By Samindra Kunti
January 16 – A Son-inspired South Korea passed their first major test of the Asian Cup by beating China and Marcello Lippi 2-0 to win Group C with a perfect record and nine points. The wait for the Tottenham star was over and his impact was immediate, forcing an early penalty and provided an assist to set his team on the path to victory.
January 16 – Bundesliga boss Christian Seifert has warned UEFA and FIFA not to even think about using weekends for any future expansion of international competitions.
January 16 – In a devastating blow to his club Tottenham Hotspur, England captain Harry Kane has been sidelined until early March with yet another ankle ligament injury.
January 16 – Manchester City have so far declined to provide UEFA with any comment over allegations that they breached financial fair play regulations since the club argues the claims were based on “hacked or stolen” emails.
By Paul Nicholson and Samindra Kunti in Abu Dhabi
January 16 – Palestine’s football team is unavoidably and inextricably linked with their national struggle, frankly, the Israelis have made it so. With their border blockades of players, equipment and even visiting national teams, the Israelis have few friends in Asian football, and probably wouldn’t even be part of the football world if FIFA president Gianni Infantino hadn’t controversially saved them from a vote to exclude them last Congress.
By Abdelaziz Abuhamar
January 15 – Chinese striker Yu Dabao has made AFC Asian Cup history by scoring the fastest goal-ever in the history of the continental tournament by a substitute.
January 16 – The English Football League are to formally investigate the so-called “spygate” affair when Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa sent one of his coaching staff to spy on Derby County ahead of their high-profile Championship match last Friday.
January 16 – American Alex Morgan has been named Concacaf’s female player of the year for third consecutive season. It is the fourth time she has won the award. Mexico’s Hirving Lozano won the 2018 Male Players of the Year.
January 16 – This season’s Big 5 European league champions will be Manchester City, Barcelona, PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich, according to a set statistical model developed by the CIES Football Observatory.
By Samindra Kunti in Abu Dhabi
January 15 – Jordan topped Group B on seven points with a hard-earned goalless draw against Palestine, a result that left Palestine’s fate in the balance in third place with two points.
January 15 – Syrians will be sick of the sight of Australians after history repeated itself in Al Ain when a rocket from Tom Rogic sent the Syrians home for the second time in a year from a major tournament.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 15 – It was nowhere in the script. Yet in a matter of days, Stephen Constantine, the only English coach at the Asian Cup, went from hero to zero, resigning as India’s head coach after they were knocked out following a 1-0 defeat by Bahrain.
January 15 – The Asian Football Confederation the AFC has fined Lebanon coach Miodrag Radulovic for comments about the referees after his team’s 2-0 defeat by Qatar in their opening game last week. The Montenegrin will have to pay $7,500 for his remarks.
By Paul Nicholson
January 15 – The issue of broadcast piracy has arisen at the Asian Cup in the UAE where the AFC has issued a statement condemning Tele Liban for rebroadcasting matches without having paid for the rights.
January 15 – Italian match officials will be told to follow international guidelines in dealing with racist behaviour from fans following the outcry over the treatment of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly.