Thoughts on Cho's picks

South Korea coach Cho Kwang-rae turned his eyes to domestic talents after named a strong squad for the World Cup qualifier against Lebanon. The coach has brought on new faces. Without Bolton winger Lee Chung-yong (broken leg) and Wolfsburg midfielder Koo Ja-cheol (damaged left foot) and after the 3-0 defeat in Japan, Cho called up young forwards Ji Dong-won of Sunderland and Hamburg's Son Heung-min, both out in Sapporo game. Cho's plan seems to be to line up Ji Dong-won and Son Heung-min up front. The injuries are creating new spaces for young Korean talents such as Gyeongnam's Yoon Bit-Garam while Ulsan Hyundai's Kim Shin-wook is out. Another rising star is Suwon Samsung Bluewings' Yeom Ki-hun. "Yeom has been using his speed and has played some excellent games," Cho told. Cho went with proven players with international experience. Defense was a mess against Japan, so Cho hopes young defenders Jeju United's Hong Jeong-ho and Hong Chul could help the back line. K-Leaguers are hard workers and showed skills on the pitch so they deserved an extra look by Cho. And other talents are waiting for, from Pohang Steelers' defender Shin Kwang-Hoon to forwards Jeobunk Motors' Lee Dong-Gook and Kim Shin-Wook of Ulsan Hyundai. By the way, without Koo, Korea still has to fill the void left by Lee Chung-yong. FC Basel's Park Joo-Ho could be a player to take a look to.

He's there

Now that the Frank Vercauteren saga came to an end, with the Belgian officially unveiled as the Al Jazira's new coach, we can recapitulate the Al Jazira's searching for a coach. From the May 20, when Abel Braga announced his step down to come back in Brazil after a three season stint in the UAE, Al Jazira was linked with a lot of names. In June, Argentinian Alejandro Sabella was confirmed as Jazira's new coach. His tenure was brief: he returned to Argentina to lead the National Team after Argentina was eliminated by Uruguay. After Venezuelan coach Cesar Farias rejected the job, Al Jazira finally appointed Vercauteren, his assistant Hugo Broos and goalkeepers coach, David Coles, to lead the team. The 54-year-old coach, that said to be here not for money, will have the opportunity to lead the Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed's side. A risky task because Vercauteren's predecessor, Abel Braga, won trophies last season. The signing of Vercauteren could bring on more foreign talent, other that Australia captain Lucas Neill, to face Asian Champions League challenge. Vercauteren already watched Al Jazira to draw 3-3 in the opening match of Friendly Football Tournament.

One for the money two for the show

"I have a three-year plan and, all going well, possibly a year bonus in international football," defender Lucas Neill told the Sun-Herald. For a Harry Kewell's move to the Melbourne Victory in the A-League, there are others Socceroos that left for UAE new haven. Former Blackburn Rovers and West Ham defender Luca Neill joined Jazira while midfielder Mark Bresciano completed a move from Lazio to Al Nasr some weeks ago. When Australia joined Asian football ranks in 2006, was obviously to see players drawing interest from the bigger Asian leagues, as K-Keague and J-League. Maybe less was ready to see Australian talent heading for UAE. it's clear, money played a huge role. But what other? Don't talk about how weak is UAE football: as Mark Tuckerman pointed out, if Gulf football is so bad why FFA appointed Jan Versleijen, a former Al-Jazira manager, to coach Young Socceroos? Fans are disappointed these players aren't coming back to Australia to play in the A-League but domestic teams simply can't compete with this amount of money. Don't help that former Socceroos keeper Mark Schwarzer told that A-League is "a step down" from European leagues. We are talking right now of old players: Bresciano is 31-years old while Neill is 34.But what if UAE will start to attract highest and younger profile players?

