AFC Asian Cup; some domestic action to look forward to; Beckham back in England, with Tottenham Hotspur.

Well the Asian Cup in Qatar is definitely maintaining its surprise quotient, with holders Iraq losing to Iran in a close match which ended 2-1. North Korea were also surprised, or rather the 'experts' were, as they managed only a 0-0 result against the United Arab Emirates. Iraq actually took the lead early in their match, scoring in the 13th minute thanks to Younis Mahmoud's effort. The Iraqis then almost held the lead into half time but were foiled by Gholam Reza Rezaei's effort in the 42nd minute which drew Iran level. Iraq were then undone in the second half by another late goal, with Eman Mobali scoring in the 84th minute to just edge the holders of the Cup in a game which the Iranians in the end deserved to win. Meanwhile, North Korea's result with the UAE surprised some, but any experience they gained from the World Cup in South Africa wasn't very good as the UAE were very unlucky not to win the match. The missing of the penalty which came off the wood-work just past five minutes into the game by the Korean Hong Yong-Jo was evidence of the work this team still needs. Nonetheless, the UAE side missed plenty of chances too so no harm no foul? In older news, Japan were able to grab a late equaliser against Jordan in the 2nd minute of stoppage time in the second half to tie the two teams 1-1, not the result Japan expected but a result that's always better than a loss. Japan's Maya Yoshida was the hero while Jordan's Hasan Abdalfatah had put the Middle Eastern country ahead as the first half died. Also, Syria managed to edge out the giants of Saudi Arabia, with Abdelrazaq Al Hussain the hero of the feather-weights as he scored both of his team's goals while Taisir Al-Jassim was the Saudi Arabian player who equalised in the 60th minute before Al Hussain's goal three minutes later. On the domestic front, Celtic play away to Hamilton on the 12th of January in Scotland as Dundee United and Motherwell face-off as well. Meanwhile, just south of the border in England, Blackpool welcome Liverpool under their new manager Kenny Dalglish in what should be an interesting game if only to see how Dalglish will fare. Finally, David Beckham has been spotted in England wearing the light blue training kit with the Rooster of Spurs. Following a session of physical examinations, Beckham proceeded to practice with the side. Harry Redknapp was certainly happy with the way things turned out, but Beckham you ask? He's back in a side with the likes of Jonathan Woodgate and Robbie Keane for the first time since his Real Madrid days (remember them?) And appeared in good spirits. His stint at Spurs is to last until before the Galaxy's match on the 15th of March when they play the Seattle Sounders, the side they defeated before being ousted of the MLS play-offs in the following round. We'll see what drama unfolds!