Heading into Friday’s quarterfinals of the AFC Asian Cup, South Korea and Australia were widely expected to advance past underdog opponents. One brilliant long-range strike and one unforgivable error later, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are preparing to face off in next week’s semifinals.
Remember Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand? During last summer’s World Cup, he garnered global attention when denying Cristiano Ronaldo his fifth goal of the tournament with a save from the penalty spot.
Australia, the defending champion of the AFC Asian Cup, almost came undone at the group stage of the 2019 edition due to one of the most ludicrous penalty decisions you’ll ever see at a major international tournament (as you’ll soon see, VAR is obviously not in use out in the United Arab Emirates).
After suffering a shock defeat to Jordan to open group play, a 3-0 victory over Palestine on Match Day 2 had eased the pressure on the Socceroos, but a result still needed to be secured Tuesday against Syria.
Kazuyoshi Miura, the oldest player to score in soccer in a professional match, will get a chance to improve upon his Guinness World Record with the J2 League kicks off the upcoming season.
Miura signed a new deal with Yokohama FC in Japan’s second division on Thursday. King Kazu, who will turn 52 in February, has been a part of the club for nearly 15 years.
The 2019 AFC Asian Cup kicked off on Saturday, and we’ve already seen some pretty remarkable things from the United Arab Emirates — India won its first match at the competition since 1964, Jordan shocked Australia and today featured three spectacular goals from the two matches.
We’ll start with two from Saudi Arabia’s 4-0 beatdown of North Korea (who played the entire second half down a man). The second goal of the match for the Green Falcons was scored by Al-Ahli defender Mohammed Al-Fatil, who applied an instinctive backheel to a free kick for the finish.
A Japanese club going on a preseason tour of California wouldn’t usually set the pulse racing, but Vissel Kobe is no ordinary J1 League side. After signing former NYCFC striker David Villa back on Dec. 1, the Ushi (Cows) now boast a lineup that also includes former Barcelona star Andres Iniesta and German legend Lukas Podolski.
Chivas Guadalajara blew an early lead by allowing three straight goals in a loss to Kashima Antlers in the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals. Then the Japanese club ran into Real Madrid. Namely, it ran into Gareth Bale.
Back in October, Jamshedpur FC forward Gourav Mukhi bagged the equalizer in his side’s 2-2 draw with Bengaluru and was on top of the world.
With the tally, Mukhi, just 16, became the Indian Super League’s youngest-ever goal scorer.
If that wasn’t a proud enough moment for the young Indian, he was intimately congratulated by teammate Tim Cahill. The Australian legend went so far as to touch his ungodly, golden noggin to Mukhi’s forehead in a moment of respect. Presumably, he also transferred some wisdom and striker spells via the skull-to-skull contact.
Chivas Guadalajara got off to a dream start at the Club World Cup on Saturday.
Then it all fell apart. And with it, perhaps Mexico’s best chance to win the Club World Cup.
Asian champion Kashima Antlers rallied from an early deficit and held off a late charge to defeat Chivas 3-2 in the Club World Cup on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Kashima will now play Real Madrid in the semifinals on Wednesday.
On Friday, Andres Iniesta’s first season in Japan will come to a close following Vissel Kobe’s home match against Vegalta Sendai. Given Kobe’s mid-table standing, it’s certainly been a new experience for the Barcelona legend, but attendance is up 17.4 percent at the club and Iniesta has contributed two goals and three assists in 13 appearances.