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Iraq triumphs in the Asian Cup
Iraq’s victory in the Asian Cup a few days ago is obviously old news, but I will write about it anyway. I only watched the first half of the final between Iraq and Saudi Arabia because it was a delayed telecast that impinged too much on my Sunday night sleep. The telecast was delayed because China’s man of the moment, basketball player Yi Jianlian was playing in a crappy basketball match between China and Slovenia. It was a shame that I didn’t watch the entire match because Iraq was playing an entertaining brand of football. It made a pleasant change from the defensive tactics employed by both South Korea and Japan. The fact that Iraq can play with flair and still carry home the championship trophy is proof that risky and aggressive play can usually triumph over defensive tactics (obviously Italy’s World Cup win is an exception).
The final was refereed by Australian Mark Shield, who Chinese football commentators simply refer to as ‘Mark’. Shield’s performance in the first half was excellent - he didn’t give away any soft free kicks to diving players. When the Iraqi striker pretended that he had suffered a blow from his Saudi opponent, Shield responded by giving both players a yellow card. This was in sharp contrast to the red card handed out to Australia’s Vince Grella after he accidentally struck a Japanese player. The Age recently published a revealing interview with the Italian-based Grella, during which he complains bitterly about the treatment meted out to the Australian team during the Asian Cup. |
Posted: 6:11 PM, 1/8/2007 in SoccerShare on Facebook |
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