An inappropriate relationship

Asian Football Feast's Korean correspondent, Seungmin Lee, looks at the recent history between South Korea and Iran ahead of tonight's crucial AFC Asian Cup quarter final.

Park Ji-sung scores against Iran

It’s Iran again.

For South Korea, Iran is the team who always kill off the dream of winning the Asian Cup. When the final whistle went to signal South Korea’s 4-1 win over India, you could hear a big sigh from Korean football fans. Not because the result was underwhelming, but because it meant they will again face Iran at quarter final stage – for the fifth time in a row.

Since 1996, South Korea and Iran have developed a fierce rivalry like no other in Asian Cup. The very first meeting of two teams concluded with Iran registering a 6-2 smashing, causing South Korean gaffer Park Jong-hwan to resign.

Four years later, South Koreans exacted revenge against Iran by beating them 2-1. Lee Dong-guk scored the golden goal, which was the common rule adopted by competitions at that stage.

But, South Korea’s Iranian nightmare wasn’t over. In 2004, Iran enjoyed a thrilling 4-3 win against South Korea courtesy of an Ali Karimi hat-trick.

In the latest installment between the two teams, South Korea won via a penalty shootout, with Mehdi Mahdavikia and Rasoul Khatibi’s attempts denied by Lee Woon-jae, eliminating Iran from the tournament.

Regardless of the results, neither South Korea and Iran went on to win their next mach. Coincidentally, they finished in third place each time.

With both teams regarded as a strong contender for the title, the match will be an enthralling affair.

The games between the two nations are usually close affairs and according to the record, it seems like Iran’s turn this time. Fans in Korea are really looking forward to the match and as they say in Football - anything is possible.

  

Australia and Bahrain set for a David vs Goliath battle

Australia and Bahrain do battle in a
previous World Cup Qualifier

On paper it’s a David vs. Goliath battle between two nations with starkly contrasting football landscapes.

The stats alone highlight the gulf between the two nations.

On one hand, a nation of over 20 million with well over a million registered football players and a fully professional football league.

On the other, a nation of just 700,000 with only 4000 registered players and a semi-professional football league.

On paper it should be an easy victory for Australia, but as the saying goes – they play on grass, not paper.

And that is something Australia knows only too well from their last experience in Manama in November 2008.

Australia was comprehensively outplayed, and were it not for the wayward shooting of Jaycee John, would have been humbled by the tiny Gulf nation. As it were a Mark Bresciano strike in the 90th minute saved Australia’s blushes.

It’s an experience and a game that sticks in the mind of all Australians and one that will be recounted numerous times over in the lead-up to tonight’s clash.

It should be an experience that reminds the Socceroos that Bahrain are not to be taken lightly – afterall this is the team that has come agonisingly close to qualifying for the last two FIFA World Cup’s, falling at the last hurdle on both occasions.

They are a good side.

But they have had an unstable last few months, with Josef Hickersberger deserting his post as national team coach after just three months, with Salman Sharida taking over just months before the start of the Asian Cup.

And they come into this game missing a number of key players.

Faouzi Aaish, who has caused problems for Australia in the past, is suspended after picking up a stupid red card late in the game against India.

Hussain Salman, a regular in previous squads, wasn’t selected in the 23-man squad due to injury, as was captain Mohammed Salmeen.

It is a situation that will test the depth of the Bahrainis.



Jaycee John takes on Luke Wilkshire



Australia cannot afford to be complacent though, especially with the dangerous Jaycee John and the four-goal hero from their clash with India, Ismail Abdullatif, still in the line-up.

Australia has shown has a tendency so far to go direct, and with the aerial threat of Tim Cahill in the side, it is perhaps an understandable tactic.

And they would have taken comfort from the fact that Bahrain conceded their first goal to India from a set piece.

A free kick, taken from near the half way line, was whipped into the box and Yadav Abhishek out-jumped the Bahrain defence and headed the ball back across goal where Gouramangi Singh, who trialed for Melbourne Heart in the pre-season, was left free to tap in India’s first goal of the tournament.

