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India's World Cup and AFC Cup schedule clash

India's national football team will train in Dubai for ten days before its first round qualifier match for the 2010 World Cup against Lebanon scheduled for 8 October. The Indian team's camp in Dubai will start on 25 September, a day after Mahindra United play Lebanon's Al Nejmeh in the quarterfinal of the Asian Football Confederation's AFC Cup. Six Mahindra players will join the national squad immediately after the game.

"The time gap is too small. It will hamper our preparation. What will we do if a player gets injured? There is just not enough time to prepare," India's coach, Bob Houghton told media. "If we win against Lebanon then we play Tajikistan sometime in November I think, and if Mahindra also win their first AFC Cup match, there is a possibility the dates might clash again," he warned.

World Cup matches force India to modify program

The All India Football Federation is hoping its Lebanon counterpart will assist in modifying the the pre-World Cup 2010 draw issued by the Asian Football Confederation. With Round One of the pre-qualifiers scheduled for the middle of India's overcrowded domestic football calendar, the AIFF has sent a message to Lebanon asking them to agree to play an advanced return leg preferably within one week of the first leg which is slated to be played on 8 October. Originally scheduled for 28 October, India has asked Lebanon to agree to play the second leg at least a fortnight earlier, as that would not set back by a great deal the start of the inaugural I-League which was originally slated to begin on 30 September. The Asian draw has even caught Lebanon by surprise. Should they manage to beat India, they will meet the winners of the North Korea and Mongolia game on 18 November (second leg). The slight logistical problem here is that Lebanon are already due to play a pre-Olympic tie a day earlier.

The AIFF told Times of India it had asked national coach Bob Houghton what dates he preferred. Houghton reportedly suggested that playing within a week of each other was the best solution as the team too would be in fine fettle. Whatever the changes in the dates for the double-leg knockout qualifier, the start of India's first professional league stands postponed due to the 8 October first leg match and a bout of heavy rain which held up the second round of the the ongoing Goan League. "Whatever Lebanon’s decision, definitely the league will be postponed by almost a month," Savio Messias, secretary of the Goan Football Association told the newspaper.

Mahindra Utd worried about next game in Lebanon

Indian club Mahindra United has requested the Asian Football Confederation to shift its 25 September AFC Cup quarter-final away match against Lebanon’s Al Nejmeh to a neutral venue. “The situation in Lebanon scares us,” Mahindra United coach Derrick Pereira told the Goan Herald. Last month two Al Nejmeh players were killed in a bomb explosion, which rocked Beirut – venue of the match — killing 10 people. “The AFC has not made any commitments as yet,” All India Football Federation General Secretary Alberto Colaco advised. "The AFC is studying the situation in Lebanon and will take a decision at an appropriate time,” he said.

Terrorist bomb kills two Lebanese AFC Cup stars

Two players of AFC Cup Quarter Finalists Al Nejmeh of Lebanon were killed in a terrorist bomb blast which rocked the capital of Lebanon on Wednesday, killing 10 people. Defender Hussein Dokmak, 25, and playmaker Hussein Neim, 20, were driving back home after a friendly game through downtown Beirut when the blast ripped through their car. Both were killed on the spot. "Both players left the stadium after a friendly match in Dokmak’s car and were killed on the spot,” Al Nejmeh official Asaad Seblini told the AFC website. "Dokmak played for the first team while Neim was promoted in the beginning of the season from the youth to the first team."

Dokmak last figured for Al Nejmeh in a crunch AFC Cup 2007 final match day game against Muscat on May 8 which the Lebanese outfit won to qualify for the last eight. Neim was on the bench for this game. Al Nejmeh are drawn to play Mahindra United of India in the two-legged quarterfinals of the AFC Cup on 18 and 25 September.

Vietnam makes history by joining Olympic final 12

The Vietnam national men's U-23 football squad has made hisory by becoming the first team from South East Asia to make it to the final round of the Olympic qualifiers by stunning fellow ASEAN member Indonesia 2-1 on Wednesday night. Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria, Bahrain and Qatar also won their way through to the AFC Final Round Qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games joining Japan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Iraq and South Korea. In the draw to be held at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur on 13 June, the 12 teams will be split into three groups of four each and the final round will run through 22 August to 21 November with only the group toppers representing Asia at the Beijing Olympic Games next year. Hosts China qualify automatically.