Asia 1

We are now officially Asian - in football terms!


On 1 January 2006 Australia officially joined the Asian Football Confederation as the 46th member. In doing so we left the small pond that was Oceania and are swimming in much bigger waters - with the AFC being the largest confederation and having growing world influence.

The impact on our game will (over time) be profound, and more immediately will make for much more competitive competition, most times, for our senior and age teams.

For administrative, and some limited competition purposes, Australia has become the 13th nation in the ASEAN grouping of Associations. [See the listing and links at bottom of this page].

In 2006 we proved ourselves at senior level on the world stage in men's and women's football but our male age teams faltered at Asian hurdles and could not advance from Asia. This is both the competitive environement and the 'wake-up'call our youth development needed. BOTN hopes that FFA can make the changes necessary. The appointment of a Technical Director in Rob Baan is one.

During 2007 there will be new challenges, both for men's and women's national teams and also the first HAL clubs to participate in Asia - Adelaide United FC and Sydney FC - for the Asian Champions League.

Senior Men (Socceroos)

Asian Cup 2007:


Reports:

Australia vs Kuwait Qualifier Report

September 2006 Qualifier Reports - Kuwait vs Australia, Singapore vs China

The final of the Asian Cup tournament of nations will be held from Saturday 7th July to Sunday 29th July 2007 in four nations, as hosts - Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. The top two teams from the six groups drawn will go to that twelve-team tournament.

The draw for the groups was held on Wednesday 4 January 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with each of the six groups being made up of one team from each of the 'pots'.

    The 4 pots were:-
    Pot A (seeds 1-6)
    1. Japan, 2. China, 3. Iran, 4. Bahrain, 5. Uzbekistan, 6 Jordan.
    Pot B (seeds 7-12)
    2. 7. South Korea , 8. Iraq, 9. Oman, 10. Kuwait, 11. Saudi Arabia, 12. Qatar.
    Pot C (seeds 13-18)
    3. 13. UAE, 14. Yemen, 15. Syria, 16. Lebanon, 17. Singapore, 18. Hong Kong
    Pot D (seeds 19-24)
    4. 19. Palestine, 20. Sri Lanka (now replaced by Pakistan), 21. Chinese Taipei (aka Taiwan), 22. Bangladesh, 23. India, 24, Australia

Being new to the Confederation, and thus seeded 24th and in the lowest pot for the draw, Australia will face the top seed of Bahrain (from Pot A) in its group away, when qualifying kicks off on Wednesday February 22, 2006, and then from August a series of home and away games commencing with Lebanon at home on 1 September 2006.

The full Group D fixture list is at: Asian Cup Group D fixtures

The full Group D is: 1. Bahrain, 2. Kuwait, 3. Lebanon, and 4. Australia

It could be said to be the Group of Death with Bahrain favourites and Kuwait a tough game. Some would say the GOD can also be placed on Group 8, with 1. Iran, 2. South Korea, 3. Syria, and 4. Taiwan. Japan is in Group A, whilst China is in Group F.

Full 6 Asian Cup groups

World Cup:

Australia ed Oceania in Germany 2006, as the winner of the play-off between the Oceania winner and 5th placed South American, Uruguay. Getting to the second round only to fall to a last moment Italian penalty was a defining moment in our football history. In the future we will have to qualify through the Asian group and play-off scenarios - it will provide some solid challenges - for that we will have to wait!

Women Matildas

Men's - Olympics Olyroos

Qantas Under 23s path to Beijing

Round 1 (Qualification Round)
20 nations contest knock-out home and away
Australia v Chinese Taipei
February 7 & 14

Round 2 (Qualification Round) 24 nations in six groups of four, home and away. First and second in each group qualify for next round

Australia's group Group D: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Kyrgyzstan, Australia or Chinese Taipei

Remaining Groups Group A: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore or Pakistan
Group B: Japan, Malaysia, Syria, Hong Kong or Bangladesh
Group C: Oman, Lebanon, Vietnam or Afghanistan, Indonesia or Maldives
Group E: Iraq, DPR Korea, Turkmenistan or Thailand, Myanmar or India
Group F: Korea Republic, UAE, Uzbekistan or Tajikistan, Yemen or Palestine

Round 2 Match dates - February 28, March 14, March 28, April 18, May 16, June 6

Round 3 (Final Round) 12 nations in three groups of four, home and away. First in each group qualifies for 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Round 3 Match dates - August 22, September 8, September 12, October 17, November 17, November 21

Women's Olympics Matildas

Qantas Matildas path to Beijing (China)

Round 1 (Qualification Round)
12 nations in a 3 groups of four in a centralized venue. First and second in each group qualify for next round.

Australia's group
Group C: Chinese Taipei, Australia, Myanmar, Uzbekistan

Remaining groups
Group A: Korea Republic, Hong Kong, Jordan, India
Group B: Thailand, Maldives, Singapore, Vietnam

Round 1 Match dates - February 17-25

Round 2 (Final Round)
Japan and DPR Korea seeded into the final round. Two groups of four, home and away matches. First nation in each group qualifies for 2008 Beijing Olympics (China).

