I've noticed this as well, and I've been wondering as well. Then again, there was that one group in the AHWC where there were something like 4 goals scored in 6 games, and one team neither scored nor conceded. If this holds, maybe tinker with the formulas for the next matchday so favorites are 2-6, wildcards 1-6, normal teams 1-5 so there is more of a spread (right now, it is 2-5, 1-5, 1-4, which was, IIRC, the system in AHWC).
AH Asian Cup
- Thread starter Atreus
- Start date
I've noticed this as well, and I've been wondering as well. Then again, there was that one group in the AHWC where there were something like 4 goals scored in 6 games, and one team neither scored nor conceded. If this holds, maybe tinker with the formulas for the next matchday so favorites are 2-6, wildcards 1-6, normal teams 1-5 so there is more of a spread (right now, it is 2-5, 1-5, 1-4, which was, IIRC, the system in AHWC).
Manchuria's Title Defense Starts Poorly
Nagasaki, Japan - In Orange Stadium, Manchuria's title defense didn't go as manager Hu Yang seemed to plan. Both teams came into the game with solid, while not favorite, chances to win it all. Manchuria as the defending champions whose teams are getting old. Mysore as the young upstart team with a surprisingly many household names in the European and American leagues.
The defending champions couldn't ask for a worse start when Mysore's Vijay Kumar kicks a free kick from the center edge of the penalty box right into the right corner of the goal, not even 10 minutes have passed in the game. Goalie Hu Geming had no chance to save that goal. It was all Mysore throughout the first half as the Mysorean attack keep pounding and pounding the Manchurian defense. Chamaraja Wodeyar almost got a goal through a fast breakthrough which saw him dribbled passed defender Zi Shirong, but Hu came to the rescue. As the first half came to a close, the score was 1-0 for Mysore, it was a wonder that Mysore didn't double the lead.
In the second half, it was again all Mysore as the Manchurian defense was pounded while their offense was effectively nullified, much to the surprise of many pundits. Finally, Wodeyar got his goal with a poacher's effort when the long strike of Cyrus Wijaya hits the crossbar but Hu had already reacted, leaving the goal at the mercy of Wodeyar, in which Wodeyar delivered. Throughout the whole game Manchuria had been mostly lethargic and didn't look like the team who won the championship back in 2007. That said, Mysore had been playing superbly. Coach Khandelwal had shown himself to be a rather competent manager when he took over the team just over a year ago.
Manchuria 0-2 Mysore
Orange Stadium, Nagasaki
Manchuria
Coach: Hu Yang
4-3-3
GK: Hu Geming
DF: Zhao Jianjun (out 55')
DF: He Doyi
DF: Zhi Shirong (booked 6') (out 55')
DF: Chen Shan
MF: Pang Fu
MF: Sha Honghui
MF: Liao Qinshen
FW: Yuan Xiaowen
FW: Qu Deming (out 71')
FW: Michael Chen
Substitutions:
DF: Gao Wenchang (in 55')
DF: Pu Jing (in 55')
FW: Zhan Hongqi (in 71')
Mysore
Coach: Rajeev Khandelwal
4-3-3
GK: Hamsalekha
DF: Javagal Srinath
DF: Mysore Hiriyanna
DF: Tripura Ammani (out 46')
DF: Sabu Dastagir
MF: Mysore Manjunath
MF: Tirumakudalu Chowdiah
MF: Vijay Kumar (goal 6') (out 46')
FW: Chamaraja Wodeyar (goal 67') (booked 68')
FW: Mugur Sundar
FW: Vijay Prakash (booked 43')
Substitutions:
MF: Cyrus Wijaya (in 46')
DF: Jaggi Vasudev (in 46')
Here's another match.
