Sports

CANBERRA — Emotions are always high when Iran and Iraq meet on the football pitch. The political history between the two Middle Eastern neighbours always provides both teams with added motivation.

On Friday, the rivals will clash in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup in Canberra and the stakes could not be higher but bragging rights are only part of the equation.

The Iraqi coach Radhi Shenaishil has warned his players to forget about who they’re playing, telling them that cool heads are needed with the bigger carrot of a semifinal against South Korea in Sydney awaiting the winner.

“There’s history between the two teams,” he said. “[But] I want to see a quality match. We are in the quarter-finals and we want to give the right impression of football in Asia.

“Both Iran and Iraq will be telling their players to have a quality game and forget their emotions. On the day, the players are there to do their duty.”

Both teams go into the match full of confidence and harbouring greater ambitions of winning the title.

Iraq defied the odds and the troubles in its war-torn homeland to win the 2007 Asian Cup and are hoping to repeat the fairytale run this time.

Iraq was expected to struggle in the pool stage but beat Jordan and Palestine and lost narrowly to Japan to finish runner-up in Group D.

Iraq’s driving force remains Younis Mahmoud, its talismanic striker who scored the winner in the 2007 Asian Cup final against Saudi Arabia.

Mahmoud missed a penalty when Iran beat Iraq 1-0 in a warm-up played in Wollongong a week before the Asian Cup started and Shenaishil said he was expecting another tight battle.

“It’s not going to be an easy match between the two teams but hopefully we can produce something,” he said.

“They are a strong team. We’ve played them previously in a friendly. It’s good to play against a strong team before competitions, to see your advantages and disadvantages.”

Iran has won the Asian Cup three times but not since 1976. It has been a long and frustrating run for Team Melli but things are starting to fall into place.

Iran is currently the highest ranked team in Asia and sailed through the pool phase without giving up a goal, although they needed a stoppage-time winner to beat the  United Arab Emirates to ensure it finished top of Group C.

“This is exactly where everything starts,” Iran coach Carlos Queiroz said.

“We played against them in a friendly before the tournament started and I saw them play against Jordan and Japan.

“We are sure that we don’t underestimate the Iraqi team. They are a good team.”

The heartbeat of Iran’s team is veteran captain Javad Nekounam, who will reach a special milestone against Iraq.

Nekounam will become the first Iranian to make 150 international appearances, surpassing the previous record of 149 caps held by Ali Daei, the world record holder for international goals.

But, like all the players on both teams, the 34-year-old midfielder’s only real goal is to win the match.

“I have never thought about any records throughout my career, from the very first day when I was invited to play for the national team until now,” he said.

“I have the same desire and motivation. I have never thought about it and tomorrow’s game is no different.”

BRISBANE — Tim Cahill came to Australia’s rescue again on Thursday, scoring two goals, one of them among the most spectacular ever seen at an Asian Cup, to lead the host-nation into the semifinals.

With his teammates all fluffing their chances in front of goal, Cahill took it upon himself to calm Australia’s jitters and secure a 2-0 win over China in the quarter-finals at Brisbane’s Lang Park.

Both goals came in the second half but it was the first, four minutes after the restart, that will be remembered for years to come and go viral on the Internet.

Cahill has made a habit of scoring stunning goals for his country — most memorably his volley against the Netherlands in last year’s World Cup — but Thursday’s eye-popper was perhaps his finest.

When China failed to clear the ball from an Australian corner, Ivan Franjic innocuously headed the ball into the box in the direction of Cahill, who seemingly had nowhere to go with a defender breathing down his neck.

But the 35-year-old, displaying the sort of athleticism of a teenager, leapt into the air and performed a perfect overhead bicycle kick, angling the ball across the six-metre box past the astonished Chinese goalkeeper Wang Dalei.

It was a moment of theatrical magic that not only revived Australia’s title hopes but instantly breathed new life into the tournament.

Sixteen minutes later, Cahill scored again, killing off China’s hopes of going any further in the tournament, when he neatly headed the ball into the corner of the net after a cross from Mathew Leckie, who also had a fine match.