If Bahrain allow Australia that much room in the box, they’ll eventually feel the wrath of a strike force containing a red-hot Cahill and Harry Kewell.

Australia also come into this game with players under a injury cloud, with Jason Culina and Luke Wilkshire ruled out and David Carney facing a late fitness test.

It has the potential to expose Australia’s weaknesses, espcially given the lack of cover for Wilkshire and Carney, the only recognised right and left backs in the squad. It is an area that Bahrain will look to exploit if in fact Carney doesn’t get up, although it is looking increasingly likely that he will.

The stage is set, the stakes are high; all that remains to be seen is who will emerge victorious.

David or Goliath?

 

Korea Republic need to find the 'missing link'

In his first article for Asian Football Feast, Seungmin Lee looks at the missing link for Korea Republic - a proven goal scorer.



Park Chu-young was ruled out of the Asian Cup



It was just before the Asian Cup started when Korea’s star striker Park Chu-young got injured. All the Korean national press was worrying about who can replace him.

While beating Bahrain 2-1 and drawing with Australia 1-all are positive results for Korea Republic, there was something that was missing.

Given their dominance in those games, the scorelines should have been better. All of their three goals have come from just one player - Jeju United midfielder Koo Ja-cheol.

Cho Gwang-rae, the gaffer, is well known for his Arsenal-ish pass and move style football.

One of the tactic’s mechanisms is while forwards are distracting defenders and creating spaces behind the defensive line, midfielders are penetrating into the spaces and putting the ball into the net. Arsene Wenger had decent strikers who could put the ball in the net - Thierry Henry, Emmanuel Adebayor and Eduardo Da Silva were the players who had played the role.

For Korea, Cho couldn’t find any player better than Park Chu-young.

Currently, Ji Dong-won holds that place and has put in good performances so far, but without scoring goals. As was mentioned above, Korea Republic under Cho Gwang-rae, does not play the style of Football that provides great opportunities for strikers to score.

But, at the same time, it doesn’t mean that Ji hasn’t had his chances. There were some chances and he blew up when he had to shoot fast.

Yoo Byoung-soo, the top scorer of K-League, has proved he is not that prolific when playing in Cho’s strategy. He came on late against Australia, but was not that threatening while Koo scored again.

It was a disappointing performance for any 22-goal-a-season player, even though it was the first action he had seen so far in the tournament.

Together with this, they haven’t scored any goal from set-pieces. At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Korea Republic progressed to the last 16 thanks to goals from set-pieces, but this time around they haven’t scored any.

There are still players in the side who contributed Korea’s WC Campaign, like Ki Sung-yueng and Lee Jeong-soo, why aren’t they able to get on the scoresheet like before?

Against India, a huge win is expected but nobody knows how many goals Korea Republic can score. India scored two goals against Bahrain, proving they are capable of minimizing the goal difference.

If Australia wins against Bahrain, Korea will need to score plenty of goals to qualify top of Group C and play the second placed team of Group D, avoiding one of the toughest opponent in this competition - Iran.

Scoring goals, the ‘missing link’ for Korea Republic, is decisive in the quest to bring the trophy back to the Korean peninsula.

 

Introducing Seungmin Lee - our new Korean expert

Seungmin Lee kissing the ACL trophy

Asian Football Feast is delighted to welcome our latest contributor, Korean football fan Seungmin Lee.

Lee, 25, is a mad keen Football fan with his two biggest loves being current AFC Champions League champions Seongnam Ilhwa and the Korean national team.

From the South Korean capital of Seoul, Lee has previously written for the Korean versions of Football Weekly and Goal.com. His knowledge of Korean football be an asset to Asian Football Feast.

Lee lists attending the 2010 AFC Champions League final in Tokyo, where Seongnam defeated Zob Ahan of Iran, as his greatest Football memory. He can be seen in the photo to the right kissing the trophy in celebration.

Lee will write a couple of articles per month focusing on Football in Korea, which will no doubt make for fantastic reading.

Like a lot of Football fans, Lee is on twitter and you can follow him @celtickorea.

