Super-rich Manchester City feel 'invincible' as £200m Abu Dhabi takeover is completed

The much-heralded new era at Manchester City will formally begin when Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates minister of presidential affairs and leader of the Abu Dhabi United Group, completes his £200 million takeover. Click to continue reading...

New coach Mundari Karya has rang the changes to the Under 16 squad that recently underperformed at the ASEAN Championships here in Jakarta as he perpares his side for the upcoming AFC Under 16 Championships to be held in Uzbekistan next month.

A series of friendlies have also been prepared to get the side ready for a tough competition where they have been drawn with India, South Korea and Syria

06/09 v PS Urakan
11/09 v Persija Under 21
13/09 v Pelita Jaya
17/09 v United Arab Emirates Click to continue reading...

The Telegraph is on top of the Manchester City takeover story, and their new majority shareholder Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The Telegraph reports that Al-Fahim's father was the first president and principal architect of the United Arab Emirates, and that Al-Fahim himself, still a young man at 31, is a high roller in the UAE:

-He's a member of Abu Dhabi United Group which is part of the world's second largest instituitonal investor, behind the Bank of Japan - They have deep, deep pockets from oil revenue. Click to continue reading...

I've been away from the blog for a bit too long. That's life.

So today, Day One of a little project I'm going to undertake, where I post on the blog for 31 straight days. So dear reader, stick with me.

Today's big news, besides the ongoing transfer talk and the huge acquisition of Manchester City by a United Arab Emirates business group concerns the accusation of match-fixing at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Click to continue reading...

The inaugural CONCACAF Champions League begins this week, with eight Preliminary Round first-leg matchups taking place August 26-28. Twenty-four teams will battle it out between now and April 2009 to decide who will be crowned the first-ever CONCACAF Champions League champion and receive the honor of representing North America at next year's Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Click to continue reading...

It was bound to happen eventually: Diego Simeone could no longer stand Ariel Ortega's alcoholic problem and finally decided to seperate him from the team. After another incident this weekend, the ex-Estudiantes coach chose to have a long chat with Jose Maria Aguilar to decide where the idol's future would be, and it most definitely wasn't in Nuñez. Click to continue reading...

Ariel Ortega agreed with the River Plate board on Tuesday to go out on loan for a season to Mendoza club Independiente Rivadavia, of Primera B Nacional. Ortega turned down the chance to move to the United Arab Emirates to play a season for Al Mir Sports due to the distance from his family and [...] Click to continue reading...

They are all groups of death.

Group 1 Australia Japan Uzbekistan Bahrain Qatar

In the last round, Qatar beat Iraq and Bahrain beat Japan. Finishing top two will be a mean feat and even top 3 commendable (for the playoff v New Zealand (or other Oceania?). Japan v Australia is always going to be close. Click to continue reading...

The final round of Asian World Cup qualifying has been set. The round will last from September 2008 through June 2009. Group One: Group Two: Bahrain Iran Japan Saudi Arabia Australia North Korea Uzbekistan South Korea Qatar United Arab Emirates... Click to continue reading...

If there was a sense of inevitability ahead of the draw for the final round of World Cup qualifying in Asia, neither Japan coach Takeshi Okada, nor Australia coach Pim Verbeek let it show.
Both reacted casually when Japan and Australia were drawn together in Group A, along with Middle-Eastern sides Qatar and Bahrain and potential dark horses Uzbekistan. Click to continue reading...

Group: Australia, Japan, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Bahrain. Schedule: Uzbekistan (A), Qatar (H), Bahrain (A), Japan (A), Uzbekistan (H), Qatar (A), Bahrain (H), Japan (H) Other Group: Korea Republic, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and United Arab Emirates. Australia hasn't been handed an easy draw but it also isn't the hardest group possible either. Click to continue reading...

The younger Jan Versleijen, thank god he's Dutch!

