a-league - Most popular for 2008
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Houston 1-6 Gamba Osaka
Has Houston ever been tossed around the way they were last night against J-League Cup Champions
Gamba Osaka? All over the pitch, the team looked the weaker side as Gamba's technical control
combined with their lethal counter-attacks gave them the game. Brazilian striker Bare made the top
defense in MLS look like amateur night with his unbelievable ability to sneak right past his mark
and into one-on-one situations with Pat Onstad.
Adelaide United took a giant stride towards their first AFC Champions League final on Wednesday.
The Australians scored three second-half goals to crush Uzbeki giants FC Bunyodkor Kuruvchi 3-0 in
their semi-final first leg, ensuring a handy buffer when they travel to Tashkent for the return tie
on October 22.
Nationally we have W-League Jets Coach and Under 17 Australian Women's Coach Gary Phillips,
442Editor Paul Hansford on why they want to talk to Graham Arnold.
Download
Locally we go in-depth with Woden Valley and ACT Rockets star Marcin Zygmunt.
This weeks poddies.
National Show Download
Includes David Hall Editor of Australia's newest Football Magazine Australian Football Weekly.
Also AIS Coach Jan Versleijen talks about his role as Under 20's Coach.
And our very own "Not Setanta Australia segment with Guus Hiddink, Charlie Tim Tam Miller,
Ricky Herbert and We've found Arnie.
The Dynamo arrived in Hawaii over the weekend in preparation for the Pan-Pacific Championship this
week. The Dynamo Web site has an update on what they've done, especially how Brian Ching is doing
his best Lord of the Manor bit.
Canoeing the length of the island, soccer ball in hand?
The first round of the Pan-Pacific Championship is over and if there was any surprise, it was just
how poorly LA and Sydney played. Houston and Osaka put together quality performances so the final
on Saturday night should be a good game.
LA Galaxy 0-1 Gamba Osaka
If LA fans were hoping to see a new look to their club, they were sadly disappointed.
Southern Cross FC are bidding to be an A-League team in 2010. Same as Canberra. And Les Murray from
SBS is an Ambassador for the bid.
Biased? Hardly...couldn't be more Canberra friendly....
SBS reported today on Les' show that Les Murray was with the bid team when they presented to the
FFA last week.
The reviews of the first ever Pan-Pacific Championship are in and we've got a flop on our hands.
Even with David Beckham and hometown hero Brian Ching on the pitch, the combined attendance for the
two double-headers was a mere 38,215. On top of that, the field turf was horrible.
So what to make of this tournament?
The first of the A-League previews (thanks to those on the Adelaide United forum who provided
feedback and comments): Ins Mark Birighitti, Sasa Ognenovski, Daniel Mullen, Alemão, Scot
Jamieson, Cristiano Outs Robert Bajic, Milan Susak, Richie Alagich, Bobby Petta, Shaun Ontong, Dez
Giraldi, Bruce Djite, Nathan Burns.
What a difference a decade makes. In July 1997, the A-League's (now the USL) newly-formed Toronto
Lynx joined their fellow Canadian clubs in the top seven spots in the table, yet could only attract
1500 fans a game to watch them in Varsity's cavernous stadium. Ten years later, 14 000 season
tickets would be sold at BMO Field before Toronto FC even kicked off their inaugural season.
The Maybes The following players should earn caps during the course of the career. The question is
more how many and how significant their contribution to the Socceroos will be. Mark Milligan - Did
Mark Milligan's Socceroo career reach its peak with his selection for the 2006 World Cup and his
involvement in the 2007 Asian Cup?
Earlier this week, through the wondrous miracle of the Internets, at which all footy fans genuflect
in gratitudinous awe, I held a back and forth question and answer session with Aussi blogger
extraordinaire The Football Tragic's Mike Salter. Salter blogs regularly on all things A-League,
but most specifically on Sydeny FC, Dynamo's opponent in the first round of the Pan Pacific
Championship.
According to soccer insider Glenn Davis, the upcoming Pan Pacific Championship tournament which
takes place next month in Hawaii will be broadcast nationwide on ESPN Classic. We believe this is
an excellent move by ESPN in showing their commitment to the game.
A-League Expansion: More opportunities for Canberra's players?