  

Australia and Korea set for epic showdown

Sasa Ognenovski came under fire from
Korean coach Cho Kwang-Rae
Picture: Fox Sports

It’s by far the biggest game in the group stages of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup and the result will go a long way to determining the hopes of both nations.

Australia vs Korea Republic wouldn’t look out of place as a final, and it could very well end the case if results fall the right way.

The mind games started as soon as the final whistle blew in their respective first matches. Australia, through Lucas Neill, was quick to assume the underdog status – a position it thrives in.

Korea Republic, on the other hand, were what Australia had been accused of in 2007 – brash, arrogant and full of bravado. Their coach, Cho Kwang-Rae, said he was confident his side could defeat Australia and planned to target what he saw as a weakness in the Australian side – their slow central defensive pairing of Lucas Neill and Sasa Ognenovski.

"When it comes to the mobility of the players, our strikers are bit better than the Australian central defence," Cho said.

"(When) I was in charge of Gyeongnam, I intentionally put fast forwards in to make it difficult for Sasa.

"In these games I learnt Sasa had problems with quick forwards and I could make use of it."

It was a stinging comment given the Ognenovski was last year crowned AFC Player of the Year after a standout season as Captain of AFC Champions League winners Seongnam.

Australia has considered Ognenovski’s knowledge one of it’s greatest strengths going into it’s clash with the Koreans. But conversely, is the Korean’s knowledge of Ognenovski also a strength for them?

The battle between Koo Ja-Cheol, Korea’s two goal hero in the first game, and Ognenovski will be enthralling and could go some way to deciding the outcome of the game.

Korea Republic Coach Cho Kwang-Rae

If Ognenovski’s pace, or lack thereof, is considered a weakness by Cho, then one can only imagine what he thinks of Australia’s left-hand side.

David Carney, admittedly a more natural left-midfielder, has struggled for Australia in recent times, no doubt due to his lack of game time for Blackpool, and looked well off the pace for Australia against India.

He will come under attack from Cha Du-Ri, Korea’s right back who loves to get forward and help out his attack. It’s an area that Australia will need to tighten up considerably if they are to prevent attack after attack coming down the right.

Equally as fascinating as the battle on the pitch, will be the battle off it.

Despite claims by Lucas Neill that the winner of this game will top the group, it’s not quite that simple.

In fact amazingly, Australia could win the game and still not finish in the top two. The presence of whipping boys India makes the group wide open given that it is effectively a guaranteed three points for Australia, Korea and Bahrain.

If Australia is to beat Korea 1-0, but lose to Bahrain in the final game, it needs to hope that Bahrain and Korea don’t give a hiding to India as goal difference will then come into the equation.

If Bahrain and Korea both score 5 or 6 against India, a distinct possibility, an Australian loss to Bahrain would mean they would finish third on goal difference.

It’s a scenario that will have many scratching their head if it eventuates.

But before then, there is the small matter of Australia vs Korea Republic to contend with and as the first six days of this AFC Asian Cup have shown, anything can happen.

Bring it on.

 

Share the love for 2015 AFC Asian Cup

ANZ Stadium in Sydney will host the Final

In light of Australia’s confirmation as host of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, and the reaction to the non-inclusion of Adelaide and Perth in Australia’s bid, I have revised my plan of 2-3 years ago for what I believe would be an all inclusive Asian Cup.

Logistically it may cause some issues for some nations and The AFC, however it would ensure that all major markets (i.e. those with an A-League side) have the chance to host the largest Football tournament in Asia and one of the largest in the world.

I have used the 2011 AFC Asian Cup groups and dates as a guide.

