In a press statement the SAFF has revealed a disagreement has led to the decision to let Ricardo Gomes go and appoint youth team coach Rogerio Moraes Lourenco on an interim basis. Apparently he got fired. We are handed a lifeline.
well, you should be playing Palestine, who 'beat' you in the U23s. how difficult is is going to be for your team to travel into Palestine, or would your officials try for a neutral venue? and if somehow Afghans beat Palestine, do you need a neutral venue in any case?
Apparently Afghanistan will play the 2nd leg in Palestine and will travel through Jordan to get there.
We didn't need a neutral venue for the U23 game, so shouldn't have an issue this time, unless we are still sulking of course. I'd expect any nation that plays Afghanistan will want the game moved to a neutral venue. Thailand almost have a new coach now, German Winfrid Schafer.
Thats the way we appeared to go, I'm not sure of the exact route, but we try to avoid any flight that lands us in Israel, a few of our players are Muslim.
Any Country which doesn't recognize Israel will not be allowed to play matches in Palestine. If I'm not wrong Thailand recognizes Israel and Afghanistan doesn't.
Well, it's not that entire reason, it's just the best way in is through Israel. Hopefully, the AFC will suggest that all teams enter through Egypt to solve this issue once and for all, and Palestine have entertained the idea of hosting a AFC Youth Championship in 2012, what look this tournament will have is beyond me. Thailand does recognise Israel, but in sporting terms, we stay well away so we don't have obstacles which can still happen even with good relationships in place. But although we do recognise them, thats just the government who are majorty Buddhists, the south of Thailand which is majorty Muslim and have probably the best players outside of Bangkok don't recognise them, could we only send half a team to these events or a below strength team, course not. I'd rather win 4:0 at home and have a walkover 3:0 defeat away, that would settle it for us. That would have worked for the Olympics as we weren't kicked out, but outscored.
This is good news for Iran and China, bad news for Saudi Arabia, North Korea and Bahrain. FWCQ draw based on July 2011 rankings
Not quite. Bahrain's U-23 team is in Palestine now preparing to face Palestine tomorrow for the right to advance to the final round of Olympic Qualifying (Palestine won 1-0 in Manama). It is a complicated issue and I think the AFC/FIFA are interceding on our behalf to make sure we can host competitive games. The FA President, Jibril Rajoub, is essentially an Israeli lackey- so that helps in getting favors from Israeli officials from time to time. Our Olympic Team is still trying to get over Israeli interference... 4 players based in Gaza were not allowed in for the return leg, while one based in the West Bank was not allowed to travel for the first leg. So far Israel's FA has not been punished for government interference but if they were to block passage of another team they might risk punishment of some sort.
Afghanistan in doubt for Palestine match http://www.footballafghanistan.com/news/22-06-2011/afghanistan-world-cup-campaign-in-doubt
Afghanistan Head Coach resigns- Only days before the Palestine match http://www.footballafghanistan.com/node/35 Afghanistan squad is back on track and flying to Tajikistan to play Palestine http://www.footballafghanistan.com/...s-team-e-melli-travels-to-tajikistan-tomorrow interesting things happening to Afghanistan lead up to their world cup match..
