Selangor beats Hurriyah 3-1

Malaysian Super League outfit Selangor showed no mercy to newcomers Hurriyah of Maldives and handed out a 3-1 thrashing in a Group F match of the AFC Cup here on Tuesday. Selangor, who notched a fine domestic treble last season before descending into chaos this year, showed how much they relish the continental stage with Brian Fuentes, Mohd Amri Yahya and Bambang Pamungkas bulging the net for their second win in the group which also has Hong Kong League champions Happy Valley and S-League giants Tampines Rovers.

Hurriyah, who booked their berth in the AFC Cup after winning the Maldives League last year, went into the match against the Red Giants in the danger of becoming the whipping boys of the group after losing the opening encounter 0-3 to Happy Valley. Argentine hitman Fuentes put the Dollah Saleh-coached Selangor ahead in the 29th minute from the spot after the referee awarded a penalty following Hassan Nadheem’s primitive tackle on the former as Fuentes rose to head in a cross.

Sanbagamaran Kalasigaram almost made it 2-0 in the 37th minute with a 30-year missile which ripped into the net but Hurriyah heaved a sigh of relief as the linesman’s flag went up. The feeling didn’t last long for the Maldivian minnows as Selangor substitute Yahya finished a swift counterattack by beating goalkeeper Ishaq Easa three minutes after the hour mark.

Indonesian signing Pamungkas got on the scoresheet five minutes later and it looked like a rout was on the cards but Hurriyah put the brakes on their rampaging rivals and held out gamely. Mausoom Abdul Ghafoor bagged a consolation goal for Hurriyah in the final minute.

Perlis Blast Six Past New Radiant SC

Perlis gave New Radiant SC of Maldives a 6-0 drubbing in a Group E preliminary round match of the AFC Cup football competition at Stadium Utama here Tuesday night. The match, which was played in the rain, saw the first half evenly matched.

Phillimon Chipeta emerged the hero of the night, delivering a hattrick while Zacharia Simukonda contributed a brace and Manzoor Azwira Abd Wahid one goal. Perlis almost had a goal in the 3rd minute but a penalty awarded to the Northern Lions was wasted by Simukonda. Perlis got their first goal in the dying minutes of the first half when Manzoor Azwira Abd Wahid's header found the back of the net. The Maldivians' nightmare began in the 49th minute when Chipeta scored his first goal of the night, slotting home a neat pass from Mohd Ivan Mohd Yusoff.

Simukonda, who had earlier disappointed the fans with his missed penalty, made amends with two goals in succession in the 54th and 65th minutes. Chipeta added to the rout with two more goals in the 72nd and 76th minutes to give the fans more than their money's worth. He can also take pride in that he had also scored a hattrick in their 3-2 win over Singapore's Home United in their opening Group E match a fortnight ago. To add to New Radiant SC's misery, Sandum Devinda was red carded in the 88th minute.

FIFA's Tsunami Task Force has approved six projects in Indonesia, Maldives and Sri Lanka worth $1.48million.

Under the chairmanship of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president and FIFA Executive Committee member Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar), the projects were given the go-ahead after a meeting in Zurich yesterday.

The projects include the construction of different facilities such as new fields, clubhouses, training centres and changing rooms, to replace infrastructure destroyed by the tsunami

Of the $10.6million pledged to the FIFA/AFC Tsunami Solidarity Fund, nearly all the funds have been received. Of that total, and including the $1.48million above, more than $8.7million has been earmarked for reconstruction projects in the six FIFA member associations (Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Thailand) affected by the tragedy.

The joint FIFA/AFC Tsunami Solidarity Fund was launched with immediate payments of $2million and $1million from FIFA and the AFC respectively. UEFA then pledged $1million.

Sun Hei thrash New Radiant Sports Club: AFC Cup 2006

Nigerian hitman Julius Akosah fired2 goals as Sun Hei of Hong Kong got off their AFC Cup 2006 Group E campaign to a winning start with a 2-0 defeat of Maldives champion New Radiant on Tuesday

Two goals from prolific striker Julius Akosah consigned New Radiant to a shock defeat in front of 10,000 home fans at the National Stadium. Sun Hei started confidently and were calling the shots soon after the first whistle. Akosah fired the Hong Kong club into the lead in the 19th minute off a freekick which eluded diving goalkeeper Sandun Devinda Sooriyaarachche, brushed the underside of the bar and screamed into the net.

Nine minutes later a poorly marked Akosah met a Kai Cheuk Lai cross and left Sooriyaarachche picking the ball out of his goal again. New Radiant’s Ashfaq Ali had a chance to reduce the arrears in the 34th minute after a lone dribbling raid down the pitch but the striker failed to pull the trigger on time. Two gilt-edged chances were wasted by Ahmed Thoriq and Ibrahim Fazeel in the dying moments of the game. Match Day 2 on March 21 will see Sun Hei playing Home United in Hong Kong and Perlis clashing with New Radiant in Perlis.

FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter to visit Maldives

Women's football becomes the focus of many FIFA activities in March with workshops and seminars taking place in Liberia and Qatar while major tournaments take place in Azerbaijan and Portugal. FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter will inspect the Tsunami Solidarity Projects in the Maldives and Indonesia before opening a new GOAL Project in Tunisia at the end of the month.

Maldives and Aceh, Indonesia, dates to be confirmed, Tsunami Solidarity Fund Project visitFIFA President Joseph S. Blatter and Mohamed Bin Hamman will visit projects which are being constructed under the FIFA/AFC Tsunami Solidarity Fund in the Maldives and Aceh, Indonesia.

Source: Noticia