Beauty Football 05
Originally uploaded by mymike Después de la foto anterior me tenia que reivindicar, por eso aquí esta la mejor combinación de la noche, mujeres y fútbol.
Belleza asiática,lodo y balones ¿que mas se puede pedir?

On November 24, 1901, the New York Times published an article (with the mysterious byline: "From Cassell's Little Folks") claiming that a version of football "very different from 'Rugger' or 'Socker'" existed in 17th-century Japan. Actually, the whole thing (all two paragraphs) is interesting insofar as it hints at a monarchical origin for Asian football.

Soccer players and prostitutes. They are like bread and butter. The most that ever comes from the long and glorious tradition of people who don't need to pay for sex paying for sex usually is that their stories are in the tabloids and their poor manners and unusual preferences are ingrained in our [...]

"I'm a soccer fan first, a person second," - John Oliver, Senior "Football" correspondent for The Daily Show. Jon Stewart weighs in on Iraq's Asian Cup Championship [World Cup Blog] -ac

After 11 years of semi-professional soccer India's first fully professional league gets going today. The All India Football Federation is launching the I-League - inspired by Japan's J-League - with 10 teams, the plan being to grow that number in coming seasons. Attendances in the old National Football League were dwindling, as Indian football fans [.

Resulta ser que cada año se realiza una copa llamada del Rey allá en Asia y como hace poco puse una foto de el fútbol en Iraq parece pertinente ponerles el vídeo del resultado entre estas dos naciones Thailandia e Iraq, lastimosamente el segundo gol tailandes fue de hecho un autogol iraquie, pobre esperemos y regrese vivo a su país.

People of Croatian ancestry make up less than one-half of one percent of the population. But the influence of this small Balkan country on soccer in the land of Oz has far exceeded their numbers. Of the 23 players on Australia's 2006 World Cup squad, 7 had Croatian heritage. Croatia's team had 3 Australian-born players. Croatian-Australian [...]

My husband thinks I'm insane. Just because, on a lazy Sunday where we have no plans, I drag myself out of bed and head to the computer at 7:00 a.m. to follow a liveblog of the World Cup draw. He obviously has misplaced priorities. Seriously, if you're a fan of international footie, [...]

Korean's second-tier league, the N-League, was founded less than 10 years ago, and the possibility of promotion to the K-League for the winner of a playoff was introduced only last year, creating an urgency that the professional set-up in Korea hadn't previously had. Well, sort of. You see, it costs several million dollars to make [.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JAC4ykb-xo It has become cliché for players to score a goal and to celebrate by taking off their shirts. It thankfully has not become cliché for players to score a goal and to celebrate by taking of their shirts and their shorts. The Iranian striker Mohsen Rassuli tried to change that a few years [...]

Things to read as you love and cherish your Blackwater Christmas card: Good god, Carles Puyol is bald! (Goal.com) That high altitude ruling of FIFA's? Still full of holes. (Reuters Soccer Blog) The 20 best clubs at the close of 2007. (SI.com) The most hilarious transfer rumor of the first half: Messi to Napoli.

7/21/2007
goal.com

These two giants of Asian football need no introduction as they meet in a fourth successive Asian Cup quarter-final. Worryingly for both teams, the victor of the past three meetings has fallen at the semi-final stage.

Iran

Team Melli made the last eight with the minimum of fuss -though second half performances were markedly superior to those of the first.

Here's the Asian results. The top two teams in each group advance to the final stage, which will feature two groups. The top two in those groups qualify directly to the World Cup and another team will face the Oceania winner for another spot.
Group 1
Australia
China
Iraq
Qatar
Group 2
Japan
Bahrain
Oman
Thailand
Group 3
South Korea
North Korea
Jordan
Turkmenistan
Group 4
Saudi Arabia
Uzbekistan
Lebanon
Singapore
Group 5
Iran
Kuwait
United Arab Emirates
Syria

11/25/2007

(Reuters) - World Cup preliminary draw for Asia (four nations qualify for finals, one goes into an inter-confederation playoff):

Group 1 Australia, China, Iraq, Qatar

Group 2 Japan, Bahrain, Oman, Thailand

Group 3 South Korea, North Korea, Jordan, Turkmenistan

Group 4 Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, Singapore

Group 5 Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Syria

Five group winners and five runners-up go through to final qualifying stage where they will be drawn in two groups of five.

