The sports media landscape in Asia changed dramatically on the weekend of 11-12 August as the English Premier League dropped from the schedules of many of its last remaining major free-to-air terrestrial television broadcasters. Promoters, who'd paid the EPL most of the record £625 million it received from foreign rights for 2007-2010, began to recoup their investment.

John over at Keeper Skool found the highlights from the recent South Korea-Iraq shootout (kicks from the mark for you purists). You really need to watch this, not for the shootout itself, but for the announcer's enthusiasm. Watch the whole way through and once Noor Sabri makes the first save for Iraq, he really gets [...]

"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

scoco el hijo de mi jefe
Originally uploaded by jonathan_gt500 Esta foto esta tan genial como el resultado de hoy para los Pumas de la UNAM, Sccoco anotador de los dos goles y Hector Moreno (al cual tuve el gusto de conocer) anotador del segundo gol contra Santos en CU. Aquí están ayudando en el centro de acopio en ciudad universitaria para los damnificados de Tabasco y Chiapas.

So Iraq wins the AFC Asian Cup, with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia and advances to the Confederations Cup, to be held in June 2009 in South Africa. The US will be there as well, having won the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Want to start a betting pool on the US and Iraq [...]

Do you believe in miracles? Iraqi's do. If there was ever an example of the power of soccer, this was it. Iraq, under incredible odds, beat Saudi Arabia today 1-0 to win the Asian Cup a victory that has, if only temporarily, turned the war-torn nation's streets into avenues of mass celebration. From the start you [...]

The Asian Cup is in full swing, but where are the fans?

The 14th Asian Cup has kicked off amidst a blaze of fantastic football.

Thailand and Iraq played out a pulsating 1-1 draw, whilst the highly fancied Australia were embarrassed by a rampant Oman, despite conjuring a fortuitous 1-1 draw of their own.

It's always entertaining to read the reactions across the Soccersphere and the mainstream media when the US national teams play. In a country saturated in sporting events, you have the soccer fanatics in the soccersphere, as passionate as ever, while the majority of the country barely notices. We complain about it, but that's the way [...]

Rain mars Asian Cup opener

Thailand and Iraq kicked off the 14th AFC Asian Cup with a 1-1 draw in front of a half-empty Rajamangala National Stadium.

Thailand opened the scoring through a disputed sixth minute penalty, however Iraq hit back just after the half-hour mark through captain Younis Mahmood's flicked header.

The Japan v Australia quarterfinal will see one of the heavily fancied teams drop out of the competition and the winners confirmed as strong favorites to lift the trophy.
Iran are joint third favorites with dark horses and neighbors Iraq but Korea's poor form sees them drift out to 9/1. Good odds for a punt on Pim Verbeek's Taeguk Warriors.

Former Malaysian international, Lim Teong Kim, said he was not surprised at all over the sad state of affairs in Malaysian football. A member of the national team which won the gold medal in the Kuala Lumpur South East Asian Games in 1989, the last time Malaysia emerged as the champions of the tournament, Lim is now the assistant coach of Bayern Munich U-19 football team.

Before I forget, my picks for the semifinals:

• Brazil 3-1 Uruguay: Both finally gained momentum in the quarterfinals, but Brazil's win is less likely to be a fluke. Uruguay showed nothing in the weakest group, while the Seleçao at least has 3 straight victories. Plus Brazil is Brazil, and has topscorer Robinho.
• Argentina 2-1 Mexico: The two best teams so far, but Argentina is just better.

Substitute Pipat Thonkanya came off the bench to fire Thailand to their first ever victory at the AFC Asian Cup finals, scoring a second half brace as the hosts shocked a lacklustre Oman.
Thailand dominated the visitors but had to wait until the seventieth minute for Thonkanya to tap home at the far post, following a superb cross from fellow substitute Teeratep Winothai.

If body language is anything to go by then a picture tells a thousand words.
Whilst Australia coach Graham Arnold was subdued for most of the pre-match press conference in the build-up to his team's vital clash with Iraq, he bristled at suggestions that Australia are under any more pressure than usual.

Claiming that he had not read any of the criticism dished out by the Australian media in the wake of Australia's insipid display against Oman, Arnold suggested that he always knew that his team would be "under-done" - reminding the media that Australia had played only two matches in the past six weeks.

