Let's talk about the AFC Asian Cup 2007.

Sixteen teams will contest the final rounds of the AFC Asian Cup 2007, which will, for the first time, be co-hosted by four nations – Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The tournament from July 7 to 29, 2007 will be split into two stages with a round-robin group stage and a knockout stage.

GROUP STAGE
The 16 finalists will be seeded and divided into four groups of four teams each during the final round draw. Each team plays each of the other teams in the same group according to a league system (three points for a win, one point for a draw, no points for a defeat). The winners and runners-up in each group will advance to the quarter-finals.

KNOCKOUT STAGE
Quarter-finals
The winners of each of the four groups will meet a runner-up from another group in the quarter-finals. All four quarter-finals will take place over one match with the winner progressing to the semi-finals. If the score is tied at the end of the regulation playing time, an extra two periods of 15 minutes each will be played. If the score is still level after extra time, the winners will be determined by kicks from the penalty mark.

Semi-finals
The four winners of the quarter-finals play the semi-finals over one match with the winners progressing to the final. As with the quarter-finals, extra-time and penalties will be utilised in the event of a draw between two sides.

Final
The winners of the semi-finals play in the final to determine the AFC Asian Cup 2007 champions. As with the quarter-finals and semi-finals, extra-time and penalties will be utilised in the event of a draw between the two sides.

Group A - Host Thailand
Australia
Iraq,
Oman,
Thailand

Group B - Host Vietnam
Qatar
UAE
Japan
Vietnam

Group C - Host Malaysia
Iran
Uzbekistan
China
Malaysia

Group D - Host Indonesia
Saudi Arabia
Korea Republic
Bahrain
Indonesia

Just like the UEFA European Championship in Europe, there are 16 teams competing. But this time in Asia, it's the first time that there are 4 co-hosts.

For TV viewers, in your respective countries, there might be some local channels telecasting live for certain matches featuring your country if your country is involved in any group game. For the entire Asian continent, the ESPN-Starsports will telecast most of matches live. If I'm not wrong, Starsports will be the main channel for the Asian Cup.

Ok, welcome your views. Which countries will be in the quarters and semis?

Its about time someone talk about Asian Soccer>Thank you!

(Group A )I think Australia should come out top in their group without any problems.With home support I think Thailand could make it.

(Group B) Japan and Qatar either one fighting for the top spot.The other two teams are practice targets and whipping boys.

(Group C) Iran is a sure thing leaving China and Uzbek to fight it out.Malaysia to balik kampung to prepare for the coming Koran Reading World Cup!

(Group D) South Korea would always take this competition super seriously and the lazy but stylish Saudi should go through but Bahrain oso got power wun! Indonesia first one to go home and play gasing

Favorites>Australia & Iran. Teams to watch >Bahrain,Qatar,Uzbekistan.Teams we think are going to win but they wont>Japan and Korea.
But my heart goes to Japan & Thailand.

Thanks for your comments. I think you know Asian teams pretty well.
Your heart goes to Japan and Thailand. But I think Japan might just get it because they're always lucky. Even if they don't play well, they can just win by a single goal in the last few minutes to win. Some of my friends even told me that sometimes Japan doesn't run so much but they can win and defend well. This is especially in recent Asian Cup campaigns.

Good Luck to Thailand. At least we have one team we commonly like --> Thailand. I really hope they can qualify for the quarters by beating Oman and Iraq.

My heart goes to Korea and Thailand.

But I don't think my team Korea can win. There are too many injuries now. And Saudi Arabia is quite strong. We have to face them in the first game. I'm a little worried. Korea has to be aware of them, especially when it's the first game. Even if we can't beat them, we can't lose.

No captain Kim Nam Il, no Lee Young Pyo, no Seol Ki Hyeon, no Park Ji Sung. All are injured. Our central defense is shaky, we know that. Center back Kim Jin Kyu may be strong and tall but he's too young, only 22 and a little slow.
The young Park Chu Young is not selected by coach Pim Verbeek. Ahn Jung Hwan also not selected because of the lack of games he played recently.

