By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
January 28 – The two arch rivals will meet today in what the stats suggest should be a fairly even encounter. UAE have defeated Qatar twice in the AFC Asian Cup and Qatar defeated UAE once in their three continental encounters.
January 28 – Qatar’s captain Hassan Al Haydos has said his team have what it takes to reach the final of the 2019 Asian Cup as they face hosts the United Arab Emirates in yet another match that mirrors the geopolitical showdown in this fascinating tournament.
January 28 – Carlos Queiroz has stepped down as coach of Iran after his team crashed out of the Asian Cup 3-0 against Japan. In recent weeks the Portuguese has been linked to the Colombia national team vacancy.
Iran 0 Japan 3
By Paul Nicholson
January 28 – Japan stunned Iran and their fans into silence with an outstanding second half performance to win 3-0 in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, UAE, tonight.
By Paul Nicholson
January 28 – A European rival to Gianni Infantino is preparing an election campaign to topple the FIFA president at the next congress this June in Paris.
By Paul Nicholson
The alacrity of FIFA’s move to call on stakeholders to find a solution to the detention of part-time footballer Hakeem Al Araibi in Thailand shows a remarkable new found conscience and morality in an organisation that eschews a philosophy of never mixing politics and football.
January 28 – The man behind a string of incriminating leaks that shook the footballing world over the past few weeks “is absolutely aware” of the earthquake he has triggered according to his lawyer.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 28 – Southern African countries have thrown their full weight behind FIFA president Gianni Infantino’s bid for re-election in June, a somewhat pointless exercise given that, as things stand now at least, he is the sole candidate for the job although, as revealed exclusively today in Insideworldfootball, a European rival to Infantino is being lined up.
January 28 – Inter Milan is now under full Chinese ownership with private-equity fund LionRock Capital having the 31.05% stake retained in the club by in Indonesian Erick Thohir when he sold to Chinese electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group in 2016.
January 28 – Having been controversially awarded this summer’s African Nations Cup despite a history of fan violence, Egypt has gained yet more concessions from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
January 28 – The Abu Dhabi Sports Council has snapped up all the remaining tickets for the AFC Asian Cup semi-final to be played in the 42,000 capacity Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
January 28 – Though it is the fourth time in the AFC Asian Cup, it will be the first time the two Asian giants have met in the knock out stage. Iran and Japan have previously met three times in group stage of the continental tournament.
January 28 – Just 90 minutes and a win against Japan separate Iran from the final of the Asian Cup, a competition they have not won since 1976, but Carlos Queiroz has stressed that Iran must stay true to themselves to overcome a major test against the four-time record champions.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
January 22 – They are passionate, close and hail from totally football family. The Afif brothers of Qatar are having a big impact at the AFC Asian Cup 2019 in the United Arab Emirates.
By David Owen
January 27 – Arsenal, the North London team battling to secure the top-four Premier League finish that could see them return to the Champions League, have reported one of the biggest annual pre-tax profits ever recorded by a football club.