An update from around the world after a bit of time off.

Sorry this has been a while in coming, I've been registering for classes. Anyway, to the football! First off, Japan are Champions of the Asian World! They grabbed the title in an edgy match against Australia in the Final which was only decided by one goal. Tadanari Lee was the man who scored it, winning the match in the 109th minute to put yet another trophy in the hands of the capable Japanese. It was only Lee's second match of the competition. Australia had their own bite though, having several chances very early on to put some sweat on the brow of the Japanese and their goalie, Eiji Kawashima. Yasuhito Endo also had a good game and Alberto Zaccheroni is obviously very pleased with his side. Unfortunately for Holger Osieck, the Australian coach, nothing went in from Harry Kewell or anyone else to conclude a disappointing game. Meanwhile, the match for third place between South Korea and Uzbekistan was predictably more open with a fantastic number of goals scored, but victory was the South Koreans' in the end as their three goals beat the Uzbek's two. Koo Ja-Cheol opened the scoring in the 18th before Ji Dong-Won slotted two goals in two minutes to make it a 3-0 game. Alexander Geynrikh went on a crusade for his side though as the first half ended and the second began, converting a penalty in the 45th before striking a second in the 53rd to make it 3-2. The South Koreans then managed to silence him, winning third place in the tournament in the process. In the CAF Champions League, African giants Raja Casablanca, ASEC Abidijan, and Zamalek all got off to a wonderful start, scoring over 20 goals between the three of them while allowing only 1. Casablanca destroyed the minnows Tourbillon of Chad with a 10-1 victory while Abidijan finished 7-0 over ASC SNIM, a small side from Mauritania as Zamalek won 4-0 over Ulinzi of Kenya. In the Americas on the other hand, Flamengo defeated Vasco in Brazil 2-1 thanks to goals from Deivid and Thiago Neves while Fluminese, the current champions, beat Macae 4-2. Going up north to Mexico now, America recorded a 2-0 victory over Atlas while Cruz Azul destroyed Pachuca 4-0 despite the fact that they were playing away from home. Moving to Europe now, there has been a bit of transfer action, but I'll hit on the league outlooks for now: Up in the North of Scotland, Celtic lead Rangers by five points although Rangers have yet to play two games. Heart of Midlothian are in third, two points behind Rangers, but also having played two more games. South now to England, Manchester United lead the table still with 51 points, still undefeated too. Arsenal occupy second place with 46 points while Manchester City sit a point beneath them. Chelsea hold fourth, Tottenham have fifth, while Liverpool have risen some since the new coach, residing in seventh place. Wolves sit at 19th while West Ham hold last place. Over in Germany, Dortmund still lead the Bundesliga with 50 points while Leverkusen sit in second with 39. Bayern have found their form enough to grab third place, three points behind Leverkusen, Mainz also have 36 points, but sit behind Bayern on goal-difference. Spain meanwhile is under the spell of Barcelona who lead Real Madrid by seven points. Villarreal hold third place while Valencia are five points behind them in fourth. AC Milan top the table in Italy while Napoli hold second, three points above Lazio. Inter sit at fourth with 38 while Roma are in fifth. France is still pretty tight as Lille lead PSG by just four points while Lyon have taken a hold of third, leading Stade Rennais by goal-difference. Sochaux hold tenth with just 28 points. The Big Three of Portugal still hold sway, but Porto lead with 50 points while Benfica follow with 39, 8 points more than Sporting have to their name. Finally, in the Netherlands, PSV Eindhoven lead Twente by just a point with 47 and 46 being the respective tallies. Ajax hold third with a point more then Groningen. Feyenoord are in the dumps though, occupying 15th place!