Aussies in the EPL: Huddersfield’s Aaron Mooy

The most exciting and high profile league in the world is set for an added Aussie flavour with Caltex Socceroo Aaron Mooy kicking off his English Premier League adventure this weekend for newly promoted Huddersfield.

Many fans and pundits are excited to see how Mooy, a classy, skilful playmaker, adapts to the fast-paced, non-stop action of Premier League football.

 

OUR BOY MOOY

After playing a major role in helping them win promotion last season while on loan from Manchester City (who signed him from Hyundai A-League sister club Melbourne City), Huddersfield were quick to secure Aaron Mooy’s services full-time.

The Caltex Socceroos playmaker – who played 48 league games for Town – was signed permanently from Manchester City for a club-record fee.

Shortly afterwards that record was broken again, with Montpellier’s Steve Mounié arriving for 12 million pounds.

HOW THEY DID IT

Huddersfield finished fifth in the Championship, after a strong start which saw them top the table in eight of the first 11 weeks.

22 of the Terriers’ 25 wins were by one goal.

 

They then beat both Sheffield Wednesday and Reading on penalties in the playoffs to win promotion to the top flight for the first time.

EASING INTO THE SEASON

On paper, it’s not a particularly daunting opening for Mooy’s Town.

They open their campaign away to Crystal Palace this Sunday morning (AEDT).

Their first home game is the following weekend against also-promoted Newcastle United before a visit from Southampton.

DUTY CALLS

After that first trio of games, Mooy is set to jet off to Japan to join the Caltex Socceroos for a crucial World Cup qualifier on August 31.

Following that, the side comes home to Melbourne for their final group game against Thailand on September 5.

BACK FOR THE BIG BOYS

Once back, October shapes as a testing month, with games against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool.

 

Source  :  Football Federation Australia

How Wellington Phoenix can return to the six

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Striker Roy Krishna gets a shot away during Wellington’s Westfield FFA Cup clash against the Wanderers.

Wednesday, 9 August 2017 –

Jason Pine @pineyzb

Today we finish our series on the sides that missed the Hyundai A-League finals last year and what they need to do differently in 2017/18 to make the six.

And it’s Wellington Phoenix’s turn – how can the Nix make the six?

MAKE THE TRIP TO WELLINGTON UNPLEASANT AGAIN

In years gone by, Hyundai A-League teams hated a trip to Wellington and found it difficult to take any points from visits to Westpac Stadium, let alone all three.

That aura has faded in recent seasons, and in 2016/17 the Phoenix won just five of their 14 home games.

If they can make their own arena a fortress again and an uncomfortable place for opposition sides to come, it’ll make a huge difference to their points tally.

STAY FOCUSED UNTIL THE FINAL WHISTLE

On numerous occasions last season the Phoenix conceded late goals and subsequently dropped points. Wins became draws and draws became losses as concentration levels flagged in the closing stages of matches.

Playing for 93 minutes rather than 83 is crucial for Wellington’s progress.

FIND AN EFFECTIVE NUMBER NINE

Coach Darije Kalezic has all but secured a foreign front-man who should arrive in New Zealand from Europe in the next few days.

All sides need a 12 to 15-goal a season player and if the new striker can get close to that, it’ll go a long way towards improving Phoenix’s fortunes.

With Fijian flier Roy Krishna now a genuine goalscoring threat at this level, the foreign front-men could form a potent partnership.

COME OUT OF THE BLOCKS

Phoenix’s poor start last season cost them both on the field and off it.

They lost their first four matches and when Ernie Merrick resigned after just two wins in the first eight games, Wellington were always playing catch-up.

It’s not an easy first month for the Phoenix with trips to Sydney FC and Melbourne City book-ended by home games against Adelaide United and Brisbane Roar, but a good start could make all the difference.

CHANNEL RADO’S KNOWLEDGE

There aren’t many who know more about the Hyundai A-League than new Phoenix assistant-coach Rado Vidosic.

Throughout his time at Brisbane Roar, Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory he’s gained invaluable insights into what it takes to be successful, as well as key information about opposition teams and players.

Those pearls of wisdom could well prove to be hugely significant.

 

Source  :  Football Federation Australia

FFA STATEMENT CONGRESS DISCUSSIONS WITH FIFA/AFC MISSION

Thursday, 10 August 2017

Stakeholders in Australian football have discussed a range of options to expand the sport’s representative Congress during two days of talks facilitated jointly by a FIFA/AFC mission and the FFA.

FFA’s nine Member Federations, A-League club representatives and representatives of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), which is seeking admission to the Congress, met separately with the FIFA/AFC Mission, FFA Board members and senior management yesterday and in joint meetings today.