Already Australia’s all-time leading scorer, Cahill’s brace lifted his international tally to 39 goals from 80 appearances and saved his country’s blushes.

In the other match, South Korea’s Son Heung-min scored twice in extra time against Uzbekistan to send his team into the semifinals.

Uzbekistan coach Mirdjadal Kasimov could summon up only one explanation for his side’s exit — dirty, rotten bad luck.

South Korea is something of a bogey team for Uzbekistan, having won eight, drawn two and lost just one of their 11 meetings.

The Australians will play either Japan or the United Arab Emirates in next week’s semifinals. South Korea will face Iran or Iraq in the other semi.

The Australians, beaten 1-0 by South Korea in their last group match, dominated possession against the Chinese but squandered a series of clear chances to score with Cahill the lone exception.

The team also provided its supporters with some heart flutters, carelessly giving the ball away on a handful of occasions and allowing China to threaten on the counter attack.

The Australian captain Mile Jedinak, returning to the side after missing the last two group games with an ankle injury, was among the worst offenders and allowed his frustrations to get the better of him when he was booked for a reckless tackle on Ren Hang.

China spent most of the first half defending deep inside its own territory but pressed forward after falling behind and came close to scoring with Zhang Linpeng unleashing a rocket from long-range that forced Mat Ryan to make a diving save.

Sun Ke and Wu Lei also tested out the Australian keeper but the visitors were unable to respond to Cahill’s brace and bowed out of the competition as the Australians marched on.

AMMAN — Voting for the Black Iris Sports Awards winners got under way on Thursday with the first category going to public voting, according to a statement from the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) News Service.

The first shortlist of three athletes are posted on the JOC Facebook page for the public to decide who should win the Best Sportsman Award. For the next five days, sports fans can choose their favourite award by simply liking the picture of the sportsman they feel should win.

They can also vote on www.joc.jo. Voting for the other categories will take place next week. Best Sportsman shortlist: Abdel Rahman Al Masatfeh (Karate): Silver at Asian Games, Odai Al Hindawi (Boxing): Silver at the Asian Games and Mohammad Salameh (Muay Thai): Bronze at Asian Beach Games, Gold in Arab Championship.

The other Black Iris Awards categories are: Best Sportswoman, Best Young Achiever – Male; Best Young Achiever – Female and Best Paralympic Athlete. The winners of all the categories will be announced at a gala dinner in February.

SINGAPORE — The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has lauded the record lack of draws at the ongoing Asian Cup in Australia, but the absence of tied matches raises questions about the competitiveness of future 24-team expanded editions.

Five of the quarter-finalists at the 16-team tournament in Australia qualified with a group game to spare, with six of the first 20 matches being won by at least a three-goal margin.

There were no draws in any of the 24 group stage games, surpassing the previous mark at a major football event of 18 set at the 1930 World Cup in Uruguay, the AFC said.

Remarkable, as the regional body described it?

Or simply predictable, such is the gulf in class between the continent’s haves and have nots?

The prospect of Lebanon, Malaysia or Hong Kong joining the 24-team fray in four years’ time would likely dilute the group phase even further, weaken the tournament’s spectacle and only add to its length.

That, though, is a short-term view, according to the experienced English coach Steve Darby, who has worked extensively throughout the continent.

“By opening up the Asian Cup draw to 24, at least eight more countries have the chance to gain international tournament experience, which is so vital to development both on and off the field,” he told Reuters this week.

“When I coached Thailand we lost out on goal difference and the qualification would have been a massive boost for the country’s football.”

Middle tier 

Palestine was fortunate to ship only 11 goals in Australia, with the more established 10 times Gulf champions Kuwait leaking eight in its first two before exiting.

Darby, who has also worked in Bahrain, Singapore, Vietnam and most recently in the new Indian Super League with Mumbai, said thumping defeats were inevitable and trying to protect sides against them was pointless.

“Big scores will always happen in tournaments, even Brazil lost by six to Germany,” he said of the 2014 World Cup hosts’ 7-1 hammering in July.

