Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: The draw for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers - Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1 took place at the AFC House in the Malaysian capital on Wednesday.
Seeded teams Malaysia, Cambodia, Macau, Laos, Bhutan and Mongolia were handed challenging fixtures for a place in the next qualifying round.
Mongolia, who edged Timor-Leste in the previous edition to earn their place in the second round, will face a Brunei Darussalam side who were defeated 3-1 on aggregate by Chinese Taipei in the 2018 Qualifiers.
The match-up between Macau and Sri Lanka will be a rematch of their 2016 AFC Solidarity tie, where both teams settled for a 1-1 draw with Macau going on to top the group and finish runners-up behind eventual winners Nepal.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hanoi: Park Hang-seo has had an exciting and successful journey since becoming the Vietnam head coach as the reigning Southeast Asian champions have scaled great heights.
Vietnam - be it their U23 squad or the national team - have captured the imagination of the Continent with swashbuckling performances that have brought great dividends.
Park - rightly so - has been credited for the great work he has accomplished with the 2018 AFF Cup champions and the Korea Republic native shares his thoughts and vision for Vietnam with the-AFC.com.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA) has appointed Mixu Paatelainen from Finland as head coach of the national team.
In announcing the appointment, HKFA said former Finland head coach Paatelainen, 52, will lead Hong Kong's campaign in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and the 2019 EAFF Cup in Korea Republic this December.
Among the clubs Paatelainen, a striker, played for were Scottish sides Hibernian, Dundee United and Aberdeen as well as England's Bolton Wanderers and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Republic of Iran moved up one spot to 21st in the latest FIFA Ranking released on Thursday.
Asia's top 10 remained unchanged from February's rankings, with Japan, Korea Republic and Australia climbing one rung to 26th, 37th and 41st respectively.
Qatar and United Arab Emirates remained at 55th and 67th respectively.
Saudi Arabia and China PR both dropped two rungs to 72nd and 74th to stay as Asia's top seven and eight ranked teams.
Iraq, who earned victories over Syria and Jordan during the international break, moved up four spots to 76th, with the Qasioun Eagles rounding up the top 10 at 83rd.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Moscow: Islamic Republic of Iran striker Sardar Azmoun scored another brace for his new club as high-flying Zenit Saint Petersburg came from a goal down to beat Orenburg 3-1, maintaining a six-point lead in the Russian Premier League on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Azmoun, who joined Zenit from Rubin Kazan in February, also scored twice in their Europa League win over Fenerbahce and bagged a winner in the Russian league against Yekaterinburg.
The win keeps Zenit six points clear of defending champions Lokomotiv Moscow, who edged city rivals Dynamo 1-0 on Saturday.
Krasnodar, who thrashed Anzhi Makhachkala 5-0, sit third, also on 38 points.
Azmoun's club form augurs well for Iran ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers which will kick off later this year.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Korea Republic made it two wins out of as many matches with a 2-1 triumph over Colombia while Japan bounced back from defeat to see off Bolivia 1-0 in international friendly matches on Tuesday.
Both teams will savour the wins as they start their buildup for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers which kick off later this year.
KOREA REPUBLIC 2-1 COLOMBIA
Seoul: Korea Republic edged Colombia 2-1 as captain Son Heung-min ended his international scoring drought at eight matches.
Son's first-half strike and Lee Jae-sung's tie-breaking goal in the second half before a sellout crowd of over 64,000 at Seoul World Cup Stadium gave 38th-ranked South Korea, who defeated Bolivia 1-0 last week, their second straight win over No 12 Colombia.
Luis Diaz had the lone goal for Colombia, whose strong push for an equaliser was foiled by the heroics of goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Nanning: Uruguay retained the China Cup after beating Thailand 4-0 in the final, while a first half goal from Eldor Shomurodov saw Uzbekistan secure a 1-0 win over China PR to finish third on Monday.
THAILAND 0-4 URUGUAY
Thailand had to concede to Uruguay's superiority as the South Americans took the lead just six minutes into the tie with Matias Vecino Falero rising high to head home the ball.
Thailand did their best but Uruguay doubled their advantage seven minutes before the break, when a defensive lapse allowed an unmarked Gaston Pereiro to direct Cristhian Stuani's pass from the left flank into the goalmouth.