How frustrated can it be again?
Despite all the hindrances facing the National Under-23 squad in their preparation for the upcoming SEA Games, the local game authority boldly set a "final" target for the Cubs.
Nothing wrong for being ambitious, as it departs from the usual modest target to settle for a "semi-final" in the biennial games even if we had our best squad in the past capable for the elusive gold.

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On this week's predictions we feature important qualifiers for the European Championships taking place in Poland-Ukraine next summer as well as some World Cup 2014 qualifiers from South America and Asia.

• S.League Match - Hougang Utd 2-1 Etoile FC (4/9/11)
  
  

My setting at Hougang Stadium - 1/250, f5.6 (default), ISO3200 set another low in my S.League foto shoot -_-
Hougang Utd upstaged defending champions Etoile FC 2-1 at the Hougang Stadium.
In this rescheduled fixture, the Cheetahs took the lead through Vitor Borges in the first half before Selim Kaabi leveled in the half.

Based on their line up in their league fixture against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) that featured the likes of Lionel Lewis, Shi Jiayi, Qiu Li and Juma'at Jantan, one question floated into my mind and made me wonder if these Home United's Lions (and the rest from other teams in the S.League) felt that national duty is become a liability for having to juggle their club commitments after such a hectic international duty?

Indonesia v Bahrain 0-2
Well, that's that then. Indonesia's World Cup ambitions have been shelved for another four years after this disappointing performance against a Bahrain side who were that yard quicker throughout the game both with their feet and their brains. Coach Rijsbergen won't have been happy with the way the goals were conceded.

02/09 China v Singapore, Australia v Thailand, Iran v Indonesia06/09 Singapore v Iraq, Thailand v Oman, Indonesia v Bahrain11/10 Singapore v Jordan, Thailand v Saudi Arabia, Indonesia v Qatar11/11 Jordan v Singapore, Saudi Arabia v Thailand, Qatar v Indonesia15/11 Singapore v China, Thailand v Australia, Indonesia v Iran29/02 Iraq v Singapore, Oman v Thailand, Bahrain v Indonesia

Three South East Asian teams will be listening carefully to this Saturday's World Cup draw. Their fate will be decided along with the other 17 remaining countries on the road to Brazil.
Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore will not be drawn against each other, that's for sure. Instead they will face one from each of the following 'pots'.

The Australian state of Victoria is currently experiencing an immigration boom with many new settlers arriving, particularly from the Horn of Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan and Burma (including Karen people). Football Federation Victoria is providing a community integration program, United Through Football, to promote diversity and social connection through football.

There was a bit of an argument over something which happened in one of the forty-two Clasico matches no, really -that beat us senseless recently. The second leg of the Champions League semifinal involved a moment of controversy when Gonzalo Higuain had a goal ruled off for a foul on Cristiano Ronaldo (though wasn't the whistle already blown before Gonzalo took his shot?

Australia vs Japan AFC Asian Cup 2011- January 29, 2011 Final score:- Australia 0-1 Japan ( Tadanari Lee) Tadanari Lee's strike in the second half of extra time gives Japan their fourth consecutive Asian Cup title as they beat Australia 1-0 at the Khalifa International Stadium. Australia vs Japan 0-1 ( Tadanari Lee 109′ goal [.

The Egyptian football association has postponed the next round of premier league matches as a wave of anti-government protests ran into a third day.

The matches, originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday, would have represented the start of the second-half of the league season, and will be played at a later date.

Uzbekistan vs Australia AFC Asian Cup 2011 Semifinal- January 25, 2011 Current score:- Uzbekistan 0-4 Australia ( Harry Kewell, Sasa Ognenovski, David Carney, Brett Emerton) Australia aim to reach their first ever Asian Cup final as they play Uzbekistan in the semifinals. The Socceroos will face Japan in the finals of the tournament.

DOHA, Qatar – Socceroo striker Tim Cahill is racing the clock to be fit for Australia's Asian Cup semi-final against Uzbekistan next Tuesday. Asked yesterday if he would play, Cahill said only: "I hope so." Cahill was touch and go for the Iraq match, after badly bruising a thigh against Bahrain. He managed to play [.

Harry Kewell headed Australia into the Asian Cup Semi-Finals today.

The Aussie's game with holders Iraq was heading to a penalty shoot-out before Kewell's 118th minute headed winner sent the Aussie's into the last four for the very first time.

DOHA, Qatar Socceroos midfielder Jason Culina will miss the rest of Australia's Asian Cup campaign because of a serious knee injury that has forced him home early from Qatar. A shattered Culina was released from Socceroos camp just hours before Australia's 1-0 quarter-final win over Iraq at Al-Sadd Stadium.