AH Asian Cup 2011
Match 6: Siberia vs. Israel
Welcome one and all to the lovely Dominion of Japan and the spectacular Divine Emperor’s Stadium. My name is Zak Thavil and welcome to FootballWorld.com, your source in Canada for all global football events, news, and rumors. Today I’m covering the match between Siberia and the People’s Republic of Israel, the second match of Group C. This tournament has been marked by outstanding defense. The starting eleven for both sides are stepping onto the pitch. Let’s see the starting rosters:
Siberia:
The Green Menace play a standard 4-4-2, but they have slightly stronger defenders. During qualifying, they allowed the third fewest goals total.
GK: Ivan Kamenev (1)
DF: Sergei Kamenev (2)
DF: Hideo Nakamura (3)
DF: Alexei Smirnov (4)
DF: Leonid Kovalev (5)
MF: Grigorij Radchenko (6)
MF: Ivan Kovalev (7)
MF: Josif Kamenev (8)
MF: Konstantin Pedyn (9)
FW: Viktor Kremev (10) (Captain)
FW: Konstantin Telsdoj (11)
PR Israel
The Red Menace have a slightly more aggressive 4-3-3, but Ewells has one very strange decision in this line-up: Gal Tza’eer. This will be his first international match at any level. At the age of 20, he was noticed by the national team after his squadron football team won the national Armed Forces Championship , largely because of his dominating play in the middle of the defense. Ewells is gambling on this, but if it pays off, Israel might have found the key to advancing.
GK: Moshe Zaken (1)
DF: Yotam Maimon (9)
DF: Shalom Barak (7)
DF: Gal Tza'eer (23)
DF: Borris Alon Liberman (13) (Captain)
MF: Yitzhak Dayan (19)
MF: Yotum Aharoni (11)
MF: Guy Kortetzki (27)
FW: Oren Ya’akovi (7)
FW: Eran Ashkenazzi (34)
FW: Haim Shalem (21)
Without further ado, let the Menace Match begin!
1’: Israel begins with the ball. Ya’akovi plays the ball back to Dayan, who controls it, daring the Siberians to attack.
3’: Three minutes in, and the Israelis still have not lost control of the ball. Siberia seems content to let Israel attack, but the Red Menace haven’t done so.
4’: Throw-in Siberia, deep in Israeli territory. A missed pass by Liberman from Barak.
5’: Free kick Israel. Kremev gets called for a dive.
10’: Still a slow game. What’s now happening is that Israel dribbles up the field and lofts a pass deep. Siberia collects it and passes to the midfield, where Israel either knocks it out or reflects it.
14’: First card of the match and I disagree. Kremev drew a yellow for another dive, but Tza’eer looked like he gave him a healthy shove. The crowd is… not that excited. So far, nothing exciting has happened.
16’: Still nothing.
19’: Free kick Siberia. Shalem took down Pedyn with a savage slide. Now the crowd is perking up, because that was a very hard hit. Pedyn looks okay, but I’m not sure about Shalem.
21’: Siberia is challenging Israel. Telsdoj and Kremev are dicing the defense, but it’s two on four.
24’: Tza’eer snatches the ball off Kremev’s foot and passes it across the field up to Dayan.
25’: GOAL SIBERIA! THERE IS NO WAY! How did that work?! There is a small cluster of Siberians sitting about ten rows behind the bench and they are going crazy. I have to wait to see the replay of this.
26’: The goal: out of nowhere, Kovalev flew across the path of Tza’eer’s pass, collected the ball, popped up a pass to himself over Liberman, laid out, and redirected the shot toward the net. Somehow it had enough momentum to break the plane past Maimon and Zaken. That was heads up play, no doubts.
28’: Israel is struggling to respond. Siberia might have shaken Israel more badly than it seemed.
29’: Throw-in Siberia. Not sure who knocked that one out, but Israel is looking sloppy.
32’: The Red Menace is definitely shaken. Zaken nearly missed a basic pass back from Tza’eer.
36’: Corner Siberia. Nice deflection by Zaken, but the defense is breaking down really badly.
37’: Radchenko stepped up the ball, cranked back, and launched across the pitch, clearing everyone and giving Israel the ball back.
39’: That corner was Israel’s second wind. Siberia is on the defensive, and Nakamura looks worried.
