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OT: Association Football Mk:2 - The Ultras Edition

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Obscene Assassin

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Hopefully this means more businesses get involved to get a bigger Parra stadium. Hope the Eels can have a big year next year and attract an average of 20k to Parra so that this is getting more attention.
 

Gronk

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Well done to the Westies. Though that the reffing was a joke however. Maybe 2 penalties should been given to the arabs. Anyway you make your own luck.

LOL at the little angry merkin at the end. Well done to all for not hitting him on the chin.

Meanwhile SFC are on top of the 2014/15 comp.
 

Suitman

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Extraordinary turnout at the airport this evening.

B1hA5iDCYAAjf5J.jpg
 

Suitman

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You'd have to say the Wanderers are the best thing that ever happened to Australian football.

If you are talking about Australian domestic football, then I'd say yes. I'd also rate the introduction of the A League the same.
Internationally, the WC Qualifier win against Uruguay probably wins that gong.

Meanwhile.........

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/...-asian-coach-of-the-year-20141103-11g8ko.html



Western Sydney Wanderers' Tony Popovic favourite to win Asian coach of the year Date November 3, 2014 - 7:05PM
  • 1415004292742.jpg

Leader of champions: Tony Popovic receives the hero treatment from his players after winning the ACL. Photo: AP
Fresh from guiding Western Sydney Wanderers to glory in the Asian Champions League, Tony Popovic may be about to cap the most dramatic rise by a coach in Australian sport should he be named as the Asian Football Confederation's coach of the year.
The Wanderers are also a chance to claim a unique double ? goalkeeper Ante Covic's extraordinary tournament has catapulted the 39-year old into contention for the Asian player of the year award.
Popovic is the raging hot favourite to take out the title, which will be announced at a special edition of the AFC Awards night in Manila, the original home of Asian football's governing body, on November 30, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the confederation's commencement.
If he takes out the gong, he will become the first Australian football coach to be honoured with an international award of this magnitude.
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South Korean and Japanese coaches have dominated the award since it was first handed out in 1994. Overall, the Koreans have produced six winners, two more than Japan. Globally known victors include Philippe Troussier (who coached Japan in 2000) and then-South Korean boss Guus Hiddink for his deeds with the South Korean national team in 2002.
However, winning the Asian Champions League is hardly a magic ticket to claiming the award. Last year, Guangzhou Evergrande's World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi was overlooked in favour of FC Seoul boss Choi Yong-Soo.
Ulsan Hyundai coach Kim Ho-Gon claimed the top prize in the previous year as his team emerged victors, but one must go back to 2008 to find a similar instance, when Gamba Osaka boss Akira Nishino took the honours. Before then, most awards were given out on the strength of national rather than club-based performances.
However, with Asian teams flopping at the World Cup, with none (including Australia) managing to make it out of the group stages, the winner appears more likely to come from one of the clubs.
The governing body is also keen to reinforce the value of the Champions League, and may look favourably upon the fairytale run of the Wanderers as reason enough to give Popovic the nod. In becoming champions, they had to see off the reigning victors of Japan (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) and China (Guangzhou Evergrande), and the 2012 Korean champions (FC Seoul) just to make the final against Saudi Arabian giants and two-time Asian champions Al-Hilal.
Al-Hilal boss Laurențiu Reghecampf might have seen his side dominate the Wanderers both home and away in the continental decider but the failure to come away with the trophy, and the fact that he joined the side only in late May, are likely to count against him.
If Popovic is to be usurped, however, it may well be by Norio Sasaki, who could become the award's first two-time winner for his exploits with Japan's women's national team.
Sasaki was named Asian coach of the year in 2011 for taking Japan to the World Cup title and backed it up this year by leading Nadeshiko Japan to glory in the Asian Cup in May, where they went through the tournament unbeaten before defeating Australia 1-0 in the final.
The bolter for the trophy would be Spaniard Felix Sanchez, coach of Qatar's all-conquering under-20 side ? a generation being prepared for when Qatar hosts the World Cup in 2022 ? who shocked the region by winning the AFC under-19 championships in Myanmar.
Covic may well a longer shot than Popovic to walk away with silverware, but the veteran goalkeeper's incredible displays are likely to earn him a recall for the Socceroos' tilt at January's Asian Cup.
Covic still only has two international caps to his name, largely due to the presence of Mark Schwarzer in the past two decades.



 

Suitman

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Just on a side note........did anyone notice that as all the Al Hilal players were awarded their medals, as they walked off stage, they took them off from around their necks?
They were too humiliated to even believe they were runners up.
No wonder the rest of the football supporting Saudi's hate this club. More bling and arrogance than ESFC.
 

Twizzle

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lol.

The wife of the arrogant prick Al Hilal coach is having kittens over the result on Twitter!!!!!

https://twitter.com/ANAMARIAPRODAN1

I have to say though, she is not far wrong.

Listening to some of the player interviews they seem a bit "disillusioned" in that they "outplayed" their opposition and "deserved" to win.

They we clearly gifted the game by the ref. Not taking away anything they did to get there but with a proper neutral ref they lose that game.

But that's football. Good luck to them.
 

Poupou Escobar

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I didn't watch either game but from the footage I have seen the Saudis looked much better than any A-League club. They were very f**king sharp.

Anyway that's one of the great things about football. The better side often doesn't win. It's very exciting.
 

Poupou Escobar

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I would. That's not to say that the better side often loses but there are plenty of draws and it would be silly to say that the two sides were evenly matched that often. Quite often the better side splits points with the lesser side, as we saw in Riyadh.

Anyway that's football.
 

fish eel

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They would have with a neutral ref.

What? From open play?

Yeah, we were lucky with the penalty shouts on the weekend, but how does a different ref suddenly make them better finishers? A different ref didn't help them at Parramatta, and it was only late in that match they genuinely threatened in goal.

I'd also say, if they got the penalties there's no guarantee they'd win.

Say they got that one just before half time & Covic doesn't save it.

That changes the game. Juric and Saba both come on earlier and WSW push forward more. With WSW effectively only needing one goal, the whole context of the match changes if the Saudis went ahead.
 

Twizzle

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What? From open play?

Yeah, we were lucky with the penalty shouts on the weekend, but how does a different ref suddenly make them better finishers? A different ref didn't help them at Parramatta, and it was only late in that match they genuinely threatened in goal.

I'd also say, if they got the penalties there's no guarantee they'd win.

Say they got that one just before half time & Covic doesn't save it.

That changes the game. Juric and Saba both come on earlier and WSW push forward more. With WSW effectively only needing one goal, the whole context of the match changes if the Saudis went ahead.

Covic should have been red carded and spot kick given in my view, 1 zip to the Saudis

Dont get me wrong, I was on the WSW but I also thought there was a few blatant one sided calls from the ref, the other 2 may not have affected the score board
 
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