Blue Samurai protest goalkeeper Kawashima’s red card

DOHA: Japan said yesterday they will protest a red card controversially handed to goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima in their cliff-hanging 2-1 win over Syria at the Asian Cup.

“We will send a letter to the Asian Football Confederation asking them to make sure there is no recurrence of such an incident for the development of football,” Japan Football Association (JFA) spokesman Hideki Kato told AFP.

But he said the JFA had dropped the idea of seeking a retraction of any ban as AFC rules insist an appeal must be filed within two hours after the match.

As Syria trailed 1-0, Iranian referee Torky Mohsen sent off the Lierse SK custodian for bringing down Sanharib Malki despite the player being flagged offside. Firas Al Khatib calmly converted the spot kick on 76 minutes.

Japanese players and officials fiercely protested with JFA technical director Hiromi Hara calling it a “misjudgment”.

The referee insisted Malki was not offside despite being behind Kawashima by claiming the ball was played back towards the goalkeeper by Yasuyuki Konno and not a Syrian player who was challenging for it with the Japan defender.

Japan nevertheless went on to win with CSKA Moscow star Keisuke Honda making sure of three points by converting his own penalty six minutes later.

Japan are level on four points in Group B with Jordan, one point clear of Syria with one more match to play.

Kawashima’s absence will be a big blow to the Blue Samurai’s bid for a record fourth continental title.

He was a national hero at the World Cup in South Africa when Japan reached the last-16 for the first time on foreign soil. 

  

Australia fight back to secure a point against South Korea

DOHA: Australia and South Korea shared the spoils 1-1 in the battle of the big guns at the Asian Cup yesterday as both sides inched closer to the quarter-finals.

The two Asian heavyweights are both seen as potential tournament winners but neither could find the decisive winner at the three-quarters full Al-Gharafa Stadium.

Exciting Jeju United 21-year-old Koo Ja-cheol, who has already attracted interest from overseas clubs, got the breakthrough on 24 minutes, striking his third goal of the competition. But a second-half equaliser from Mile Jedinak ensured both teams earned a point.

It leaves South Korea and Australia on four points from two games with Bahrain and India playing later.

The Koreans are best-placed with only minnows India standing in their way while the Socceroos face a tricky encounter with Bahrain on Tuesday.

Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung had the first sight of goal on two minutes after intercepting a poor pass from Lucas Neill, but scuffed his shot and Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer collected comfortably.

The Koreans were seeing most of the ball but Australia had a great chan­ce to open the scoring in the seventh minute when Harry Kewell somehow hooked a shot over the bar from six yards out after a Brett Holman freekick.

Everton talisman Tim Cahill had a decent penalty appeal turned down in the 13th minute when Cha Du-ri appeared to use his arm to pull him down, but Qatari referee Abdulrahman Abdou was having none of it.

  

Qatar upset over talk of winter World Cup in 2022

DOHA: Mohamed Hammam, the Qatari president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has said the 2022 World Cup hosts will resist efforts to reschedule the tournament in the winter.

“We submitted a bid suggesting we are going to be ready in June and July. And we said we are going to face all the challenges and we are going to meet all the requirements,” Hammam told Sky News. “Our focus is June, July. It is never our interest to change one week beyond June and July.”

FIFA president Sepp Blatter told reporters last week that he expected the World Cup to be moved to the winter months but added the world governing body could not act unless the Qatari FA asked them for permission.

Confusingly, Blatter also said that FIFA had the final say in all matters relating to the staging of the World Cup, implying that even if Qatar did not ask for it to be moved FIFA could still do so.

Hammam, who is considering standing against Blatter in June’s FIFA presidential election, added that the structure of FIFA is “not helpful or useful to our world”.

In another twist UEFA president Michel Platini said this week that Qatar could share the World Cup with some of its neighbours in the Gulf, another suggestion rejected by Hammam who said: “Qatar can stand alone and organise the competition by itself.”

Afshin Ghotbi, the influential manager of Iran told Reuters in an interview on Thursday, if FIFA wanted the World Cup to be co-hosted, then it should be put back to tender among the bidding nations who lost out to Qatar in the vote.

“Qatar has shown it can host it, so it should be here and it should be in the winter time – that is a logical change, but it is not fair to talk about changing the venues at this stage,” he said.

In an interview with CNN on Thursday Blatter said that the FIFA executive committee “vote more with their heart than they vote with their head”.

He said it “would be unfair” to hold a Qatar World Cup in the summer if it were possible to do so in January.

  

Messi-powered Barcelona seek record against Malaga

BARCELONA: Barcelona star Lionel Messi vindicated his selection as the World Player of the Year by netting a hat-trick in the 5-0 Spanish King’s Cup destruction of Real Betis and now he has his sights set firmly on struggling Malaga.

The Catalan club dominated the Ballon d’Or short-list but while Andres Iniesta and Xavi were favourites to win, with Spain having clinched the World Cup, it was the gifted Argentine who picked up the award for a second successive year.

Relegation-threatened Malaga now face the ominous task of pitting themselves against Barca who will be seeking a record 28th straight game without defeat – they equalled their previous record tally set in the 1974-75 season with the win over Real Betis.