Well, actually, that might be a good thing, considering this massive animal has some serious skills at his disposal. I mean, when was the last time you saw Ronaldo, or Adriano, or Cassano, all who have been mistaken for elephants in the past couple years, do anything even remotely that athletic? Or how about step [.

He was a hero at the World Cup in Germany. He was loved by millions hundreds. He was a good luck charm during an 18-game unbeaten streak. He was inexplicably named after a German general. He has led a long and fulfilling life and it is only right that he gets [...]

If Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung is the present for South Korea, Young Rok Shin might be the future. The 20-year-old striker for the Suwon Samsung Bluewings is arguably the most promising youngster playing in South Korea. Possessing excellent speed, great off the ball movement and decent height, Young Rok has a knack for [...]

In many ways, it was like any other weekend soccer tournament. There was the players' palpable excitement, families cheering the teams on, younger children dragged along with little interest in the soccer, but happy to play with their friends. But in one crucial way, this soccer tournament was very different: everyone involved was Afghan. The tournament [.

7/21/2007
Alastair Himmer

HANOI (Reuters) - Yuji Nakazawa blasted in the decisive penalty to lift Japan to a 4-3 shootout victory over Australia in an absorbing Asian Cup quarter-final on Saturday.

The match finished 1-1 after extra time following second-half goals from John Aloisi and a rapid Japan response from Naohiro Takahara.

While the gaze of many a football fan was fixed on the Copa America, the 2007 Asian Cup quietly got underway in not one host country but four - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Where UEFA feels it would be impractical for more than two host countries to stage a large tournament, the AFC obviously has no such qualms.
This is the fourteenth Asian Cup to take place since its inauguration back in 1956 when Hong Kong were given the honour of beginning the four-yearly cycle.

Robert Smith
July 22, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - South Korea won a gruelling and fluctuating epic 4-2 on penalties against Iran Sunday to set up an Asian Cup semi-final with Iraq.

The shootout became the circuit-breaker after both teams had played themselves to a standstill over the regulation 90 minutes and 30 minutes' extra time without scoring a goal.

If you were to compile a list of Iraqi players who have gone on to play in the big European lists it would not take you very long. That is because there has never been an Iraqi player in England, Spain, Italy, or the like. Nashat Akram is poised to become the first.

When former Australian international Stan Lazaridis first claimed that he had failed a drug test because the substance he was using to treat an itchy scalp was on the anti-doping black list, our bullshit meter went through the roof. It sounded too absurd to be true. It turns out that Lazaridis was correct. [...]

The football world is focused on managers today. In addition to Jose Mourinho leaving Chelsea, Gheorghe Hagi has decided he has spent enough time working for a lunatic owner at Steaua Bucharest. The stress of being a manager must be great. Not only do you have to please your boss, but you [...]

Before I get to the point of my post, I have a very important question. When an awards event is described as "glittering," what does that mean, exactly? Disco balls? Supermodels in spangly dresses? Pixie dust floating through the air? Enquiring minds want to know! Because, according to Goal.com: Saudi Arabia striker [.

Things to read as you hang that gun-toting fetus ornament on your Christmas tree. Fabio Capello for Liverpool! No, wait Newcastle! (Record, TWM) Freddy Adu loves him some Slingbox. (NYX) What's happened to Korean football? (Guardian Unlimited) From St. John's to the PDL to A.S. Varese 1910. (Big Apple Soccer) Ode On A Peter Crouch.