Franky goes to Abu Dabi

Franky Vercauteren will take up the reins at Al Jazira. He will be joined by defender Lucas Neil, Australian international and former West Ham United, Blackburn Rovers, and Galatasaray. Vercauteren, a legend of Belgian football, was the team's first choice after Alejandro Sabella left to become the Argentina national coach. Reports are that Vercauteren has agreed a two-year contract worthy $US9.8m. Transfer rumors involving some of his former players, as Jelle Vossen, Kevin De Bruyne and Thibaut Courtois, upset Genk's fans. Vercauteren is just last of a top class list of coaches that left their team attracted by lucrative contracts in UAE. He joins Al Ahli's Ivan Hasek, Al Wahda's Josef Hickersberger and, of course, Al Wasl's Diego Maradona. Well known as The Little Prince while he played as left winger with Anderlecht, Vercauteren enjoyed huge success as manager as well. A  4-4-2 fan, Vercauteren likes an attacking football brand such it was here under former Jazira coach, Abel Braga. "I want football to be played the proper way, with the ball on the ground and every single person in the team playing his part," he said. His schemes stress quick movements of the ball and encourages midfiielders to coming from behind to support forwards. In this way, he lead his teams to be the best attack in the domestic league. He wants a strong attitude and high intensity approach that could have problem to work in UAE.

Le Guen selected

Coach Paul Le Guen selected a a 22-man squad for the World Cup qualifying matches against Saudi Arabia and Thailand. Australia also is in the mix. Le Guen picked Wigan’s goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi, who has strong reputation and experience. The camp will start on August 23. The complete list is: Ali al Habsi, Mohammed Huwaidi, Ismail al Ajmi, Hassan Mudhaffar, Ahmed Mubarak ‘Kanu’, Fauzi Basheer, Imaad al Hosni, Ahmed Hadeed, Faiz Rushaidi, Hassan Rabee’a, Qasim Masoud, Abdulrahman Saleh, Mohammed Saleh, Eid al Farsi, Ahmed Saleem, Saad Suhail, Nasser al Ali, Hamoud al Saadi, Rashid al Farsi, Hashim Saleh, Abdullah al Handasi, Mohammed She’eba. Former Rangers and Paris St. Germain manager succeeded to Frenchman Claude Leroy after last Gulf Cup. Le Roy took over Oman after Uruguay's Julio Cesar Ribas in June 2008 and leaded the team in the Gulf Cup win in January 2009. He did a great job for Oman, but right now the team has to move forward. Le Guen's first goal will be to improve team's attitude. Some flashes came from the 1-1 friendly against Barhain on August 13 where the team's display was good.

One year later

It's been about a season since Football Federation Australia decided to appoint Holger Osieck as Socceroos coach, in the place of  Pim Verbeek. Is Osieck the right man for the Socceroos? Verbeek wasn't sacked due to poor exit: he accomplished good results qualifying Australia for the 2010 World Cup and for the 2011 Asian Cup. But Verbeek had problems with his unspectacular palying style and with his rude approach to the A-League. Holger Osieck is putting Australian soccer in the right direction. He found a team with many starters retired after the 2010 WC and started a rejuvenation effort. Osieck brought on Dario Vidosic, Matt McKay, Sasa Ognenovski, Adam Sarota, and Co. in the place of Tim Cahill, Jason Culina, Michael Beauchamp, etc...Starting from New Zealand and Serbia friendly matches, Osieck started to weigh his options. A questions mark is the keeper to sub Mark Schwarzer: at the moment, Adam Federici and Nathan Coe are the options. While some veterans aren't rouled out from next qualifier rounds, some young men are rising and Osieck is giving them an opportunity to show their skills at the next level. Despite some thoughts, A-League is a good place to be and to find some talents and the recent move of  Brisbane Roar midfielder McKay to Rangers show the growing strength of the national league.

Qatar football turmoil

So, Qatar Football Association (QFA) appointed former Brazilian manager Sebastiao Lazaroni as the new coach of its national football team, replacing Serbian Milovan Rajevac, the man that guided Ghana to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, after some poor performances. Rajevac has been sacked due to his defensive play, which was not pleasing to the Arabs. QFA is working hard about developing football in the emirate. Lazaroni, a stint also in Italy, is well know to has been the first Brazilian manager to use a sweeper with the National Team. By the way, his 3-5-2 formation during the 1990 FIFA World Cup didn't work. Lazaroni will have to rise up a National Team that was ranked in the top 100 in FIFA's World Rankings. Qatar is in the World Cup qualifiers Group E alongside Iran, Bahrain and Indonesia. Lazoroni already took a firts meeting with his new players during a team training session at the Al Sadd stadium last week. Qatar football was in turmoil latest seasons: Lazaroni is the ninth coach Qatar have hired since 2000. Rajevac took over the job from Bruno Metsu last Feb. Brazilian manager will try to stay the national team more long.