Friday the 13th, 2007 is a day that will dwell in infamy for Australian football fans. I pondered the depths of their despair as I tramped along the dusty perimeter of Rajamangala Stadium in the aftermath of Australia's 3-1 defeat to Iraq, where I stumbled upon a group of young Thai's playing street-ball in the expansive forecourt of Thailand's national stadium.

Australia have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup after they defeated Thailand 4-0 at a rain-soaked Rajamangala Stadium.
Coach Graham Arnold rang in the changes ahead of this match, and it was one of the newcomers in Michael Beauchamp who opened the scoring for The Socceroos, heading home his first ever goal for the national team after twenty-one minutes.

I'm not entirely certain that I'm staying in one of the more reputable hotels in Bangkok. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure how many hotels usher you in through a side entrance because they are building a highway out the front. I can think of at least one. Still, I appreciated the thoughtfulness of the staff when I arrived back from Thailand's recent clash with Australia.

Former Liverpool midfielder Craig Johnston claimed it was potentially "one of the great rivalries in Asian football." Japan defender Yuji Nakazawa predicted a 3-0 win for his side and told reporters "we can't lose twice." Australia and Japan fans have been poring over the minutia of every comment made by player or reporter alike - eager to highlight the flaws, desperate to imagine an advantage.

Malaysia's Education Ministry plans to develop football in schools to assist the country's qualification chances for the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. "We will present a paper on the development program of high performance sport in schools to the Cabinet Committee for Sports at its meeting on 31 July. Football has been identified as one of the eight high performance sports that we will focus on,"

The 2007 Asian Cup Final will see Iraq play Saudi Arabia in Jakarta at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, on Sunday.
Iraq came through their semi-final at Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out after the teams finished 0-0 after extra time.
Saudi Arabia shocked defending champions Japan 3-2 at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi to set up a final few people could have predicted.

Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed Bin Hammam has suggested that prizemoney will be offered for the first time at the AFC Asian Cup 2011 to be played in his home nation, Qatar. "We don't compensate our football federations for playing in the Asian Cup. There is no prizemoney for this competition," he told AFP. "But we believe that for 2011 something will be changed.

The problem with the Asian Cup being held in four countries is that it is hard to shake the feeling that you made the wrong choice and that people are having a better time elsewhere. Imagine being invited to four different parties on New Year's Eve – all great, potentially but all but one practically impossible to attend.
Was Jakarta the right choice?

Security arrangements at the Asian Cup are being tightened after intelligence reports warned of possible terrorist threats in two of the four host nations, Thailand and Indonesia. On Tuesday, Thai police said that Bangkok residents should expect tighter security in places such as airports and department stores after they ordered more checkpoints and patrols, especially in Muslim communities and

The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has reportedly filed a letter of protest with the Asian Football Confederation complaining of poor refereeing as Indonesia lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup match on Saturday night. Elshinta radio station quoted Indonesian referee Jimmy Napitupulu that PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid decided to send the letter of protest after President Susilo

Australia have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup after they defeated Thailand 4-0 at a rain-soaked Rajamangala Stadium.
Coach Graham Arnold rang in the changes ahead of this match, and it was one of the newcomers in Michael Beauchamp who opened the scoring for The Socceroos, heading home his first ever goal for the national team after twenty-one minutes.

Korea republic are dangerously on the verge of elimination from the Asian Cup tournament after 2-1 defeats at the hand of Bahrain, which coupled with a 1-1 draw against Saudi Arabia, leaves the two timed champions bottom of Group D with one match remaining.

And standing on their way are Indonesia, who will be motivated to go through the quarter finals after another co-host, Vietnam went through yesterday.

Vietnam's fairy-tale run at the Asian Cup has come to an end, after they were beaten by Iraq in their quarter-final encounter at Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok.
Thousands of colourfully-attired Vietnam fans turned out in support of their team, but they made little difference as Iraq ran out comfortable 2-0 winners on the back of a superb individual performance from captain Younes Mohammed.

Japan reached the AFC Asian Cup 2007 semi-finals Saturday when Yuji Nakazawa calmly slotted the winning penalty kick to give the defending champions a 4-3 shoot-out victory over fierce rivals Australia in Hanoi, Vietnam. The score was tied 1-1 at the end of 30 minutes of extra time with Australia down to 10 men after Vince Grella's controversial sending off in the 76th minute.