Here is my proposal:

Group A

Cities: Melbourne & Sydney (one game in Brisbane so that Australia play in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane at least once)

Australia

Bahrain

India

Korea Republic

Australia vs India – Etihad Stadium – 7th January

Bahrain vs Korea Republic – Sydney Football Stadium – 8th January

Australia vs Korea Republic – ANZ Stadium – 12th January

India vs Bahrain – AAMI Park – 12th January

Australia vs Bahrain – Suncorp Stadium – 16th January

Korea Republic vs India – Sydney Football Stadium – 16th January

Group B

Cities: Adelaide and Perth

China

Uzbekistan

Kuwait

Qatar

Qatar vs Uzbekistan – Hindmarsh Stadium – 9th January

Kuwait vs China – nib Stadium – 9th January

China vs Qatar – Hindmarsh Stadium – 13th January

Uzbekistan vs Kuwait – nib Stadium – 13th January

Qatar vs Kuwait – Hindmarsh Stadium – 17th January

China vs Uzbekistan – nib Stadium – 17th January

Group C

Cities: Gosford and Newcastle

DPR Korea

Iran

Iraq

UAE

DPR Korea vs UAE – Bluetongue Stadium – 10th January

Iran vs Iraq – EnergyAustralia Stadium – 10th January

Iran vs DPR Korea – EnergyAustralia Stadium – 14th January

UAE vs Iraq – Bluetongue Stadium – 14th January

Iraq vs DPR Korea – Bluetongue Stadium – 18th January

UAE vs Iran – EnergyAustralia Stadium – 18th January

Group D

Cities: Brisbane and Gold Coast (one game in Melb to compensate for Group A game involving Australia being played in Brisbane)

Japan

Jordan

Saudi Arabia

Syria

Japan vs Jordan – Suncorp Stadium – 11th January

Saudi Arabia vs Syria – Skilled Park – 11th January

Jordan vs Saudi Arabia – Suncorp Stadium – 15th January

Syria vs Japan – Skilled Park – 15th January

Saudi Arabia vs Japan – Melbourne Rectangular Stadium – 19th January

Jordan vs Syria – Skilled Park – 19th January

At this stage of the tournament, the tournament becomes an "East Coast" event to minimise the effects of travel and due to the fact that neither Perth or Adelaide have a stadium suitable of hosting a QF or better.

Quarter Finals

Uzbekistan vs Korea Republic – Suncorp Stadium – 21st January

Australia vs China – ANZ Stadium – 21st January

Iran vs Saudi Arabia – Skilled Park – 22nd January

Japan vs Iraq – AAMI Park – 22nd January

Semi Finals

Australia vs Japan – Etihad Stadium – 25th January

Korea Republic vs Saudi Arabia – Sydney Football Stadium – 25th January

Third Place Playoff

Japan vs Saudi Arabia – Suncorp Stadium – 28th January

Final

Australia vs Korea Republic – ANZ Stadium – 29th January

Matches per Stadium

Sydney Football Stadium - 3

ANZ Stadium - 3

AAMI Park - 3

Etihad Stadium - 2

Suncorp Stadium - 5

Skilled Park - 4

Hindmarsh Stadium - 3

nib Stadium - 3

EnergyAustralia Stadium - 3

Bluetongue Stadium – 3

Matches per City

Sydney – 6

Melbourne – 5

Brisbane – 5

Gold Coast – 4

Adelaide – 3

Perth – 3

Gosford – 3

Newcastle – 3

2011 AFC Asian Cup Prediction

Trying to predict the results before any event is always fraught with danger.

There are so many variables that can come into play during the event – form, weather, injuries and just plain old luck.

Even the most knowledgeable struggle to get it right, but nonetheless I am going to give it a shot.

So, without any long introduction, here are my predictions for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

GROUP A (winners in bold)

Qatar – Uzbekistan

Kuwait – China

Uzbekistan – Kuwait

China – Qatar

Qatar – Kuwait

China – Uzbekistan

Standings

Uzbekistan 6

China 4

Kuwait 4

Qatar 3

GROUP B

Japan – Jordan

Saudi Arabia – Syria

Jordan – Saudi Arabia

Syria – Japan

Saudi Arabia – Japan

Jordan – Syria

Standings

Japan 9

Saudi Arabia 6

Jordan 3

Syria 0

GROUP C

India – Australia

Korea Republic – Bahrain

Australia – Korea Republic

Bahrain – India

Korea Republic – India

Australia – Bahrain

Standings

Korea Republic 7

Australia 7

Bahrain 3

India 0

GROUP D

DPR Korea – UAE

Iraq – Iran

Iran – DPR Korea

UAE – Iraq

Iraq – DPR Korea

UAE - Iran

Standings

Iran 7

Iraq 4

DPR Korea 3

UAE 1

QUARTER FINALS

Japan – China

Uzbekistan – Saudi Arabia

Korea Republic – Iraq

Iran – Australia (AET)

SEMI-FINALS

Saudi Arabia – Australia

Japan – Korea Republic

FINAL

Australia - Japan

So there we have it, Japan will win their third AFC Asian Cup from their last four attempts and Australia will fall at the last hurdle.