41’: Free kick Israel. Smirnov levels Shalem with a brutal tackle. The Israelis are shouting at the referee, but he’s not budging. The referee made the right call there; Smirnov was clean. Hard-hitting, but clean.
42’: A missed chance for Israel! Ya’akovi pulled his kick at the last second, aiming for a wide-open and charging Ashkenazzi, who took the pass and one-timed it directly at the net. It just barely drifted wide left.
44’: After the goal kick, Kovalev passed the ball forward to Pedyn , who promptly was dispossessed by Dayan. Dayan dribbled up the field, looking for an opening…
45’: GOAL ISRAEL! A nice play by Dayan and Kortetzki! Kortetzki blitzed up the right side, drawing tow defenders, leaving Dayan wide open for a long pass back to Kortetzki in front of the net. Kortetzki juked out and blew past the two defenders and laid a beautiful shot into the back of the upper right of the net! An incredible display to end the first half!
HALFTIME: Siberia 1- Israel 1
46’: Quite a few substitutions at the half. Radchenko is off, in favor of Alexei Norazov. For Israel, Tza’eer and Shalem are off. Tza’eer had a decent first half, but Ewells must think that Israeli can shore up the defense. Shalem looked a bit unsteady at the end of the first half, so Kariv isn’t much of a surprise. The Siberians have the ball and we are off!
49’: And we’re back into the methodical play that the Siberians are known for. Of course, Israel isn’t really known for flashy play either.
54’: Still nothing. The passing is superb though.
55’: Goal kick Siberia. A long shot from Kariv missed the net by a few feet, but it was the closest either side has come to getting anything this half.
60’: Substitution Siberia. Telsdoj is off, in favor of Brasnev. Hopefully Brasnev can break something up.
62’: That wasn’t the break they needed. Brasnev is down after a glancing blow from Barak. J. Kamenev chopped up a ball and Brasnev lost the challenge.
63’: Brasnev is up, but Barak seems to be getting a yellow. Very surprising call here and the Israeli bench is muttering.
66’: Israel has held the ball for the past two minutes, never keeping the ball steady.
68’: Aharoni charges forward to challenge Kremev, but Brasnev trips him. Aharoni bounces up and begins shouting. The whistle blows and the captains meet with the referee. Liberman is agitated, but it doesn’t look like he’ll get anything.
69’: Another interesting call against Israel, Brasnev doesn’t get a card.
72’: Throw-in Israel. The referees broke in favor of the Israelis here. That pretty clearly clipped Maimon, but the linejudge didn’t see it apparently.
75’: Entering the last fifteen minutes, both sides are winded despite the perfect pitch and relatively slow match. Both sides have a substitution, but the Siberians seem content to hold their roster steady.
79’: Ewells signals for a substitution. Aharoni is the unlucky player coming off. Shimi Ganan gets the nod for midfield. Interesting choice by Ewells, Ganan is usually considered an inferior player to Aharoni in the offensive aspect.
81’: The game is bogging down even more at midfield with the addition of Ganan. He’s really clogging up the middle and the Siberian wings can’t outrace the Israelis.
84’: Both sides look pretty content with a solid draw. The Israelis could have used a win here, especially after Japan’s victory.
86’: The Israel midfield is pushing the Siberian defense backward. It’s not much, but I may have spoken too soon.
88’: GOAL ISRAEL! AND THERE IS THE KNIFE! Ganan had a perfect pass into the box and about four players went up for it. I can’t tell who got credit for it, but I suspect it will be Dayan. He looked to be about two inches higher than everyone else.
89’: Yes, Dayan gets credit for the goal. The Siberians can make this exciting, but they don’t have much time.
90’: The referee is stingy with the injury time, a single minute. The Siberians have stalled about 45 meters out.
90’+1’: And there we go. Game over, with a last second goal snapping the tie with less than 5 minutes to go. Dayan will be widely lauded, but Ganan gets some props from me. That was a great pass and some solid defense in the midfield at the end of the game.
