I want love in a peaceful world.

January

• The earliest (and latest) cup in global football is lifted every 1st January in Japan. FC Tokyo win the 201..1 Emperor’s Cup by defeating Kyoto Sanga FC 4-2. Second Division FC Tokyo win a spot in the 2012 AFC Champions League.
• Tim Cahill ends his goal drought after 34 matches (he passed 2011 without any goal, including in Asian Cup) by scoring for Everton against Blackburn Rovers. The match ends 1-1.
• Arsenal teenage winger Ryo Miyaichi is loaned to Bolton.

February

• Adelaide United and Pohang Steelers qualify to 2012 AFC Champions League by defeating two Southeast Asian hopefuls – Persipura of Indonesia and Chonburi of Thailand. Buriram of Thailand is the sole SE Asian representative in the ACL. With SE Asian federations underperforming or in legal problems, Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan fill a spot in the East Asian division.
• Shinji Okazaki scores with a bicycle kick for Stuttgart against Hannover 96.
• China end hope to qualify to Brazil 2014 despite defeating Jordan 3-1 at home. Its doom had been pronounced in Autumn 2011 thanks to back to back defeats against Iraq and Jordan. The Economist‘s Christmas 2011 edition runs special article on why Chinese football sucks.
• On the other hand, Asian champions Japan qualify as runner ups without able to defeat Uzbekistan and lost the away match in North Korea, where coach Al Zaccheroni complains that the custom seizes his soy sauce.
• Still on road to Brazil: demoralized Indonesia are torn apart 0-10 by Bahrain. Bahrain, however, fail to qualify as rival Qatar fight to the end to hold Iran 2-2 and pass the group undefeated. While Indonesia field players only from the official Premier League (leaving veterans playing in the Super League), Bahrain also ban Shiite players from the team.

March

• North Korea qualify automatically to 2015 AFC Asian Cup after defeating other minnows such as Philippines, Tajikistan, India, and Turkmenistan. At that time NK are ranked 15th in Asia, far above non-Challenge Cup participants such as UAE and Thailand.
• Woeful year for Japanese powerhouse Gamba Osaka begins as they go down in the ACL to Pohang Steelers 0-3 and to Adelaide United 0-2.
• Australia end its quest for Olympics gold finishing bottom of Group B without scoring any goal and ended four matches 0-0. The Matildas had failed to qualify in 2011 after falling one point short below North Korea. The duel between Japan and Korea U-23 in London is anticipated.

April

• Brisbane win the A-League Grand Final due to 90+7th minute penalty kick by Albanian Besart Berisha into Perth Glory’s goal. Man of the match award for Perth’s Jacob Burns is for a while incorrectly awarded to Brisbane winger Thomas Broich.
• Japan and Korea begin their 2012 league season in the familiar manners – taking in Australians and few Japanese players for the Asian Player spot in Korea, and taking in Koreans and few Australians for the AP spot in Japan – along with South and North Koreans who were born in Japan. Both leagues also use Brazilian players extensively and are still reluctant to draw big names from Europe.
• No such qualm in China, where Nicolas Anelka, fresh from enjoying a late summer period in Chelsea, moved to Shanghai. In February he scored 40 seconds in the friendly against Hunan. In April the club is in crisis and he becomes player-manager.
• Meanwhile, Guangzhou Evergrande ace the ACL group stage by defeating ex-champions Jeonbuk Hyundai 5-1 and Kashiwa Reysol 3-1. Except for Gao Lin, however, all the goalscorers are South Americans Cleo, Muriqui, and Dario Conca. Still, credit for their defense team.

May

• Shinji Kagawa completes his glory in Germany by scoring against Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal final. He scores 13 goals in Bundesliga, 3 in DFB Pokal, and 1 in the Champions League – against Arsenal.
• Kagawa’s rival Keisuke Honda scores consolation goal against Rubin Kazan. After missing much of the season to injury, Honda fails to help CSKA to qualify for the Champions League as rival Spartak take them over with two points.
• Tim Cahill ends his career in Everton with a sour note after being sent off for fighting with Yohan Cabaye, who pushed an Everton ball boy.
• Internazionale signs a loaned player from Cesena, Yuto Nagatomo. Smaller than average (compared to other Japanese players) Nagatomo becomes the most successful player in Serie A in the last five years. He is also the first Japanese player to play in the city of Milan.
• J. League lose all representatives in the ACL with Nagoya, Kashiwa, and Tokyo all shot down. K-League also only spare Ulsan Hyundai alive, while Guangzhou and Adelaide United stay on course.

June

• Keisuke Honda returns to Samurai Blue with the goal against Oman and hattrick against Jordan.
• Big moves for Asian players – Kagawa to Manchester United (where porn star Ameri Ichinose is mistakenly identified as his girlfriend), Hiroshi Kiyotake to Nuremberg, Kim Bo-kyung to Cardiff City, Ki Sung-yueng to Swansea, Maya Yoshida to Southampton, and Eiji Kawashima to Standard Liege.
• The transfer headline is on Didier Drogba. Fresh after taking Chelsea to become the kings of Europe, money and Anelka lure him to Shanghai. The French star fights with a fan after he refuses to follow the customary bow toward Shanghai’s supporters.

July

• Controversy in Cardiff after its Malaysian owners change the crest and the home shirt color to conform more with feng shui – from blue and Blue Birds into red and the Welsh red dragon.
• Another Malaysian-owned team, Queens Park Rangers, also looks forward for a better EPL season. They sign Park Ji-sung (Korea) from Manchester United, Julio Cesar (Brazil) from Internazionale, and Ryan Nelsen (New Zealand) and Junior Hoillet (Canada) from Blackburn Rovers, distinctively becoming probably the only team in the world with players from all confederations. The shirt sponsor is changed from Malaysia Airlines to owner Tony Fernandes’ own Air Asia.
• Unfortunately, by the end of this year Asians who love Air Asia for their travels are too embarrassed to wear the jersey.
• More than they wear the MU’s red tartan jersey.
• Korea and Japan pass Olympics’ group stage in minimalist manners – Korea with 2-1 victory over Switzerland and 0-0s against Gabon and Mexico, while Japan steal headline after defeating gold medal favorite Spain 1-0. The rest is unconvincing – 1-0 to Honduras and 0-0 to Morocco. The women team also draw 0-0 with Sweden and Africa after defeating Canada 2-1.
• Swiss player Michel Morganella is sent home after sending racist tweets against Koreans. North Korea is also angry as organizer shows their future flag of Taegeukgi in the match against Colombia. Heck, even they complained that there was the flag of Korea in the stadium along with the flag of Cameroon and Sweden. Are they Koreans or not?

