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Post by rpbenchwarmer on May 23, 2011 20:08:17 GMT 8
Maldives, Nepal and Palestine bidding to host CC 2012 FinalsMonday, 23 May 2011 14:10 Kuala Lumpur: AFC has requested the football associations of Maldives, Nepal, and Palestine to sign the Organising Association Agreement (OAA) and the List of Requirements (LOR) after the three expressed an interest to bid to host AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Finals. The AFC Challenge Cup is AFC’s second-tier national team completion for the confederation’s developing Member Associations and is played on a bi-annual basis. Previous champions include Tajikistan (2006), India (2008) and DPR Korea (2010). Palestine, The Philippines, India, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Tajikistan, DPR Korea and Nepal have qualified for the tournament proper. The three bidders Maldives, Nepal and Palestine have never hosted the tournament before with Bangladesh (2006), India (2008) and Sri Lanka (2010) organising the competition’s three previous editions. The host for the 2012 edition is likely to be decided by the AFC Organising Committee for President’s Cup and Challenge Cup during its meeting on June 14, 2011. Link: www.the-afc.com/en/tournaments/men-a-youth/afc-challenge-cup/34993-maldives-nepal-and-palestine-bidding-to-host-cc-2012-finals
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Post by rpbenchwarmer on Aug 6, 2011 16:28:48 GMT 8
2015 Asian Cup is Azkals next targetBy Cedelf P. Tupas Philippine Daily Inquirer 10:52 pm | Friday, August 5th, 2011 MANILA—The Philippine Azkals are setting their sights on qualifying for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia. And they will get their first shot as early as March next year when they see action in the final round of the AFC Challenge Cup hosted by Nepal. “Bringing home the Challenge Cup is our next target as it ensures our participation for the 2015 the Asian Cup,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami. “It’s not akin to the World Cup, but the hype and excitement will be at the level of the World Cup.” This early, Palami is already mulling the staging of friendlies for the Azkals in preparation for the Challenge Cup. Palami rattled off India and Pakistan as prospective opponents for friendly matches for the Azkals in October. “All of the friendly matches we will have are preparatory to the Challenge Cup and keep our rankings up,” said Palami, who had lamented the recent drop of the Azkals’ position in the Fifa rankings despite their victories against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh early this year. When Palami flies to Europe late this month, he intends to talk to the clubs of Europe-based Azkals like Stephan Schrock, Paul Mulders, Jerry Lucena and Dennis Cagara and lobby for their release for the March 3 to 18 tournament. “We want to bring the best possible team to the Challenge Cup,” he said. Although he has yet to reveal their names, Palami is also seeking to talk to new Filipino prospects for the team based in Europe. “So far, we have six names, but it might expand to 10 before I leave,” said Palami. The Azkals return to action in the Long Teng Cup starting Sept. 28 in Taiwan, with Palami expected to field a mix of the seniors team and the Under-23 squad that is preparing for the Southeast Asian Games in Jakarta in November. The Azkals advanced to the AFC Challenge Cup main tournament for the first time by overcoming Mongolia in pre-qualifying, before finishing second behind Palestine in the group qualifying in Myanmar last March. The other teams that qualified for the Challenge Cup, a competition for emerging Asian countries, are North Korea, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Nepal and India. The Azkals saw their World Cup qualifying run end last July 28 when they lost to Kuwait, 1-5, on aggregate after the second round. Still, the Azkals already made history by reaching the second round after beating Sri Lanka in their first World Cup qualifying tie in close to 10 years. The Azkals missed standouts like Lucena, Cagara and Mulders in the Kuwait tie because of club commitments “This early we will already ask permission for their clubs so that it will be easier for us next year,” Palami added. Link: sports.inquirer.net/10297/2015-asian-cup-is-azkals-next-target
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Post by jvictor on Aug 6, 2011 18:33:17 GMT 8
If the Azkals win this, we will surely get the attention Alphonse Areola, Iain Ramsay, Nazari bros and Cagara because the Azkals will be playing in the Asian Cup?
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Post by eyk12 on Aug 15, 2011 1:44:47 GMT 8
If the Azkals win this, we will surely get the attention Alphonse Areola, Iain Ramsay, Nazari bros and Cagara because the Azkals will be playing in the Asian Cup? YES!.. Its true..
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Post by Wiking on Aug 15, 2011 9:25:09 GMT 8
The PFF should try to host the next series of this cup. Not only will we play the games in our soil(imagine a packed Panaad and/or Rizal every Azkal game) itll be home field advantage! Itll also boost the image of soccer to the casual fan, and might attract new fans who are indifferent at this time. Not only will the PFF, Azkals and UFL gain stature in the eyes of the average Filipino. So will the PI in the eyes of an asia that believes we dont or cant play the "beautiful game". Ahhh, just thinking out loud!
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Post by cjeagle on Aug 18, 2011 23:58:25 GMT 8
Nepal won the bid for hosting the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup pending improvements to their home ground.
North Korea the most accomplished of the sides the Azkals might be facing next year recently played Kuwait, the team we played in the recent WC qualifier and drew them 0-0. I have asked a Kuwaiti fan who watched the game to give us a rundown on that match and this is what he has to say:
I'm not an expert on North Korean football so I must apologize for my lack of knowledge regarding what formations they're accustomed to using. All I can say is, the North Koreans are an extremely resilient side. It's going to be hard for the Philippines to knock them off their perch. I think North Korea will continue to dominate the AFC Challenge Cup in the coming years, I'm afraid.
Their passing is more fluid than even our own (Kuwait national) team. They seemed to be unaffected by our tough weather conditions, which leads me to believe they're prepared to take on even the most challenging environments, which probably includes the Philippines' humidity.
