Qatar wrap up Asian Cup preparation with win

Qatar defeated Team Wellington in a friendly match in wild conditions at the Australian Institute of Sport to conclude their warm-up for Qatar's Asian Cup campaign on Monday, which opens against the United Arab Emirates at Canberra Stadium on Sunday.

The match against ASB Premiership leaders was tough and keenly contested, exactly what coach Djamel Belmadi wanted to test his team.

Qatar scored early goals and a disallowed Team Wellington goal meant the Gulf Cup of Nations champions led 2-0 at halftime. First was Ibrahim Majed’s glancing header that beat Michael O'Keefe following a free kick from Hassan Haydos.

The second goal by Meshaal Abdullah showed how strong and confident the Al Ahli striker been recently. He received a through pass from Khalfan Ibrahim and moved on his stride into the box, staving off the challenge of Team Wellington skipper to roll the ball past the hapless custodian O'Keefe.

The Matt Calcott-coached side then dominated for periods before conceding a third goal with 15 minutes to play. Boualem Khoukhi registered his name on the scoresheet with a side foot tap in after scored the third with a tap in after a teammate dispossess an opponent to lay a pass for the Al Arabi forward to score in the last 15 minutes of the encounter.

Australia wallops Uzbekistan 6-0

The Socceroos qualified for the AFC Asian Cup final with a massive six unreplied goals past hapless Uzbekistan at the Khalifa Stadium on Tuesday to book a date with three time champion Japan on January 29th. Two goals in the first half and another four in the second half recorded the highest score in the ongoing AFC Asian Cup.

Addressing a post-match conference, Australia coach, Holger Osieck said, "We had a brilliant, fantastic show."

"Its a holiday today in Australia, its the right present to the Australian public," said Holger.

Reacting if the scoreline was as expected, Holger said, " That's unreal, yes we wanted to win but not this score."

Uzbek coach, Vadim Abramov said after the match, "Am sorry for the fans, its a big loss and we made too many mistakes."

The goals started pouring when Galatasaray of Turkey striker Harry Kewell opened the score-sheet in the fifth minute when exchanges of passes between him and Cahill released him to unleash a left shot to register his third of the tournament and his 16th international goal for country.

Asian Player of the year 2010, Sasa Ognenovski registered the second goal in the 35th minute.
David Carney made amends for his first chance when he second Australia's third goal in the 65th minute when he collected a through pass from Matt Mckay. Brett Emerton with just twelve minutes on the pitch scored the fourth goal in the 74th minute when a clever passed squared him inside the box to tap in to beat helpless Juraev.

Valeri completed the rout as a pass from Mckay releases him to shot for goal in the 82nd minute, and a minute later, Melbourne Victory striker Robbie made it six for the Socceroos in the 83rd minute.

A game largely full of chances in the first fifteen minutes also saw the Uzbek side creating one, when Ulugbek Bakaev dribbled his way into the Aussie defense and was hacked down by Luke Wilkshere, which attracted a yellow card and a free-kick.
Maksim Shatskikh curled a free-kick beyond Mark Schwarzer's far post before Australia almost grabbed a second goal on the half-hour mark when Carney intercepted a pass just inside his own half and the left-back burst forward down the wing but as he tried to chip Juraev the keeper got a hand to the ball before Uzbekistan cleared.

Australia doubled its lead and Carney was again involved. The defender's floated free-kick from the left was knocked down by Tim Cahill among a crowd of Uzbek bodies and Ognenovski was fastest to react to the loose ball to rifle home from seven yards as Australia went in at the break with a two-goal lead.

Carney scored the third goal when he dribbled from the left-side of the box and he slipped a finish under the body of the advancing Temur Juraev.

Uzbek hero in the quarterfinal match Ulugbek Bakaev got his second yellow card and the marching order after his reckless tackle on Luke Wilkshere in the 67th minute to open more spaces for the rampaging Australians to add another in the 74th minute when Wilkshire's long ball caught out the Uzbek defence and Kruse squared for Brett Emerton to slide into the empty net.

The Socceroos were running rampant and Juraev produced a safe from Kruse's shot from inside the box and the the striker had time and space to release McKay, who cut the ball back for the midfielder to score from a yard out.

Kruse added a sixth after his tame shot beat the deflated Juraev; and he got encomiums from his coach for his brilliant effort.

"Kruse is a young player and i gave him the opportunity to play for a longer period, he always does a great job in training."

"I encouraged him to go for it and he made some passes for goal for his teammate," said Holger.