Iraq coach Jorvan Viera has been hot and bothered by the lack of hotel rooms in Kuala Lumpur. Pim Verbeek's Korea Republic have flattered to deceive. Japan came to the Asian Cup seeking revenge over Australia - got it - and will need to stay motivated for the rest of the tournament. And Saudi Arabia coach Helio Anjos claims that his team needs to overcome an inferiority complex.

A few days ago I posted about the greatest African player ever. A post like this gets noticed and many people commented with their opinion.
I also managed to get readers from the Big Soccer forum and Xtratime.com community.
Here, I share some of the best comments.
Reader Chxta said: 'As with most things African, this is a topic that would be quite controversial, for example a lot of the titles won by Egyptian clubs have always been hotly debated.

Photo credit: ramy 1985 on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Afshin Ghotbi recently left his position as South Korean assistant coach to take over Iranian club Persepolis. Born in Iran, the 43 year-old left his homeland for America in 1977 and went to the 1998 World Cup with the United States and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups with South Korea. He spoke to John Duerden of goal.com (extracts): Practical problems of the 2007 Asian Cup: First of all, you have

Bangkok gears up for Asian Cup kick-off
The most hotly anticipated Asian Cup on record is set to kick-off in Bangkok, when co-hosts Thailand take on Iraq at Rajamangala National Stadium in the tournament opener on July 7.
The sixteen team extravaganza will kick-off under grey skies in the east of the Thai capital, with the oppressive humidity expected to play into the hands of the energetic Thai's.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man! Tim Cahill saves Australia...again

Australian midfielder Tim Cahill reprised his role as a super-sub from the FIFA 2006 World Cup, scoring in stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw against an impressive Oman.

The Socceroos were within seconds of plunging to defeat in their first ever Asian Cup match, only for substitute Cahill to lash home after Omani goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi had spilled Mark Bresciano's low drive.

Popular striker Bambang Pamungkas seized on a second-half rebound to give Indonesia a 2-1 victory over Bahrain in front of some 60,000 noisy fans in the host nation's first match of the AFC Asian Cup 2007. Budi Sudarsono had opened the scoring in the 14th minute when he slipped behind the Bahrain defense, chested the ball around the goalkeeper and fired into the bottom right-hand corner Bahrain,

Bangkok's Rajamangala National Stadium finally came alive with the sounds of Thailand's win over Oman on Thursday night.
Listen to the crowd go wild as Thailand's second goal goes in
Listen to the Thai drummers in the stadium

Sounds by Michael Tuckerman & Soccerphile.com

Thailand's National Stadium is a adjacent to the National Stadium Skytrain Station near Siam Square.

Coach Graham Arnold has questioned whether his star-studded Australian line-up wants to be at the AFC Asian Cup after a dire 3-1 loss to Iraq in their second Group A match in Bangkok. The pre-tournament favourites were outplayed by a far better side after falling behind to a first-half goal. The Socceroos equalised through skipper Mark Viduka just after half-time, before being picked apart

"We won tonight, so our fans will be shooting in the air, and that is better than shooting at each other."

Such was Iraq coach Jorvan Viera's frank assessment after his team shocked Australia 3-1 at Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok.

The wily Brazilian veteran has only been in the job for six weeks, and he was quick to deflect attention on to his players following Iraq's stunning win.

Japan had a convincing 3-1 victory over United Arab Emirates in their AFC Asian Cup Group B match in Hanoi. Striker Naohiro Takahara scored twice. Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura added a third goal from the penalty spot four minutes before halftime. The Gulf Cup holders managed a consolation goal in the 66th minute through Saeed Al Kaas. "It was so hot that it was hard to play.

It's looking grim for South Korea at the 2007 Asian Cup. With one game remaining in Group D, the Taeguk Warriors no longer control their own destiny. After one draw and one defeat, Korea's Asian Cup hopes are, as headline writers around the world like to say in such situations, ‘hanging by a thread.'
It was the 2-1 loss at the hands of Bahrain on a warm Sunday evening in Jakarta that has pushed the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists to the edge of elimination.