Maldives is just falling behind. New government and all. They need a huge revamping but with the size of the country, who knows how a restructure can go.
The youth development program was abandoned due to "financial reasons" between 2003 and 2010. You reap what you sow, and the FAM realized this with the spanking the under 16 and 19 teams received during the qualifiers last year. Several clubs have introduced youth academies across the country over the last few months, so I'm hoping we're going to seen an influx of quality youngsters breaking through in the next 5 years. In addition to this, mismanagement of the clubs resulted in the decline of the biggest clubs such as New Radiant, Valencia, Hurriyya and Victory, and also the disproportionate financial advantage of VB Sports club led to the league being rather uncompetitive. This in turn resulted in a dramatic drop in interest and attendances for the matches, causing investors to shy away from aiding the clubs. New Radiant and Victory have been attempting to resurrect themselves lately, holding elections and appointing new management staff at the beginning of this year, signing up with new sponsors etc. Valencia look doomed now, and poor Hurriyya, once the hub of quality youngsters, got relegated in 2006, a year after winning the league. They have never looked like getting back since. All in all, the blame lies with everyone; FAM, those who run the clubs and the local coaches.
Kingfisher East Bengal FC and Salgaocar SC of India have a tough road ahead of them... Group B: East Bengal, Kazma SC, Arbil SC, Al-Oruba - Kazma SC: Kuwaiti club, currently in 4th place in the Kuwaiti football league after 8 games, 4th place in the 2010-11 Kuwaiti football league, recent winners of the Kuwaiti Cup. - Arbil SC: Iraqi club, currently 4th in the Iraqi football league after 9 games, 2nd place in the 2010-11 season - Al-Oruba: Yemen club, currently 6th place in the Yemeni league after 7 games, 1st place in the 2010-11 season I expect East Bengal to finish in 3rd place in this group. Group D: Salgaocar, Neftchi, Dhofar, Al-Wehdat - Neftchi: Uzbeki club, season has yet to begin for them, 4th place in the 2011 season. Got knocked out of the AFC Champions League 2012 after losing in the Qualifying round 3-0. - Dhofar: Omani club, currently 9th place in the Omani league after 9 games, 4th place in the 2010-11 season, won the Omani Cup - Al-Wehdat: Jordan club, currently 3rd place in the Jordan league, CHAMPIONS of the 2010-11 Jordan season I predict to Salgaocar to just finish in 2nd place. I dont see Salgaocar going past the quarter-finals.
Yemeni and Syrian cubs have to play at neutral venues. http://www.the-afc.com/en/tournamen...06-yemen-syria-clubs-to-play-in-neutral-venue
VB Sports Club has departed to Lebanon to play against Lebanon’s Al Ahed in the AFC Cup group C match. The match will be played on 7th March in Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium, Beirut. http://www.maldivesoccer.net/v4/?page=story&id=4198
If you don't want to play, you can withdraw http://vietfootball.blogspot.com/2012/03/if-you-dont-want-to-play-you-can.html
South China Morning Post Kitchee coach turns spy for AFC Cup opener Alvin Sallay A spying trip to Singapore three weeks ago by Kitchee head coach Josep Gombau underlined the importance of maximising home advantage in their AFC Cup opener against Tampines Rovers at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground tonight. "They are a good side who play an attacking style of football, very similar to ours. It will be a hard game and I expect it to be close. We will have to work hard if we are to win this game," said Gombau (pictured). Kitchee felt it was worth sending Gombau to the Lion City as they expect the Singapore champions to be the toughest opposition in the preliminary group stage. The other two teams in Kitchee's group are Terengganu from Malaysia and Song Lam Nghe An of Vietnam. The teams will play a round-robin, home-and-away competition with the top two progressing to the last 16. "It is important we try to win our first game, more so as it is a home fixture. A victory will give us momentum as well as confidence looking ahead to the other five matches," Gombau said. "Qualifying for the next stage is our immediate goal." Kitchee, who will be taking part in the AFC Cup for the second time, will be at full strength and re-energised after beating Wofoo Tai Po 5-2 on Saturday and returning to the top of the First Division. Captain and defender Lo Kwan-yee, midfielder Chan Man-fai and striker Jorge Tarres, who were all second-half substitutes against Wofoo Tai Po, will start tonight. Tarres, who had been struggling with a niggling injury, showed he is back to his best by scoring a brace. Kitchee president Ken Ng said: "We believe that Tampines Rovers are arguably the strongest opposition we will face in our group, although we are not so familiar with the other two clubs. "We will do the best we can to make Hong Kong football proud," Ng said. Kitchee last played in the AFC Cup in 2008 when they bowed out after the first stage. "But in the last 2-1/2 years since Josep took over we have established a consistent playing style and have been improving our squad. Compared with 2008, I truly believe we are a much better team," Ng said.
