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
Asian Soccer News and Interviews
K-League soccer football Asian Soccer Korea Iran Soccer Korean Soccer
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Showing posts with label Jeonbuk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeonbuk. Show all posts
Friday, November 17, 2006
Monday, November 6, 2006
Seoul Complete Play-Off Line-Up
The regular season of the 2006 K-League is over -now four of the fourteen teams that started the season will do battle in the championship play-offs starting on November 12.
The line-up is:
Saturday November 12
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma - FC Seoul
Sunday November 13
Suwon Samsung Bluewings - Pohang Steelers
On the final weekend of the regular season, only Seoul had yet to secure its place but did so with a sluggish 1-0 win over Gyeongnam FC on a day when the first fingers of winter could be felt by the 17,000 fans in the cavernous Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Rumours from those in the know suggest that Seoul coach Lee Jang-soo is done for, whatever happens in the next three weeks. Fans of the club will be hoping that if he does go, he will leave the K-League trophy behind.
It is unlikely as Seoul have looked uninspired for the majority of the season and would usually come-off second best against Seongnam. However, Seongnam, having booked their play-off place months ago, have not won for the last five games – and even allowed the shot-shy Jeju United and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to score three goals each.
Whether coach Kim Hak-bom can get his players back to their form earlier in the season remains to be seen but the six-time champions are better bets to lift a seventh title than FC Seoul are to win their first (or fourth if one includes Anyang Cheetahs’ three triumphs before the club was uprooted and moved to the capital in 2004).
Suwon took the second stage with a series of effective rather than impressive performances. The same can’t be said of midfielders Lee Kwan-woo and Baek Ji-hoon who have made the difference since respectively heading north from Daejeon and south from Seoul in the summer.
Last not probably not least are Pohang Steelers, a team that has gone about its business quietly. Brazilian boss Sergio Farias has built a solid team that scores more and concedes less than most.
To make matters better, Lee Song-gook has returned to the line-up after seven months out with a torn cruciate ligament. The injury kept the Lion King out of the World Cup but he announced his return in emphatic fashion in the last game of the season. Three minutes after coming off the bench, Lee headed home to give Pohang three points at the home of champions Ulsan Hyundai Horang-i.
For those who believe in such things, some have suggested (OK, only me) that fate will propel Lee to clinch the title for his team and end what has been a miserable year on a high.
Changes to the K-League
Those boffins at the K-League like to keep things interesting. Upon realizing that the league was in danger of heading for a fourth season without being tinkered with, they got off their backsides and did something about it – for the twelfth time in 24 years.
The two-stage season has been cut back down to one but the league is hoping that the excitement will not be similarly reduced.
To such an end, one team will be promoted from the second tier N-League to expand the top flight to fifteen teams and 28 games.
The number of teams qualifying for the play-offs has been expanded to six. Concerned about attendances in the league, the powers-that-be have decided that such a move will generate more interest and excitement.
With the absence of relegation and champions league qualification, play-offs are a necessary evil in the league but extending the privilege to six – 40% of clubs - is excessive.
As that old football saying goes:
“Too many clubs spoils the play-offs.”
Lee Chun-soo
The biggest star in the K-League has been hit with a big ban for swearing at referee Lee Yong-chol in Ulsan’s recent 1-0 defeat at Incheon United.
Playing in his hometown, Lee took umbrage to the fact that the ref disallowed an Ulsan equaliser after Lee Jong-min bundled the ball into the net with his hand.
Lee left fly and was soon on his way off the pitch and possibly out of the K-League.
The K-League handed him a three-match ban and then his club sentenced him to three days community service.
"We've come to the conclusion of ordering him to take responsibility for his misconduct with the community service," the champions said in a press release.
“His deed really disappointed fans and tarnished our club's honour."
Lee, who rejected a move to Portsmouth last August, was repentant - in public at least.
“I will accept my punishment,” said the baseball-cap sporting star after the hearing.
“I am very sorry. As a professional player I want to win every game and play well but what I did wasn’t necessary.
“I would like to say sorry to the fans that go to the stadium because they love football. After the sending off I reflected deeply on what I had done.”
"I’d like an opportunity to apologise to the referee directly. I will use this experience to try and become a more mature player.”