Then Middlesborough's Lee Dong Gook is still suffering from injury despite being included in the 23-men team. Shimizu S-Pulse's Cho Jae Jin also has slight injury. A lot of hope lie on Lee Chun Soo and Kim Doo Heon in midfield. Russian-based Kim Dong Jin will replace Tottenham's Lee Young Pyo at left back.

I don't know if they can beat Saudi Arabia but I think if they don't win, at least they have to draw. I saw the Saudis beat Singapore in a friendly earlier today. Needless to say, a Saudi win was expected (sorry, no offense to Singapore fans). But I do notice that a few Saudi players are quite dangerous. They were not playing to their potential because they don't wanna get injured. If they do, they can be very fierce and could even trash Singapore by 3 to 5 goals. Korea has to be careful of number 18, the right winger. He's fast and skillful. Kim Dong Jin as a left wing back has to be careful of him. Keep my fingers crossed.

Anyway, good luck to the teams you support.

Cheers!

Anyong Haseyo! Lets face it, Japan and Korea play very well at home you can call it luck or whatever but they play like madmen possessed with the home crowd behind them.I would say that Saudi and Korea is about even now and they will both be happy with a draw,Korea should resort to tough tackling and fast counter attacks, this should frustrate the Arabs as always.Bahrain on the other hand is never lucky with Japanese/Korean style of soccer.Your country should qualify.
Japan has to be top of the group to avoid losing out on goals if they should fall to second place...remember there are two Arab teams also in the group.We seem to have a problems scoring goals until recently,let hope that we come out with all guns fully loaded and firing away.

Seems like not many people in Singapore are interested in the Asian Cup. A few days have passed but nobody wanna say something except you.

Well, to be frank, Asian Cup is much bigger and more prestigious than the ASEAN or Tiger Cup or SEA games that only Southeast Asian teams compete. And the teams in ASEAN region are quite weak except for Thailand.

The Football Association of Singapore should try to focus more on the Asian Cup if they wanna compete with the premier teams in Asia. Otherwise no way can they go one or two steps higher. Playing the likes of Laos or the Philippines is so different from play the likes of China or Iran.

I have heard that if Singapore didn't gave up on the hosting of the Asian Cup 2007, they would be hosting Group D which Saudi Arabia, Korea and Bahrain are in. And Singapore might be playing these 3 teams. Then I would have the chance to go to the stadium to support Korea with my fellow Korean friends living in Singapore.

Too bad, Singapore didn't want due to their plan 3 to 4 years ago to demolish their stadium. Well, Until today, I haven't see them demolished yet. And the work is rescheduled to December.

So what a waste it is. Don't you think so?

If the Football Association of Singapore keeps denying the chances for Singapore team to play more competitive games with stronger opponents, and yet they keep claiming to be the strongest in Southeast Asia, they will go nowhere.

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend Singapore team or Singaporean fans but it's true. Singapore won't be competiting out of the ASEAN circle forever if they keep doing this.
Playing teams like Australia today is just a friendly game. And I'm sure the Aussies won't play so hard like they're in Asian Cup or World Cup for fear of injuries. So it's not considered a competitive match.

Anyway, I hope more Singaporeans can come discuss about the Asian Cup. It's only one more week before the opening game between Thailand and Iraq in Bangkok.
Oh, talking about Iraq, last night, I watched it on KBS World in Channel 100 over Starhub Cable. The result is Korea 3 - 0 Iraq. Lee Chun Soo came in as substitute in the 2nd half and he played well, scoring the 2nd goal and created the 3rd. However Thailand has to be aware of Iraq. Despite losing 3-0 to Korea, I could see that a few Iraqi players can be quite dangerous up front. Thailand can beat Iraq but the Thai players cannot be complacent and need concentration every minute and every second.