Now, let's sit back and watch as absolutely nothing like the above actually happens!

BRING IT ON!!

 

Embrace Asia before taking on the world

Australia will be named as host of the
2015 AFC Asian Cup in just 21 days time

It won’t capture the imagination as much as the FIFA World Cup Bid Announcement, in fact there probably wont even be a live announcement on TV and it will only get a passing mention on news bulletins, if it all, but in just 21 days time Australia will be confirmed as the host of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

After the disappointment of missing out on 2022 in humiliating circumstances, most people will skoff and say “big deal”, but it is exactly that. It is a big deal.

Some say we were naïve in going for 2022 and that we needed to prove ourselves as a Football nation. The 2015 AFC Asian Cup provides us with an opportunity to do just that, but perhaps more importantly it will give us a chance to prove we’re an Asian nation.

Despite rising coverage, Australian’s still largely ignore Asian Football and disregard it as ‘second-rate’. Australia went into the 2007 AFC Asian Cup with largely that attitude. It was presumed we would waltz in and win it at our first attempt without a worry in the world.

We were quickly, and rightly, given a rude shock.

What 2015 will do is showcase the best Asian Football has to offer to this largely uneducated audience. It will, hopefully, break down barriers, remove stereotypes and allow Australia to embrace Asian Football.

It will, hopefully, also allow Asia to embrace Australia.

There is still apprehension to Australia joining the AFC from some quarters. We’re not viewed as an Asian nation. Even Mohammed Bin Hammam, the AFC President who played a large part in Australia being accepted into The AFC, still doesn’t really view Australia as an “Asian” nation, as evidenced by his recent comments.



Frank Lowy & Ben Buckley present Australia's bid for the
2015 AFC Asian Cup to Mohammed Bin Hammam



When asked by respected Asian Football journalist, John Duerden, whether he would give his vote to another Asian nation in the event Qatar were knocked out of the bidding to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Bin Hammam replied, “You are considering Australia as an Asian country?”

That answer says so much about Australia’s standing within The AFC.

Australia’s integration into Asia will take years, perhaps decades, before we’re really considered to be a true part of The AFC. We’re one of the only nations within The AFC that I am aware of that doesn’t compete in it’s own regional Football tournament – the AFF Cup (also known as the Suzuki Cup).

Getting full membership of the ASEAN Football Federation and having a team participate in the biennial AFF Cup must be close to top of the agenda for the FFA. It is important politically as well as being important for our football development.

We need our Football powerbrokers to take up key positions within Asian Football and we need to regularly have a member of the AFC Executive Committee.

Talk of Australia needing a seat on the FIFA Exco are massively premature, especially when we’re so weak politically in our own region. Let’s first “conquer” Asia before we think about conquering the world.

And that is what the 2015 AFC Asian Cup will help us achieve. By no means will we have “conquered” Asia by simply hosting the tournament, but we will have gone a long way to improving our standing within the region and our acceptance as an Asian nation – both here and abroad.

That is why hosting the 2015 AFC Asian Cup is a big deal.

 

Victory require a change in attitude towards Asia

For the third time in four years Melbourne Victory will participate in the showpiece Football tournament of our region – the AFC Champions League.

Expectations were high heading into the Victory’s first campaign, and the club approached the campaign with much excitement and expectation and the fans came out in force for their first taste of Champions League football.

On the whole, it was a respectable effort by the Victory, finishing second in Group G behind eventual champions Gamba Osaka. At that stage, AFC Champions League rules meant only the top team from each group advanced to the Quarter Finals.