With two new A-League teams (Townsville and Gold Coast) and eight new Youth teams expected in the
A-League in 2008, the next generation of Canberra's professional players shouldn't have to travel
so far, so early in life.
Canberra has a rich history of football.
At the end of the second A-League season, Gary van Egmond's team lost Johnny Warren Medal Winner,
Nick Carle, as well as the likes of Paul Okon and Milton Rodriguez. He then guided the Jets to the
Championship despite pre-season predictions of doom and gloom. He performed a minor miracle. With
just over a month [.
In an all J-League battle, Gamba Osaka stunned defending AFC Champions League holder Urawa Reds 3-1
away to reach their first Asian Champions League final today. Gamba will face Adelaide United
in next month's final after the Australian side completed a 3-1 aggregate victory over Zico's
Bunyodkur in Tashkent in the other semi-final.
The MLS Champions finally know who they will face in the inaugural version of the Pan Pacific
Championships (PPC) next week in Hawaii as Sydney FC won the right to represent the Australian
A-League after they were knocked out of the playoffs this past weekend.
Sydney FC is a tough team with some quality to it, however, they are in the middle of a major
roster problem as they currently have only 16-players available for the trip.
Real Salt Lake are hoping to do in 2008 what DC United did in 2007 and grab a quality Brazilian
from Australia's A-League. The player Real has in mind is Queensland Roar's striker Reinaldo.
Reinaldo has been with the club for a little over two season, but really only came into his own
over the second half of the current campaign.
Miron Bleiberg, Football Director of Gold Coast Galaxy, was speaking on Total Football tonight.
Two teams, the Galaxy and Townsville Thunder, have another week to meet the FFA's increased (from
Season 1) financial requirements. But will they both have the money?
Reading between the lines after listening to Miron and the Total Football team, I reckon we might
get one team next year but not two.
The FFA has announced some changes to the salary cap. The main cap will increase from $2.25m to
$2.525 million for next season, a health increase of 12%. The Additional Services Agreement is 25
per cent of the salary cap and consequently, this will increase from $0.56 million to $0.63
million. Each club will also now [.
Outs Mark Rudan, Ufuk Talay, Ruben Zadkovich, David Zdrilic, Patrick, Ben Vidaic, Mark Milligan,
Juninho, Brendan Renaud, Mark Robertson. Kosmina (not necessarily Sydney FC) won't really miss any
of the above players other than Milligan. Kosmina clearly didn't want to play Zadkovich. Rudan left
mid-season, Talay has been adequately replaced while Juninho was constantly injured.
Stuff to read while you get an elephant addicted to heroin.... A ref banned for being garbage to
ref this weekend's Scotland-Macedonia qualifier. (Guardian) How not to treat a pitch invader.
(Dave's Football Blog) Sky Sports reads an email on air insulting Geordies. (The Spoiler) More
thoughts on Man City ownership.
TOKYO - Japanese giants Gamba Osaka brushed past Australian A-League side Adelaide United of 3-0 in
the first leg of the Asian Champions League final today. Brazilian striker Lucas put the Gamba in
front in the 37th minute as he sprung Adelaide United's offside trap before finding the net with a
deflected shot.
Nathan Burns has signed for AEK Athens. Thank god it wasn't Norwegian side Brann Bergen and of course his mate Bruce Djite has aready gone to Turkey.
Good moves for our best young talent. They stayed in Australia, impresssed in the A-League, shone at times in the Asian Champions League and played a key role in getting the Olyroos to the Olympics.
Brett Emerton, 29, has signed for Blackburn for four more years. And Josip Skoko, 32, has gone back
to play in Croatia for Hadjuk Split.
Fair enough. But don't come back to the A-League Emo and Josip after these contracts run out.
You'll be too old, too slow.
Emo has talked about playing in Sydney while he still has something left.
So says Sunil Gulati's Australian counterpart, Ben Buckley, Chief Executive of Football Federation
Australia. Buckley is heading to a meeting of football top bosses at Stanford Bridge which US
officials are not surprisingly absent from.
Here is an excerpt from the story:
"Buckley, meanwhile, has hosed down suggestions the Hawaii-based Pan-Pacific Championship -
which involved Sydney FC early this year - has been scrapped after just one
tournament.
