AFC Mess It Up Again

Few people, maybe even the eventual winner Hamad Al Montashari, have happy memories of the fiasco that was 2005 Asian Player of the Year award. The Asian Football Confederation certainly doesn't as it nominated ten players for the shortlist only to remove most of them when it became apparent that they would not be able to attend the awards ceremony – leaving the sheepish Saudi defender to hold the trophy.

After that debacle, it was reassuring to read the sentence below on the confederations official homepage regarding the 2006 version.

"The eligibility criteria for selecting the best player of Asia has undergone a major and scientific revision, and the winner will be chosen on the basis of a weighted ranking system which takes into account performances at AFC tournaments, and key UEFA and FIFA tournaments.”

In a busy international year with Asian players involved in such FIFA and UEFA tournaments as the World Cup, Champions League and UEFA Cups as well as domestic leagues and the Asian Champions League, there were dozens of names to choose from. It must have been an unenviable task.

But the AFC did it.

The people that run Asian football have managed to make an even bigger mess than the one they created last year. At least in 2005 there was some logic to their decision, misguided and bizarre though it was, but the list released yesterday defies belief.

1) Badr Al Mutawa (Kuwait and Al Qadsiya)


2) Essa Al Mahiyani (Saudi Arabia and Al Wehda – Saudi)


3) Fahed Attal (Palestine)


4) Hawar Mulla Mohamed (Iraq and Apollon, Cyprus)


5) Ibraguim Rabimov (Tajikistan and Regar-Tadaz)


6) Ismael Matar (UAE and Al Wahda – UAE)


7) Khalfan Ibrahim (Qatar and Al Sadd)


8) Lionel Lewis (Singapore and Home United)


9) Mohamed Al Shlhoub (Saudi Arabia and Al Hilal)


10) Younis Mahmood (Iraq and Al Gharafa)


It should be pointed out that the nominees are all fine players but even the two Iraqis, two Saudi Arabians, one Tajikistani, one Qatari, one Kuwait, one Palestinian and the representatives from Singapore and UAE, must be wondering what is going on.

According to the AFC’s criteria, the nominees are decided partly on “key UEFA and FIFA tournaments”.

None of the players nominated have any experience at such tournaments (one Saudi nominee made the plane but not the pitch in Germany) but there are plenty of others who do. Plenty of Japanese, Koreans, Iranians and Australians who pitted themselves against the likes of Brazil, Italy, France and Portugal just five months ago but they have been mystifyingly ignored.

Perhaps the ten players nominated all achieved more than Tim Cahill who scored twice in Germany, cemented his place as one of the most accomplished midfielders in the Premier League and was nominated for the prize of European Footballer of the Year. If that is the case, the AFC needs to explain how.

Shunsuke Nakamura helped Celtic to a league title, scored at the World Cup and the Champions League but is apparently not worthy of a mention. Koreans in England such as Park Ji-sung, Lee Young-pyo and Seol Ki-hyeon have performed in the Premier League and in Germany. Iran’s Javad Nekounam became the first Iranian to play in Spain and Andranik Teymourian followed his impressive World Cup with a move to the Premier League.

It seems that despite what the AFC says, performances at FIFA or UEFA tournaments had no bearing at all on the selection, as all the players just mentioned have more experience in such competitions that any of the ten nominated.

Perhaps the answer lies in the criteria that states “performances at AFC tournaments” – the biggest of which in 2006 was the Asian Champions League – to be a factor.

It is strange then that in a confederation where the semi-finalists of the competition make up the four-strong list for ‘team of the year’ that not one player from winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, even the star of the tournament Yeom Ki-hoon makes the list. The young winger recovered from a serious automobile accident to break into the national team and help drive Jeonbuk to the continental title but is absent as are any players from runners-up Al Karama.

Of all the Asian players who made it past the first round of the continental competition, only one, Kuwait’s Badr Al Mutawa, finds himself in the running.

If it isn’t performances at the World Cup, in Europe or the AFC Champions League which determine selection then perhaps it is performances at the domestic level.

It is surprising then that not one player from three of Asia’s strongest domestic leagues – the C, J and K - makes the list.

China’s Li Jinyu and Zheng Zhi excelled in Shandong Luneng’s romp to the title. In the J-League, Marcus Tulio Tanaka has been a rock for Urawa Reds and Ryuji Bando has been prolific for Gamba Osaka. In Korea, Lee Chun-soo scored once at the World Cup and six times in three games in the East Asian Champions Cup.

It is impossible to select all of these fine players mentioned but not to nominate a single one is another worrying misjudgement by the people in charge of Asian football, one to go with 2005 and the decision to select four co-hosts for the 2007 Asian Cup.

Using the AFC’s own criteria, many players not nominated have greater claim to the prize than many of those who are.

The Asian Football Confederation needs to explain the reasoning behind the decision if it is to salvage any of its fast disappearing credibility.

Copyright: John Duerden & Soccerphile

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Fifa World Rankings Oct 2006

Brazil remain top, followed by Italy, France and Argentina. England are down to 5th, down one place, after picking up just one point in six in their last two Euro 2008 qualification matches in Group 5 for new England boss Steve McClaren.

Japan are up to 46th position. South Korea occupy 48th position. The USA remain in 29th. Scotland and Northern Ireland both rise by a massive nine and thirteen places respectively.

1 Brazil
2 Italy
3 France
4 Argentina
5 England
6 Germany
7 Netherlands
8 Czech Republic
9 Portugal
10 Spain

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FIFA World Rankings September 2006

Brazil remain top, followed by France and Argentina. England are up to the heady heights of fourth after 3 wins out of three for new England boss Steve McClaren. The might of Greece, Andorra and Macedonia have been dispatched without a goal conceded.