DOHA, Qatar Socceroos midfielder Jason Culina will miss the rest of Australia's Asian Cup campaign because of a serious knee injury that has forced him home early from Qatar. A shattered Culina was released from Socceroos camp just hours before Australia's 1-0 quarter-final win over Iraq at Al-Sadd Stadium.

DOHA, Qatar — A 117th-minute strike from Harry Kewell powered Australia to a 1-0 quarter-final victory over holders Iraq at the Asian Cup on Saturday and into a showdown with Uzbekistan for a place in the final. The Galatasaray forward met a pinpoint cross from Matt McKay towards the end of extra time and angled [.

Australia vs Iraq AFC Asian Cup 2011 Quarterfinal- January 22, 2011 Final score:- Australia 1-0 Iraq ( Harry Kewell 118′ goal) An extra time Harry Kewell goal sends Australia into the semifinals of the 2011 Asian Cup at the expense of defending champions Iraq. This is the first time in the history of the Asian [.

As Iraq is playing tomorrow vs. Australia, I thought of posting this wonderful goal in 1986 World Cup qualifications. The goal was important for Iraq to advance from the first round in 1985. It was against Qatar and in a wonderful way

As Iraq is playing tomorrow vs. Australia, I thought of posting this wonderful goal in 1986 World Cup qualifications. The goal was important for Iraq to advance from the first round in 1985. It was against Qatar and in a wonderful way

Adelaide thumped the Fury 8-1 with some fantastic goals. Watch them, they were beautiful with a forward four to die for, and then Matthew Leckie steps on to the field.
Brisbane won't have the finals all their own way.
With the Melbourne Derby followed by the biggest game in Australia football for some years, World Cup a side.

Defending champions Iraq qualified for the quarter-final stages of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup along with Group D winners Iran as the full line-up for the next round is known.

Iraq got through a tough tie against North Korea on Wednesday with a slender 1-0 win thanks to a 22nd minute Karrar Jassim goal.

DOHA, Qatar — Reigning champions Iraq set up a quarter-final clash with Australia after beating North Korea 1-0 Wednesday, condemning the Koreans to an early exit having failed to score in the tournament. The 2007 champions finished second in Group D behind Iran, but will be underdogs against an Australian team out for revenge after [.

In the past, I used to dislike seeing an unusual country advance in football. In 1994 I said, I cannot stand seeing the Americans win in football. In 1998, I was shocked when I saw a new team raise the World Cup, France.
Today, I am totally the opposite, I cheer and love when I see a new country develop their football.

DOHA, Qatar — Reigning champions Iraq stunned the United Arab Emirates 1-0 on Saturday at the Asian Cup with an injury-time own-goal to put the holders in a strong position to make the knockout rounds. Three-times champions Iran became the first team at the championships to qualify for the quarter-finals after they defeated World Cup [.

The biggest football tournament in Asia is in its second week and Team Melli's 2-1 win over Iraq in their Group D opener has reinvigorated the football crazed Iranian fans. Among the fans are several women, openly and joyously celebrating their team, something they are still not permitted to do inside of Iran.

Iran came from one goal down to beat the defending champions Iraq 2- 1

DOHA, Qatar — Three-times champions Iran stormed back from the shock of losing an early goal to grab a 2-1 victory over arch rivals and holders Iraq at the Asian Cup Tuesday. With United Arab Emirates and North Korea playing out a 0-0 draw earlier, Iran top Group D after the first round of games. [.

The dummy aerial move may be one of football's best, if often unscripted.

• The Prem's big money men. (The Best Eleven)
• Ronaldinho's missed destiny, among other things. (A Football Report)
• Ballon d'Or voting offers up interesting look. (Dirty Tackle)
• Prepping for a derby.

Qatar lost to Uzbekistan 0-2 and Kuwait to China with the same result. The two games summarize what's going on in Asian football today.
- The decline of football in Western Asia: in 1978, Iran was the team from Western Asian to qualify to the world cup. Western Asia added 9 more teams till the 2006 World Cup: Kuwait, Iraq, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Mais um jogo amistoso, foi realizado no dia 11/11/2010, na cidade de Sharjah-UAE, no Khalid Bin Mohammed Stadium, jogaram as seleções do Iraque (94º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da India (144º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
1997Cochin 10/04/1997 IND1:1 a.

From January 7th to January 29th.
The AFC Asian Cup takes place every four years, having had its first edition in 1956. Since then only seven teams have lifted the title..
Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran have won three titles each, South Korea two, and Kuwait and Iraq one.

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On this week's predictions battle we feature games from the FA Cup, the Asia Cup, Serie A and La Liga. Check out some language used in making predictions here. This week's guest predictor is Laura, a Juventus fan.

The 2011 Asian Cup is sure to have plenty of amazing goals, as Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Australia take the pitch for their first competitive action since the World Cup, and meet opposition from traditional Asian powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia. As the tournament progresses, we'll add as many Asian Cup goal videos as we can to this page.