“There will always be a block of great teams and the weaker group, but teams such as Jordan, Iraq and Bahrain are starting to create a middle tier and China is at last looking like it should be.”

China only scrapped through to the finals on goal difference after a woeful qualifying campaign, but Alain Perrin’s young side has won three out of three to set up a quarter-final against the hosts on Thursday in Brisbane.

The Chinese are reaping the benefits of clearing corruption and investing in their youth teams and domestic league.

Darby said strong, corruption-free domestic leagues should be the priority for developing countries, rather than chirping for extra Asian Cup slots.

“Professionalisation of administration at all levels. The countries, and in turn clubs, have to get away from presidents picking teams or politicians getting involved using the game as a vote gathering vehicle.

“For the game in Asia a Chinese victory would be incredible. They should be a world power.”

China’s goalkeeper Wang Dalei prepares to train ahead of the Asian Cup quarter-finals match against Australia in Brisbane on Wednesday (Reuters photo by Edgar Su)

BRISBANE — Australia versus China: it should be one of the great rivalries in Asian football.

That it is not, at least right now, is a reflection on how long the two regional powerhouses have taken to embrace the world’s most popular game.

But the times are changing quickly and on Thursday, the two nations will lock horns in the quarter-finals at the Asian Cup.

The stakes are high and in years to come, this match could be remembered as the start of a long battle for Asian supremacy.

The countries have played each other 10 times before, with Australia winning five times, China four times and the other match drawn, but this will be the first time in a major competition.

There are more than just bragging rights on the line. Neither country has won the Asian Cup before and both have even grander ambitions, investing millions of dollars to develop the talent they need to become a contender at the World Cup.

Although Australia is a newcomer to the Asian Cup, entering the competition for the first time in 2007 after ditching Oceania in search of tougher competition, the pressure is on.

The popularity of the sport in Australia has been rising steadily since the Socceroos ended a 32-year drought by qualifying for the 2006 World Cup and winning the Asian Cup on home soil would be a major shot in the arm for the code.

But an early exit for a team that made the final four years ago and was vying with Japan as favourites would be a major setback.

“The knowledge that we’re in knockout mode now, the pressure increases on everyone,” Australia coach Ange Postecoglou told reporters on Wednesday.

“You don’t get an extra chance just because you won your three group games. Previous records are extinguished and we’re all starting from the same place and it comes down to a game of football.”

Australia will start as slight favourites despite suffering a surprise 1-0 loss to South Korea in its final pool match, a result that saw it finish as group runners-up and pitting it against China, who topped its group after winning its three pool matches.

The Australians piled on eight goals in their first two matches but squandered a stack of chances against the Koreans when Postecoglou rested some of his key attackers and Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak sat the game out because of an injury.

Jedinak has been cleared to make his return on Thursday and Postecoglou said all his players had recovered from the group phase.

“We’re expecting a difficult game but we’re well prepared and ready for anything,” Postecoglou said. “If we improve in our performance we’ll be hard to beat.”

China only just scraped into the tournament after a poor qualifying campaign but has been a revelation under French coach Alain Perrin.

“We’ve improved a lot because we have been choosing players who are real fighters and in good condition,” said Perrin, speaking through a translator.

“It’s winter in Beijing now and very cold so we want to win the match so we can stay here.

“We know Australia is a very strong team but we are moving forward as well.”

AMMAN — The100 Cycling Challenge is set to peddle its way through the Jordan Rift Valley as it welcomes racers, competitive cyclists, tri-athletes, recreational riders, families and friends on Friday for the 100km annual event. The event kicks off at 9:30am from the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ and finishes at the Museum at the lowest place on Earth. The event aims to encourage the growth of cycling, promote healthy lifestyle choices, support local tourism and give back to the community.

CANBERRA — Palestine crashed out of its first Asian Cup on Tuesday, determined to learn from the experience of competing with the continent’s elite, but also pleading for a level-playing field in which to do so.