Group A: Japan, Winner B, Runner up A, Runner up B
Group B: DPR Korea, Winner A, Winner C, Runner up C

Round 2 Match Dates - April 7, April 15, June 3, June 10, August 4, August 12

Under 20 Men (Young Socceroos)

Australia is in Group G (Central & South, Zone 2) in the 2006 U20 qualifying round, competing against Turkmenistan and hots Sri Lanka, with all matches to be played in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo from 22 February. The winner of the group will progress to the final stage of the AFC U-20 Championship to be played in October/November 2006 in India.

Australia's U20 Group

Under 17 Men (Joeys)

Reports on Under 17 Championship in Singapore

Australia was in Group I (ASEAN, Group 3) in the 2006 U17 qualifying round, competing against Indonesia, and the host nation Laos, with all matches to be played in the Laotian capital of Vientiane City from 7 February. The winner of the group progresses to the final stage of the AFC U-17 Championship to be played in Singapore in September 2006. Australia was knocked out, and Laos was disqualified.

Australia' U17 Group

Under 19 Women (Young Matildas)

The Qantas Young Matildas qualified for the eight-nation Asian Championship following victories over Thailand and Myanmar earlier this month and have been drawn into Group B alongside China, Jordan and host-nation Malaysia. Group A contains Korea Republic, DPR Korea, Japan and India.

The top two teams in each group to progress to the semi finals with the two finalists, plus the winner of the 3rd place match, to qualify for the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship.

The squad will be in camp in Canberra from April 1 before departing for Malaysia four days later.

AFC U19 Women’s Championship - Malaysia

Clubs (A-League) - ACL

BOTN feature reports: Sydney FC 2 - Urawa Red Diamonds 2 ; Sydney FC 3 - Persik Kediri 0

The Asian Champions League will, from 2007, contain Australian teams, however none were included in the 16-team competition for 2006 due to numbers, the timing of our move, and the A-League timing.

The fourth edition of Asia's premier club competition kicks off on March 7 and concludes on May 23. The competition then takes a pause for the AFC Asian Cup 2007 (July 7-29).

The home-and-away quarterfinals are slated for September 19 and 26 while the semi-finals will be held on October 3 and 24. The two-legged Final is scheduled for November 7 and November 14.

*AFC Champions League 2007 - Groups*

*Group A: *
A1: Al Arabi (Kuwait), A2: Al Wahda (UAE), A3: Al Rayyan (Qatar), A4: Al Zawra (Iraq)

*Group B:*
B1: Pakhtakor (Uzbekistan), B2: Kuwait Sports Club (Kuwait), B3: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), B4: Esteghlal (Iran)

*Group C:*
C1: Al Karameh (Syria), C2: Neftchi (Uzbekistan), C3: Al Najaf (Iraq), C4: Al Sadd (Qatar)

*Group D:*
D1: Al Ain (UAE), D2: Al Ittihad (Syria), D3: Sepahan (Iran), D4: Al Shabab (Saudi Arabia)

*Group E:*
E1: Urawa Reds (Japan), E2: Sydney FC (Australia), E3: Shanghai Shenhua (China), E4: Persik Kediri (Indonesia)

*Group F:*
F1: Bangkok University (Thailand), F2: Kawasaki Frontale (Japan), F3: Arema Malang (Indonesia), F4: Chunnam Dragons (Korea Republic)

*Group G:*
G1: Adelaide United (Australia), G2: Dong Tam Long An (Vietnam), G3: Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (Korea Republic), G4: Shandong Luneng (China)

AFC Champions League 2006 Champions - Jeonbuk Motors (Korea Republic)

*AFC Champions League 2007 - Match Day Schedule*

Match Day 1 - Wed 7 March 2007: Adelaide United VS Shandong Luneng, Shanghai Shenhua VS Sydney FC
Match Day 2 - Wed 21 March 2007: Doh Tam Lon Ahn VS Adelaide United, Sydney FC vs Urawa Red Diamonds
Match Day 3 - Wed 11 April 2007: Adelaide United VS Seongnam Ilhwa, Persik VS Sydney FC
Match Day 4 - Wed 25 April 2007: Seongnam Ilhwa VS Adelaide United, Sydney FC vs Persik
Match Day 5 - Wed 9 May 2007: Shandong Luneng VS Adelaide United, Sydney FC vs Shanghai Shenhua
Match Day 6 - Wed 23 May 2007: Adelaide United VS Doh Tam Lon Ahn, Urawa Red Diamonds vs Sydney FC
(Only Top Team in group goes through)

Match Day 7: 19 September 2007 (Quarter-Final 1st Leg), Match Day 8: 26 September 2007 (Quarter-Final 2nd Leg)

Match Day 9: 3 October 2007 (Semi-Final 1st Leg), Match Day 10: 24 October 2007 (Semi-Final 2nd Leg)

Match Day 11: 7 November 2007 (Final 1st Leg), Match Day 12: 14 November 2007 (Final 2nd Leg)

* All Matches to be played on Wednesday nights

For more information please go to http://www.afcchampionsleague.com

The ASEAN sub-grouping

Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand Timor Leste, Vietnam

Reports on Asean Championship 2007


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