FFA have announced the appointment of the new AIS Coach Jan Versleijen and four "young" coaching scholarship worth $25,000 per year for three years for Alistair Edwards, Paul Okon, Alex Tobin and Nicola Williams. Full release below.

SYDNEY
24 June 2008

Three former Socceroos, including two Socceroos captains, and a former national women's league player have been named today as the recipients of the inaugural Elite Coach Development Scholarships by Football Federation Australia (FFA), simultaneously with the announcement of 53 year old Jan Versleijen as the new Australian Institute of Sport (AIS)/Qantas Young Socceroos Head Coach. Click to continue reading...

Another crucial match in a competitive group in this live online and radio commentary World Cup 2010 qualifier between UAE and Syria live as both teams have their fates hanging on the edge with different permutations possible. THe hosts have to make sure they do not lose this live online streaming match or they will be on the early flight home in terms of having to qualify for the World Cup in 2010. Click to continue reading...

Ali Karimi, formerly of Bayern Munich and one of Asia's top players, was suspended from the Iranian national team in mid-May after criticizing the Iranian Football Federation (IFF). With the team struggling to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, however, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a big soccer fan in addition to being a global firebrand, intervened and got the IFF to lift the suspension. Click to continue reading...

The United Arab Emirates has won the Asian Zone qualifiers for the 2007 World Cup Beach Soccer with a 4-3 win over Japan in the final of the series played at Mamzar Beach in Dubai. Iran finished third with a crushing 6-0 win over defending Asian champion Bahrain. UAE, Japan and Iran now will particiapte in the World Cup to be held 2-11 November in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Click to continue reading...

Six sides split into two groups will clash over five days at the Al Mamzar Beach in the 2007 World Cup Beach Soccer qualifiers for the Asian Zone tomorrow. The teams are hosts UAE, Gulf champions Bahrain, Japan, China, Iran and debutants India. "The two finalists and the winners of the third-place match will be the Asian Zone representatives at the finals to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Click to continue reading...

The United Arab Emirates Football Association will be forced to make changes in the fixtures of the new season due to the new schedule of the World Cup qualifiers in October and the Arab Champions League next month. After the FA sent the new season UAE League and President's Cup programs to the clubs, they "came suddenly" upon the Asian Football Confederation draw for Asia's World Cup qualifiers Click to continue reading...

The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) reportedly lodged its first official protest to the Asian Football Confederation's appointment of a referee from the United Arab Emirates to its game against Saudi Arabia before the game started but got no reply. "We asked them not to use a Middle Eastern referee,'' PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid said in a press release. Click to continue reading...

United Arab Emirates struck in stoppage time through Faisal Khalil to beat Qatar 2-1 in the final game of AFC Asian Cup Group B and denied their fellow Gulf state with a place in the quarter-finals. Qatar had looked to be on their way into the last eight striker Sebastian Quintana converted a penalty three minutes before halftime. UAE went on the attack after the interval and were rewarded on 59 Click to continue reading...

The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) has reportedly filed a letter of protest with the Asian Football Confederation complaining of poor refereeing as Indonesia lost 1-2 to Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup match on Saturday night. Elshinta radio station quoted Indonesian referee Jimmy Napitupulu that PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid decided to send the letter of protest after President Susilo Click to continue reading...

Japan had a convincing 3-1 victory over United Arab Emirates in their AFC Asian Cup Group B match in Hanoi. Striker Naohiro Takahara scored twice. Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura added a third goal from the penalty spot four minutes before halftime. The Gulf Cup holders managed a consolation goal in the 66th minute through Saeed Al Kaas. "It was so hot that it was hard to play. Click to continue reading...

Co-hosts Vietnam shocked the Asian football world with a 2-0 win over the United Arab Emirates in their Asian Cup Group B opener in Hanoi. Second-half goals from Huynh Quang Thanh and Le Cong Vinh sparked wild celebrations for Vietnam, who are making their first appearance in the finals since the former Republic of Vietnam competed in the 1960 tournament. Click to continue reading...