August

• Shinji Kagawa scores his first goal for Manchester United past Asia’s best goalkeeper – Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer.
• Anelka and Drogba’s partnership in Shanghai result in astonishing 3-3 draw with Shandong Luneng.
• Arsenal loans number nine forward Park Chu-young to Celta Vigo, sparing him the horror of wearing number 30 after 9 is given to Lukas Podolski.
• Nadeshiko Japan defeat favorite Brazil 2-0 and France 2-1. Unfortunately they go down to United States 1-2 and get silver medal. Turbine Postdam’s Yuki Ogimi scores three goals.
• Project Team Great Britain go down in typical English manner – lose penalty shootout in the quarter finals, this time to Korea. Chelsea’s Dean Sturridge fails to score while Korea put five past Jack Butland.
• Korea win the bronze medal after Park Chu-young and Koo Ja-cheol score against Japan. Defender Park Jong-woo sport a banner written “Dokdo is Ours!” after the match, winning critics outside Korea and praises from Koreans. Since then Korean TVs have gone too hard in putting Dokdo in every context and criticizing celebrities who refuse to join the chorus, especially those who are being popular in Japan.

September

• Both Korea and Australia are in crisis mode for their World Cup qualification as Uzbekistan hold Korea and Australia’s defeat to Jordan condemn them to zero win from three matches.
• Park Chu-young becomes the first Korean to score in La Liga against Getafe. Lee Chun-soo was the last Korean to play in La Liga a decade ago.
• Korean Army team Sangju Sangmu Phoenix walk out from the Relegation round of K-League after AFC requires professional contracts for players in every club. The club serves as a host for players serving their military draft. Even without the drama, SSP are already relegated. Recently some other players prefer to join the Korean Police FC for their national service.
• The Championship round in K-League is switched from playoff rounds between the top six (Australian style) to the mini league involving top eight teams (Russian style).
• Both Guangzhou and Adelaide fail their first tests against West Asian teams. Ulsan pass through favorite Al-Hilal 5-0.
• Consadole Sapporo secure relegation from J-League Division 1 with two months to go.

October

• Keisuke Honda scores his fifth goal from eleven Russian Premier League matches. He failed to move to Lazio, probably for the better. He might be play in Liverpool next month.
• Alessandro del Piero moves to Sydney FC, while Western Sydney Wanderers recruit Shinji Ono. Sydney also sign Chinese-Panaman Yairo Yau.
• Shinji Kagawa provides his second assist in the Champions League and then twists his knee. The injury lasts for two months.
• For second year in the row, a Hyundai-owned team is in the ACL final after Ulsan defeat glamour-less Bunyodkor. The national team of Uzbekistan keep their hope alive by defeating Qatar 1-0. Korea end 2012 in sour note with 0-1 defeat to Iran.
• S-League authority announces that in 2013, the team that finishes last will have to pay heavy fine for being a loser, continuing the fine tradition of the fine city.

November

• A drop of Asian players’ presence in the English Premier League with Kagawa injured, and so does Park Ji-sung, and Southampton’s Tadanari Lee and Sunderland’s Ji Dong-won nowhere in sight. Maya Yoshida passes every match day painfully with Southampton. In Bundesliga, on the other hand, Son Heung-min, Koo Ja-cheol, Shinji Okazaki, Hiroshi Kiyotake, and Takashi Inui provide goals and assists now and then.
• Korea recovers the AFC Champions League trophy as Ulsan defeat Al-Ahli 3-0. Japan defeat Oman 2-1 and need to wait for March 2013 to defeat Jordan to secure a ticket to Brazil 14.
• Hiroshima win J-League title, breaking the hearts of Sendai. Hisato Sato hopes that he can return to the national team. Al Z’s favorite Ryoichi Maeda continues his Maeda’s Curse by condemning Gamba Osaka to the Second Division, ironically despite Gamba’s 67 goals for compared to Hiroshima’s 63. Gamba’s best hope is to flourish in Division 2 in 2013 and return in 2014.
• Ian Crook resigns from Sydney FC management. Club’s and fans’ expectation for del Piero is cited as the main reason. Sydney languish at the bottom while uglier sister Western Sydney are in the top four.

December

• Substitute Brian Ching fails to save Houston Dynamo in the 2012 MLS Cup, a fitting farewell for David Beckham. American soccer is still waiting for its Jeremy Lin.
• FC Seoul win the 2012 K-League, with Colombian Mauricio Molina providing 18 goals and 19 assists.
• Australia qualify for 2013 East Asia Football Federation Championship by destroying Taiwan 8-0, scoring five goals in 30 minutes. They win aggregate goals against North Korea.
• Indonesia, Philippines, and Singapore field teams composed of naturalized players in the ASEAN Football Federation Cup. Indonesia lose to Malaysia 0-2 and draw with Laos 1-1, and Indonesian fans treat the news apathetically.
• FIFA extends its deadline for Indonesian FA to settle its internal dispute for three months, Sepp Blatter gleefully says that he’s giving a holiday gift to Indonesia.
• The resurgence of Thai football is annulled by Singapore, whose 30+ years old foreigners help the Lions to win the AFF Cup. Singapore’s best players, however, are Shahril Ishkak and Khairul Amri. Both of them play for Singapore LionsXII, a guest team in the Malaysian Super League (and the runner ups of the 2012 season).
• Ulsan Hyundai become the first Asian team to fail to qualify to FIFA Club World Cup Semi Finals after lost 1-3 to Monterrey. In the fifth place match against Hiroshima, Hisato Sato proves that he’s the better striker than Lee Keun-ho and Kim Shin-wook.
• Shinji Kagawa win AFC’s first ever “International Player” award, effectively the award for the best Asian player in the world. His competitors are forty years old Mark Schwarzer and Yuto Nagatomo. In Asia, the best player is Lee Keun-ho, and below him are Ali Karimi and Zheng Zhi.

