Sydney were eliminated from the Asian Champions League this evening after drawing 0-0 away to the Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan. It officially ends Australia's involvement in the competition, Adelaide's dead-rubber game against Dong Tam Long An of Vietnam a 3-0 win courtesy of a Travis Dodd hat-trick.

 The focus on Sydney's exit won't get a great deal of coverage, given it fell on the same night as State of Origin rugby league, but it's likely that what will be said will be sympathetic to the Bling's cause. Sydney should be disappointed that they couldn't find a way through against a Urawa team only mildly interested in winning the match, and succeeding with a safety first approach.

Sydney's best two chances of the match were poles apart in terms of quality. In the second half David Carney hit the outside of the post with a brilliant left-footed shot from outside of the area. David Zdrilic's miss in the first half was considerably less impressive. Unmarked ten yards from goal, Zdrilic headed a cross from the right flank nowhere near the goal. How heavily that miss is criticised may be swept away by the "brave" Sydney team, who stood up to an always-singing throng of Urawa fans, and seemed less than daunted by the atmosphere and occasion.

 In other A-League news, Melbourne finally signed off on a new stadium agreement today at the Olympic Park site. For now, it will be opened in 2009 with a seating capacity of 31,000 seats. The debate about "safe standing" seems set to continue, with a chance the actual capacity of the venue may be around the 35,000 mark by the time the stadium opens. And in a win for the club, an agreement was reached where blockbuster games can be moved to the Telstra Dome - although one hopes that by 2009 the A-League season will be longer than 21 home and away games (meaning today's breakdown of 7 at OP and 5 at the Dome will be irrelevant).

 And keep an eye on the Australian page at OleOle because the "revenge" friendly between Australia and Uruguay is coming soon.

It's been a good week for football in Australia, Sydney drawing 2-2 with Urawa Reds and Adelaide beating Dong Tam 2-0 in the Champions League. But the entire nation will take far more interest in Saturday's friendly between the national team and China.

 It won't be the strongest Australian team taking the field, far from it, but with coach Graham Arnold still considered an interim manager by the fanbase, a good performance against Asian opposition could allay some fears going into the Nations Cup in the upcoming european offseason.

Worryingly, some star Socceroos such as Mark Viduka and Lucas Neill have criticised future friendlies against Uruguay and Argentina to be played in Sydney and Melbourne respectively in June. It's ridiculous that the word "boycott" is even being used. While the club-vs-country debate is an old chestnut, the chance to play in front of 180,000 fans against two of the most decorated teams in the world sems unrefusable.

In Melbourne, the Victory have undergone some changes to their squad, with the likes of Mark Byrnes and Simon Storey leaving to pursue their careers elsewhere. Brazillian recruit Fred has also left the club, apparently on his way to DC United in America.

 And finally, the FFA have decided New Zealand will get their third crack at a franchise in Australia's national league, this time from the city of Wellington. No name or concrete player details about the team yet, and opinion is still very much divided about whether it will be third time lucky, or third strike and out for the Kiwis.

 

Australian club football tasted Asian Champions League for the first time on Wednesday night, Sydney winning away to Shanghai Shenhua, Adelaide losing at home to Shandong Luneng. I held off on this update hoping footage of Ufuk Talay's stunning strike for Sydney would appear on YouTube so it could be embedded into the article, but you can see footage of it here nonetheless.

Adelaide's problems continued against Shandong in front of goal. Playing negative football for two years is going to be hard to shake, and Aurelio Vidmar has done nothing more than the word-perfect definition of an interim manager since taking over. Adelaide appear to be a distinct third banana in group G, and having already lost a home game will have to pull off some miracle results if they want to topple Shandong and Korean side Seongnam.

Despite a nervous finish, Sydney's 2-1 win in China shows they have gone some way to overcoming the defensive legacy of recently departed manager Terry Butcher, and are a genuine chance to qualify from their group. They have Urawa Reds in Sydney as their next match, in a game that will let us know if they are for real or not. Urawa only put three goals past Persik Kediri of Indonesia, in the past double-figure scorelines were the norm for Indonesian clubs on the continent, but cruise control won't get a win against Sydney.

Back "home", a decision is still yet to be made on the New Zealand based team for the 2007/8 A-League season. It is likely that Wellington will produce the capital required to move the Knights from Auckland, but there is still some hope that the deal falls through and Townsville, Australia will pick up the slack. If the Kiwis do keep their team, everyone expects it to be an infinite improvement on what was offered in the first two A-Leauge seasons.