A few things you may not have known about the AFC (Asian Football Conference) Champions League: •For Group Stage purposes, the draw is divided into East Asia (Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam) and West Asia (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, and Uzbekistan.

12/29/2007
John Duerden, goal.com

2007 was quite a year for Asian football and Goal.com has selected ten of the best moments from the last 12 months.

1: Iraq's Asian Cup win

There is little doubt of the story of the year and not just in Asia.

This is a followup to the post I wrote a week ago about pollution in Beijing, where I imagined soccer players at next summer's Olympic tournament wheezing through 90 minutes in delicious mix of oxygen and coal smoke. Well, maybe not that much oxygen. The new part of this story involves the Chinese government leaning on the World Bank concerning findings alleging that pollution causes hundreds of

I know there's no crying in baseball, but we've all seen plenty of crying in soccer. But it's mostly on the field, after a tough loss, where every ounce of energy and spirit has been exhausted. How about reducing your interpreter to tears as you unload on your team for dropping points to the 85th ranked team in the world? Money quote: The breaking point came when [Ivica] Osim tore a strip off

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMbYGF9R7tw Bolton are preparing for the upcoming English Premier League by taking part in the Peace Cup in South Korea. As a gesture of goodwill towards the hosts Kevin Nolan decided to do the impossible and not score from about .0001 centimeters in front of the goal. Nolan's generosity was offset by his [...]

Irna

Iran and China fought to a 2-2 draw on Sunday in Group C qualifying matches in the 14th Asian Cup Championships in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur Sunday.

China took the lead by scoring 2 goals from Shao Jiayi and Mao Jianqing but a free kick from Ferydoon Zandi in the first
half and a header by Javad Nekounam in the second half made the two teams end the game in a 2-2 tie.

Jul 16, 2007
PA Sport

KUALA LUMPUR – China skipper Zheng Zhi felt that Ferydoon Zandi's spectacular goal just before half-time marked a major turning point in his side's 2-2 draw with Iran in their AFC Asian Cup Group C clash on Sunday.

China appeared to be coasting to victory after goals by Shao Jiayi and Mao Jianqing put them two goals up after 33 minutes.

Phan Van Tai Em is Vietnam's player of the year. Vietnam is playing Iraq in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup on Saturday. Tai Em won't be playing. No, he isn't hurt nor is he out with a card suspension. He simply has other plans. He is getting married.

7/21/2007
Nazvi Careem

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - South Korea coach Pim Verbeek has urged his young team to prove they can compete with the best in the region in their Asian Cup quarter-final against Iran on Sunday.

The Koreans are missing several key players through injury, including Park Ji-sung, Seol Ki-hyun and Lee Young-pyo, but Verbeek feels the team can reach new heights after overcoming defeat against Bahrain to scrape into the last eight.

7/21/2007
Martin Petty

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Striker Younis Mahmoud scored twice to give Iraq a convincing 2-0 victory over Vietnam in an entertaining Asian Cup quarter-final on Saturday.

The Iraqi captain popped up unmarked inside the area to head Nashat Akram's lofted free kick into the net after two minutes and set the tone for the rest of the match.

July 28, 2007

PELAMBANG, Indonesia (AFP) - South Korea battled a man short and embroiled in their third straight penalty shootout to beat Japan in a marathon play-off for third place at the Asian Cup here Saturday.

The hard-working Koreans were involved in their third consecutive scoreless game at the tournament but survived when goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae saved Naotake Hanyu's spot-kick to take the game 6-5 on penalties.

2007 Asian Cup

That foreign investors have found British teams attractive investments in the past few years is obvious given their increasing numbers. Less clear is why these wealthy men have decided to invest their money in British soccer clubs.

As far as loutish behavior goes there is nothing more uncouth than swearing. I fucking hate that. Officials in China do as well and they are intent on doing something about it at sporting events before the country's collective potty mouth brings it great national shame during the 2008 Summer Olympics.