FINAL SIBERIA 1- ISRAEL 2
AH Asian Cup 2011
Match 6: Siberia vs. Israel
Welcome one and all to the lovely Dominion of Japan and the spectacular Divine Emperor’s Stadium. My name is Zak Thavil and welcome to FootballWorld.com, your source in Canada for all global football events, news, and rumors. Today I’m covering the match between Siberia and the People’s Republic of Israel, the second match of Group C. This tournament has been marked by outstanding defense. The starting eleven for both sides are stepping onto the pitch. Let’s see the starting rosters:
Siberia:
The Green Menace play a standard 4-4-2, but they have slightly stronger defenders. During qualifying, they allowed the third fewest goals total.
GK: Ivan Kamenev (1)
DF: Sergei Kamenev (2)
DF: Hideo Nakamura (3)
DF: Alexei Smirnov (4)
DF: Leonid Kovalev (5)
MF: Grigorij Radchenko (6)
MF: Ivan Kovalev (7)
MF: Josif Kamenev (8)
MF: Konstantin Pedyn (9)
FW: Viktor Kremev (10) (Captain)
FW: Konstantin Telsdoj (11)
PR Israel
The Red Menace have a slightly more aggressive 4-3-3, but Ewells has one very strange decision in this line-up: Gal Tza’eer. This will be his first international match at any level. At the age of 20, he was noticed by the national team after his squadron football team won the national Armed Forces Championship , largely because of his dominating play in the middle of the defense. Ewells is gambling on this, but if it pays off, Israel might have found the key to advancing.
GK: Moshe Zaken (1)
DF: Yotam Maimon (9)
DF: Shalom Barak (7)
DF: Gal Tza'eer (23)
DF: Borris Alon Liberman (13) (Captain)
MF: Yitzhak Dayan (19)
MF: Yotum Aharoni (11)
MF: Guy Kortetzki (27)
FW: Oren Ya’akovi (7)
FW: Eran Ashkenazzi (34)
FW: Haim Shalem (21)
Without further ado, let the Menace Match begin!
1’: Israel begins with the ball. Ya’akovi plays the ball back to Dayan, who controls it, daring the Siberians to attack.
3’: Three minutes in, and the Israelis still have not lost control of the ball. Siberia seems content to let Israel attack, but the Red Menace haven’t done so.
4’: Throw-in Siberia, deep in Israeli territory. A missed pass by Liberman from Barak.
5’: Free kick Israel. Kremev gets called for a dive.
10’: Still a slow game. What’s now happening is that Israel dribbles up the field and lofts a pass deep. Siberia collects it and passes to the midfield, where Israel either knocks it out or reflects it.
14’: First card of the match and I disagree. Kremev drew a yellow for another dive, but Tza’eer looked like he gave him a healthy shove. The crowd is… not that excited. So far, nothing exciting has happened.
16’: Still nothing.
19’: Free kick Siberia. Shalem took down Pedyn with a savage slide. Now the crowd is perking up, because that was a very hard hit. Pedyn looks okay, but I’m not sure about Shalem.
21’: Siberia is challenging Israel. Telsdoj and Kremev are dicing the defense, but it’s two on four.
24’: Tza’eer snatches the ball off Kremev’s foot and passes it across the field up to Dayan.
25’: GOAL SIBERIA! THERE IS NO WAY! How did that work?! There is a small cluster of Siberians sitting about ten rows behind the bench and they are going crazy. I have to wait to see the replay of this.
26’: The goal: out of nowhere, Kovalev flew across the path of Tza’eer’s pass, collected the ball, popped up a pass to himself over Liberman, laid out, and redirected the shot toward the net. Somehow it had enough momentum to break the plane past Maimon and Zaken. That was heads up play, no doubts.
28’: Israel is struggling to respond. Siberia might have shaken Israel more badly than it seemed.
29’: Throw-in Siberia. Not sure who knocked that one out, but Israel is looking sloppy.
32’: The Red Menace is definitely shaken. Zaken nearly missed a basic pass back from Tza’eer.
36’: Corner Siberia. Nice deflection by Zaken, but the defense is breaking down really badly.