The outsiders made seven changes and produced a gutsy performance in a 2-0 Group D defeat by Iraq in Canberra on Tuesday, its best showing after a 4-0 loss to titleholders Japan in its opener and 5-1 thrashing by Jordan.

Head coach Ahmad Al Hassan said his side, ranked 115th by FIFA, would be better prepared for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers which begin later this year.

“We knew before the tournament that we would play with teams with high FIFA rankings, much higher than ours and we have gained and accumulated a lot of experience for our team for the future,” the former international goalkeeper told reporters.

“There are huge lessons to be learned in such a great tournament like this. The players’ experience having played three times here in Australia is definitely much better than before they came here and this will be reflected in the future.

“This was Palestine’s first participation in this tournament and I think that this is the beginning for Palestinian football, this is not the end.”

Hassan only took charge of the team, recognised by world governing body FIFA in 1998, late last year after Jamal Mahmoud stepped down for personal reasons.

Mahmoud had ensured qualification for the Asian Cup by winning the now defunct AFC Challenge Cup for emerging nations in the Maldives in May.

That memorable victory had been achieved despite six players being blocked from travelling to the Maldives, the Palestine FA said.

The Palestinians say that Israel, which controls coming and going from Gaza and the West Bank, has been restricting the movement of Palestinian athletes and have urged FIFA to step in and hand out sanctions.

Israel cites security concerns for restricting movement between Gaza, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, and the West Bank, where the Palestinians have limited self-rule.

Hassan said the situation is hindering the development of the sport and could be blamed for his side’s worst record of the 16 finalists in Australia.

“We are the only nation in this tournament that is under occupation,” he bemoaned.

“This means we don’t have the same resources.

“The players from Gaza cannot even play in one place, we have to leave Palestine for training.

“All these factors contributed negatively.”

AMMAN  — Jordan ended its run at the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup currently under way in Australia when it lost to titleholders Japan 2-0 in Melbourne on Tuesday.

“They [Japan] are such a good side, any team that beats them may well win the tournament,” Jordan coach Ray Wilkins said in a pitchside TV interview with Reuters.

“They have a fantastic mixture of youth and experience and I think it will be very hard to beat this team.

“I’m disappointed for our lads because they’ve worked extremely hard but when you play against class, the class will show.”

Japan topped Group D with goals from striker Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa putting it in the quarters with an unbeaten run including 4-0 over Palestine and 1-0 over Iraq.

Iraq took second spot after it beat first-time qualifiers Palestine 2-0 in Canberra as Jordan exited in the first round, failing to repeat its quarter-final qualification of 2004 and 2011. 

The event had a total of nine Arab teams among the 16 teams with the top two teams from each of the four groups moved to the quarters. 

Australia and South Korea qualified from Group A as Oman and Kuwait went home, Uzbekistan and China moved on from Group B as Saudi Arabia and North Korea were eliminated, Iran and the UAE qualified from Group C as Qatar and Bahrain went out.

The quarter-finals over the weekend will see four-time champs Japan plays the UAE, Iran takes on Iraq, China plays against hosts Australia while South Korea challenges Uzbekistan.

Jordan complicated its chances after its opening 1-0 defeat to Iraq but rebounded to avoid an early exit when substitute striker Hamza Dardour ended an 11-match unbeaten run and scored four goals in the 5-1 win over Palestine.

Dardour currently leads the scorers list and became the fourth player in AFC Asian Cup history to score four goals in a single game, joining Iranian duo Behtash Fariba and Ali Daei’ and Bahrain’s Ismail Abdullatif.

Since first taking part in Asian Cup qualifiers in 1971, this was Jordan’s third time at the Asian Cup finals.

AMMAN — The Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) released the shortlists for the 2014 Black Iris Sports Awards and for the first time, two categories have already been decided with the expert panel revealing that the winners of the Best Sportswoman and the Best Young Sports Achiever – Female awards should be named unchallenged, leaving three categories to be decided through a public vote, according to a statement from the JOC News Service.