And before anybody familiar with the opinionated winger asks, no, it wasn't possible to tell if his fingers were crossed.
Copyright - John Duerden & Soccerphile
K-League News and Interviews
K-League soccer football Lee Chun-soo Korea Lee Song-gook John Duerden Korean Soccer
Friday, June 30, 2006
Long Road Ahead For Asia
Asia should be thankful for Australia – though Japan may find it difficult to find any gratitude – and the fact that the newest member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was the only one of the five representatives to progress past the knockout stage.
Suspicions in Europe and elsewhere that Japan and South Korea’s 2002 success was helped hugely by home advantage will not have been allayed by the fact that the traditional big four Asian nations, were, as the saying goes, “home before the postcards”.
More serious is the fact that even with Australia’s presence in the last sixteen, there is sure to be at least some pressure from other confederations to reduce Asia’s current World Cup allocation of 4.5 spots. Any decision to do so would be have a profound effect on the continent’s football scene and with Australia looking strong, one or more of the traditional powers will miss out in 2010.
It is natural that there will be postmortems as to why Asia’s traditional ‘big four’ didn’t make it to the second round and earlier this week, the AFC’s President, Mohamed bin Hamman, pointed the finger at the standard of the continent’s domestic leagues.
It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that Asian domestic leagues have to improve and not just for the sake of future World Cups. However, nobody should forget that European nations have long and rich football traditions and it is only relatively recently that leagues such as Korea’s and Japan’s became professional – Korea was the first in 1983.
Asian fans shouldn’t then beat themselves up about the standard of their domestic set-ups, it would be truly miraculous if their leagues could even be compared to those of even average European nations and it is a credit to Japan that, in terms of professionalism and organization at least, the J-League can.
The problem is that during the World Cup, they are compared with the best by people watching all over the world simply because that is the nature of the tournament. Sat in Leipzig’s Stadium before the Korea – France clash, a quick glance at FIFA’s team sheets revealed the size of the challenge facing the 2002 semi-finalists. Players from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings were facing those from Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich -it is to Korea’s credit that they came away with a 1-1 draw.
Bin Hamman said that Australia succeeded because their players play in big leagues but what he is forgetting is that those leagues are not Australian. He can’t have it both ways – praising a nation who fielded just one or two A-League stars in the World Cup while telling others to improve their domestic set-ups. International experience is good for players and national teams but a strong league provides a much stronger foundation for continued success.
It is tough to find a balance. Immediately after Korea’s loss against Switzerland, Dick Advocaat told his soon-to-be-ex employers that the K-League has to improve. At the same time in a different part of Hanover’s World Cup Stadium, Lee Chun-soo, perhaps Korea’s best player in Germany and the 2005 K-League MVP, was telling reporters that he wanted another try in Europe.
Just days after giving his advice, Advocaat is getting ready to take two of the K-League’s best players, Kim Dong-jin and Lee Ho, with him to his new club Zenit St. Petersburg. It is a little like going to a friend’s party, telling them it’s boring before taking some of the best music and drinks to another party. The experience in Russia may improve the players and therefore the national team but what about the K-League?
It is hard to blame the players especially as they are usually encouraged to head overseas by media and supporters who are proud to see their home-grown stars strutting their stuff on a weekly basis in such strong leagues England, Spain or Germany.
France’s second division couldn’t be classed as such though that is where one of Asia’s brightest stars Masashi Oguro chose to play – a decision that shows there is still much work to be done.
The striker was one of the successes of the 2005 J-League season and his goals helped Gamba Osaka lift a first-ever league title. He broke into the national team and helped Team Nippon qualify for the World Cup. Instead of staying with Gamba, one of the biggest and best teams in Asia, to defend their title as well as participate in the Asian Champions League, he instead chose to join mid-table French second division team Grenoble Foot38 with an average attendance of only 5,000 ..
While it is welcomed that there seems to be a renewed realization that matters need to improve, it will take time, patience and a good deal of administrative will. Attention shouldn’t be overly fixed on the World Cup, a target of competitive domestic leagues is not a means to an end but an end in itself and the AFC, the respective domestic organizations, the media and the fans must be in it for the long haul.