37’: Radchenko stepped up the ball, cranked back, and launched across the pitch, clearing everyone and giving Israel the ball back.
39’: That corner was Israel’s second wind. Siberia is on the defensive, and Nakamura looks worried.
41’: Free kick Israel. Smirnov levels Shalem with a brutal tackle. The Israelis are shouting at the referee, but he’s not budging. The referee made the right call there; Smirnov was clean. Hard-hitting, but clean.
42’: A missed chance for Israel! Ya’akovi pulled his kick at the last second, aiming for a wide-open and charging Ashkenazzi, who took the pass and one-timed it directly at the net. It just barely drifted wide left.
44’: After the goal kick, Kovalev passed the ball forward to Pedyn , who promptly was dispossessed by Dayan. Dayan dribbled up the field, looking for an opening…
45’: GOAL ISRAEL! A nice play by Dayan and Kortetzki! Kortetzki blitzed up the right side, drawing tow defenders, leaving Dayan wide open for a long pass back to Kortetzki in front of the net. Kortetzki juked out and blew past the two defenders and laid a beautiful shot into the back of the upper right of the net! An incredible display to end the first half!
HALFTIME: Siberia 1- Israel 1
46’: Quite a few substitutions at the half. Radchenko is off, in favor of Alexei Norazov. For Israel, Tza’eer and Shalem are off. Tza’eer had a decent first half, but Ewells must think that Israeli can shore up the defense. Shalem looked a bit unsteady at the end of the first half, so Kariv isn’t much of a surprise. The Siberians have the ball and we are off!
49’: And we’re back into the methodical play that the Siberians are known for. Of course, Israel isn’t really known for flashy play either.
54’: Still nothing. The passing is superb though.
55’: Goal kick Siberia. A long shot from Kariv missed the net by a few feet, but it was the closest either side has come to getting anything this half.
60’: Substitution Siberia. Telsdoj is off, in favor of Brasnev. Hopefully Brasnev can break something up.
62’: That wasn’t the break they needed. Brasnev is down after a glancing blow from Barak. J. Kamenev chopped up a ball and Brasnev lost the challenge.
63’: Brasnev is up, but Barak seems to be getting a yellow. Very surprising call here and the Israeli bench is muttering.
66’: Israel has held the ball for the past two minutes, never keeping the ball steady.
68’: Aharoni charges forward to challenge Kremev, but Brasnev trips him. Aharoni bounces up and begins shouting. The whistle blows and the captains meet with the referee. Liberman is agitated, but it doesn’t look like he’ll get anything.
69’: Another interesting call against Israel, Brasnev doesn’t get a card.
72’: Throw-in Israel. The referees broke in favor of the Israelis here. That pretty clearly clipped Maimon, but the linejudge didn’t see it apparently.
75’: Entering the last fifteen minutes, both sides are winded despite the perfect pitch and relatively slow match. Both sides have a substitution, but the Siberians seem content to hold their roster steady.
79’: Ewells signals for a substitution. Aharoni is the unlucky player coming off. Shimi Ganan gets the nod for midfield. Interesting choice by Ewells, Ganan is usually considered an inferior player to Aharoni in the offensive aspect.
81’: The game is bogging down even more at midfield with the addition of Ganan. He’s really clogging up the middle and the Siberian wings can’t outrace the Israelis.
84’: Both sides look pretty content with a solid draw. The Israelis could have used a win here, especially after Japan’s victory.
86’: The Israel midfield is pushing the Siberian defense backward. It’s not much, but I may have spoken too soon.
88’: GOAL ISRAEL! AND THERE IS THE KNIFE! Ganan had a perfect pass into the box and about four players went up for it. I can’t tell who got credit for it, but I suspect it will be Dayan. He looked to be about two inches higher than everyone else.
89’: Yes, Dayan gets credit for the goal. The Siberians can make this exciting, but they don’t have much time.
90’: The referee is stingy with the injury time, a single minute. The Siberians have stalled about 45 meters out.