The Victory may only have won the two games, but they showed respect for the competition and averaged a healthy crowd of 19,023 across their three home games.

The 2010 campaign could not have been any more different.

The Victory, unlike their 2008 campaign, were in the middle of a A-League finals campaign and faced a schedule that demanded a lot of the players.

But the attitude was different; this time around the club viewed the AFC Champions League almost as a distraction, and the excuses were rolled out from before the group stage even began. Victory admitted defeat before they even started.

And it showed in the results.

A 1-0 loss away to Beijing Guoan was by no means a horror start, and it could have been so much different had Victory converted one of numerous golden opportunities in the final few minutes.

A loss at home to Seongnam, who again like Gamba in 2008 went on to become eventual champions, was compounded by an embarrassing 0-4 loss away to Kawasaki.

The Victory’s only win of the campaign would come against Kawasaki in Melbourne, with Kevin Muscat converting a relatively soft penalty. But for large parts of the game the Victory were under attack and had Mitch Langerak to thank for keeping them in the game.

The club’s pathetic attitude rubbed off on the fans, with an average gate of only 6768. In fact the aggregate gate across all three games (20,304) is only just higher than the average of their 2008 campaign.

The attitude of the Victory was expressed by captain Kevin Muscat after the final home game against Beijing.

"To be honest, playing in Asia, is not all that enjoyable," he told Fox Sports.

"People going down left, right and centre, stalling for time, it's not that enjoyable playing in the Champions League,” he added.

"I think it's evident for people to see. Being involved in it and watching it I can understand why people don't come and watch. People going down... it just seems that authorities can't take control."

It was an embarrassing outburst and one not forgotten by most Victory fans who are now demanding that Muscat not take part in the upcoming campaign given his obvious dislike for the tournament. His shaky form and susceptibility to the quick, crisp movement of the east Asian teams is another factor.

That brings us to 2011.

The official draw for the 2011 AFC Champions League was conducted in Kuala Lumpur last night and the Victory, who qualified as runner-up of the A-League, will, in a strange twist, face the runner-up from the J.League, K-League and Chinese Super League – Gamba Osaka, Jeju United and Tianjin TEDA.

Victory and Gamba Osaka have history, dating back to the 2008 campaign. The two teams played out a thrilling contest at Docklands, with Lucas netting an 89th minute winner for the Osaka outfit.

The Brazilian won’t be back to trouble the Victory this time around, with Gamba confirming that the Brazilian will be cut loose at the end of their current campaign.

But in Takashi Usami and Shoki Hirai they have two young and dangerous strikers, and if a play for Deznan Radoncic, currently at this year’s ACL winners Seongnam, comes to fruition they’ll posses a strike force that strike fear into the Victory’s defence.

In another little quirk, two of Victory’s opponents (Gamba Osaka and Tianjin TEDA) are from cities that have a Sister City relationship with Melbourne.

The draw hasn’t been easy to Victory, but it hasn’t been bad to them either. They won’t face the champion team from Japan, Korea or China as they have in previous seasons.

But all that will be academic unless there is a drastic change in attitude.

Sure, the AFC Champions League may only be in its infancy is a truly professional competition, but to show the disrespect towards the competition that the Victory did last year sends a bad message to the rest of the Asian football fraternity.

With the first game, a tricky trip to Osaka, just over two months away it remains to be seen how Victory will approach this year’s competition.

 

Where to from here for Australia?

It’s taken a few days, mostly spent moping around, to get over the massive disappointment of Australia missing out on hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Not only disappointment, but humiliation at being bundled out in the first round with one solitary vote.

But that cannot change, it is what it is, and we must learn from it and get back to growing Football in Australia.

In some ways, it is a blessing that we missed out on the World Cup. It has highlighted areas in the game that need massive amounts of work, and perhaps had we been successful these areas may have received the “papering over the cracks” treatment rather than a full re-plastering.

Not only that, but now the FFA has no World Cup distractions taking away from the A-League and grassroots here in Australia.

In the long run this will be better for Football.