Wherever there is success however danger lurks close behind. That danger can come in many forms, often its most obvious form is complacency. Complacency often results in nothing being done to build on the success that has been achieved, so that the hard-won success continues. It would appear that football may not be suffering from complacency but more a lack of finances to support the continued growth of the game, with the large percentage of monies brought into the game being directed to the elite and high performance programs.

There is some merit in this, as the more talented players Australia produces, the better the standard of the A-League, the more players Australia will have playing in the top leagues around the world, the better the Socceroos and Matildas will perform on the World stage. This will in turn drive more people through the turnstiles, to switch on Fox or SBS to watch the games and hopefully participate by playing or refereeing.

However there appears to be a problem in the current production line, which seems to be being ignored. Young talent is being produced around Australia, via various state development programs, the pathway for that talent whether they like it or not is through the National Youth League or the AIS. Some young players have been signed by A-League clubs purely to fill their youth player quote with the coach having very little intention of giving that player a chance. Other clubs have seen genuine talent and have worked hard to develop it. The fact is though the now defunct Gold Coast United had the best Youth set up in the Australian league and more of their players ended up with full A League contracts than any other club. One has to wonder if the club had survived two more seasons whether they would have, through this system, developed a dynasty that would have dominated Australian football. We will never know.

The concern however is how many young players are being given a one year deal, and having been given no opportunity in the first team are released at the end of their contract. Some are fortunate to pick up another one year deal at another A-League club only to be released again at the end of the following season. Then where do these players go?

Some head to lesser leagues in places like Indonesia to develop, however despite the money most will find it will not have helped their game a great deal apart from playing regular football.

Australia needs to look after these players and not be so quick to discard them. They have been identified as having talent, many may simply not quite be ready to make the step up at that point in time. The trouble is there is not the money at an A League club to spend on nurturing a player over two to three years, hence they are thrown into the wilderness. Many of these players are good enough to make it as professional players, but they need proper coaching to help them develop their weaknesses and some simply require patience or time to grow.

Why can’t a scholarship program be introduced for these players? A scholarship where these discarded players can still focus on their football and work with an A League club in order  to develop. They could even attend the AIS for camps throughout the year, all the time being monitored and working on the weaknesses that saw them released from the A-League.

There is no doubt that Australia needs to do something to avoid losing these players. We need to do something to stop them dropping down to State league level and allowing their own standards to drop to that level; time has shown that they will only maintain their own level for so long. Football needs to do all it can to help these players make it, as this will ultimtately help drive the game to the next level. Abandoning them and forgetting about them, will ultimately be fare more costly.

The Socceroos have qualified for next year’s East Asia Cup! Our boys sealed their spot at next year’s tournament with an 8-0 win over traditional rivals Taiwan. Manager Holger Osieck is said to be over the moon, as it has been his dream to win the East Asia Cup ever since he heard about it last week.

Western Sydney Wanderers have piled on the misery for reigning A-League champions Brisbane Roar with a 1-0 win at Parramatta yesterday. The decisive kick came from a penalty, which this blogger thought was a blatant dive, but interestingly the Roar and the Queensland media aren’t kicking up a fuss. Perhaps last year’s Grand Final “win” from the penalty spot has rendered the “Champions” tactfully quiet.

And the winner is… everyone! Euro 2020 will be played all over the continent rather than in a host country. This new format was adopted when the only country that applied to host the tournament turned out to be Turkey. Experts have theorised that this new format is a tester for the Eurovision Song Contest which is still attempting to work out how to avoid Jedward visiting other nations.

Champions League round of sixteen will be drawn next week with the remaining clubs being Paris Saint Germain, Porto, Schalke 04, Arsenal, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bayern Munich, Valencia, Barcelona, Celtic, Manchester United, Glatasaray and Spainish side Malaga, who even last year hadn’t yet heard of themselves.

Goal of the week –

Melbourne Victory finds itself short of the top level, missing star players Archie Thompson and Mark Milligan, following a 4-2 defeat at the hands of rival Adelaide United last night at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Adelaide United’s Evan Kostopoulos celebrates one of his two goals last night. Image credit: adelaidenow.com.au

Adelaide United showed why they deserve to be top of the table, following a dominating performance against Melbourne Victory, resulting in a 4-2 margin at Hindmarsh Stadium last night.

The Victory, who were without star striker Archie Thompson and defensive midfielder Mark Milligan due to Socceroos duty, appeared to lack a top team’s polish and were shown exactly why by Adelaide.

The added absence of key defender Adama Traore also showed, as Adelaide’s attacking efficiency was on full-display.

A five-game undefeated streak for the Victory looked to be under threat within the first two minutes of the game, with Adelaide’s Evan Kostopoulos scoring his first goal of the season, hitting the back of the net with a striking right boot.

The Victory responded quickly, scoring a much needed equalizer only three minutes later through fan-favourite Andrew Nabbout.

A flurry of shots on goal ensued, with both sides sharing possession and having shots blocked within the next fifteen minutes.

The 21^st minute then gave the home crowd something to cheer about- Adelaide’s Fabio Ferreira sinking a great right foot strike into goal.

Woes for the Victory did not stop there, with Adelaide’s pressure building and a mere three minutes later adding another goal to their lead- this time Marcelo Carrusca joining the party with his first of the season.

Unfortunately for the Victory, any hope of claiming the three points were squashed when Kostopoulos claimed his second goal for the game and season, with a brilliant header in the 32^nd minute.

It could have been a 5-1 lead at half time, as Adelaide’s Nigel Boogaard scarcely missed with a header that struck the left post from within the box in extra time.

