Asian Cup - Group Preview - Friendlies, Information and more..

[OFFSIDE_1]

"With the spirit of sincere cooperation in the Arab sports world, which we hope will lead to friendly ties"

let's hope dubai/dhabi, bahrain and gutter don't give each other friendly "ties" if they need a single point in the first round

[perspolis#1]

All we need is for UAE to beat Qatar in some fashion and then we get the honor of eliminating Qatar ourselves

[aenima_8]

Saudi appoint their new coach:

"Romanian Olaroiu to take charge of Saudi Arabia

Cosmin Olaroiu will lead Saudi Arabia at next month's Asian Cup in Australia after the Crown Prince of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed agreed to release the Romanian from his contract with Emirati club Al Ahli.

Olaroiu has enjoyed great success managing clubs in the region, winning the Saudi title with Al Hilal in 2008, the Qatar Stars Cup with Al Sadd in 2010 before moving to the UAE and winning two league titles with Al Ain.

Olaroiu succeeds Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, who was sacked earlier this month shortly after the Saudis lost 2-1 at home to Qatar in the final of the Gulf Cup in Riyadh.""

http://www.eurosport.com/football/ro...40/story.shtml

[aenima_8]

Group C breakdown by UAE newspaper The NAtional:

"Group C

IranUAEQatarBahrainhttp://www.thenational.ae/sport/foot...sian-cup#page3

[aenima_8]

http://www.manlyunitedfc.com.au/?cat=10

[littlepersia17]

Asian Cup - Group Preview - Friendlies, Information and more..

So I guess it's official that Iran is going to stay at Manly.

Bad choice considering their stadium is used by a rugby team so it will be horrible to train or play football on.

[Bi-honar]

All I know is that I'm getting more encouragement and positive vibes from reading Australian or UAE articles about TM's chances than I do from reading Iranian articles!

[Kurdii]

If anybody wants tickets for Iraq vs Iran visit ticketmaster. Tickets are on sale from tomorrow starting at 30 dollars.

[littlepersia17]

Asian Cup - Group Preview - Friendlies, Information and more..

To my suprise, there has been no negativity towards me or any other Iranian that I know of following the aftermath of the Sydney siege.

I'm might of thought that there might a bit of conflict but so far the majority of the Australian public have shown a lot of support for the country's Muslim community.

[GoIran]

Japan's squad already announced: http://www.afcasiancup.com/news/en/j...411repm5mdzqic
11/23 players called up play in Europe.
Note able absentees: hajime hosogai (hertha berlin), yoichiro kakitani (Basel), hiroki sakai (Hannover)

There is a rumor that their manager may be sacked before Asian Cup because of match fixing in Spain. LOL.

[aenima_8]

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/it-p...17-12952u.html

[persianfire]

William Hill (most famous betting company) odds
http://sports.williamhill.com/bet/en...bOutright.html

I don't know why people still think Korea is better than us.

[sarbaz]

What a shame for IFF and TM
They travel all the way to South Africa so they can train in peace without one single friendly vs a nation
Instead they have to play the B squad players of a local club team !!,!!! Wow
I am starting to realize that with all the Sarbazi issues of the players CQ needs and lack of friendlies ,there maybe a conspiracy going on for TM not to succeed in AC
You mean to tell me that IFF dint have $50k to pay Kenya and Zimbabwe for a couple of friendies????
I am not buying it
Because of that I predict a second place finish in our group then we will have to face Japan in the quarter finals then it will be a quick exit out of the tournment
I sure hope that I am wrong

[Abtin]

Even Kyrgyzstan managed to play China today..

[aenima_8]

http://gulfnews.com/sport/football/i...-cup-1.1428566