If that happens then, despite the disappointment of the past month, there is a glimmer of hope that the 2006 World Cup may eventually seen as a watershed in Asian football.
Copyright (c) John Duerden & Soccerphile.com
Suspicions in Europe and elsewhere that Japan and South Korea’s 2002 success was helped hugely by home advantage will not have been allayed by the fact that the traditional big four Asian nations, were, as the saying goes, “home before the postcards”.
More serious is the fact that even with Australia’s presence in the last sixteen, there is sure to be at least some pressure from other confederations to reduce Asia’s current World Cup allocation of 4.5 spots. Any decision to do so would be have a profound effect on the continent’s football scene and with Australia looking strong, one or more of the traditional powers will miss out in 2010.
It is natural that there will be postmortems as to why Asia’s traditional ‘big four’ didn’t make it to the second round and earlier this week, the AFC’s President, Mohamed bin Hamman, pointed the finger at the standard of the continent’s domestic leagues.
It doesn’t take a genius to recognize that Asian domestic leagues have to improve and not just for the sake of future World Cups. However, nobody should forget that European nations have long and rich football traditions and it is only relatively recently that leagues such as Korea’s and Japan’s became professional – Korea was the first in 1983.
Asian fans shouldn’t then beat themselves up about the standard of their domestic set-ups, it would be truly miraculous if their leagues could even be compared to those of even average European nations and it is a credit to Japan that, in terms of professionalism and organization at least, the J-League can.
The problem is that during the World Cup, they are compared with the best by people watching all over the world simply because that is the nature of the tournament. Sat in Leipzig’s Stadium before the Korea – France clash, a quick glance at FIFA’s team sheets revealed the size of the challenge facing the 2002 semi-finalists. Players from Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Suwon Samsung Bluewings were facing those from Real Madrid, Chelsea, Juventus and Bayern Munich -it is to Korea’s credit that they came away with a 1-1 draw.
Bin Hamman said that Australia succeeded because their players play in big leagues but what he is forgetting is that those leagues are not Australian. He can’t have it both ways – praising a nation who fielded just one or two A-League stars in the World Cup while telling others to improve their domestic set-ups. International experience is good for players and national teams but a strong league provides a much stronger foundation for continued success.
It is tough to find a balance. Immediately after Korea’s loss against Switzerland, Dick Advocaat told his soon-to-be-ex employers that the K-League has to improve. At the same time in a different part of Hanover’s World Cup Stadium, Lee Chun-soo, perhaps Korea’s best player in Germany and the 2005 K-League MVP, was telling reporters that he wanted another try in Europe.
Just days after giving his advice, Advocaat is getting ready to take two of the K-League’s best players, Kim Dong-jin and Lee Ho, with him to his new club Zenit St. Petersburg. It is a little like going to a friend’s party, telling them it’s boring before taking some of the best music and drinks to another party. The experience in Russia may improve the players and therefore the national team but what about the K-League?
It is hard to blame the players especially as they are usually encouraged to head overseas by media and supporters who are proud to see their home-grown stars strutting their stuff on a weekly basis in such strong leagues England, Spain or Germany.
France’s second division couldn’t be classed as such though that is where one of Asia’s brightest stars Masashi Oguro chose to play – a decision that shows there is still much work to be done.
The striker was one of the successes of the 2005 J-League season and his goals helped Gamba Osaka lift a first-ever league title. He broke into the national team and helped Team Nippon qualify for the World Cup. Instead of staying with Gamba, one of the biggest and best teams in Asia, to defend their title as well as participate in the Asian Champions League, he instead chose to join mid-table French second division team Grenoble Foot38 with an average attendance of only 5,000 ..
While it is welcomed that there seems to be a renewed realization that matters need to improve, it will take time, patience and a good deal of administrative will. Attention shouldn’t be overly fixed on the World Cup, a target of competitive domestic leagues is not a means to an end but an end in itself and the AFC, the respective domestic organizations, the media and the fans must be in it for the long haul.
If that happens then, despite the disappointment of the past month, there is a glimmer of hope that the 2006 World Cup may eventually seen as a watershed in Asian football.
Copyright (c) John Duerden & Soccerphile.com
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