I will say the only comforting/relieving factor about the North Korean team is their apparent inability to score a lot of goals. Their average goals scored per game probably does not exceed 1 (or 1.5). Having said that, where they lack in one aspect of the game, the North Koreans sure make up for it by not conceding a lot of goals either. They're well organized in the back, and they're at the top of their game when it comes down to defending and discipline. Nevertheless, the Philippines could cause them quite a scare with some of their pacey forwards, who I remember seeing frequently over the two legs they've played against us in the World Cup qualifiers. So your forwards need to be fast and try to catch the North Korean defense napping on the counterattack, which might not happen a lot for the reasons aforementioned but it only takes one mistake for you guys to take advantage of.
I'd warn the Philippines defenders about one or two players in the North Korean squad who are sharpshooters from outside the 18 yard box. One of their players was inches away from scoring a long-range goal against us, but the ball ended up hitting both goalposts and luckily failed to cross the goal line. North Korea will always have the potential to either cause an upset or create goal-scoring opportunities out of almost nothing.
One last point I wish to emphasize is the determination and motivation the Azkals need when facing North Korea. They must realize how hungry for success the North Korean players are. A lot of them want a bright future for themselves and wont hesitate working hard, in order to impress potential scouts as well as to seize every opportunity coming their way that would allow them to play in international tournaments again.
Good luck to the Philippines. I'd like to see you qualify for the next Asian Cup.
My response: Thanks for the rundown Kutsuit. If things go according to plan, hopefully we get to see North Korea in the knockout stage of the tournament. There will be 2 Challenge Cups prior to the staging of the 2015 Asian Cup. Even if North Korea wins one of these tournaments, I presume there will a slot for the other winner especially if North Korea decides not to participate in the next edition if they have already won next year's contest.
Hopefully with the presence of the full team plus the addition of new players from the top tiers of Europe, and the added preparation time to achieve team cohesion, we can do a better job than we did against Kuwait but if not next year, as I said we will have another chance in 2014, when some of our promising younger players will have time to develop their game.
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Post by 6studs on Aug 19, 2011 1:59:29 GMT 8
i do remember that the north korean was a tough nut to crack for the brazilians during the first half in the last world cup match
what i do notice though is how organized their defense is
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Post by xclentoy on Aug 19, 2011 2:13:10 GMT 8
in the last 2010 WC they we're mostly employing 1-5-4-1 formation, obviously because of their opponents capabilities.
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Post by wenden96 on Aug 19, 2011 3:10:42 GMT 8
even if im a pro phl team, north korea, india, tajikistan are team to beat.........my predictions we can have the semis if 1 of the three i mention belongs to our group. But if the draw put us on those three team then kiss goodbye for the bid of asian cup....
unless, unless
3 to 4 months prior to the afc challenge cup final, azkals is already formed and coach weiss already executing the training for cohesion, defensive and offensive tactical training......or continue the training of the under 23 team member plus the phl mainstay until the tournament started (this is to if the fil-for have a problem in there schedule in the future hopefully not, we can get a substitute from the group B)....then I believe asian cup is possible....
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Post by Wiking on Aug 19, 2011 9:37:11 GMT 8
I can feel the run up to the Challenge cup is already rolling. I think the 2012 Azkals might even be better than this years Azkals, not just because of new personnel but more training time together, seeing that Angel and and the Fil-Ams are in the UFL now only bodes well for the NT!
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Post by mpower on Aug 22, 2011 3:31:06 GMT 8
Hi
I think azkal will have great challenge with tajkestan, Turkmenistan, india and with little luck and hard works they can compete vs north korea,
North korea 2011 i have watched thier last match before two week they are not like North korea 2010 they are weaker now, but still fast
i will make sure to watch the challenge cup and wish ur team a good luck ..
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Post by cjeagle on Aug 22, 2011 3:35:50 GMT 8
mpower,
Can you give us a rundown on the Kuwait-North Korea match, how North Korea plays and how from the Kuwaiti point of view, since Kuwait has played both teams, how you see a Philippine-North Korea game unfold?
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Post by mpower on Aug 22, 2011 4:34:21 GMT 8
mpower, Can you give us a rundown on the Kuwait-North Korea match, how North Korea plays and how from the Kuwaiti point of view, since Kuwait has played both teams, how you see a Philippine-North Korea game unfold? Hi before two week we played with north korea friendly match which ended tie, we had the advantage in the match, in the first half we played with our reserve team, in the second half 4 from our players who played in the azkal match enterned the match which saw big advantage to our side in the middle and attack, we wasted easy goals from wings and deep, the best chance for them is to try to score from long distance but our keeper saved most of the balls but the last ball was almost goal ! which i think ur keeper will have hard time with thier ability to score from long distance, also the speed will be the most problem for ur team, they play fast, they can close defense fast, attack fast. but N.Korea are weaker now unlike the N.Korea in the 2010 qualification. ur team must play with strong teams in asia so they can discover thier mistakes and gain experience, experts says playing 90 minute friendly is better than 4 hours training ..
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Post by cjeagle on Aug 22, 2011 5:52:39 GMT 8
thanks mpower for the rundown. the team is indeed trying to arrange friendlies with strong teams.
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Post by Wiking on Aug 22, 2011 9:18:05 GMT 8
ur team must play with strong teams in asia so they can discover their mistakes and gain experience, experts says playing 90 minute friendly is better than 4 hours training.
Thank you for your insight mpower. Im not expecting the Philippines to win personally but to just be competative and surprise a few team is already a victory I believe. After all soccer was only relevant in the Philippines since 2010. Indeed we have come a long way and should progress more as time goes by.
I like what you wrote above. I never looked at it that way before.
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