90’+1’: And there we go. Game over, with a last second goal snapping the tie with less than 5 minutes to go. Dayan will be widely lauded, but Ganan gets some props from me. That was a great pass and some solid defense in the midfield at the end of the game.
FINAL SIBERIA 1- ISRAEL 2
Last edited:
Welcome everyone to our final game of the first round of the group stages! We have not seen a very high scoring beginning to the tournament and some more goals would be nice! And who else to score for us then Majapahit or Siam today? Here are the starting lineups for our teams;
Majapahit
GK
1. Nawir
DF
2. Mojokerto
3. Mandasawu
6. Sartika
12. Setiawan
16. Sekardadu
MF
5. Lasmawan
10. Wijaya
11. Sastrowardoyo (C)
19. Giri
FW
9. Hamengkubuwono
Siam
GK
1. Vathanak
DF
2. Phombuppha
4. Komsilp
6. Sayavutthi
MF
7. Luca
8. Kok
13. Hathairattanakoo (C)
19. Fuangprakob
FW
9. Sovann
11. Vachiraban
14. Saphan
As usual Majapahit is playing their very conservative non-attacking style, while Siam plays the polar opposite. Some key players in this game could be;
Luca: Udinese's attacking midfielder originally born in Brazil. His passing and through balls could be key for Siam and he is also not afraid to score.
Vachiraban: Siam's head poacher playing at the San Diego Earthquake is likely to wrack in quite a few goals this tournament and I won't be surprised to see him score today.
Mandasawu: Currently playing in the Java-Majapahit league, it is likely that this big man in the centre back will hold the Java team together. However, hopefully he can keep his aggression under control.
So now that we have seen a couple of the main players of this game let's get this started;
1' Majapahit kick off, ball being passed around in the back for a bit, nothing huge.
4' Majapahit have had most of the posession. The game currently looks like this; Majapahit's defence attempts to play the ball over Siam's defence to Hamengkubuwono who is either offside or else the ball sails to Vathanak who receives the ball gratefully.
6' Majapahit have been tackling hard.
8' Sakardadu throws his weight around. Lucky for him no card is given, but he should be more careful now.
9' Luca's free kick from a distance sails wide. Poor kick.
12' Siam have begun putting the pressure on. Shot count; Siam: 4, Majapahit: 1.
14' Great, but risky tackling from Majapahit.
20' Majapahit hold on to the ball in the midfield for a little bit, but soon let go of the ball.
21' Sovann can't get around the Majapahit defense, get's fed up and shoots. Of course it is well over the bar.
24' BOOKING To Sartika for an awful slide tackle on Kok.
25' Luca takes the free kick, and it slams off of the closer post. All of Majapahit heaves a huge sigh of relief.
26' Off the corner, Vachiraban heads it off the crossbar and it comes down to a lucky keeper.
30' This game is all Siam now.
38' BOOKING Mojokerto comes flying into Luca at the halfway mark.
40' The ball is played to a rushing Sayayutthi who crosses it for Vachiraban who chests it down to his foot. The left footer shot sails well wide.
41' A huge Nawir goal kick frees Hamengkubuwono on a breakaway! But Vathanak conmes up huge diving to his right! Beautiful save.
45' Two minutes injury time.
Half Time: Nerve wracking for the Majapahit fans I'm sure, and Siam will likely be disappointed that they have not seen a goal go their way so far.
46' Siam take a shot off the kick off. It doesn't reach the net; the coach shrugs and his face says; “What the hell are you up to?”
49' Siam get the ball back after a brief attack from Majapahit.
50' Nice shot from Luca, curls wide.
53' BOOKING Midfielder this time; Wijaya throws an awful one at Siam. Sensless.
54' SENT OFF!!! Mandasawu goes flying into a rushing Vachiraban! Ugly tackle and it is inside the box to boot! Penalty kick for Siam! Luca to take.
55' GOAL! Luca, coolly plays the ball by Nawir on his left. Simple goal from him.
56' I'm sure all of Majapahit hates Mandasawu right now. That was horrible tackling.
