Alireza Faghani refereed the AFC Asian Cup Final The Iranian AFC Referee of Faghani has been consistently 2007 and a year later he got his the Year 2014 nominee Alireza the best referee in Iran since the FIFA badge, which shows the Faghani officiated the 2015 Asian retirement of Moradi. trust AFC have in him. He is also Cup Final between Korea Faghani became a referee in one of the top referees in Iran. Republic and Australia in Sydney, Australia. The 36-year-old referee was assisted by his compatriots Reza Sokhandan and Mohammadreza Abolfazli in the match played at the Stadium Australia. After having been a reserve referee at 2011 Asian Cup and also at 2014 FIFA WC, Faghani had already officiated three group stage matches and a quarterfinal in this edition. Thus, it was his fifth appearance. صفحه 41 | جام ملتهای آسیا صفحه 42 | جام ملتهای آسیا The reasons behind Carlos Queiroz popularity Hat-trick: Three goals scored by a player in a single match. The player will often be given the match ball after scoring a hat-trick. Some would argue against it, but Carlos Queiroz has won the approval of many Iranian football fans in his 4 years at the helm. Despite Iran being knockout of the quarter finals of AFC Asian Cup 2015, despite the paltry showing in the FIFA World Cup 2014 , despite his team performing a dull defensive style lacking in finesse and the beauty of the game, and despite his team lacking creative players or stars , Carlos Queiroz remains a popular figure amongst the fans. There could be quite a few reasons behind this Implying that a defeat is a normal event for popularity. Normally, a football coach who does Arsenal! not win anything of significance or championship Another theory in the case of Queiroz popularity titles does not endear himself to the fans and is the fact that Iranian fans are growing tired and neither does he become popular. In Queiroz’s case, despondent of their own coaches and their antics. there are a few elements that defy the theories of Some coaches have not reflected a good image of popularity. Iranian coaches as professionals and as genuine There are diverse reasons for him to remain characters. popular in Iran and not all sides agree on the real For ever complaining, blaming earth and sky reasons, while some even question that he is for their failures and lacking grace in defeat, actually a popular coach. Iranian coaches have also been blamed for major Cynics point to the low level of Iranian fans failures at club and Team Melli levels. As such, aspirations and ceiling of expectations as one suddenly a foreigner becomes popular because he reason for the level of approval of Queiroz. A is confronting the domestic coaches. That is country that has won no Asian Cup at all since regrettably a sad reflection on the local coaches’ 1976 habitually becomes conditioned to failures stature in Iran. and disappointments, some critics claim. “The Being a famous high profile coach, who once Iranian football fans have grown accustomed to coached the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, helps his hearing bad news and Team Melli under achieving. popularity, too. They get used to it while they look for fulfillment What can the Iranian coaches learn from elsewhere like in a player or a coach that they can Queiroz ? Not his tactics for sure nor his defensive brag about.” Said a former player and a current mentality, however Carlos Querioz has a lot to coach who wished to remain anonymous. “When offer for some of the local coaches. Tactical expected to win titles but fail and fall short, the discipline on the field and character discipline off fans develop immunity against failure and get used it, is one such virtue. Playing to your team’s to it. It is not a big shock anymore after a few strength, the will power to win difficult matches, disappointments.” not falling for player’s power and invincibility of This brings us to the case of Jose Mourinho and some star players. There are several good qualities Arsene Wenger, where the Portuguese coach of that Queiroz has which could be beneficial for the Chelsea said that “he (Wenger) is used to failure.” Iranian coaches. صفحه 43 | جام ملتهای آسیا AFC announce Asian Cup expansion 24 teams will compete in the Asian Cup in 2019 while AFC Champions League will see a similar number of nations participating. The 2019 edition of the Asian Cup will feature 24 instead of 16 teams. The AFC Challenge Cup, which sees Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium participation from lower ranked Asian teams, with winners gaining direct entry to the Asian Cup, will also be scrapped following the new edition. Qualification process for the Asian Cup and Fifa