Aussie squad expected to be announced on Friday

The Socceroos squad for the Asia Cup is expected to be announced on Friday.

Rumours persist surrounding player availability.

Can we detect anything by following the media stories.

Scott McDonald has returned to Glasgow. Is this a sign he knows something. I wouldn't expect him to be in the squad..unless Mark Viduka decided not to go.

Carl Valeri is still in Australia. Would he have gone back overseas if he thought he wouldn't make it?

Harry Kewell has been very quiet. Is he still in England?

Tim Cahill has been very noisy, get the feeling Timmy wants to go, and he's here in Australia.

And Josip Skoko is out of contract. I would imagine he'll only go if he has his deal sorted, similar to Craig Moore.

On the other hand, Skoko probably shouldn't go. It would give an opportunity to a younger player.

Any thought on who his going, or not, based on player movements and media reports?

Any thoughts on who will be going based on player comment, movements?

All Asian Cup games live on Fox. Hooray!

All 32 Asian Cup games will be shown live on Fox. Hooray!

The timing of the Asian Cup clashes will give Australia’s football public prime time access to the Socceroos as the group matches kick off at the following fan-friendly times:
Sunday 8 July – Australia v Oman (7.30pm)
Friday 13 July – Australia v Iraq (7.30pm)
Monday 16 July – Australia v Thailand (10.00pm)

Canberrans can watch the Australian games on the big screen in Garema Place. The Green and Gold Army have organised this.

Also all games are on Fox so if you don't have it, you'd better get to a local football friendly pub, subscribe now, or better still find a mate with Fox.

Craig Moore to miss Asia Cup

Craig Moore has been given permission by Graham Arnold to miss the Asia Cup. He has struggled with injuries all season and needs to rest to prepare himself for next season.

He is currently without a club, and probably cannot afford to take the risk of getting injured in the Asia Cup, nor miss pre-season with a new club.

Fair enough, which leaves a space wide open for young superstar Matthew Spiranovic.

Coach Arnold was talking him up on Total Football the other night, so I reckon he's in.

Should 18 Year Old Spiranovic be included in the squad? What do you think?

Lucas Neill on the Asian Cup

Lucas is looking forward to the AFC Asian Cup 2007.

"It's a massive tournament, one we want to win. It's not often you get the chance to win an international tournament. To win one with Australia would be fantastic."

"The young guys that game in and played in China did really well. Its strange because I'm used to the old guys, and now we have some young guys who I've heard of but never met. They did really well."

"We've been through a transition period since the World Cup but there are a lot of young guys playing at a good level. They look to me as the one of the older guys, and I'm only 29. I don't feel old. But if I can give advice, and I hope its good well that's nice. It's funny to think that this was how I was not so long ago, asking the older guys for advice. Now I've got the responsibility and that's okay."

AFC Asian Cup

From the AFC

KUALA LUMPUR: The AFC Asian Cup™ Organising Committee met today and took stock of the preparations for the July 7-29 competition.

At the outset, AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam noted that preparations had gathered momentum in the four host countries.

“The Member Associations have lifted their preparations and AFC is satisfied. Now we need to focus on how to make this competition successful when in action,” said Bin Hammam.

Well thats that then. Should be a great success. What do you think? Will the Asian Cup be an outstanding tournament?

I'm booked for the AFC 2007 Asian Cup

I'm booked for Thailand.

Looking forward to reporting Australia's first Asian Cup.

I'm flying Qantas, with a flexible ticket so I can nip across to Indonesia for the final.

I've applied for match tickets through the AFC yonks ago, so the cunning plan is coming together.

Made the decision to go yet? Tell me on this blog.

Aussie fans face Bangkok travel difficulties.

It's going to be hot in Bangkok in July. The usual monsoon rains and oppresive humidity face the fans...never mind the players!

The stadium is a long way from the city, in an outer suburb called Huamark. Local transport from the city to the stadium is poor.

The stadium in Bangkok is a 65,000 seater, but only 20,000 seats are under cover.

Ever been to an English Premier League game? Watching football in warm Thai rain, who's complaining?