Japan's Kagawa dismantles Qatar in a 3-2 victory

It was drama as 10 man Japan defeated Qatar 3-2 in the first quarterfinal match of the AFC Asian Cup at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Friday.

The 89th minute goal by Inoha cancelled Qatar's leadf after Sebastien Soria opened score in the 12th minute.

Japan got the needed equaliser after a decent play Okazaki released Kagawa to level-up in the 28th minute.
Japan's Yoshida received a red card in the 61st minute after a harsh tackle and the ensuing freekick was converted by Fabio Cesar in the 64th minute.

Kagawa got his second of the game in the 70th minute and assisted in the third goal for Japan in the 89th minute, Inoha smashed the ball into an empty net after a Kagawa tussle with Qatari's defenders.

Its the end of the road for the host and French Bruno Metsu, what next for Qatar?

Japan's Italian Coach Alberto Zaccheroni will be the happier taking Japan to the semifinals of the AFC Asian Cup.

Qatar leads Japan 2-1 in AFC Asian Cup

Qatar takes a 2-1 lead over Japan at the AFC Asian Cup with a goal from Fabio Cesar through a freekick after a Japanes player was giving the marching order his second yellow card.
Its 64 minutes of play at the Al Gharafa Stadium.

China defeats 10-man Kuwait

China recorded its first win in a Group A match of the AFC Asian Cup to stay joint top with with a confidence-booster 2-0 win over 10 man-Kuwait at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Saturday.

Two second half goals was all the new generation Chinese players needed to stave off the challenge from a determined and enterprising Kuwaiti side.Both sides had a number of scoring opportunities and the scoreline could have been rich, had both sides not missed most of those chances

Speaking in a post match conference, Gao Hongbo coach of China said, "I am very happy to win this game, the first thirty minute of the tie was controlled by Kuwait but we recovered and took our chances well."

On the red card on Kuwait's Mesad Nada, Gao said, " Irrespective of the dismissal, my players were determined to win the game."

Kuwait's Serbian born coach Goran Tufegdzic said, "It was an important but the red card affected our plans."

Goran was critical of the referee and hopes necessary disciplinary actions be taken considering a goal scored by Kuwait and not seen by the referee and its officials.

Goran said, "The referee made so many mistakes and am sure he will be punished."

China went ahead in the 57th minute when highly rated central defender Zhang Linpeng scored a superb goal off a deflection. Zhang who captained China in the last Asian Games in Guanghzhou collected a pass outside the box and fired a right footer shot from 30 yards to register the first goal.
The second goal came of the foot of Deng Zhuoxiang in the 67th minute, when his 25 yards free-kick beat Nawaf al Khalid and capped it with a man of the match award. Deng is remembered for scoring a brilliant individual goal against Korea Republic in 2010 and a memorable goal against France prior to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

However, it was Kuwait who started off better than the Chinese side with Yousef Nasser and Walied Ali threatening in the opening minutes. China gradually got into its best and started creating opportunities through excellent display of passing and movement.The likes of Zhao Xuri, Qu Bo and Zhao Peng threaten Kuwait on a number of occasions.
A penalty appeal was turned down by the referee when China's Du Wei was hacked down inside the box as early as the 12th minute.
The Chinese closest goal effort came in the 21st minute when Qu Bo was cleared free in front of the Kuwait goal but his effort was parried for a corner kick.
With pressure mounting Kuwait's Mesa Nada unnecessarily kicked a Chinese player in the 35th minute to get the referee's marching order.
Kuwait's Bader al Mutwa's effort was the flash point of the first half as his opportunistic cross went over the goal line but was not counted for goal because referee Benjamin Williams from Australia and his assistants did not see it.

China looked more aggressive in the second half and came very close to scoring on a number of times. On the other hand, Jarah al Ateeqi, Fahad Enezi pressed for an early goal

Walied Ali's 25 yard free-kick beat the Chinese wall but goalkeeper Yang Zhi made a fantastic save to deny the 100 capped Kuwaiti play-maker.

With a man down the defence line of Kuwait was exposed and on the 60th minute a build-up from Zhao Xuri finds Yang Xu whose close shot was too high.

China pressed for more goals in the second half with left back Rong Hao coming close on two occasions.

His dazzling dribbles of the left wing was a persistent threat and in the 79th minute his low cross inside the box was missed by two Chinese attackers.
Bader al mutwa's 40 yards effort capped a poor display by the much talked about star attacker from Kuwait.
The next round of matches will be on Wednesday as China plays Qatar while Kuwait faces Uzbekistan.