South Korea counting on red-hot Son to shine on Asian Cup quest

Abu Dhabi (AFP) – South Korea are hoping Son Heung-min’s dazzling pace and goals can help them end a 59-year wait to be crowned continental kings as the newly expanded Asian Cup starts at the weekend.

Holders Australia, four-time winners Japan, Carlos Queiroz’s Iran and hosts the United Arab Emirates are all formidable opponents, but none will relish facing Paulo Bento’s Koreans.

The 2015 runners-up have put their stamp on the international scene in recent times, stunning holders Germany at last year’s World Cup before winning the Asian Games football tournament in September.

Son, 26, was at the heart of both successes and his delight was plain to see at the Asian Games in Indonesia, where victory earned the team an exemption from South Korea’s compulsory, 21-month military service.

The Tottenham Hotspur forward, who has a deadly shot with either foot, has been in scorching form for his club, scoring seven goals in his last seven Premier League games. But he will sit out South Korea’s first two games next week under a deal with his club in return for his release for last year’s Asian Games.

Son, the most prolific Asian in Premier League history, will hope South Korea get the job done against the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan before he jets in for their final Group C clash against China on January 16.

The Koreans, edged 2-1 by Australia after the 2015 final went to extra time, haven’t won the Asian Cup since 1960 — a puzzling record considering their 10 World Cup appearances, including the 2002 semi-finals. 

– Arnold’s predicament –

Japan are among their chief rivals in UAE, after they were the only Asian side to reach the World Cup knock-outs before narrowly going down to Belgium in the last 16.

The Blue Samurai, winners of four of the last seven editions, will demand improvements on 2015, when as defending champions they slipped up with a penalties defeat to UAE in the last eight.

Recent results have been encouraging, including a 4-3 win over Uruguay, and Hajime Moriyasu has picked on form after ditching World Cup stars Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki in favour of younger players.

Australia, however, seem to have gone backwards since they lifted the trophy in Sydney in 2015, and it’s a tall order for new coach Graham Arnold who is plunged into the title defence just four games into the job.

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2SwARgy

Where to find Portimonense vs. Benfica on US TV and streaming

If you’re trying to find out how you can watch Portimonense vs. Benfica, you’ve come to the right place.

Before Wednesday’s Primeira Liga game, Benfica has a chance to close the gap with first-place Porto to just one point if Benfica wins and Porto loses their respective games. But can Portimonense cause an upset?

Here are all of the details of where you can watch it via legal streaming:

Who: Portimonense vs. Benfica
What: Primeira Liga, gameweek 15
When: Game kicks off at 3:15pm ET / 12:15pm PT; Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Where: Live exclusively on GolTV, GolTV en Español and fuboTV (free 7-day trial)

With fuboTV, you can watch Portimonense vs. Benfica and tons of other Primeira Liga games with a free 7-day trial. With the legal streaming service, you can watch the game on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or hook it up to your TV with Google Chromecast or Roku.

The fuboTV app is available for Windows PC, Mac, Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Apple TV, Android smartphones, Android tablets, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Kindle.

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2CKhknd

Where to find Chelsea vs. Southampton on US TV and streaming

If you’re trying to find out how you can watch Chelsea vs. Southampton on US TV in the Premier League, you’ve come to the right place.

For viewers in the US, Chelsea vs. Southampton will be shown on TV and streaming (more details below).

Match: Chelsea vs. Southampton

Kickoff: Wednesday, 2:45pm ET

Looking to watch Chelsea vs. Southampton online from your work, home or on the go? If you live in the USA, there are several options to catch all the action.

We Recommend:

US Only.

Here are all of the details of where you can watch it on television and via legal streaming:

Who: Chelsea vs. Southampton
What: Premier League, gameweek 21
When: Game kicks off at 2:45pm ET / 11:45am PT; Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Where: Live on NBCSN, fuboTV, Sling Blue and PlayStation Vue (free trial)

 

 

With fuboTV, you can watch Chelsea vs. Southampton and tons more Premier League games with a 7-day trial. With the legal streaming service, you can watch the game on your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, Apple TV or hook it up to your TV with Google Chromecast.

Now with fuboTV, you can stream NBCSN, FS1, FS2 as well as beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Español, beIN SPORTS Connect, NBC (in select cities), CNBC, USA, FOX (in select cities), FOX Soccer Plus, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports Net, RAI Italia, Telemundo, Univision, Univision Deportes, UniMas, Eleven Sports, CBS, CSN, RAI Italia and YES.