Australia's greatest one-day cricket team has been named tonight with no real surprises, I have to say i'm relieved Michael Bevan was there. A lot of critics left him out, the only selection I thought was questionable was Dennis Lillee in at the expense of Andy Bichel. Maybe it's a generational thing but for a cricketer given limited opportunities in the test arena Bic gave his all in the one day team...

Wait a minute, this isn't right, what am I talking about?

OH, the A-League.

First, even more good news for Melbourne Victory fans. Channel 9 reported tonight here in Melbourne that the proposed rectangular stadium to be built on Edwin Flack Field may be 30,000 seats capacity with 4,000 standing room. Due for completion in 2009, such a stadium would probably be better than the oval 55,000 capacity Telstra Dome for atmosphere.

Next, the end of season awards; Newcastle's Nick Carle took out the Johnny Warren medal comfortably. The award, voted on by fellow players going to the playmaker of Chilean background ahead of Melbourne's Danny Allsopp, Kevin Muscat and Archie Thompson. On Friday of last week Allsopp and Muscat had shared the Victory medal for the club's best player. Melbourne's Adrian Leijer won young player of the season.

Carle also won goal of the year for this mazy run and placed shot against Adelaide. For a bit of context, the score was tied 1-1 after Adelaide's Carl Veart missed a penalty, Newcastle defender Jade North had tipped a shot over the bar with his hand and was red carded for the offense.



So now it's time for Sydney and Adelaide to start their Asian Champions League journey, both begin with matches against Chinese opposition on March 7th. Sydney are away to Shanghai Shenhua, while Adelaide start at home against Shandong Luneng.

So it’s christmas weekend and there’s no A-League, but that doesn’t mean no news.

For starters, I think the A-League is missing out on blockbuster opportunities by not having a round over the festive weekend. A Christmas day double-header would be a ratings winner, and to counter the low crowds, just play the matches at smaller venues such as Gosford or Perth. The lack of live sport on the Australian Christmas day and night is painful, there’s a great opportunity waiting for a professional code to take it.

The groups for the Asian Champions League were drawn this week, and while the Asian Cup draw gave the national side the easiest group, Sydney and Adelaide have not been so lucky. The loading of the Asian federation in favour of the middle-east shone through, with both the Butcher boys and the inbreds getting ‘groups of death’. While the Chinese teams may not be the strongest of opposition (Melbourne dismissing a full strength C-League side in a preseason tournament a few months ago) the Koreans Seongnam should tonk Adelaide, while Urawa Reds will surely be too good for the negative Sydney. While some Victory fans want blood, and Sydney and Adelaide humiliated (in order to show their unworthiness in the tournament ahead of Melbourne) the reality is Australian teams have to be competitive in order to show we belong in the Champions League, and not a lesser continental tournament such as the Confederation or President’s Cup. The reality is, if the strongest two Australian teams come the end of this season were in these groups, they’d be hideously unfair compared to the easy ride the middle-east and eurasian teams seem to be getting. Distance travelled for an away trip really wouldn’t be an issue for an Australian club if it meant avoiding a J-League or K-League team.

So, with no A-League game to report on, here are my rather conservative predictions for the remaining for rounds of the season, which will decide who plays finals. Adelaide’s fairly soft run home should see their revival continue, while Sydney’s ability to grind out results will earn the chance to defend their playoff crown. While it would be a far more entertaining finals series if both Newcastle and the Central Coast qualified, the derby between the two in Round 19 will potentially be the decider of who gets fourth spot. If the Mariners want the upper hand in this race, they’ll have to start with a win against Melbourne on New Years’ Eve, so until 2007, enjoy the festive football in other areas around the globe.

And without further ado, here are my predictions for the final four rounds of the A-Leauge season, and final ladder:

winner - loser
draw - draw

Round 18

Perth – Adelaide
New Zealand – Queensland
Central Coast – Melbourne
Newcastle – Sydney

Round 19

Adelaide – Queensland
Newcastle – Central Coast
Sydney – New Zealand
Perth – Melbourne

Round 20

Central Coast – New Zealand
Melbourne – Queensland
Adelaide – Sydney
Perth – Newcastle

Round 21

Newcastle – Melbourne
Queensland – Sydney
New Zealand – Perth
Central Coast - Adelaide

Melbourne 51
Adelaide 36
Sydney 33
Newcastle 31

Central Coast 28
Queensland 24
Perth 20
New Zealand 10