Melbourne Victory appeared defeated at half-time; players returning to the dressing rooms seemingly awaiting a blast from coach Ange Postecoglou, for a lack-luster first-half defensive effort.

To their credit, they came out of the blocks in the second half with a bang- New Zealand international Marco Rojas claiming an excellent goal off great lead-up work from Guilherme Finkler.

However, that 47^th minute goal was to be the last for the night; the final margin remaining at 4-2 in Adelaide’s favour.

The second half displayed a much better performance from the Melbourne side, though it was Adelaide’s early dominance and determined finish that ensured the win.

Referee Chris Beath’s didn’t have much to blow his whistle at, with both sides remaining fairly civil, as six yellow cards were given and no reds.

Last night we learned that although Adelaide United’s style of football is not the most aesthetically pleasing- boy does their persistence pay off.

They are now top of the league table and look forward to meeting the current fifth placed Wellington Phoenix at Hindmarsh again the coming week.

For the Victory on the other hand, it’s back to the drawing board as they look to atone against Brisbane Roar at home next round.

They will be hoping that their previous 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Roar will not be a repeat, if they are to remain serious contenders for the championship.

—

Final Score:

Adelaide United 4 (Kostopoulos 2’ + 32’, Ferreira 21’, Carrusca 24’)

– Melbourne Victory 2 (Nabbout 3’, Rojas 47’)

Crowd: 14,115 at Hindmarsh Stadium

The game was most likely the severest test of Adelaide United’s resolve, for a club where mental toughness has often been in short supply. But not tonight. They were able to hold Victory off despite taking their pedal off the medal, and United won the game by virtue of their first half an hour. It was the goals of Fabio Ferreira and Marcelo Carrusca which made jaws drop all over the ground, and in bars and living rooms where this game was on TV, as they were as good as any goals scored this season. I’ve maintained that Carrusca would soon demonstrate that he was a better player than Flores, and he demonstrated it handsomely tonight with his exquisite strike and quality midfield play, in contrast to Flores’ generally listless performance. For Victory, the goals of Nabbout and Rojas were quality and only further consolidated their reputations. Further encouraging for them is Ange Postecoglou’s evident refusal to accept anything less than the best from his players, as it was in Brisbane, which you could see at the end of the game. On the basis of this game, Adelaide United look be more than good enough to win the league with more like their first half an hour, while Melbourne Victory may not be quite there yet.

One Melbourne Victory player who did have a night to remember did so for Australia, by scoring a hat-trick in six minutes. That man is Archie Thompson, who rediscovered his scoring touch for his country and seemingly relived his world record scoring spree in 2001. This time, Guam were not nearly as hopeless as American Samoa were then but sufficiently so for Australia to roll them over. In 1982, Laszlo Kiss scored a hat-trick in seven minutes for Hungary coming on as a sub against El Salvador on the way to a 10-1 win, and Archie repeated that feat from the bench tonight. The game is also noteworthy for the debut goal and overall performance of Aaron Mooy, who demonstrated he may be Australia’s closest to anything like a Glenn Hoddle kind of player we will have in this country, or is this all hyperbole?

As Frank Farina begins his time in charge of Sydney FC, it is perhaps worth recalling that John Kosmina’s time in Sydney was back then seen as something of a nadir for the club. Two losses at home to a very poor Perth Glory happened under his watch, the latter being forever remembered for John Aloisi’s miss and the crowd booing Kosmina’s head on the screen. Yet, on the Sydney fan boards, they now sing a different tune by saying that he compares favourably to what they have endured of late. A point perhaps driven further home by the success Kosmina is enjoying at this moment. For Farina to pull Sydney out of this nadir will be an achievement in itself.

Archie Thompson gave the Australians an early lead, but the North Koreans started to dominate and deservedly equalised through Young-Hak An.

DPR threatened from distance, whereas the Socceroos were very disappointing throughout as neither could find the winner.

The Socceroos got off to the perfect start as Skipper Brett Emerton placed a cross on the head of Thompson, but North Korean ‘keeper Mong-Guk Ri saved wonderfully.

From the resulting corner the Australians took the lead as Mark Milligan’s header thumped off the upright, but Thompson was well placed tapping home the scraps after just four minutes.

The North Koreans started to control the proceedings with a lot of the ball in their attacking third, but it was the Socceroos who were creating the chances.

Emerton and Thompson linked up again just after the half-hour mark, but the Victory striker’s diving header was directed wide.

The North Koreans only really threatened from distance, but debutant goalkeeper Mat Ryan was up to the task continuing his fine domestic form.

Just after the hour DPR capitalised on their chances and possession as veteran midfielder Young-Hak An fired on the turn as a desperate Australian defence couldn’t clear off the line.

Tom Rogic replaced Richard Garcia shortly after the DPR goal and made an instant impact finding space and finding teammates out wide.

The Central Coast Mariner then ignited Australia’s late push for a winner, but the midfielder’s weak effort was easily saved.

With six minutes remaining a Rogic low cross was parried into the path of substitute Adam Taggart, although the Newcastle Jets forward couldn’t convert, before Emerton scooped his effort wide.

In stoppage-time one of Australia’s smallest players Matt McKay leapt highest, but the former Brisbane Roar Captain’s header was hit just over clipping the roof of the net.

Brett Emerton has given the Socceroos all three points with a late winner in the 1-0 win over Hong Kong in the opening game of the East Asian Cup Qualifiers in Hong Kong this evening.

In a scrappy encounter worsened by the pitch both sides had plenty of chances, although both struggled to break through as both goalkeepers were superb, Eugene Galekovic for Australia and Yapp Hung Fai for Hong Kong.

But Emerton finally broke through with five minutes left on the clock to give Australia an undeserved three points.

The first half-hour started fairly slowly for the Socceroos as Hong Kong controlled the possession.

Michael Thwaite and Mark Milligan in central midfield screened the back four of Ivan Franjic, Roberto Cornthwaite, Matt Smith and Aziz Behich, the latter bursting forward regularly.

