SYDNEY - Australias victory over South Korea in the Asian Cu

[zhanjiao1212]

SYDNEY - Australias victory over South Korea in the Asian Cup final on Saturday capped a remarkable period for a nation which is only just awakening to the possibilities that membership of Asia provides — on and off the field. Cheap Nike Free With Free Shipping .Inside three months Australia has catapulted itself to the forefront of the Asian football confederation, the worlds largest.Watched by a 76,385-strong crowd, Australias 2-1 defeat of two-time champion South Korea in extra time at Sydneys Olympic stadium was the countrys first Asian Cup title since moving to the Asian zone from Oceania in 2006.It continued a run of strong performances at the quadrennial continental championships for Australia, which includes a final appearance in 2011 where it eventually lost to Japan 1-0 in extra time.The goal should be for this confederation to break the European and South American monopoly on the World Cup, said Australia coach Ange Postecoglou after guiding the Socceroos to its breakthrough victory. This tournament here, its a great achievement but its not the end of the journey. It is the beginning for us.Im not going to put any limits on this group of players. Whatever we do, weve set the standard here today.The Asian Cup was the first major football tournament to be hosted by Australia and provided some much-needed positive news after the controversial 2022 World Cup bidding process that saw Australia lose out to Qatar.FIFA President Sepp Blatters arrival at the official medal presentation after the final triggered boos from home fans, eager to voice their displeasure at the tainted governing body.The tournament, though, was well supported by the general Australian public, with over 640,000 people attending the 32 games in five cities — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle — a 50 per cent increase on attendances at the previous edition in Qatar in 2011.The organizers also boasted of record television audiences across the continent.In China, Asias biggest market, the cumulative average viewership for the event was 182 million by the end of the semifinal stage and the cumulative reach totalled 950 million. The AFC cited its data from CSM Media Research - KantarSport Asia.Television viewership in the host nation exceeded one million for its semifinal victory over the United Arab Emirates, making it one of the most widely watched football matches in the countrys history.I think its going to do a lot of things, said Australia winger Mathew Leckie, who plays for second-tier German club FC Ingolstadt. Its incredible the amount of people that came tonight. For me I think its the biggest Australian success in sport.Champions of Asia, its quite incredible and you know you could see how much everyone loved tonight.At club level, Australia has also had a breakthrough year in Asian competition.In November, Australia club side Western Sydney Wanderers, coached by former Socceroo Tony Popovic, claimed the countrys first Asian club-competition silverware by beating the more-fancied Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia 1-0 on aggregate in the Asian Champions League.We came into this confederation knowing it would be a huge challenge, the Matildas won the (womens) Asian Cup (in 2010), then the Wanderers in the Champions League and now weve won, Postecoglou said.I said from day one we wont take a backward step from anyone. We dont do it in another sport and we dont do it in football. Cheap Nike Free Online . But its also a smart game. Theres more to the Kings than banging bodies. They take a toll mentally on their opponents. Cheap Nike Free China Wholesale . "Back in 2011, when they announced that the game was coming here, we knew that it was going to be pretty important that we had a good year and hopefully could get into it, let alone win it, so I felt some pressure obviously within for sure," Taman said Monday, less than 24 hours after the Riders won the championship. http://www.wholesalenikefree.com/ . -- The road to the Masters got off to a bumpy start Sunday for Tiger Woods when he withdrew from the Honda Classic with what he said was a lower back injury. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Ian Kinsler had quite a greeting for his former team, one not well-received by some. Kinsler homered in the first at-bat of his return to Texas as an opponent, then waved at the Rangers dugout while beginning his trot around the bases, and the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers went to win 8-2 on Tuesday night for their fifth consecutive victory. "It was nothing personal at all. I was just saying Hi," Kinsler said, insisting he was motioning to no one in particular. "I mean, it was my return home, and get lucky enough to square one up like that and have it go over the fence, it was a good feeling. I was just having fun." Kinsler spent the first eight seasons of his career in Texas before being traded for Prince Fielder in a swap of All-Stars last winter. He got more cheers than boos when he was introduced in the first inning, then sent a pitch by Colby Lewis (5-5) into the left-field seats for his ninth homer. "I love Kins, Im just a little bit disappointed," Lewis said of the second basemans wave, though there was no apparent reaction at the time from those in the dugout. Rangers manager Ron Washington said he had no comment about Kinsler. J.D. Martinez had a tiebreaking two-run shot off Lewis that made it 3-1, and started a five-run outburst by the Tigers in the seventh. Boos were more prevalent during Kinslers last four plate appearances -- a popout, groundout and a strikeout before he added a two-run single in the eighth. "It was funny, because it seemed like that with every at-bat, it went from mixed boos and cheers to more boos every at-bat deeper in the game for him," manager Brad Ausmus said. "Im sure that the Rangers fans appreciate what he did. He was an All-Star here and they went to the World Series." Adrian Beltre went 4 for 4 for Texas, pushiing his career total to 2,503 hits, but the Rangers have a season-worst, six-game losing streak. Wholesale Nike Free. Martinezs eighth homer of the season came a pitch after Victor Martinez doubled. Lewis was gone after a single by Austin Jackson. Reliever Ben Rowen then gave up three consecutive hits, including RBI singles by Alex Avila and Rajai Davis, and Victor Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk off Shawn Tolleson. Drew Smyly (4-6) allowed only one unearned run over six innings. He never trailed after the Kinsler homer. "Thats awesome. I bet hes loving that," Smyly said. "He set the tone, got us on the board early and then from there it was a good game until the seventh, and we were able to get some big hits and break it open." A week after signing a minor league deal, Carlos Pena was called up from Triple-A Round Rock earlier Tuesday and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. The first baseman was a first-round draft pick by the Rangers in 1998 and made his major league debut late in the 2001 season before being traded that winter. Only Sammy Sosa (1989 to 2007) went longer between games for Texas. NOTES: The Rangers played the first of 20 games over 20 consecutive days. At 35-41, they are six games below .500 for the first time since September 2008. Texas is 16-20 at home. ... Davis was caught stealing in the sixth after a safe ruling was overturned. Davis clearly beat the throw with his headfirst slide, but Washington challenged and replay showed Davis hand popped up and was briefly off the bag while 2B Rougned Odor still had the tag applied. ... There was no pregame BP on the field because of showers, but the game started on time despite a light rain falling at first pitch. The Rangers are the only team in the majors without a delay or postponement of any kind this season. Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '