riffa. It will be another serious challenge for Bahrain's first division league leaders who finished runners-up in last year's edition of the cup after losing dramatically 5-4 in the final leg playoff to Al Faisaly of Jordan. The other two Group B squads, Al Helal Hodedah of Yemen and Al Wihdat of Jordan, also play their opening matches the same day.

Muharraq's second game will be against the Jordanians on March 20, followed by their match with Al Helal on April 10.

Muharraq face Al Helal again on the 24th of the same month for their fourth group tie, while their final two matches have been scheduled for May 8 and 22 against FC MTTU and Al Wihdat respectively.

Muharraq are the top seed in Group B, with Al Wihdat second, Al Helal third and MTTU ranked fourth.

Training

Muharraq had a training session last night at the club's stadium in Arad under their coach and former star striker Salman Shereeda who took over the team from another stalwart Khalifa Al Zayani last month.

"Our preparations have so far been going according to what I have planned and I am happy with the players' discipline. They are so excited to compete in this tournament again and I am personally confident that they will do well on Tuesday," said Shereeda after yesterday's session.

Shereeda was approached by the club after the team's poor start in the league, losing 6-3 to newcomers Al Hala and drawing their next two matches against Al Shabab and East Riffa.

"Tomorrow will be our last training and we are really looking forward to win this match, which will be the key to our success in the tournament," said Shereeda.

The 52-year-old coach took over the reins of Muharraq after he completed his commitments as a coach of Pakistan's national soccer team.

"We are thankful for the visit made by club president Shaikh Ahmed bin Ali Al Khalifa to extend his support to the players. He is truly their spiritual father," added Shereeda.

Meanwhile, the visitors are expected to arrive in Bahrain today and will have their training tonight at the National Stadium.

The technical meeting is scheduled for today at 6.30pm at the Bahrain Football Association premises in Riffa to be attended by representatives of both teams who will confirm their line-ups, jersey colours and other technical issues.

The meeting will be attended by match commissioner Abdulghafoor Abdulhamid of Maldives and referee Abdulrahman Sisho of Syria, linesmen Hamdi Al Shaikh and Shaker Al Hamidi, both of Syria, and fourth referee Khalid Khalifa of the UAE.

This tournament consists of two stages with 24 teams from across the continent in the fray.