2012 FIFA Club World Cup: Hiroshima kick Auckland out

Press Release

TOKYO, Japan (TheSportsNEXT) December 6, 2012: J League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima sent New Zealand’s Auckland City home early, beating the spirited part-timers 1-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2012 opener on Thursday.

The purple-clad side from Hiroshima dominated the contest, played at the Yokohama-International Stadium – site of the 2002 FIFA World Cup™ final, and set up a date with African champions Al-Ahly in three days’ time.

Sanfrecce were in no mood for caution, or to respectfully feel their opponents out in the early stages. They pushed up the field, brazenly applying heavy pressure from the opening whistle.

It took only two minutes for the hosts to carve out a shooting chance, and six minutes after that, they nearly opened the scoring. A clever back-heel out of midfield fell to 2012 J.League top-scorer Hisato Sato, who flicked on for Toshihiro Aoyama. The midfielder then forced Auckland keeper Tamati Williams into a fine diving save.

Roared on by their throngs of singing fans and noisy drummers, Sanfrecce kept pressing in search of an opener, totally dominating possession and making inroads up the right through speedy winger Mihael Mikic, a former youth international with Croatia. After 20 minutes, Yojiro Takahagi’s corner-kick careened back off the outside of the post. A follow-up shot from Koji Morisaki was dived to safety by the busy Williams.

Auckland’s game-plan was clear: keep men behind the ball, break on the occasional counter-attack, and try to use their strength and size on set-pieces. Their first shot on goal came after 25 minutes, and caused Shusaku Nishikawa little trouble.

Sanfrecce took control of the second half straight away, with Takahagi slamming a shot from distance off the post just minutes into the period. Seconds after that, Morisaki rose well at the back post to head a cross from the lively Mikic that was batted away by Williams.

The home side finally got the goal their dominance deserved, when after a stretch of heavy pressure, Aoyama collected the ball 25 yards from goal and unleashed a devilish, swirling shot with his right-foot that swung over the Auckland City keeper and into the top corner of the net – the 200th goal in FIFA Club World Cup history. It proved enough to win the day for the Japanese side, who were well deserving of the victory with a cohesive and professional display.

Hiroshima now move on to play Al-Ahly in Toyota City on 9 December, the same day that Asian champions Ulsan Hyundai of Korea Republic open their Club World Cup account against CONCACAF toppers Monterrey of Mexico.

Read More

9th FIFA Confederations Cup draw held

By Raleigh McPherson

SAO PAOLO, Brazil (TheSportsNEXT) December 1, 2012: Draw for the ninth edition of the FIFA Confderations Cup was held Saturday at the Anhembi Convention in Brazilian city of Sao Paolo.

Presented by FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, the Draw ceremony revealed who will face who in the group phase of the Festival of Champions, which takes place in Brazil on 15-30 June 2013.

Group A: Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Italy.

Group B: Spain, Uruguay, Tahiti, the next African champions

The national team coaches in the audience looked on intently as Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Brazil learned they will face Japan in the opening match of the competition, to be played on 15 June at Brasilia’s Estadio Nacional.

That game is not the only group-phase encounter we will be waiting for expectantly in the coming months. Brazil and Italy will clash in a re-run of their epic encounters in 1970 and 1982, while Spain and Uruguay, who both reached the sem-finals at South Africa 2010, will lock horns.

Meanwhile, the identity of Africa’s representatives will be revealed at the final of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations, to be played on 10 February in South Africa.

The draw also revealed the close ties that bind Brazilian culture and the sport of football. World-famous supermodel Adriana Lima and the celebrated chef Alex Atala both lent a helping hand on the stage, where they were in very good company. Stars of the calibre of Bebeto, Ronaldo, Cafu, who presented the official tournament matchball, and Marta rubbed shoulders with local personalities from the worlds of politics and entertainment. Helping the show go with a swing were musical acts Arlindo Cruz, Maria Gadu and Meninos do Morumbi, who kept the guests very well entertained.