Plus fuboTV, the legal streaming service, also streams Serie A, La Liga, Liga MX, World Cup, Women’s World Cup, MLS, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, Primeira Liga, Ligue Un, World Cup qualifiers, Bundesliga, select USMNT games, select USWNT games, select Mexico games, select England games and Euro 2020 qualifiers.

The fuboTV app is available for Windows PC, Mac, Apple iPhone, Apple iPad, Apple TV, Android smartphones, Android tablets, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Kindle.

 

Here are the steps to take to watch the Chelsea vs. Southampton game with your free fuboTV trial:

1. Click on this link for the fuboTV 7-day trial.

2. Click on the red ‘Start for free’ button (see screengrab below)

3. On the login page, enter your e-mail address to sign up (or you can use your Facebook or Google logins) (see screengrab below)

4. After entering your login details and signing up for the free trial, you’ll be taken to the fuboTV main screen (see screengrab below)

5. From here, you can either scroll down the page to see the TV listings which include the Chelsea vs. Southampton game (see screengrab below)

6. Or you can click on the ‘Guide’ button at the top to see all of the channels available to you, which will include NBCSN featuring Chelsea vs. Southampton (see screengrab below)

SEE MORE: Schedule of Premier League games on US TV and streaming

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2RsdSpB

Hibernian’s Boyle out of Asian Cup in Socceroos blow

Sydney (AFP) – Defending Asian Cup champions Australia were dealt a blow Wednesday with Hibernian striker Martin Boyle ruled of action for “an indefinite period” with a knee injury.

The Scottish-born attacker was shaping as a key member of the team after scoring two goals in three appearances since switching allegiances to Australia in November.

But he picked up a knock in their 5-0 rout of Oman in a warm-up game on Sunday and will miss the tournament.

“We sent Martin for a scan yesterday and the outcome of that assessment is that he will be out of action for an indefinite period,” said Australia coach Graham Arnold.

“Martin was desperate to stay with us but we’ve decided that the best thing for his long-term career for both his club and country is for him to return to Scotland where he can receive great care at Hibernian FC.”

Boyle, who qualifies to represent the Socceroos as his father was born in Sydney, said he devastated.

“The Socceroos have become a big part of my life in a short period of time and I’m gutted that I won’t be able to be with the boys in the UAE at the tournament,” he said. 

“My focus now will be on my recovery and returning to the pitch as soon as possible with Hibs.”

Australia, who are already without midfielders Daniel Arzani and Aaron Mooy due to knee injuries, will name a replacement in the coming days.

The Asian Cup kicks off in the United Arab Emirates on January 6 with Australia in Group B alongside Jordan, Syria and Palestine.

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2GSdOLI

Proud Pochettino demands consistency from title-chasing Spurs

London (AFP) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino says his players need to be consistent if they are to win the Premier League title after outclassing Cardiff City on Tuesday.

Goals by Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Korean star Son Heung-min inside the opening half hour saw Spurs beat the Welsh side 3-0, leapfrog Manchester City into second spot and go six points behind leaders Liverpool.

City host Liverpool on Thursday but Pochettino was keener to focus on what his team can do to deliver the London club’s first league title since 1961.

“I don’t want to see the table. Of course we are in a good position,” he told Sky Sports.

“We need to be consistent. You must be consistent during the whole season.”

Pochettino, who remains the bookmaker’s favourite to get the full-time job at Manchester United, said the overall performance of his team had delighted him after Saturday’s damaging 3-1 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“I’m very pleased, the one thing I need to say is we suffered without rest between the games and therefore from the players it was magnificent,” said the 46-year-old Argentinian.

“They deserve full credit. It was a very tough period for us.”

Pochettino, who despite garnering credit for developing young players is yet to win a trophy in his managerial career, says he will be able to fill the large gap that will be left with Son leaving for Asian Cup duty.  

“That is football, we knew it would happen,” said Pochettino.

“He will go with his national team but we have players and football is about the squad and surely we will find the solution.”

Eriksen said the victory had eased the pressure on Spurs in terms of the title race.

“We put pressure on everyone and took pressure off ourselves. It’ll be back on for the next game,” the Dane told Sky Sports.