Socceroo fan Rod has got the tickets.

Socceroos fan Rod has got his flights booked and tickets for Aussie games purchased. He'll stay for four games in Bangkok.

"If Australia top the group, the quarter-final is also in Bangkok."

Good planning Rod!

"I've got no accommodation yet, but there's plenty of time."

Rod's been to four World Cups; USA 94, France 98, Japan/Korea 2002 and Germany 2006.

This is his first Asian Cup. The lad is up for it.

How are your plans going? Like to see your AFC 2007 Asian Cup story in print, here and elsewhere. Post here or email me.

Canberra to screen the AFC 2007 Asian Cup

There will be more dancing and rejoicing in the streets of Canberra this winter.

The Green and Gold Army have organised to show the AFC 2007 Asian Cup live into Garema Place on the big screen.

Prime time, with lots of Asian fans at the Universities, its just possible some games involving Japan, Korea Republic and China get a bigger crowd than the Aussies.

Either way it leaves other cities looking poor. Last I heard Federation Square in Melbourne said they couldn't show events not on free-to-air.

Hello Melbourne. Welcome to 2007!

So where is the birthplace of football?

ZIBO CITY, China: AFC’s revolutionary football development programme Vision China was launched yesterday in Zibo which is located in Shandong province, the officially recognised birthplace of world football.

The AFC have announced its in Zibo City, China

Bet you didn't know that did you!

Thailand's record in the AFC Asia Cup

Australia play hosts Thailand in this years AFC 2007 Asia Cup. The Thai's have a reasonable record in the tournament qualifying for the last four tournaments.

Asian Cup finals record:
2004 Group Stage
2000 Group Stage
1996 Group Stage
1992 Group Stage
1972 Third Place

Thailand captured the gold medal for a record seventh time at the 2005 South East Asia Games. This tournament is for under-23 sides and gives Thailand great hope great hope for this years AFC 2007 Asia Cup.

Australia play Thailand in the final group game on July 16 in Bangkok

Previous winners of the Asia Cup

Did you know the first AFC Asian Cup was held in Hong Kong in 1956.

The first winners were Korea Republic.

Previous winners of the AFC Asian Cup include current holders Japan(3 times), Saudi Arabia(3), Korea Republic(2), Iran(3), Kuwait(1)and Israel(1).

Can Australia win this years AFC Asian Cup?

Depends on injuries and how the players hold up after the World cup and long European season. I think thye will get to the last four, after that who knows.

Socceroos preparations in disarray?

Socceroos preparation for the 2007 Asia Cup is looking frail.

The Socceroos play Uruguay on June 2nd in Sydney and were supposed to play Argentina in Melbourne on June 6th. The Argentinean game has been postponed leaving little time to organise a new opponent.

After the Uruguay game, the players will have a two-week break before heading to Singapore on June 21 for a training camp and friendly against the Singaporean national team.

Most European seasons finish early May so it could have been better to give the players a longer break, say 3 to 4 weeks, then bring them back mid-June for the Uruguay international before heading off to Singapore.

Looks like the FFA may have got this one wrong? What do you think?

Asia Cup: Four Cup hosts a problem

Four Cup hosts a problem, AFC chief says

The president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has admitted that his organisation had made a mistake be allowing four countries to host this year's Asian Cup.

"With four countries this is a problem," Mohamed bin Hammam told Reuters late on Thursday.

He added: "If one country fulfils its obligation and another one doesn't, this is no good to us."

The July 7-29 Asian Cup will be shared by Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, and the AFC has made no secret of its dissatisfaction with some of the co-hosts.

They'd better get it right! Seems to me the AFC have a number of organisation problems.

They'll be a lot of upset football fans across Asia if this tournamnet doesn't match international standards.

The credibility of the AFC is on the line here.

What do you think can the AFC pull-off a successful tournament?

QANTAS SOCCEROOS VERSUS ARGENTINA

QANTAS SOCCEROOS VERSUS ARGENTINA RE-SCHEDULED Football Federation Australia today announced that it had agreed to the Argentinean Football Association’s request to re-schedule the international match with the Qantas Socceroos which had been confirmed for the MCG on 6 June.