“In this FIFA Confederations Cup, we have no less than 12 FIFA World Cup stars, so it is not a rehearsal competition, only to look at the possibilities of Brazil," said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter. "It’s an authentic Festival of Champions. I am sure Brazil will deliver a wonderful competition and will follow it up with a great FIFA World Cup.”

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff added: “Today we start the countdown for the FIFA Confederations Cup and we’re all aware that Brazil has a double responsibility in this tournament: to show off a beautiful brand of football that honours the Brazilian traditions and to accomplish another mission off the pitch, that is, to organise a tournament that’s unforgettable because of our organisation and the way we will welcome the seven national teams and their fans. Our six host cities will be ready and will show that Brazil gathers all the conditions to host the World Cup in 2014.”

The event, which ran for a little over an hour, set the perfect tone for the 2013 Festival of Champions, a tournament that will give the world’s best the chance to exhibit their skills on the very same stage that will host the FIFA World Cup™, the greatest footballing show on Earth, one year later.

The public ticket sale will start on Monday, 3 December at 12:00 CET (09:00 Brasilia Time) on FIFA.com.

Read More

FIFA MA Special Referee Course concluded

By Press Release

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012: FIFA MA Special Referees Course-2012 concluded Wednesday at Football House Lahore.

-->

Lt Col (Retd) Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi TI (M), General Secretary PFF, graced the closing ceremony as chief guest, while Wing Commander Pervaiz Saeed Mir, Director Development & Competition was also present on this occasion.

According to the press release issued here by PFF, Mr. Lodhi said on this occasion that PFF is committed to provide football referees the most advanced level theoretical, physical and practical knowledge. Mr. Lodhi further reiterated that PFF will further introduce such type of courses for our referees which will help to raise their standard at par with developed other Asian countries.

"It's now easier than ever to become a qualified football referee. By getting on the refereeing ladder, individuals have the opportunity to progress through the various FIFA Coaching qualifications while constantly enhancing their skills and knowledge”. This was stated by Mr. Mohamed Muhiseen Ariff as Referee Development Officer (RDO) from Sri Lanka who was assisted by Mr. Ganesh Manium, FIFA Physical Instructor from Singapur, Qazi Mohammad Asif and Ahmed Ali as Course Coordinator, M. Arif Siddiqui and Salah-ud- Din Awan as MA Technical Instructors.

Later, General Secretary PFF distributed certificates to Zahid Ali Khan (Karachi), Abdul Aziz (Karachi), Arslan Sharif (Karachi), Hidayat Ullah (Noushki), Dilwar Khan (Quetta), Shah Zaman (Quetta), Asad Ullah (Quetta), Khurram Shahzad (Kohat), Mohammad Ali Junior (Peshawar), Waheed Muraz (Lahore), Shafaat Habib (Rawalpindi), Rana Naseer Ahmed (Faisalabad), Rana Jehanzaib (Multan), Irshad-ul- Haq (Sheikhupura), Adnan Anjum (Okara), Majid Khan (Rawalpindi), Muzammil Hussain (Faisalabad), Shahid Hussain (Okara), Ahmed Rauf (Khanewal), Yasir Rehman (Okara) Asif Bin Younus (Lahore), Arslan Sharif Junior (Islamabad), Touqeer Aslam (Islamabad), Zubair Shahzad (Lahore), Javed Khan (Lahore), Saima Majeed (Lahore) and Fahmida Ayub (Lahore).

The main purpose of FIFA course programme is to provide member associations with technical knowledge through FIFA-run educational courses in the areas of coaching, refereeing, women’s football, futsal, beach soccer and administrative and medical matters. These courses focus not just on the technical aspects of the game, but also on its social values, as youngsters in particular should regard football as a thought of life. The principle behind FIFA's educational initiatives involves the teachers and participants passing on and exchanging know-how, experiences and information, which in turn finds its way back to the associations, instructors and other sectors of society such as the private sector, government bodies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). FIFA's programme is tailor-made to meet the member associations' requirements for education and courses.

Read More