World Cup will also be combined at the preliminary stage. AFC Member Associations (MAs) will be split into eight groups with the group winners and four second best teams going forward to the final qualifying round for Fifa World Cup, as well as gaining automatic entry to the Asian Cup. This also increases the number of Asian teams competing in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers from 10 to 12. The top 24 remaining teams who failed to progress to the final round of World Cup qualifiers, will instead compete for a chance at the Asian Cup in six groups of four teams. However the final round of qualifiers for the World Cup and Asian Cup will remain separate. Changes have also been implemented for AFC's club competitions. Assessment criteria for a nation's AFC Champions League eligibility will now also include national team performances over the previous four years. 30% of the criteria points will be drawn from national team with the remaining 70% based on clubs' showings. The top 24 ranked MAs based on this new criteria will get a direct slot in the AFC Champions League group stage. Other criteria such as club licensing, existence of integrity programs, organization of a professional league, satisfactory facilities and logical support also need to be fulfilled. The next eight highest ranking MAs will get a direct slot in the AFC Cup group stage while those ranked from 33 to 47 will get a chance to play in the AFC Cup playoff stage. 2019 AFC Asian Cup Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium Page 9 | AFC UAE to Be Named Host of 2019 AFC Asian Cup The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will reportedly be named as host for the 2019 Asian Cup. The UAE has several tournament-ready stadium: Al Ain’s 25,000-capacity Hazza bin Zayed, Mohammed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi which holds 42,056, Zayed Sports City which can accommodate 43,000 and the 30,000 Dubai Cricket Stadium. صفحه 45 | جام ملتهای آسیا Dubai Cricket Stadium FIF-Zayed-Sports-City صفحه 46 | جام ملتهای آسیا UAE’s Ali Mabkhout claims Top Goal Scorer Award Top Goal Scorers TOTAL POS PLAYER COUNTRY/TEAM GOALS 1 ALI AHMED MABKHOUT UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 5 2 AHMED KHALIL UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 4 3 HAMZA ALDARADREH JORDAN 4 4 SON HEUNG MIN KOREA REPUBLIC 3 5 KEISUKE HONDA JAPAN 3 6 TIM CAHILL AUSTRALIA 3 7 MOHAMMED AL SAHLAWI SAUDI ARABIA 3 8 SUN KE .CHINA P.R 3 9 MASSIMO LUONGO AUSTRALIA 2 10 YOUNUS MAHMOOD IRAQ 2 11 AHMED YASEEN GHENI IRAQ 2 12 LEE JEONGHYEOP KOREA REPUBLIC 2 13 SARDOR RASHIDOV UZBEKISTAN 2 14 JAMES TROISI AUSTRALIA 2 15 SARDAR AZMOUN I.R. IRAN 2 Page 7 | AFC UAE’s Ali Mabkhout claims Top Goal Scorer Award United Arab Emirates striker Ali Mabkhout claimed the Top Goal Scorer Award presented by Konica Minolta at the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 after the Al Jazira frontman netted five goals in six games for the third place finishers. Mabkhout, 24, netted the second half winner from the penalty spot vs Iraq at Newcastle Stadium as the UAE claimed third place with a thrilling 3-2 win over 2007 champions Iraq. And with Australia’s Tim Cahill unable to add to his three goal tally in final match against Korea Republic, which the Socceroos won 2-1 after extra-time at Stadium Australia, Mabkhout finished one goal clear of team-mate Ahmed Khalil and Jordan’s Hamza Al Dardour at the top of the table. صفحه 47 | جام ملتهای آسیا صفحه 48 | جام ملتهای آسیا The Fascinating Asian Cup Trivia What does Palestine forward Mahmoud Eid have in common with Zlatan Ibrahimovic? He is a Sweden youth international. Just like Robin Van Persie, Iran striker Reza Ghoochan nejhad is a Netherlands youth international. The Asian Cup is older than the European Championship by four years, with the first edition held in 1956. This year is the last time we'll see the cup in a 16-team format with the 2019 edition to be expanded to 24 teams. Saudi Arabia sacked three different coaches during the 2011 Asian Cup. Only four nations have an entirely domestically-based squad: Saudi Arabia, China, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Iraq's captain, Younis Mahmoud, is the only player at the tournament to be playing for his national team despite retiring from club football.Mahmoud has a tattoo of a map of Iraq on his shoulder. Slovenia-raised Palestine midfielder Jaka Ihbeisheh connected with his father through Facebook having not seen him for 18 years. Three years later, he's representing his dad's nation at the Asian Cup. Oman goalkeeper and captain Ali Al-Habsi's first job was as a firefighter at his nation's Seeb International Airport.