The Australians were happy to build up from the back with Smith taking the proactive approach, while Matt McKay and Behich down the left were involved in a lot of the play.

Hong Kong were quite impressive in the opening half playing a lot better than there FIFA ranking of 172 as long balls were sent into the box, but Galekovic was solid in goals for the Socceroos.

Towards the end of the first-half the Socceroos started to combine well as Milligan drove wide, before Richard Garcia had a strike well blocked and McKay fired a volley over.

On the stroke of half-time Archie Thompson should have given the visitors the lead, but couldn’t connect on Cornthwaite’s header.

Despite the game’s scrappiness the Australians were still creating chances, although Thwaite volleyed wide and over after McKay had a viscous effort blocked.

Hong Kong though threatened on the counter, although Galekovic was up to the task turning Lo Kwan Yee’s drive around the post.

Socceroos Skipper Brett Emerton played Thompson through on the break shortly after, however, Hong Kong custodian Hung Fai charged out and denied the Victory striker’s side-footed attempt.

Both sides weren’t settling for a nil-all draw as yet again on the counter the hosts burst down the flank with Kwan Yee who forced Galekovic to tap over.

The Socceroos tried penetrating the Hong Kong defence via Emerton and Franjic down the right, but the delivery was poor, while the Hong Kong defence continued to deal with any wide threats.

Substitute Tom Rogic almost made an instant impact, but the 19-year-old’s venomous strike was well saved by Hung Fai.

Emerton though snatched the win finding space in the box, before curling into the net via a deflection. 

Melbourne Victory striker Marco Rojas has handed his team a 1-0 win over Perth Glory at AAMI Park tonight.

The three points will all but ensure the Victory hold onto third place by the end of the round.

Image credit: Facebook.

Victory were missing arguably two of their best eleven tonight, with the absence of Socceroos Archie Thompson and Mark Milligan, along with the suspended Sam Gallagher.

The Glory were also missing artillery; Jacob Burns due to suspension, and both Scott Jamieson and former Victory player Michael Thwaite due to Socceroo duties.

They were further hampered when star midfielder Liam Miller suffered an injury during the pre-game warm up.

Both sides had early chances due to free kicks of similar position within the first 10 minutes, but it was former Melbourne Victory attacking midfielder Nick Ward with the best chance at the 15^th minute- missing just left of goal.

At half-time the score was 0-0 and both teams had seemed to reach a stalemate.

First shot of the second half came from recent re-signed Victory young gun Andrew Nabbout, whose effort just missed left of goal.

After many early second-half shots from both sides, it was excellence from Victory’s Marcos Flores, who after returning from suspension played a great ball to Rojas to give him a shot on goal.

The true excellence was the goal itself, a curve ball from outside the six yard box that ultimately gave Victory the winning lead.

Marco Rojas celebrates with teammates following his goal. Image credit: news.com.au

The Glory did not make the win easy for the Victory, having a total of five on-target shots in the second half alone.

It was the effort of substitutes made by Glory coach Ian Ferguson that played a key role in his side’s revival.

With two shots blocked by Victory defenders, it seemed that Victory goalkeeper Nathan Coe almost had his work cut out for him, making 4 vital saves to give his side only its second clean sheet this season.

The last a scrambling dive to left to deny Glory substitute Brandon O’Neill in extra time.

Melbourne Victory coach Ange Postecoglou said that the performance from his team was ‘ok’.

“It was ok, but we need to do better. A good half hour made a difference. Coey [Nathan Coe] pulled off some great saves to keep us in front,” he said.

Referee Jarred Gillett didn’t have much to blow his whistle at, with almost a stock-standard four yellow cards given for the match.

Only the errant elbow of Perth’s Shane Smeltz collecting Victory’s Billy Celeski might give the match review panel something to look at.

Billy Celeski hits the deck, after what appeared to be an elbow from Shane Smeltz. Image credit: perthnow.

Perth Glory coach Ian Ferguson commended his side, noting the absence of key players.

“The squad is not as strong as it was last year in depth,” he said.

“I can’t fault any of the players today, their effort was tremendous for the club and themselves.”

The Victory will look to continue their stellar form against current top-placed Adelaide next week, whilst the Glory will be looking to atone against Melbourne Heart.

Crowd: 17, 676, AAMI Park.

Sydney FC in the Asian Champions League. Photo – http://www.flickr.com/photos/petenowakowski/

Last week the FFA signed off on a new TV broadcasting deal worth $160 million over five years. The new deal will bring the A-League to free-to-air television in Australia for the first time while strengthening its realtions with Fox Sports.

It’s a big step forward for the league in terms of boadening itself to a wider audience, but one thing that isn’t helping the A-League is the Asian Football Confederation or AFC for short.

Recently, the AFC stripped the A-League of one of its spots in Asia’s premier football competition, the Asian Champions League due to the league not meeting the AFC’s league benchmark of 600 points for an automatic two places in the championship.

This means that only the Central Coast Mariners have booked their chance for glory. The AFC do not recognise the finals series as the decider in who is the best team from one nation, so only the premiers will have a place. The champions of the A-League, Brisbane Roar, will be forced to fight for their spot in playoff matches against a team from Thailand.

For the past few years, the third-placed A-League team has also been offered a place, via a play-off against lowly-ranked Asian sides.

Adelaide United have always been a good match up against the giants of Asia and took the opportunity of this, due to other teams dropping out of its play-off group, earlier in the year. The Reds eventually made the quarter-finals before losing out to Bunyodkor, however the experience gained is invaluable.

There are many reasons the AFC has taken this spot away, some of which are fair.

A major issue is that the competition is not run seperately from the FFA. Considering how old the A-League, and to some extent the FFA, is this really should not be expected.

Another big issue is the lack of a national cup competition. ‘New football’ and ‘old soccer’ fans have been calling out for and FA cup type competition for years to try and re-unite professional and semi-professional football, however it has been recently put on the backburner by FFA head Frank Lowy after the TV rights deal.

Prior to that it had also been postponed due to the failed 2022 FIFA World Cup bid. To be taken as a serious footballing nation by FIFA and the AFC we really do need to establish a competition like this.