57' SUBSTITUTION Sartika will be replaced by Mangku Pastika. The big number 4 balances out the playing field and Majapahit switch to a 4-4-1 in light of Mandasawu being sent off.
60' More attacking from Siam. Shots are coming in left right and center.
63' GOAL! Luca plays the ball through a slumbering Majapahit backline and it hits Vachiraban who turns and shoots. Vathanak parries the ball, but only as far as Saphan who is in the right place at the right time.
64' 2-0 Siam and Majapahit is very sad...
67' SUBSTITUTION Patih replaces Wijaya, likely because of the yellow.
71' BOOKING Giri gets sloppy and puts his foot into Fuangprakob's chest. Could have been red.
74' SUBSTITUTION Sindok goes on for Setiawan. Majapahit switches to a 3-4-2. Looking to pull a goal or two back.
80' Boring.
82' Sindok may have brightened things up. His shot (The first on target) for Majapahit hits the keeper and bounces wide.
86' Siam is pushing for a third. Hathairattanakoo's shot barely misses.
89' Gonna say it's game over for Majapahit.
90' Five minutes on top.
Game over! Well done Siam! And Majapahit really needs to step it up and the discipline MUST improve! Looking forward to more!
Majapahit
GK
1. Nawir
DF
2. Mojokerto
3. Mandasawu
6. Sartika
12. Setiawan
16. Sekardadu
MF
5. Lasmawan
10. Wijaya
11. Sastrowardoyo (C)
19. Giri
FW
9. Hamengkubuwono
Siam
GK
1. Vathanak
DF
2. Phombuppha
4. Komsilp
6. Sayavutthi
MF
7. Luca
8. Kok
13. Hathairattanakoo (C)
19. Fuangprakob
FW
9. Sovann
11. Vachiraban
14. Saphan
As usual Majapahit is playing their very conservative non-attacking style, while Siam plays the polar opposite. Some key players in this game could be;
Luca: Udinese's attacking midfielder originally born in Brazil. His passing and through balls could be key for Siam and he is also not afraid to score.
Vachiraban: Siam's head poacher playing at the San Diego Earthquake is likely to wrack in quite a few goals this tournament and I won't be surprised to see him score today.
Mandasawu: Currently playing in the Java-Majapahit league, it is likely that this big man in the centre back will hold the Java team together. However, hopefully he can keep his aggression under control.
So now that we have seen a couple of the main players of this game let's get this started;
1' Majapahit kick off, ball being passed around in the back for a bit, nothing huge.
4' Majapahit have had most of the posession. The game currently looks like this; Majapahit's defence attempts to play the ball over Siam's defence to Hamengkubuwono who is either offside or else the ball sails to Vathanak who receives the ball gratefully.
6' Majapahit have been tackling hard.
8' Sakardadu throws his weight around. Lucky for him no card is given, but he should be more careful now.
9' Luca's free kick from a distance sails wide. Poor kick.
12' Siam have begun putting the pressure on. Shot count; Siam: 4, Majapahit: 1.
14' Great, but risky tackling from Majapahit.
20' Majapahit hold on to the ball in the midfield for a little bit, but soon let go of the ball.
21' Sovann can't get around the Majapahit defense, get's fed up and shoots. Of course it is well over the bar.
24' BOOKING To Sartika for an awful slide tackle on Kok.
25' Luca takes the free kick, and it slams off of the closer post. All of Majapahit heaves a huge sigh of relief.
26' Off the corner, Vachiraban heads it off the crossbar and it comes down to a lucky keeper.
30' This game is all Siam now.
38' BOOKING Mojokerto comes flying into Luca at the halfway mark.
40' The ball is played to a rushing Sayayutthi who crosses it for Vachiraban who chests it down to his foot. The left footer shot sails well wide.
41' A huge Nawir goal kick frees Hamengkubuwono on a breakaway! But Vathanak conmes up huge diving to his right! Beautiful save.
45' Two minutes injury time.