“Every team would want a Messi in their side and I was pleased with his three goals but especially the way he worked so hard after winning this award,” said Barca coach Pep Guardiola.

Malaga striker Salomon Rondon was in an upbeat mood though about the task facing his side.

“It’s going to be a hard match but we are going there with the idea of trying to pick up points and play well,” he said.

“They will feel confident at home but we have our own philosophy and mentality, and we are looking ahead to the game with the aim of picking up three points.”

Real Madrid remain on the shoulders of Bar­celona but lack the fluidity and fire power of their rivals.

Cristiano Ronaldo came to the rescue with a hat-trick in the 4-2 win over Villarreal last weekend and they are scouring the market for a goal scorer with Gonzalo Higuain a long term injury absentee.

On Thursday, they had to come from behind to beat city neighbours Atletico in the King’s Cup. This weekend they meet second-from-bottom Almeria.

Once again a considerable gap has emerged between the top two sides and the rest with Villarreal 11 points behind in third.

Villarreal take on Osasuna while fourth-placed Valencia face Deportivo Coruna.

Espanyol’s impressive run this season continues but they now have a complicated away game against Sevilla. The Andalusian club are surprisingly down in mid-table but their confidence will have been boosted with a 3-2 win away to Real Sociedad and now they are battling to get key striker Luis Fabiano fit.

Atletico Madrid are still in the Europa League places despite their inconsistent form and now have a crucial encounter with Real Mallorca, who along with Getafe are below them on goal difference.

Athletic Bilbao are also in the hunt for a place in Europe and are preparing to play Racing Santander with Spain international Fernando Llorente a fitness doubt.

The position at the foot of the table remains tight with the bottom three all on 13 points.

Real Zaragoza are bottom but they know a victory over Levante and other results going their way would take them out of the relegation zone, while Sporting Gijon, who haven’t won since mid-October face Hercules, fresh from a 4-1 win over Atletico Madrid. 

  

Buffon makes winning return for Juventus

ROME: Gianluigi Buffon made his comeback after seven months out as Juventus moved into the Italian Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 victory over Catania on Thursday.

Serbia winger Milos Krasic netted the opener on 34 minutes and Italy wideman Simone Pepe sealed the victory nine minutes after the restart.

In a difficult season in which Juve crashed out of the Europa League in the group stages and sit down in sixth in Serie A, nine points off leaders AC Milan, this competition represents their best chance of silverware.

Juve coach Luigi Delneri picked a full-strength side to face Catania, including Italian goalkeeper Buffon.

He had suffered a herniated disc in his back during the World Cup in South Africa and had not played since.

Juve joined Inter Milan, Palermo and Parma in the last eight.

The other four qualifiers will be decided next week. 

  

Bologna deducted two points for not paying wages and taxes

ROME: Bologna’s fight to escape relegation suffered a blow on Thursday when the club were hit with a further two-point deduction for failure to pay players wages and taxes.

The Serie A strugglers had already suffered a one-point penalty last month for not paying taxes on player salaries and the new sanction takes their total deduction to three points, dropping them five places to 15th and they are now just four points off the relegation zone.

Former president Sergio Porcedda was also banned by the Italian Football Federation from footballing activities for six months and former general manager Silvino Marras was hit with a ban of two months and 20 days.

Porcedda has since sold his stake in the club to Massimo Zanetti, the boss of coffee brand Segafredo, who saved Bologna from bankruptcy just before Christmas.

  

Napoli’s new saviour

MILAN: In-form Napoli striker Edinson Cavani, nicknamed The Matador for his commanding presence, has fans dreaming that a new South American hero can inspire them to Serie A glory.

Just over 20 years since Argentina’s Diego Maradona led the Naples side to their last scudetto, Cavani has inconsistent Fiorentina in his sights for today’s home game.

The Uruguayan hit a hat-trick in last Sunday’s 3-0 win over Juventus to move them up to second and the San Paolo has rarely seen such scenes of jubilation since their title days.

“I wouldn’t sell him for 50mil,” said Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, whose side trail leaders AC Milan by four points at the midway point of the season.

The magic of the night has been perpetuated by a bizarre debate about Cavani’s third goal.

On first viewing it looked like he had scored with a diving header but YouTube clips suggest it may have come off his neck, back or even his heel for a stunning scorpion-like strike.

Such brilliance has put him top of the Serie A scoring charts with 13 goals alongside Udinese’s Antonio Di Natale.

Pundits thought Napoli were taking a risk when signing him from Palermo in July after he was the least effective of Uruguay’s front three in their run to fourth in the World Cup.

But while Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez were making headlines, a previously goal-shy Cavani was honing his game and he now looks electric with Ezequiel Lavezzi and Marek Hamsik playing just behind him in Walter Mazzarri’s side.

Napoli had a hiccup when losing at Inter in Leonardo’s first game in charge two weeks ago but talk of the scudettois not so far fetched given Milan are not totally convincing, Inter are adrift if improving and Lazio and Juve are starting to slip up.

Milan follow Sunday’s 4-4 draw with Udinese with a trip to Lecce tomorrow with new signing Antonio Cassano probably not quite match fit enough to start despite his fine form.

Juventus, who look to have missed out on signing on Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino for now, host lowly Bari after two straight league defeats while Inter entertain Bologna today.