Later on down the track the FFA will also need to start the promotion and relegation system, another sticking point for the AFC. Earlier in the year they did announce the state-based Australian Premier League, a possible precursor to the system that operates in almost every football country in the world.

Another contention facing the FFA is the Wellington Phoenix and the number of teams. Eventually the Phoenix will have to leave the competition, due to New Zealand being in the Oceania confederation. The AFC currently recognises the A-League as a nine-team competition due to the inclusion of the side from New Zealand.

The FFA will also need to boost the number of teams to at least 12 to be on the same page as the rest of the world.

Australia are the third biggest country in terms of rankings in Asia. We may not have the same money as other leagues from our region but we certainly are up there with our crowds, despite how mediocre they can be. Some crowds in other nations can reach as low as only 50 people.

In 2015 we’ll be hosting the Asian Cup. This will be our chance to say to the AFC that we are the dominate footballing nation in your confederation.

For the meantime, all we can do is focus on our national league and hope that we can have some champions league success with the Mariners and most probably the Roar, the Aussie underdogs in Asia.

The Socceroos squad is: Terry Antonis (Sydney FC), Eli Babalj (FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd, SERBIA), Aziz Behich (Melbourne Heart FC), Robert Cornthwaite (Chunnam Dragons, Korea Republic), Dino Djulbic (Guizhou Renhe, China PR), Ivan Franjic (Brisbane Roar FC), Brett Emerton (Sydney FC, Australia), Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United FC), Richard Garcia (Melbourne Heart FC), Scott Jamieson (Perth Glory FC), Michael Marrone (Melbourne Heart FC), Matt McKay (Busan I Park, Korea Republic), Mark Milligan (Melbourne Victory FC), Aaron Mooy (Western Sydney Wanderers FC) Tom Rogic (Central Coast Mariners FC), Mat Ryan (Central Coast Mariners FC), Matt Smith (Brisbane Roar FC), Adam Taggart (Newcastle Jets FC), Archie Thompson (Melbourne Victory FC), Michael Thwaite (Perth Glory FC).

Via FFA website

On this they cannot be blamed. In a footballing sense, and in a professional sense, it’s a woefully inadequate appointment. His seven-year Socceroos era was one that failed to deliver with whatever promising and not-so-promising ingredients, and he picked such players as David Zdrilic. The same group of players transformed under Guus Hiddink and the rest is history. However, on his return to club football with Brisbane Roar, it didn’t begin all that badly. The Roar missed the finals in his first season, but the introduction of the kids in the second season saw them qualify for the finals and they repeated that the following year. But by 2009/10, it was going haywire as the club culture that developed under Farina caught up with them- and with him literally. Lurid tales of player culture surrounding Craig Moore, Charlie Miller and Bob Malcolm abounded (although it’s a dead giveaway why), but Farina himself failed the responsibility test more than once. He had been caught drink driving on the way to work with a child in the back, an incident that brought his demise. It is precisely this which has made his appointment at Sydney far from a welcome one.

Sydney FC’s hands may well have been tied. They were unlikely to land a foreign coach with decent credentials and could barely have done better domestically, since none of the current local A-League coaches were going to take up the job. Should we write off Farina? Some of you might tell me that the success of John Kosmina, Graham Arnold and Ange Postecoglou, both of whom are old warhorses in football terms, would mean no. But none of these have been criminally irresponsible, and that makes a world of difference. Sure, I love a drink and back in the day it was all fine for players and managers to drink (among other things), but potential endangerment of your own child in the course of your own work is another plane of irresponsibility and non-professionalism.

It might come well for him, if Sydney have a full-strength side that can somehow gel. However, this very appointment only adds to the scrutiny the club is under, fairly or not… and failure could prove extremely damaging for the club’s prospects not merely this season. He has already been put on notice.

And not only are Melbourne Victory back, but they also showed bad old habits in defeating Western Sydney Wanderers 2-0. I think it is a measure of how good things have been for Western Sydney that it was the worst performance of the season, yet could have been very different in result had finishing been more accurate. Three home losses does grate, though. But the gulf in performances between the two Sydney sides, that Western Sydney’s worse is immeasurably better than all of Sydney FC’s performances this season, but please don’t take it as if I’m somehow obsessed measuring the club against its cross-town rivals. It is just statement of fact. As is the fact that Ange Postecoglou was masterful tactically, though aided by poor refereeing, and Archie Thompson’s pathetic antics particularly after scoring. Mooy was unusually subdued, but Kresinger proved once more that he does not belong in this league and that Joe Gibbs is the most effective current component of Western Sydney’s front line when playing. An opportunity was blown to jump to third place. Even if Brisbane Roar are stuttering and Ange Postecoglou has moved clubs, their job is already done. It is an increasingly exciting and improving competition.

Meanwhile, the domestic-dominated squad for an upcoming regional tournament, the EAFF Cup, includes many of the league’s best performers this season, plus the non-performing Brett Emerton. Archie Thompson, on the other hand, does warrant a place in such a squad on the basis of his contribution to Victory’s rejuvenation. Also in there is Richard Garcia, who has been excellent for Melbourne Heart. But will Terry Antonis ever live up to his billing?

After a tight first-half the former Melbourne Victory forward sneaked his third goal of the season in just before the break.

Substitute Stefan Reisinger then secured the three points with a wonderful solo effort with still 26 minutes left on the clock, although Hamburg did have two goals ruled out, one, correctly, the other dubious.

F95 threatened early from out wide with whipped crosses from Tobias Levels and Axel Bellinghausen causing problems, although HSV comfortably dealt with the threat with Michael Mancienne in good early form.

But Fortuna’s passing game was letting them down, giving the ball to the visitors far too often and allowing Hamburg to take control of proceedings.

HSV though were dealt a massive blow just after the half-hour with Dutch International Rafael van der Vaart forced off with a suspected torn hamstring.

Four minutes before the break Fortuna too were forced to make a change because of injury as experienced defender Jens Langeneke came off after receiving a knock.