Arbil 1:1 Kazma Qadisiya 2:0 Al Suwaiq Al Tilal 1:2 Safa (played in Lebanon) Al Faisaly 1:1 Al Ittihad Aleppo
Good start for Al Oruba, it will be interesting to see how they get on and maybe just be the first Yemeni team to make the next stage.
According to fans of East Bengal and other Indians Gurwinder Singh (the one who gave the goal up) did not even touch the player and that the penalty should not have stood. Of course I did not see the game via live stream so I would not know. Also apparently East Bengal were the better team but wasted all there chances.
South China Morning Post Hot start to AFC Cup for Kitchee Coach Gombau tries to play down expectations after HK heavyweights crush Singapore side in opener Unus Alladin Kitchee coach Josep Gombau warned his team not to get too carried away by their emphatic 3-1 victory over Tampines Rovers in the AFC Cup last night, saying there was still much work ahead. The local champions announced their return to the regional competition with an encouraging win over the Singaporean side at Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground that put them on top of group F - and with a real chance of going far in the tournament. Malaysia's Terengganu also got off to a winning start in the same group yesterday, defeating Vietnam's Song Lam Nghe Ah 1-0, but Kitchee are sitting pretty at the top on goal difference. Kitchee last competed in the AFC Cup in 2008 and failed to make it past the first round, but they showed they mean business this time as they put their strongest group rivals to the sword to snatch three deserved points. Gombau warned fans not to read too much into the team's performance, emphasising there were many tough matches ahead. "We're very happy of course, but the AFC Cup only started today and we need to concentrate on all our games," said the Spanish coach. "We won today and we're happy. But tomorrow, we need to work hard again because we have another important game against [arch rivals] South China in the League Cup semi-finals on Saturday. Every single game is important," he said. Liang Zicheng was the hero of the night, scoring a brace for the local champions, while Jordi Tarres was also on target. After Liang's third-minute opener, the visitors levelled through Mohamed Jamil Ali in the 20th minute with a fine header, but Kitchee stepped up a gear in the second half with Liang scrambling home his second in the 62nd minute and then Tarres beating the offside trap to find the net four minutes later. Kitchee could have earned a bigger margin of victory if they had not missed a penalty after Tarres blasted his spot kick over the bar in the 32nd minute. "I don't know how far Kitchee can go," said Gombau. "I need to check all the teams. We will work very hard to at least reach the second round. It's a good start." Tampines Rovers coach Steven Tan Teng-chuan said Kitchee deserved the points, while his team just couldn't find the inspiration despite fielding 41-year-old captain Aleksandar Duric, considered the world 's most successful top-division goalscorer among still-active players with 336 goals. "Kitchee's performance was good and their movement upfront was good, especially in the first half when we failed to keep up the pace. Hopefully, we'll get a win in Singapore in the return leg [on May 9]," he said. ===================================================== Note: Liang Zicheng's second goal was actually an OG by the Tampines defender, when he tried to clear the ball but it hit the goalkeeper and bounced into goal.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1DrcRBPlg0"]TVB J2 06-03-2012 Kitchee vs? Tampines Roavers 3:1 - YouTube[/ame]
Too bad, the tie came at 90+3 min. Yangon needs to win at home to qualify to the next round! Shows they can match good teams like Chonburi. Separately, Ayeyawady tied on the road against Arema in Indonesia 1-1. Great result for a young team. I hope they make the best of this tournament as I really doubt if they will qualify next year. The team lost a lot of key players from last year, plus Yadanarbon, KBZ and Nay Pyi Taw are fighting with Yangon for the title. Ayeyawady currently is in 7th place (of 14).
AFC Cup 2012 - Group C Al Ahed (Lebanon) 5-3 VB Addu FC (Maldives) - FT Goals scorers for Al Ahed: Hassan Chaaito 29', Khalil Mostapha 32', Hussein Dakik 57', Abbas 77', Ahmad Zreik 81' Goals for VB Addu FC:Cengiz Huseyin 56', 65 & Alexander Tateosian(OG) 90'