Japanese club Gamba Osaka won the Asian Champions League when they beat Adelaide United 2-0 in
Adelaide on Wednesday. The J. League side tallied a 5-0 aggregate against the Australians. The
Australian side's hopes of overcoming a 3-0 deficit incurred in Japan were thrashed when striker
Lucas scored twice within the opening 15 [.
It's common knowledge that Frank Farina hates his compulsory media dealings with the kind of
passion normally reserved for the taxman. But the former Australia boss would have despised picking
over the bones of Queensland's contentious preliminary final loss even more than usual.
A controversial penalty, his captain's dismissal for a dubious elbow to the face of Jets striker
Mark Bridge and barrage of missed opportunities all combined to send Newcastle into this weekend's
showpiece final and Farina's mood plummeting.
The Weekender:
"We'd like to set up an A-League Youth team in Canberra, as soon as possible," said Wellington
Phoenix CEO Tony Pignata speaking from Melbourne yesterday.
The seven team A-League Youth League is set to start in August 2008, and Canberra it seems was set
to miss out.
Socceroos Coach Pim Verbeek was criticised by a few sensitive Aussie A-League fans recently when he
said, "training in Germany is better than playing in the A-League."
Well he didn't say it, because no-one asked him, but training in Germany is clearly also better
than playing in the English Championship.
In 2006, John O'Neil announced that the FFA had signed a television contract with Foxtel worth $120
million which would secure for Foxtel the broadcast rights to basically all top-level domestic
football as well as Australian internationals for the next seven years. Everything was given to
Foxtel, except for the next two World Cups.
Speaking on BBC's special 4-Hour World Football Phone In (3hr 13mins in), last night, Aidan Ormond,
their Australia-Asia correspondent speaking with Bobby Gould in New Zealand stated that discussions
are underway with MLS to expand the Pan Pacific Championship tournament next year to include Korean
K-League and New Zealand Football Championship clubs in addition to Japan's J-League and
Australia's A-League.
It might be the worry of becoming a dad for the first time, but West Ham and Australia captain
Lucas Neill didn't look quite himself against Manchester United over the weekend.
Neill, who became public enemy number one at Old Trafford after his involvement in the first-half
dismissal of United's Portuguese winger Nani, gifted the English champions their opener in a 4-1
romp Saturday lunchtime.
So Aussie Pim reckoned training in Germany was better than playing in the A-League.
Fair enough we thought, but after watching A-League representative Jade North up against
Bundesliga's Michael Beauchamp in the last three World Cup Qualifiers,
it's the A-League for me.....by a long way.
Ins Tim Smits, David Dodd, Thomas Oar, Sergio van Dijk and Luke DeVere. The league's youngest team
just got younger during this transfer period. A lot has been said about teen prodigy Thomas Oar
while Tim Smits has carried his hot state league form into the pre-season games for his new club,
bagging a goal against Palmeiras.
By Andrew K In Leo Bertos, Andrew Durante, Jon McKain, Leilei Gao, Troy Hearfield, Ben Sigmund,
Adam Kwasnik and David Mulligan Ricky Herbert has acquired some terrific additions to his squad for
the 2008/09 season. Leo Bertos has returned home after 2 seasons with Perth Glory, Troy Hearfield
comes across from the Newcastle Jets, and Leilei Gao returns [.
If you're overweight and bankrupt, then what better solution than a return to professional
football? You get lots of exercise, and the money's pretty damn good. Even in the A-League.
Ex-Villa, Man Utd and Chelsea keeper (and, we might add, ex-cocaine fiend) Mark Bosnich tried the
big comeback last season at 35 years old, but his [.
Jesse not finking this week
The thing about blogging is you can write some good stuff, some true stuff, some stuff you make up,
and some stuff no-one will believe or think is any good because it probably isn't.
But when you write for a Professional Football site in Australia like our Jesse, "I want Nicky
Carle, and Arnie must go", Fink.
New world clubs couldn't care less if the Club World Cup is derided by Europe, or the rest of
football's established order.
That's the message coming loud and clear from Aurelio Vidmar, a former Oceania player-of-the-year
and current coach of Adelaide United following the A-League's club's fairytale final third of 2008.
Christmas, traditionally a time to both rejoice and overindulge, succeeded on both counts over
the A-League festive season.
The growing Australian support base rejoiced with confirmation the aggregate crowd figure for the
league's third season passed one million over the holiday weekend, a fortnight earlier than the
previous season.