Mancienne thought he opened the scoring with a tap in from a rebound, but from the initial effort, the former Chelsea defender was correctly ruled to be offside.

Ex-Dusseldorf winger Maximilian Beister almost broke the deadlock just before the break, but the German U21’s strike was deflected inches wide.

Fortuna though from the resulting corner immediately pushed on the counter with Andreas Lambertz who found Kruse down the left.

The Socceroo then via a Mancienne deflected opened the scoring sneaking his effort into the bottom corner past Rene Adler.

HSV looked to have found the much needed urgency after the break and almost found an equaliser through Marcus Berg after Tolgay Arslan’s ball, but the Swede’s attempt was deflected just wide once again.

On 55 minutes Hamburg thought they found their much needed equaliser as Captain Heiko Westermann’s driven free-kick came off Kruse before beating Fabian Giefer.

But the referee ruled another goal out after Lambertz was fouled in the box before the free-kick was struck.

Hamburg kept pushing through Arslan and Beister, but they would pay the price for not converting their chances.

Six minutes after coming on Reisinger beat Westermann and Mancienne far too easily, before emphatically finishing into the top corner past Adler in a truly magical individual effort.

Socceroos Coach Holger Osieck announced today his squad for the East Asian Cup 2013 qualifying tournament, held from 1-9 of December in Hong Kong.

Players based in Europe and the Middle East, like Lucas Neill and 2012 Australian Footballer of the Year Brett Holman haven’t been released by their clubs, hence their exclusion.Due to the tournament not being held during FIFA International match days only players currently out of season or based in the A-League have been selected.

Aziz Behich, Eli Babalj, Tom Rogic, Robert Cornthwaite, Michael Thwaite, Mat Ryan and Archie Thompson all have been recalled up after playing in the 2-1 in over the Korea Republic early this month.

Meanwhile Terry Antonis, Adam Taggart, Ben Halloran, Ivan Franjic, Aaron Mooy, Osama Malik, Matt Smith and Chinese Super League based Dino Djulbic and Rostyn Griffiths all receive their first call ups to a Socceroos camp.

The squad will meet up in Sydney next Wednesday, November 26, before travelling to Hong Kong four days later, but five of the 25 man squad will have to be cut, which Osieck isn’t too pleased about.

“We are only allowed to take twenty players to Hong Kong which is a bit unusual, considering we have a game every second day, it’s pretty strange,” Osieck told reports this afternoon.

Despite only being able to take twenty, Osieck is happy with the provisional squad.

“If you look at the list of names in my prospective, it’s a very good mix.

“There is a lot of experience when you look at the names of Emerton, Thwaite, despite playing seven caps is an experienced player, Dario Vidosic and Richard Garcia, who now plays with the Heart. I think they have a lot of international experience.”

A couple surprise inclusions are Newcastle Jets forward Adam Taggart and Sydney FC midfielder Terry Antonis, the German Socceroos Coach explains their selection.

“I’ve had Terry [Antonis] on the list for some time and the same with Adam Taggart. Last year in November I had an A-League camp in Sydney and these boys were part of the camp and I think they showed some promise.

“We have to make one thing perfectly clear, they are no stars, they are not Socceroos yet, they’re talented players and they have to work hard and I give them the opportunity to be really monitored and show if they can step up or not.”

Even though the Socceroos come up against Asian minnows of the Chinese Taipei, DPR Korea, Guam and Hong Kong, Osieck isn’t experimenting.

“In a tournament where you have to qualify for a major international event there’s no room for experiment, that’s a fact.”

Speaking on the Socceroos World Cup hopes Osieck believes there are many positives regardless of the poor start.

“The actual position is okay, we are in the second position which will get us to Brazil and we have one game in hand, and we have three home games so I think there are a lot of positives on our side,” said the former German National Team Assistant.

This afternoon FFA also announced that the World Cup Qualifier against Jordan on June 11, 2013 will be played at Etihad Stadium, and not AAMI Park as some would have hoped.

“It’s a sign that we are confident that it is a very important game for the Socceroos and we expect to get a crowd that will match the size of the stadium,” new FFA CEO David Gallop explained.

25-man Socceroos East Asian Cup Qualifying Provisional Squad: Terry ANTONIS, Eli BABALJ, Aziz BEHICH, Robert CORNTHWAITE, Dino DJULBIC, Ivan FRANJIC, Brett EMERTON, Eugene GALEKOVIC , Richard GARCIA, Rostyn GRIFFITHS, Ben HALLORAN, Scott JAMIESON, Osama MALIK, Michael MARRONE, Matt McKAY,  Mark MILLIGAN,  Aaron MOOY, Tom ROGIC,  Mat RYAN, Matt SMITH, Adam TAGGART, Archie THOMPSON, Michael THWAITE, Dario Vidosic,  Luke WILKSHIRE

There were many smiles a few days ago when Frank Lowy the Chairman of the Football Federation announced the new television deal for football, and initially it looked to be a great deal for the game. There is no denying it is a vast improvement on the initial deal brokered with Fox Sports four years ago.

Fox Sports have shown their commitment to Football over the next four years with a massive increase in investment, and it is good to see free-to-air football as part of the overall package. However one has to say if Fox had opted not to take up the coverage of the Hyundai A League, what would they have filled their air time with? In the Australian summer there is not a great deal else to watch, hence many games from the EPL and the A-League being repeated.

Another question that should be explored is if the viewing figures do not continue to rise over the next four years, and at some point they plateau as you would expect them to do, where does that leave football at the negotiating table next time around?

The carrot for most broadcasters is the Socceroos games, and should the unthinkable happen and Australia fail to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Rio, how will that affect the viewing figures, interest and negotiations next time around? Australia currently has the lowest number of players playing in top flight leagues for over ten years, there is no stand out player on the world stage in terms of the marketability of Harry Kewell or Tim Cahill. So football needs to be very careful as it could find itself in a very precarious position.

This is why the current television deal is so important. $160million over four years, however $12 million is in taken up in free advertising on the networks concerned, SBS and Fox Sports. Which means that the overall figure comes down to $148million over four years, or $37million per year.