“We share our fans disappointment about re-scheduling the match, but we hope that they will accept that a postponement was necessary so that we will see a full strength Argentina.” said FFA CEO Mr. Ben Buckley.

Australia only wished to play against a top Argentinean side. Argentina were unable to guarantee this so the game will take place later in the year.

The FFA states tickets will be valid for the rearrange fixture.

Australia's fixtures for 2007 AFC Asia Cup

AUSTRALIA’S 2007 AFC ASIAN CUP DRAW

Group Stage

Australia vs. Oman
Sunday 8 July 2007, 5.20pm
Rajamangala National Stadium, Bangkok

Australia vs. Iraq
Friday 13 July 2007, 5.20pm
Rajamangala National Stadium, Bangkok

Australia vs. Thailand
Monday 16 July 2007, 7.35pm
Rajamangala National Stadium, Bangkok

The football fans' dilemma

Spare a thought for the modern international football fan. In the old days you lived where you were born (mostly) and providing the borders weren't redrawn and country renamed you had your team.

England, Yugoslavia, Brazil , Potugal, Japan.

Simple, right?

Your team turned up for the World Cup and you bellow like crazy when they win a game, any game. You lost, you cried, end of story.

Now I was talking to Susanna last night. Fanatical football fan, just talks, talks and talks football.

She was born in Angola, grew up in Portugal, now an Australia citizen.

Portugal draw Angola in their World Cup group. Happy? She was distraught. She'd flown back to Portugal, like she did for Euro 2004 to watch the games with her family in Lisbon. Torn between her Uncle who is screaming for Ronaldo to take the dive, and Angola the contry of her birth. She was drained at the outcome.

If that wasn't enough the Socceroos were up next.

"I'm still hurting from the Italian game, I just had so much emotion during the World Cup. It was just so hard, and the Aussies we were robbed."

She's getting into it now and the pain is flooding back.

Maybe it was easier when the Aussies didn't qualify and we all lived where we were born!

Socceroo fans prepare for 2007 Asia Cup

Socceroo fans are starting to prepare for the 2007 Asian Cup. A banner making weekend will be held on May5/6.

Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Canberra will all have venues.

Contact Green and Gold army http://www.ggarmy.com/ if you'd like to get involved.

The Green and Gold army fan group aim to promote support of the Socceroos with passion and one voice.

2007 AFC Asian Cup tournament format

The 2007 AFC Asian Cup will follow the following format:

GROUP STAGE
The 16 finalists will be seeded and divided into four groups of four teams each during the final round draw. Each team plays each of the other teams in the same group according to a league system (three points for a win, one point for a draw, no points for a defeat). The winners and runners-up in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.

KNOCKOUT STAGE

Quarter-finals
The winners of each of the four groups will meet a runner-up from another group in the quarter-finals. All four quarter-finals will take place over one match with the winner progressing to the semi-finals. If the score is tied at the end of the regulation playing time, an extra two periods of 15 minutes each will be played. If the score is still level after extra time, the winners will be determined by kicks from the penalty mark.

Semi-finals
The four winners of the quarter-finals play the semi-finals over one match with the winners progressing to the final. As with the quarter-finals, extra-time and penalties will be utilised in the event of a draw between two sides.

Final
The winners of the semi-finals play in the final to determine the AFC Asian Cup 2007TM champions. As with the quarter-finals and semi-finals, extra-time and penalties will be utilised in the event of a draw between the two sides.

Matthew Spiranovic for the Asia Cup squad?

Matthew Spiranovic replaced Michael Beauchamp after 69 minutes in FC Nurnberg's 4-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt last night.

Spiranovic, 18,in his first season in the Bundesliga is probably the youngest Australian playing at the highest level.

Only Harry Kewell has had such top league game time at a young age.

I'm wondering if Spiranovic could be an outside bet for the Asian Cup squad.

Has any other 18 year old Australian played at a higher level?

Can he make the Asian cup squad?