“It felt like we were 18 points behind but we’re not far off.”

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2Totub4

Colback double sinks 10-man Leeds

London (AFP) – A Jack Colback double inflicted Leeds United’s second straight defeat as the 10-man Championship leaders fell 4-2 at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

Leeds remain top despite back-to-back losses, holding a two-point lead over stuttering Norwich City as they bid to end a 15-year hiatus from the Premier League.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have benefitted from a mini-bad patch from the Canaries, who struck late to force a 1-1 draw at Brentford after losing to Derby at the weekend.

Bielsa, whose club sides have a habit of faltering in the second half of a season, said his players had deserved something out of the match. 

“We didn’t lose the control of the game. I would say the opposite, that we could control the game even if we had one player less,” said the 63-year-old former Argentina and Chile national team coach.

“If you analyse the way the opponent scored the goals, they are not avoidable goals.

“We were a little bit fragile in defence but during the 90 minutes we did everything to win. The players did a very big effort.”

Leeds had shown plenty of character to come back from Colback’s fifth minute opener and Kalvin Phillips being sent off four minutes before half-time to lead 2-1 just after the hour mark thanks to goals from Jack Clarke and Ezgjan Alioski.

However, Colback’s second and two further goals from Daryl Murphy and Ben Osborn saw off the away side and handed a lifeline to Forest manager Aitor Karanka, whose future had been questioned going into the match after a five-game winless run.

“I apologise to my team mates and our amazing travelling fans for my red card today,” said Phillips on Twitter.

“I mistimed my tackle, I accept responsibility and I will make up for my mistake.”

Karanka dedicated the win to the Forest fans who chanted the former Middlesbrough coach’s name throughout the encounter.

“This can be a turning point for the confidence of the players,” said Karanka.

“When they are able to play in this way, when they have problems with injuries and you have a lot of games — the team spirit they showed was amazing.”

Norwich, who let slip a late 3-2 lead to lose 4-3 to Derby County on Saturday, looked to be heading for defeat at Griffin Park thanks to an early goal from Julien Jeanvier.

However they continued their habit of producing late goals through Timm Klose, who prodded home from a corner seven minutes from time. 

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2Anw3mA

Record-equalling Kane keeps Spurs in title hunt with Cardiff romp

Cardiff (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Harry Kane got himself into the record books again as Tottenham Hotspur started 2019 in style outclassing Cardiff City to prevail 3-0 on Tuesday.

Kane’s third-minute opening goal is the fifth successive New Year’s Day he has scored in the Premier League, equalling a record held by Andy Cole and Steven Gerrard.

Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-Min added further goals as Spurs had the win wrapped up before half-time and reclaimed second place, a point above Manchester City, and six behind leaders Liverpool.

This performance marked Mauricio Pochettino’s side out as still being live title contenders and a stark contrast to the limp way they lost to another promoted side Wolverhampton Wanderers at home on Saturday.

They toyed with Cardiff at times, and the third goal killed the game, with the ‘Ole’ chants going up from the visiting fans after half an hour.

Cardiff’s poor record against the top teams continued, losing their last 15 Premier League matches against the ‘big six’ sides, conceding 45 goals.

The Bluebirds had picked up four points from their last two games and recorded back-to-back clean sheets after leaking five to Manchester United in their previous home game, but any hopes of making it three quickly disappeared.

Kane’s goal came off his shin, deflecting in a loose ball from a terrible touch from Cardiff captain Sean Morrison after Kieran Trippier’s cross from the right initially hit the England captain.

The England striker has now scored 16 goals in his last 12 Premier League away matches against newly-promoted teams.

Spurs made it 2-0 after just 12 minutes with a classy goal from Eriksen.

The Danish midfielder bought himself time and space by dummying Bruno Ecuele Manga and Harry Arter before picking his spot from the edge of the box to top off an impressive move involving Moussa Sissoko and Son.

Son made it 3-0 with another stylish finish, the South Korean delaying his shot from Kane’s short pass while Morrison dallied before steering an acute-angled drive across Neil Etheridge and into the far bottom corner for his 11th goal of the season, all scored in the last 16 games.

The arrival of Junior Hoilett as a half-time substitute at least ensured Cardiff gave Spurs something to think about in the second half.

The winger forced two saves from Hugo Lloris, first with a far post header which brought a diving stop and later with a cross that was tipped over.

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2SwIdjY