Good luck to Thailand. This is their 4th straight Asian Cup participation and it's good for them. Singapore should follow this path. So far I only know that Singapore only played in 1984 when Singapore was the host. They haven't even qualified a single time.

Have a good weekend. Welcome more people to discuss here.
Go get your friends here ok?

For Singapore Soccer Federation it is think small and win big.Meaning SIngaporeans only love winners and so might as well focus on all the small competitions and come out Grand Champions than to play in big competitions and come home losers and empty handed.I agree that Asian Cup is more prestigious and competitive now with Australia being a part of it.I didnt know the reason why Singapore is not in until you mentioned about the stadium thing.Well at least they will get the opportuniy to kick Kangaroo Arse today>
Lets look at how Thailand could qualify.There is nothing special in Oman to be a threat so Thais must try to outscore Iraq when playing with Oman.Iraq is unpredictable,you can see the best and the worst in them like when they played against Singapore sometime back,hope to score just one goal against the Iraqis.Australia is a different class and imporivng fast (even if they should draw or lose to Singapore in a friendly )
Got to go now..more discussion coming up later..

Still nobody wanna give comments on the Asian Cup. It's only 1 week away.
I'm really surprised that how come Singaporeans are not aware or are not interested.

Happy Sunday!

Originally posted by Jaeyoon:

Still nobody wanna give comments on the Asian Cup. It's only 1 week away.
I'm really surprised that how come Singaporeans are not aware or are not interested.

Happy Sunday!

as they nv do any publicity abt it..

Originally posted by Jaeyoon:

Still nobody wanna give comments on the Asian Cup. It's only 1 week away.
I'm really surprised that how come Singaporeans are not aware or are not interested.

Happy Sunday!

Singapore not kena kick out liao mah

Singapore is more interested to build a new stadium for the time being.
I didnt/couldnt watch the Australia verses Singapore game but I am sure it was a one sided game.Australia will be the runaway train in their group and probably reach the final in the Asian Competition.Over here in Japan everything is behind closed doors and we dont know if our team would do well next week but judging from the way they played Malaysia about 10 days ago...there is still a big problem in scorring and finishing touch.The good news for Japan is that Zico is history (in my opinion the worst foreign coach Japan ever had) and Osim is willing to experiment with the younger players.I dont know how good South Korea is these days,I guess we will have to wait and see>Ok Good luck! and Chokdee na! to Thailand once again.

Originally posted by Short Ninja:

Over here in Japan everything is behind closed doors and we dont know if our team would do well next week but judging from the way they played Malaysia about 10 days ago...there is still a big problem in scorring and finishing touch.

I think that Japan 3-1 Malaysia game was the Under 23 teams. Am I right? It's not the senior team. This team is for the Beijing Olympic 2008. Asian Cup team is different.

How's Japan now? Are you in Tokyo?

I'll be in Seoul for Autumn Festival this September. It's the same as in China, Taiwan, HK and Singapore. We have holidays in Korea for 3 days. Really miss my friends in Korea.

Cheers. Have a good week ahead!

Originally posted by a-Lost-9uY:

as they nv do any publicity abt it..

Actually your Football Association of Singapore didn't do publicity. ESPN Starsports are doing because they're the official channels for the ASIAN CUP.

FAS doesn't like to be losers. I think Short Ninja is right about it. If Singapore is not in it, the FAS will never wanna lose face by publicizing the Asian Cup and let Singapore fans realize that Singapore indeed didn't qualify after losing out to Iraq and China in the qualifying round.

Anyway, now you know. Go find out online.

Originally posted by Jaeyoon:

I think that Japan 3-1 Malaysia game was the Under 23 teams. Am I right? It's not the senior team. This team is for the Beijing Olympic 2008. Asian Cup team is different.

How's Japan now? Are you in Tokyo?