FFA Chairman, Frank Lowy, and FFA CEO, Ben Buckley, will face the media today at a press conference in Sydney. The focus – the future of Football is bright.

Of that there is no question, whether the FFA in its current state is best equipped to make the most of it is another question.

Let’s have a look at some of the big issues, in no particular order, facing the game.



Ben Buckley - his time is up!



1.      Management & Leadership

The most simple question – where the hell is it? Ben Buckley came to the FFA with a big reputation having just secured the AFL a record breaking $780m TV rights deal. But his record at the FFA has been far from impressive. Here are just some of his failures:

• Pim Verbeek – Despite what some claim, Pim as a Manager was fantastic for Australia. We achieved great results and easily qualified for the World Cup. Whilst I don’t agree with many that Pim continually bagged the A-League, the perception that he did was allowed to continue without any major rebuttal from head office. No one got on the front foot to defend the game from attack after attack and it has suffered greatly.

• A-League Expansion – This was something that was supposed to grow the A-League. After four successful seasons of growth, the A-League was ready to take the next step and expand, thus growing the sport in Australia. Instead it has been one major, major stuff-up. Gold Coast had an owner that turned their community off the club before a ball had even been kicked (that’s assuming the community actually knew the club existed) and half way through the first season Nth Queensland lost crucial investors and Don Matheson pulled the pin after just one season. There are so many issues I could go on, and on, and on, and on. But needless to say Buckley has well and truly butchered the expansion. That’s without mentioning Sydney Rovers.

With his contract up in just a matter of days, surely the FFA cannot give the man a new contract after the last four years. It’s time for a fresh face to inject some life back into the FFA and most importantly they need to be a face for the game. We continually see Andrew Demetriou, David Gallop, James Sutherland out in the media promoting the game, yet we see nothing from Buckley or new Head of A-League, Lyall Gorman.

2.      Promotion

Apparently there is this Football competition in Australia known as the A-League! Know anything about it? Unless you’re a Football tragic or take an interest in the game, you probably don’t. The A-League was launched with a blaze of sexy, slick advertising which has now all but disappeared.

I cannot remember the last time I saw an A-League advertisement on television (free to air). The fact is the WC Bid consumed so much of the FFA’s time, effort and money the A-League was badly neglected and its obvious that it has suffered badly.

To their credit the FFA at least seem to be trying to find ways to fix it, conducting an across-the-board strategic review of the A-League and engaging the fans and media to discuss ways to growing and promoting the game.

The A-League this season has been by far the best quality, yet the crowds and interest are declining. It doesn’t make sense.

3.      North Queensland Fury

The Fury cannot be allowed to just wither away and die



I beg the FFA – do not let the Fury die. It would be a massive, massive mistake to let the club representing a massive region of Australia just die off. The club is working bloody hard to find a solution to their ownership crisis and believe they have the right framework to move forward. They just need a little help over the next 12-18 months.

The outcry from the community says it all – this club means something to the people up there. You cannot put a price on that. The FFA want the local community to show their commitment by putting their hard earned on the line and turning up to games. But how do they expect people to form a connection and relationship with the club when the place is a revolving door of players and backroom staff.

The Football community up in North Queensland is strong and has produced a number of quality players – think Steve Corica and Michael Thwaite just to name two. It also has a strong aboriginal community and can do crucial work in developing football amongst the indigenous population.

The club has so much potential, we know how mad North Queenslanders are about their sport, just give them some time to get their house in order.

Not everything is doom & gloom though. The introduction of an FFA Cup is a positive step, provided they get the format correct; the nationwide competition review will hopefully lead to a better “second tier” of Football in Australia and the review of the A-League should lead to some promising initiatives.

Together with that with on-field action in the A-League has been taken to another level and will hopefully only get better, we’re starting to attract better quality imports (Broich, Solorzano, Flores, Hernandez etc), we’re a month away from being confirmed as the host for the 2015 Asian Cup and our junior teams and women’s team will play in their respective World Cup’s next year.

The FFA are right, the future is bright, but unless changes are made they wont be in a position to make the most of it.

The ball is in your court FFA – what are you going to do with it?