Rana Qubbaj’s achievement in winning gold in the World Jujitsu Masters won her the Best Sportswoman award and youngster Eman Al Adayleh, who qualified to the Youth Olympics, won the Best Young Sports Achiever – Female award as the feats were deemed unsurpassable achievements for their categories.

With a new and improved format for selecting the final names to be put to the public vote, the anticipation has been growing since it was confirmed that the expert panel of prominent sports media figures would meet on Sunday.

The awards recognise the best sporting achievers from the past 12 months.

The panel decided from a long list made up of nominations submitted by the National Sporting Federations and then whittled down to three names for each of the three remaining undecided categories with the public now taking centre stage.

Starting later this week, the three shortlists will be posted onto the JOC’s Official website and Facebook page. Votes will be collated with the eventual winners to be announced alongside the two names already revealed at a gala dinner in February.

Black Iris Awards categories:

Best Sportsman

Abdel Rahman Al Masatfeh (Karate): Silver at Asian Games

Odai Al Hindawi (Boxing): Silver at the Asian Games

Mohammad Salameh (Muay Thai): Bronze at Asian Beach Games, Gold in Arab Championship

Best Sportswoman

Rana Qubbaj (Jujitsu): Gold at the World Jujitsu Masters (winner)

Best Young Achiever – Male

Obadah Al Kisbeh (Boxing): Bronze at Asian Games

Hamzeh Qattan (Taekwondo): Silver at World Youth Championships

Zaid Al Halawani (Taekwondo): Gold at World Junior Championships

Best Young Achiever – Female

Eman Al Adayleh (Taekwondo): Qualified for Youth Olympic Games (winner)

Best Paralympic Athlete

Moutaz Al Juniadi (Weightlifting): Gold at World Championships, Silver at Paralympic Asian Games

Khetam Abu Awad (Table Tennis): Silver at World Championships, Bronze at Parlaympic Asian Games

Abdel Kareem Khattab (Weightlifting): Gold at Asian Paralympic Games

AMMAN — Before the fight for this year’s Premier Basketball League starts on the weekend, Tuesday’s matches are decisive as Orthodoxi faces titleholders Applied Science University (ASU) and Riyadi plays Ittihad.

The stage was postponed last week amid the snowstorm that brought all activities to a halt. Teams have now resumed competition where the bottom four are playing a round of their own to decide the two teams to be relegated. Jalil and Gazzet Hashem lead Nashama and Awdeh.

As for the top four, Orthodoxi are unbeaten after they scored two wins over Riyadi 97-85 and Ittihad 90-82. Ittihad upset ASU 99-91, ASU beat Riyadi 83-64, while Riyadi have not won any games.

The top two teams will advance to the best-of-five finals for the title, while the third and fourth will play the best-of-three play-offs for third place.

The top four advanced to the current round after the preliminary stage ended with ASU in the lead, followed by Orthodoxi, Riyadi and Ittihad.

The season’s first basketball competition was won by ASU, who beat Ittihad Schools for the Jordan Cup title. The knockout competition saw Ittihad oust Riyadi 78-77 in the semis as ASU ousted Orthodoxi 92-65.

The Jordan Cup has seen Riyadi win in 2002, 2011 and 2012, Fastlink won four consecutive seasons 2003-2006, Orthodoxi in 2007, Zain in 2008, ASU in 2010, 2013 and 2014.

Observers hope the regression that affected the basketball scene over the past few years can be reversed and bring the zeal of competition to Jordan’s second most popular sport.

Last season, ASU beat Ittihad to win the Premier Basketball League for the second consecutive and fourth time, while Riyadi won third place after beating Kulieh. Orthodoxi finished fifth.

In 2011, Orthodoxi ended a 10-year drought and won their record 22nd league title when they beat titleholders ASU.

The League which started in 1952 has had 58 editions with eight teams crowned champion. It was cancelled in three seasons and discontinued once. Orthodoxi have won 22 times, Ahli 21, Zain-Fastlink six times, ASU four times, Jazira-Aramex twice, Urdun, Watany and the Electricity Co. once each.