Does anyone know of any links that could show the matches tomorrow? I'm in the US and I have international satellite just need to know any channel/link that might possibly show it. Thanks in advance
Cambodia 4-2 Laos - Was 1-0 Laos in the 9' and at half. Was 2-2 until Cambodia's Kouch Sokumpheak scored in 67'. Substitute Samel Nasa came on in 32' and scored in the 57' and 88'. 2nd leg is in Laos on July 3. Nepal 1-0 East Timor - halftime. 22-year-old Anil Gurung converted a penalty kick in the 14'. Gurung plays for Indian club Shillong Lajong. Both legs of this series are being played in Kathmandu. Nepal's Dashrath Rangasala stadium -
Mongolia 0-0 Myanmar - halftime http://wwitv.com/tv_channels/b5935.htm It's working okay for me. The home crowd is fired up and pleased with the Mongolia's first half. Nepal 1-1 East Timor 1 - 71' Timor Leste made two subs starting the 2nd half and Juvito Da Silva scored in the 47' to tie it for Timor Leste Sri Lanka 0-0 Philippines - half Afghanistan 0-0 Palestine - 14' - game being played in Tursunzoda, Tajikistan
Mongolia 1-0 Myanmar 60' Less than two minutes into the half, Mongolia scores a goal that was pretty for any level. A midfielder chips a pass to a teammate sprinting down the left side a little wide of the box. He plays a first-time pass to a teammate cutting in front of his marker toward the six-yard box and the striker touches it first-time with his right foot into the wide part of the goal before the GK reacts. It's Tsend-Ayush Khurelbataar as the goal scorer. Nepal 2-1 East Timor - Final Manu Rai Ju put 10-man Nepal ahead in the 71'. Bharat Khawas got two yellows 8 minutes apart, with the red coming at 55'. If the second leg was in East Timor, this would be very interesting. Sri Lanka 1-1 Philippines 60' Sri Lanka's Chathura Gunarantha scored in the 44'. Nathaniel Burkey equalizes in 50' Afghanistan 0-1 Palestine 45' 28' Murad Alyan puts Palestine up
Sri Lanka 1-1 Philippines - 75' According to soccerway/wikipedia, Nathaniel Burkey's a 6-foot-2, 26-year-old midfielder from Virginia. He went to high school at T.C. Williams (near Washington D.C.) and played collegiately at Louisburg C.C. in North Carolina and Virginia Commonwealth Univ. in Richmond.
Mongolia 1-0 Myanmar Mongolia had a couple good chances to make it 2-0 in the closing minutes. It'll likely be tough for them to survive the second leg. According to soccerway's stats, Khurelbataar's goal is his first in four caps for Mongolia. Myanmar's Kyaw Ko Ko got a red card in 2nd half stoppage time. Also, Mongolians know booing, yelling at an opposing player faking an injury and the Ole song. Sri Lanka 1-1 Philippines Second leg Sunday in Manila. Afghanistan 0-2 Palestine Goals - 28' Murad Alyan, 87' Ismail Al Amour Bangladesh 2-0 Pakistan - halftime Goals - 1' (!) Zahid Hasan Emily, 22' Mohamed Zahid Hossain Vietnam 3-0 Macau - halftime Cong Vinh Le already with a hat trick, in the 19', 36' and 42'. Malaysia 0-0 Taiwan - 13' possible video - http://myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=121097&part=sports
toopil, I posted what I lucked into with streaming video for a couple of the matches. Surprisngly was able to watch the last 70' of the Mongolia game fairly fluidly, never woulda guessed that. Sorry I don't have any more. If someone else has recordings, highlights, YouTube, etc. in the next couple days, feel free to share. Bangladesh 3-0 Pakistan - final 1' Zahid Hasan Ameli 22' Mohamed Zahid Hossain 56' Mohamed Razual Karim All three scorers are 23 years old. Bangladesh looks likely to advance and meet Lebanon. Vietnam 6-0 Macau - final Cong Vinh Le scored a first-half hat trick. He had 2 goals in 4 matches in 2011 for his national team before today. Vietnam practically ended the series with goals in the 62', 67' and 89'. Vietnam will have a very interesting second round pairing vs. Qatar. Malaysia 2-1 Taiwan - 81' 28' Safiq Rahim and 55' Mohamad Aidil Abd Radzak in Kuala Lumpur. And Taiwan gets, at the least, a huge away goal. Chen Po Liang in the 78'.
That's it for today. Seven of the 2nd legs are Sunday. Nepal hosts East Timor (again) on Saturday. Cambodia 4-2 Laos - winner will play China Nepal 2-1 East Timor - winner will play Jordan Mongolia 1-0 Myanmar - winner vs. Oman Afghanistan 0-2 Palestine - winner vs. Thailand Sri Lanka 1-1 Philippines - winner vs. Kuwait Bangladesh 3-0 Pakistan - winner vs. Lebanon Vietnam 6-0 Macau - winner vs. Qatar Malaysia 2-1 Taiwan - winner vs. Singapore