I'm be in Seoul for Autumn Festival this September. It's the same as in China, Taiwan, HK and Singapore. We have holidays in Korea for 3 days. Really miss my friends Korea.

Cheers. Have a good week ahead!

Yes it was the under 23 sorry for a while I got confused and lost touch.I live just outside Tokyo and its the rainy season before the summer heat.

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nanren4ever
Senior Member

Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 1019

Send Message 02 July 2007 · 11:44 PM
I think TS is right in saying we blew the chance of hosting the Asian Cup. Now that we are champs of ASEAN, we should start pit ourselves against Asian's best, and see how far are we from being the top 5 nations in Asia.

If I were 2 base it on the way we play Australia last sat, i would say its encouraging. For the first 45 mins, we created chances. I would say the turning point came when Harry Kewell was subbed on when we were 1-0 down. Seems as if the Singapore team suddenly became awe-struck by the Liverpool player. Kewell created a lot of chances after he came on, and that's why we lost 3-0 in the end.

1 thing that make me worry though, is how we go down a little too easy. Was it me or were the Singapore players being carried off more times on the stretcher than I care 2 remember? It could have been due 2 the fact we are playing our 3rd game in less than 1 week, or due to the fatigue that is setting in. Either way, we still have 2 improve on our phsyique a little more.

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a-Lost-9uY
Member

Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 2706

Send Message 27 June 2007 · 11:48 AM
no SG

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Adolez
Junior Member

Joined: 30 Apr 2007
Posts: 55

Send Message 01 July 2007 · 01:00 PM
What? Even Malaysia is in.

Jaeyoon
Junior Member

Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Posts: 13

Send Message 01 July 2007 · 04:10 PM
Adolez, you've mistaken.
Malaysia is in because they're one of the hosts. Not because they qualified.

Singapore can be one of the 4 hosts too but Singapore football association didn't want. It's a big mistake. So don't be surprised that Malaysia is in. Remember, NOT QUALIFIED BUT BEING HOST can automatically qualified.

Singapore last hosted in 1984. They have never qualifed before. Asian Cup 2007 is the best chance to play in Asian Cup but Singapore blew it.

ASIAN CUP is a few times more important and more prestigious than your regional Tiger or Asean Cup. Quite sad that your FAS doesn't dare to take on the big teams. Thus making Singapore fans not aware of this biggest Cup event in Asia. Other countries are ready for the start of the Asian Cup but I don't see Singaporeans get excited.

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Dead_Man_Inc
Let me fade away...

Joined: 22 Dec 2004
Posts: 7116

Send Message 02 July 2007 · 04:04 AM
quote:
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Originally posted by Jaeyoon:
You've mistaken.
Malaysia is in because they're one of the hosts.

Not because they qualified. Singapore can be one of the 4 hosts too but Singapore football association didn't want. It's a big mistake. So don't be surprised that Malaysia is in. Remember, NOT QUALIFIED BUT BEING HOST can automatically qualified.

Singapore last hosted in 1984. They have never qualifed before. Asian Cup 2007 is the best chance to play in Asian Cup but Singapore blew it.

ASIAN CUP is a few times more important and more prestigious than your regional Tiger or Asean Cup. Quite sad that your FAS doesn't dare to take on the big teams. Thus making Singapore fans not aware of this biggest Cup event in Asia. Other countries are ready for the start of the Asian Cup but I don't see Singaporeans get excited.
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Even if we are in, I won't get excited. Because we have to pay to watch it

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iSpeak
Senior Member

Joined: 21 May 2006
Posts: 274

Send Message 03 July 2007 · 02:06 AM
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by nanren4ever:
I think TS is right in saying we blew the chance of hosting the Asian Cup. Now that we are champs of ASEAN, we should start pit ourselves against Asian's best, and see how far are we from being the top 5 nations in Asia.