Japan are up to 47th position. South Korea occupy 49th position. The USA drop to 29th. Scotland and Northern Ireland both rise.

1 Brazil
2 France
3 Argentina
4 England
5 Italy
6 The Netherlands
7 Czech Republic
8 Germany
9 Portugal
10 Spain

11 Nigeria
11 Cameroon
13 Ukraine
14 Switzerland
15 Uruguay
16 Denmark
17 Mexico
18 Sweden
19 Côte d'Ivoire
20 Colombia

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Fifa World Rankings July 2006

The first fifa world rankings post-World Cup 2006 has lead to some significant changes.

Brazil remain top but Italy have risen to second, while Germany have forced their way in to the top ten as Mexico and the USA drop out.

Both Japan and South Korea have seen their rankings plummet. England move up to fifth.

1 Brazil
2 Italy
3 Argentina
4 France
5 England
6 The Netherlands
7 Spain
8 Portugal
9 Germany
10 Czech Republic

11 Nigeria
11 Cameroon
13 Switzerland
14 Uruguay
15 Ukraine
16 USA
17 Denmark
18 Mexico
19 Paraguay
20 Côte d'Ivoire

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Portugal Progress Without Persian Protest

It was something of a wrench to leave Frankfurt, a cosmopolitan city that had really thrown itself into hosting the World Cup. It is not only the main entry point by air for visitors to Germany, its location makes it a convenient staging point for many other venues – leading to a real sense of being in the middle of the world’s greatest tournament.

After spending time in the rather isolated host city of Leipzig and the even more isolated non-World Cup venue of Dresden, it felt good to be coming back to Frankfurt for a flying visit, one that featured not only the Portugal – Iran fixture but also a welcome recharge of those World Cup batteries.

Unfortunately, there was little time to head to Frankfurt's 'Fan Fest', a gallery of riverside seats looking out onto a giant screen in the middle of the Main. Nearby were lots of amusements and stalls to keep Frankfurt families and football fans alike well-entertained and well-refreshed.

Not being able to head to the river or any of the seemingly thousands of friendly bars and pubs that had big-screen televisions, friendly atmospheres and great beer wasn't too much of a hardship as my route from the main station led in the opposite direction – the WaldStadion - as did those of thousands of fans from around the world.

The Iranians on the concourse and platforms could be heard first and then seen but only as a jumble of flags and a mass of white-shirted bodies jumping up and down. Their opposite numbers were there in similar numbers but with the difference in volume being that of sound.

As I had only decided to come to the game at the last minute, I was on the waiting list for a press ticket. That wasn’t going to be a big problem after checking FIFA’s official media website and learning that only two other people were in a similar position. With an average of over 500 press seats per venue, there was always a number of no-shows, leading to tickets to be redistributed an hour before kick-off.

Not showing up is not a problem for the world governing body as long as the tickets are cancelled before hand so people can be upgraded from the waiting list. Not showing up and not letting FIFA know is a big no-no and the fact that over 250 people had, probably wisely as it turned out, in England’s opening game with Paraguay led to every media organisation receiving e-mails that warned of future repercussions for repeated offences.

Possible withdrawal of accreditation privileges wasn’t on the minds of Iranian fans that were in massing outside the stadium, they were more concerned about their beloved national team crashing out of the tournament after only 180 minutes of play.

Portugal’s laboured victory over Angola in the opening game may not have impressed the watching world but it did earn a valuable three points in a group that may not have had any death-like connotations but was not straightforward with teams from widely differing geographic locations.

That win and Iran’s 3-1 defeat at the hands of Mexico six days earlier in Leipzig meant that the situation was fairly simple. A Portugal win sent the European team into the second round and Team Melli out.

Portugal were on top from the outset and remained that way for the majority of the ninety minutes. Christiano Ronaldo was at times wasteful (failed tricks that had the nearby Jorge Baptista throwing his arms up in frustration) but his direct running, shooting and crossing caused problems for a slow Iranian defence and Deco was impressive in midfield.

Iran seemed reluctant to move the ball forward quickly, preferring to walk the ball from one end of the pitch to another and it was little surprise that they rarely troubled the Portuguese defence and goalkeeper.

Still, Branko Ivankovic’s team defended well for most of the game with the under-fire Ebrahim Mirzapoor making some good saves but it was a touch of class from Deco in the second half with a smart shot from outside the area that did the damage.

Iran really should have been back on level terms but substitute Rasoul Khatibi held on to the ball too long in a one-on-one situation and dragged his shot just wide and soon the Iranians were two down and heading home.

Copyright © John Duerden and Soccerphile

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FIFA World Rankings August 2005

August 2005

1 Brazil
2 Argentina
3 Netherlands
4 Czech Republic
5 Mexico
6 USA
7 England
8 Spain
9 France
9 Portugal

17 Japan

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Aug 2004

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3 Spain
4 Argentina
5 Czech Republic
6 Netherlands
7 England
8 Mexico
9 Italy
10 Turkey
10 USA

July 2005

1 Brazil
2 Argentina
3 Netherlands
4 Czech Republic
5 Mexico
6 USA
7 France
8 England
9 Spain
10 Portugal

FIFA World Rankings July 2005

FIFA World Rankings July 2005

1 Brazil
2 Argentina
3 Netherlands
4 Czech Republic
5 Mexico
6 USA
7 France
8 England
8 Spain
10 Portugal

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