Frank Lowy then hinted that the additional funds would be passed onto the A-League clubs to cover the salary cap which is currently 2.5million a year. If that is the case then suddenly $25million a year disappears from that nest egg; with all ten A-League clubs having their players salaries covered by the FFA.

At this point in time one has to question this move. All of the clubs in the Hyundai A League are franchises, how many franchise arrangements do you know where the franchisor covers the costs of the Franchisee’s staff? Surely the money from the television rights should be split on a percentage basis amongst the clubs as is their right, and they should be allowed to spend the money as they see fit. After all it is each owner’s private business.

However, the big concern once the $25million per year is deducted, and let us not forget the Players representative body the PFA are pushing for the ceiling on the salary cap to be raised, and that may happen in the next four years, only $12millon a year now remains from the deal.

Football has more representative international sides than any other sport in Australia, with teams for both sexes and at various age levels, and with the Socceroos games being part of the deal the chances are they will swallow up most of the remaining dollars.

Yet what of the future Socceroos and Matildas? What of the Australian deaf Football team, The Paralympic football team, the Futsalaroos, or the much talked about Australian Premier League? Where is the money going to come from to develop young players before their talent has been identified?  How much of the money is going to filter down to the state bodies to improve the lot of the majority of Australians playing the game?

These are questions that need to be asked, as doing the simple maths it would appear that the average young player or amateur player will see no benefit to their lot at all from this new television deal, and that cannot be good for the game. Money has to be invested into the other levels of the game and urgently. The FFA will enter its eighth year of running the game in 2013 and it is time the stakeholders found a voice and asked what was being done for the levels of the game outside of the elite programs, as they have been forgotten; yet without them the elite program’s players will simply not emerge.

So is the new Television deal more spin than substance? It is great that the game is being recognised as having more worth than in the past, but will this deal help carry it into the future? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure a great deal of money will need to be found from elsewhere as well.

A number of young guns, mixed with some experienced players from the A-League make up the majority of the squad. Terry Antonis, Adam Taggart, Ivan Franjic, Rostyn Griffiths, Ben Halloran, Aaron Mooy, Osama Malik, Dino Djulbic and Matt Smith all make their first call up to the national team.

The squad of 25 will be cut to 20 to fit with tournament regulations next Thursday.

Here’s the full squad announced today:

Terry ANTONIS Sydney FC
Eli BABALJ FK Crvena Zvezda Beograd
Aziz BEHICH Melbourne Heart FC
Robert CORNTHWAITE Chunnam Dragons
Dino DJULBIC Guizhou Renhe
Ivan FRANJIC Brisbane Roar FC
Brett EMERTON Sydney FC
Eugene GALEKOVIC (gk) Adelaide United
Richard GARCIA Melbourne Heart
Rostyn GRIFFITHS Guangzhou
Ben HALLORAN Brisbane Roar
Scott JAMIESON Perth Glory
Osama MALIK Adelaide United
Michael MARRONE Melbourne Heart
Matt McKAY Busan I Park
Mark MILLIGAN Melbourne Victory
Aaron MOOY Western Sydney Wanderers
Tom ROGIC Central Coast Mariners
Mat RYAN (gk) Central Coast Mariners
Matt SMITH Brisbane Roar
Adam TAGGART Newcastle Jets
Archie THOMPSON Melbourne Victory
Michael THWAITE Perth Glory
Dario VIDOSIC Adelaide United
Luke WILKSHIRE FK Dinamo Moscow

Thoughts on the squad? Who do you think should make the cut? Leave your thoughts below.

FFA CEO David Gallop alongside Chairman Frank Lowy, Fox Sports CEP Patrick Delaney and SBS Managing Director Michael Ebeid.
Photo courtesy of Courier Mail

Football Federation Australia today announced their new $160 million over four years television rights deal which will see all Socceroos FIFA World Cup Qualifiers delayed shown on SBS.

In addition to Socceroos matches SBS will also screen one live Hyundai A-League match each week.

New FFA CEO David Gallop said that the new television right deal has come at a time when the A-League is “showing its’ true potential”.

Green and Gold Army columnist Breanna Holden says that the new deal is a big step for the local game.

“Having A-League matches shown live on free-to-air television is a big step for our game and one that will hopefully increase both crowd figures and television viewership” Ms Holden said.

The new deal will commence next season for the A-League, whilst SBS has already starting airing Socceroos games.

Whereas Football could not have done without Fox Sports and their commitment to the game, like all sports in Australia there needs to be free-to-air television coverage as well as pay-tv.

The bonus for viewers is despite there only being one game a week on SBS, the fact that two networks will be airing games will build competition and hopefully help raise the bar in terms of innovation and the way the games are presented. It will keep the game fresh.

Already several of the A League clubs franchise owners are rubbing their hands together at the extra money that has been negotiated, which they see as filling the gap between profitability and continually operating at a loss. However this money needs to be allocated properly and carefully if we are to secure the future of the game.

Some of this money has be allocated to improving the levels of coaching around the country so that our young players have the best possible schooling in the game. This coaching must be subsidised by the FFA and young volunteer coaches who are involved because of a passion for the game need to be the recipients of this expert training. Oh and dare I mention referees?

This extra money should not mean that the salary cap is raised, it should  not mean more Marquee players costing the league millions per year. It must be invested in the future and into the young boys and girls that are tomorrow’s A-League and W-league players, and hopefully Socceroos and Matildas of the future.

$148million over four years is a lot of money, but with hands coming out from all corners of the game wanting a slice of the pie new CEO David Gallop will need to be extra cautious in determining who receives what.

$12 million in marketing support will again need to be spent carefully as this could soon evaporate, the recent adverts promoting the game that have come out of the FFA have been good, but one has to question, whether they may have been better served producing various shorter advertisements rather than one long one, and spread them out over a season to sustain interest and impact.

It has been a while coming but at first glance Football now has a foundation on which to build for the next four years. The future look a lot brighter with this deal in place and a new CEO at the helm.