If I were 2 base it on the way we play Australia last sat, i would say its encouraging. For the first 45 mins, we created chances. I would say the turning point came when Harry Kewell was subbed on when we were 1-0 down. Seems as if the Singapore team suddenly became awe-struck by the Liverpool player. Kewell created a lot of chances after he came on, and that's why we lost 3-0 in the end.

1 thing that make me worry though, is how we go down a little too easy. Was it me or were the Singapore players being carried off more times on the stretcher than I care 2 remember? It could have been due 2 the fact we are playing our 3rd game in less than 1 week, or due to the fatigue that is setting in. Either way, we still have 2 improve on our phsyique a little more.
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Sad to say, our little Singaporean footballers have a distinct disadvantage when it comes to physique. Picture Khairul Amri against Mark Viduka. I wasn't surprised many of them got bumped off so easily.

Have any of you ever played soccer with big, hulking guys? All things in skill and fitness being fair, the little guy will always be at a disadvantage. It's so easy to just get bumped off the ball when someone much bigger is running alongside you chasing for it too.

Height is one thing ; slimness of build is another. Roberto Carlos and Diego Maradonna were some short-arse players but had robust and stout builds to offset that.

I would say that slim guys like Amri have to spend a little more time in the gym bulking up to complement his fairly decent football flair.

Physique is important in a lot of sports and soccer has become a game of strengh and power.I dont think any Asian country could ever become world champions unless they start to use ‘FTs’ as well and all 23 of them.The thing is that it is still possible to play good soccer and be amongst the best with their speed ,stamina and quick one-two passing as Korea had done before.

Originally posted by Jaeyoon:

I'm so surprised that you guys have no knowledge of what your national team has been doing.

They went through the Asian Cup qualifier but were knocked out by china and Iraq. Singapore is no match for them in their qualifying group.

And before the qualifying began 3 years ago, the FAS was offered the chance to be one of the co-hosts, together with Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia, but they refused because they thought that the National Stadium would be torn down in 2007, thus giving the chance to Indonesia instead. But now, can you see it being torn down? The project is delayed to the end of 2007. See what a waste. Instead of proudly hosting the Asian Cup, they're losing to Australia to commemorate the closing of the stadium.

If Singapore play host, Singapore would have been in Group D, where Korea, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain would have been stationed here instead. Especially Korea, when we have some 15,000 koreans living and working in Singapore, there will be strong support and more tourists would have come too, especially it's summer holiday now.

I think it's such a waste that the Sports council and the Football Association of Singapore have never thought about it. Or rather, sorry, no offense to Singapore, the FAS is afraid of losing (kiasu) because they know that Singapore can't match Saudi Arabia and Korea and has a higher chance to lose out to Bahrain as well. Like someone told me before that Singapore only like winners, not losers. So they know they will high likely to lose to the top teams, so they refuse to play host to the Asian Cup.

And your media covers up all these and never seem to report on the Asian Cup. That's why maybe Singaporeans do not know much about it, thinking that Singapore doesn't want to take part instead of failure to qualify. Whereas other countries in Asia are waiting and looking forward to the start of the tournament, which is on equal standing with that of UEFA's European Championship or South America's Copa America.

I think it's just plain ignorant or stupid to just claim to be the best in ASEAN, where the real challenge only comes from teams like Thailand or Vietnam, or to a lesser extend, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia. Claiming to be a strong team only by the FAS themselves and the local press like the Straits Times after beating the amateur like Laos that mainly made up of students, postmen and policemen.

I guess many people have have forgotten how Singapore got trashed by the likes China, Iran and Korea in the past. Those days, you could often see Singapore play those big boys and dared to challenge them despite most of the time, losing by more than 3-goal margin. I would say that;s more brave to face the challenge. Nowadays, the FAS is trying ways to avoid facing those teams by refusing to take part in Asian Games, where the U-23 players participate, not taking the qualifying of the Asian Cup too seriously knowing that they will lose for sure but focus only on the Tiger/ASEAN Cup. You'll only be staying within the ASEAN circle.