Half Time: Nerve wracking for the Majapahit fans I'm sure, and Siam will likely be disappointed that they have not seen a goal go their way so far.
46' Siam take a shot off the kick off. It doesn't reach the net; the coach shrugs and his face says; “What the hell are you up to?”
49' Siam get the ball back after a brief attack from Majapahit.
50' Nice shot from Luca, curls wide.
53' BOOKING Midfielder this time; Wijaya throws an awful one at Siam. Sensless.
54' SENT OFF!!! Mandasawu goes flying into a rushing Vachiraban! Ugly tackle and it is inside the box to boot! Penalty kick for Siam! Luca to take.
55' GOAL! Luca, coolly plays the ball by Nawir on his left. Simple goal from him.
56' I'm sure all of Majapahit hates Mandasawu right now. That was horrible tackling.
57' SUBSTITUTION Sartika will be replaced by Mangku Pastika. The big number 4 balances out the playing field and Majapahit switch to a 4-4-1 in light of Mandasawu being sent off.
60' More attacking from Siam. Shots are coming in left right and center.
63' GOAL! Luca plays the ball through a slumbering Majapahit backline and it hits Vachiraban who turns and shoots. Vathanak parries the ball, but only as far as Saphan who is in the right place at the right time.
64' 2-0 Siam and Majapahit is very sad...
67' SUBSTITUTION Patih replaces Wijaya, likely because of the yellow.
71' BOOKING Giri gets sloppy and puts his foot into Fuangprakob's chest. Could have been red.
74' SUBSTITUTION Sindok goes on for Setiawan. Majapahit switches to a 3-4-2. Looking to pull a goal or two back.
80' Boring.
82' Sindok may have brightened things up. His shot (The first on target) for Majapahit hits the keeper and bounces wide.
86' Siam is pushing for a third. Hathairattanakoo's shot barely misses.
89' Gonna say it's game over for Majapahit.
90' Five minutes on top.
Game over! Well done Siam! And Majapahit really needs to step it up and the discipline MUST improve! Looking forward to more!
I believe you meant Nawir, the Majapahit goalie, Vathanak is the Siam goalie.
Anyways, with match day 1 over, here's the tournament's scorer's list so far:
1 goal:
Yitzhak Dayan (Israel)
Guy Kortetzki (Israel)
Toshihiko Tanaka (Japan)
Lee Chung-Yong (Korea)
Oh Nam-Il (Korea)
Vijay Kumar (Mysore)
Chamaraja Wodeyar (Mysore)
Ivan Kovalev (Siberia)
Luca (Siam)
Khieu Saphan (Siam)
Robert Cullen (Taiwan)
Hassan Bojan (TCU)
Said Rezaei (Timurids)
Aidan Murphy (West Australia)
Oleg Mostovoi (Yenisei)
As of the Siam-Majapahit match, no one has yet to score more than 1 goal. The tournament so far is also a relatively low scoring affair, with 15 goals in 8 matches, less than 2 goals per game.
Alright, so who wants to claim for the next round? I'll claim for one I suppose. Either one is fine with me, though I'd prefer the one involving Java.
BUMP! I'll take the Group A matches to start up the second part of the Group Stage.
Rather necro-ey indeed.
I would assume we will do a version for the 2012 Euro tournament in Poland/Ukraine in July. It worked brilliantly for the World cup then sadly didn't for the Asian Cup. It's probably a bit early to start planning right now but we would have to have a look at what worked, what didn't and try and replicate the earlier success.
I think there were two big problems that I remember, without going all the way through the thread again; one fundamental that less people just care about the Asian Cup in general: the World cup one had a good following because it was riding the hype from the real one. Hopefully the Euros should replicate some of that. Secondly from what I remember, because I was quite involved in it, we spent way too long deciding things like host country that didn’t matter that much. The system was in place and shown to work with the AHWC, so that should have done well again if it was not for the first point. But that is what I remember, I'm sure we will analise it more to see what to do and what not to do again.
Anyway, come back in 5 months and we should be getting ready for AHEuro2012!