The current Congress is composed of 10 members – the nine Member Federations and one representative from the A-League club owners.  While there is agreement among all parties that the Congress should be expanded, there have been different views on what an expanded Congress would look like.

A two-phased approach with an initial expansion to have nine Member Federation representatives, three A-League club representatives and one representative from the PFA (the so-called 9-3-1 model) was rejected in July by FIFA’s Members Association Committee, which then authorised a FIFA/AFC mission to visit Australia to help local stakeholders identify alternatives.

“A wide range of options has been robustly discussed over the past 48 hours,” said FFA Chairman Steven Lowy.

“Everyone, including the FFA Board, A-League club owners, Member Federations and the PFA have shown willingness to move from their original positions and this has been noted by the FIFA/AFC delegation.

“FFA and the FIFA/AFC delegation have agreed not to make public comment on the details of these proposals while discussions continue.  FFA is hopeful that an agreement can be reached to enable the necessary procedural changes to achieve an expanded Congress by the end of November.”

FFA is grateful to the FIFA/AFC delegates for their assistance during the visit and will be keeping them updated on discussions.

Source  :  Football Federation Australia

Get to know Elise Kellond-Knight

Elise Kellond-Knight celebrates her 27th birthday today. In honour of her, here are five things you might not know about the German-based Westfield Matildas midfielder.

•          Her nickname is KK – original eh?

•          She was born and bred on the Gold Coast, and loves to surf.

•          She made her Matildas debut six days before her 17th birthday, helping Australia to an 8-1 thumping of Hong Kong.

•          She was named in the All Star Team after both the 2011 and 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cups.

•          When asked recently by German media what her preferred super-power would be, KK chose invisibility!

Happy birthday Elise!

You can see Elise and the Tournament of Nations champions, the Westfield Matildas take on Brazil in two clashes next month.

The first game is on Saturday September 16 at Pepper Stadium and the second on Tuesday September 19 at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Source  :  Football Federation Australia

Latest FIFA world rankings for Caltex Socceroos

Australia remain in 45th spot after the latest FIFA world rankings were released today.

Ahead of two absolute crunch World Cup qualifiers, Australia remains in the mid-40s position.

Japan, Australia’s next opposition on August 31, move up two places to 44.

Thailand, who face the Caltex Socceroos on Sept 5 to complete the World Cup group qualification phase, are up one place to 130.

Brazil have returned to number one in the world ahead of Germany who slipped back to second spot.

USA were one of the big movers, going up nine places to 26.

NEW #FIFARANKING
🇧🇷Brazil back on top
🇵🇱Poland reach all-time high
🇨🇭Switzerland rise to fourth
READ MORE 👉 https://t.co/yODyMRICjA pic.twitter.com/KiaHlqz44X

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) August 10, 2017

Source  :  Football Federation Australia

Esegna faz um lindo ensaio sensual em homenagem a @DepRodrigoMaia e @Eunicio

CLIQUE AQUI para visualizar o ensaio completo

Esegna faz um lindo ensaio sensual em homenagem a @Eunicio

CLIQUE AQUI para visualizar o ensaio completo

Esegna faz um lindo ensaio sensual em homenagem a @DepRodrigoMaia

CLIQUE AQUI para visualizar o ensaio completo

Hilton group to increase the number of hotels operated in Egypt: Reuters

Al Ahram

Hilton vice president operations for Egypt and MENA Mohab Ghaly said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday that the group is planning to increase the number of its operated hotels in the country within the upcoming 7 to 10 years from 17 to 30 hotels. He also affirmed that occupation rates in the group’s hotels is witnessing improvement in 2017 in comparison to the last year especially in Cairo, Alexandria, Hurghada and Marsa Alam.

Ghaly dismissed that tourism activity has been harmed by the stabbing attack in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada last July, saying that reservations has been already made to the city until September. Egypt is undergoing efforts to revive the tourism sector, which is the cornerstone of the for millions of Egyptians and a major source of foreign currency.

The country has struggled to attract tourists pushed away by the political turmoil that followed the 2011 uprising. Tourism sector revenues dropped to $3.4 billion in 2016, a 44.3 percent decline from the previous year, the Central Bank of Egypt said in January. The figure is a far cry from the $11 billion in revenues generated by the sector in 2010, when 14.7 million tourists visited the country.

The numbers of tourists visiting dropped dramatically after a Russian passenger jet crashed in Sinai in October 2015, killing all 224 people on board, mostly holidaymakers. The country saw a 51 percent rise in the number of tourists during the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year, suggesting a revival in the industry’s fortunes.

 

Source  :  Egypt Daily News

Égypte, PROJET DE DESTRUCTION SUR L’ÎLE D’AL-WARRAQ