I believe many people forgot how Singapore was trashed by China 5-1 and 4-0 in 2 games and trashed by Korea 3-0, 3-0 and 7-0 in 3 games before. Despite having the likes of Fandi Ahmad, Sundram Murthy, Malek Awab and guys, they lost by this type of scoreline. The whole team hardly get past the midfield line when facing those top boys. Maybe because of this reason, the FAS began to avoid meeting these teams anymore. Thus you don't see them invite these teams to play in the National Stadium much in the past 6 to 7 years.

To improve, the FAS can't avoid facing them, you have to play more of those types of games to close the gap.

So far, in ASEAN, you can see that only Thailand dares to challenge despite sometimes losing to them by 3 to 4 goal margins. In their annual Kings Cup, that's a good chance to test players and experiment the team. They even face teams like Denmark and Brazil.

Putting in 5 foreigners in the best 11 is not a long term solution too. They just might be able to strengthen the defense, reducing the number of goals conceded but overall, it's not able to come on par with Asia's best teams.

I think the responsibility lies with the FAS and the Sports Council. It's their fault but refuse to admit and improve their job.

Thanks for your words, always good to have a clearer perspective. Some of the things you have said a re quite true and is what a few of my friends have talked about.

It's true, Singaporeans only support our soccer team when it's winning. Straits Times even ran a joke on it many years ago during the Malaysia Cup period. In fact, from my memory, I only remember support for the Singapore team being highest when Singapore was doing well in Malaysia Cup. The two back to back finals against Kedah and Pahang. They lost 0-2 to Kedah and won Pahang 4-0.

What you say it quite true, Singaporeans probably would have less interest if they continually lose. Or maybe that's just Singaporeans now. I went for a match at the National Stadium between Singapore and Korea a long time ago. Can't remember if it was a World Cup qualification or something. Singapore team lost but the stadium was full Singaporeans were cheering all round. It's not like that nowadays though.

Regarding the hosting issue, in all fairness, maybe it was an oversight regarding the tearing down of the National Stadium. If you can't confirm you have the stadium or facilities to host, it wouldn't be very wise to make a bid. At most a planning mistake but I don't think it was to avoid defeat or anything like that.

About Singapore winning in Asean, well, it's no easy feat to win any Cup Competition, and you do need a bit of luck sometimes to even get to the final. You are kind of belittling the competition with some of the things you say. I think credit still should go to the current Singapore team to take their chances, they are not undeserving winners in any sense. To come from 1-0 down to draw the match in a hostile Thai enviroment is by no means any easy feat. Add to that the small number of supporters who actually went for the match. Credit should be given where it's due.

I agree that putting foreigners may not be a long-term solution, but you got to examine the alternative. To use home grown talent. But that solution is pretty hard to take up as well, not only does Singapore have a small population, as another has mentioned, there is the mindset as well. It's instilled in the mindsets of all our youths that soccer does not work out for a living. So if the locals are not willing to do the job, you gotta import talent. Kind of how businesses work.

I wouldn't say all the fault lies with FAS, but probably a lot has to be done to change the mindset of the people here.

To add, I think Singapore has matured primarily in the teamplay sense. No longer is the National team playing Kampung soccer and no matter how many stars you have in your team, teamplay is very important in soccer.

Recently went for a S-league match and watched a few on the telly as well, this maturity in gameplay is at club level as well. It's not a total change that can win Asian Cups, but I'm just saying there's been an improvement.

However, talent pool remains as limited or maybe even more limited. It tells if you look at our S-League.

I would say though, our club soccer is getting better, not just based on the above but they have gotten better results against clubs from others countries than they would have in Malaysia cup days. I would give examples but I'm too lazy right now.

Originally posted by Short Ninja:

Physique is important in a lot of sports and soccer has become a game of strengh and power.I dont think any Asian country could ever become world champions unless they start to use 'FTs' as well and all 23 of them.The thing is that it is still possible to play good soccer and be amongst the best with their speed ,stamina and quick one-two passing as Korea had done before.

Hi Short Ninja, I think physique-wise, the orientals are quite ok, especially if it comes to northern Chinese and Koreans. They're tall and strong. An average player for the China and Korea teams is around 183 to 185cm tall. Some short ones are already 178cm. The tall ones can reach 190cm.

Problem of this lies with Southeast Asian players. Most of them are shorter and lighter in weight. Maybe it's due to genetic reasons. Malaysians and Indonesians are smaller and shorter if you compare to Northern Chinese or Koreans. So in this, they might more or less, to be frank, lose out in the air or man to man challenges.

When I watch Korean clubs played Australian clubs in the Asian Champions League games, I find them almost similar in height and sizes. So I don't think we lose out to the white Caucasian Australians. Their clubs even lost.

For Japan, Japanese players are shorter on average. but they probably play it with better tactics and they're technically better than ASEAN players. That's how they can challenge the bigger, taller players in international games.

Iranians and the central Asians like the Uzbeks are the biggest people in Asia. They're more like Europeans. But not much bigger when you compare with the Chinese and Korean players.

For Southeast Asian players to do better, I believe the improvement in tactics and skill should be more important. And height-wise, we can't force them to grow but they can make themselve strong and heavier. You know what I mean - that's when the gym training starts.

My message to Thailand, you're the best from ASEAN. Do ASEAN proud. Don't be afraid of Austalia. They have EPL stars and a Serie A star, so do Korea, China. Only thing is that Korean EPL stars are all injured except Middleborough's Lee Dong Gook. We (Korea) have to play well against a tough Saudi team.

Tomorrow, Thailand can beat Iraq. It'll definitely boost up the morale.
Southeast Asia will be behind Thailand tomorrow in the opening game.

Have a good weekend!

I remember what my dad told me when I was a teenager,he said ,"Son you are a very good player but you will never be a better player because of your height".Funny how he also told me that a full blooded Chinese is a lot taller than the Southerners and South East Asian but Ok I will not go there
Goalkeeprs must be hugh and agile but its hard to find someone with both qualities.Defenders have to be tall and fast.Strikers dont have to be tall but they must have that natural killer instinct in the penalty area and this we do see in Thai players built like a pitbull.Ok enjoy your weekend too.

Originally posted by Short Ninja:

I remember what my dad told me when I was a teenager,he said ,"Son you are a very good player but you will never be a better player because of your height".Funny how he also told me that a full blooded Chinese is a lot taller than the Southerners and South East Asian but Ok I will not go there
Goalkeeprs must be hugh and agile but its hard to find someone with both qualities.Defenders have to be tall and fast.Strikers dont have to be tall but they must have that natural killer instinct in the penalty area and this we do see in Thai players built like a pitbull.Ok enjoy your weekend too.

Yeah, even for myself, I'm 178cm tall. I'm actually not tall when I'm in Korea. When I take a crowded train, we have to stand and I could see that there are so many guys taller than I am and it sometime makes me think that I'm not tall enough. But when I'm in Singapore, people told me that I'm tall and I sometimes feel tall when I take a crowded MRT train. The local guys are shorter than me. ha ha.

Anyway, cheer for Thailand. They need a good start. Nike has become their new sponsor. FBT is out, in come NIKE. They'll be wearing royal yellow this time in celebrating the King's 80th birthday end of this year.
From my source, it's yellow shirt and blue shorts just for this Asian Cup. Their traditional red or blue will be launched after a few months. Nike Thailand designers are still designing the new kit.
Let's see.

And I can't wait to see Korea play their first game against Saudi Arabia. They just beat Iraq 3 - 0 and Uzbekistan 2 - 1 in their preparation before leaving for Jakarta yesterday. I'm a little worried but I hope they can win.

Cheers