2011 A-League Grand Final, Match, Summary
As the first half of extra time ended, the Roar appeared beaten, with the Mariners holding what appeared to be a comfortable two-goal lead into the final period of the game. In contrast to the start of the first half of extra time, the Roar were the ones pushing forward as they chased a goal that would give them hope. Their reward came three minutes from full-time.


2011 A-League Grand Final, Match, Summary
Roar captain, Matt McKay's lobbed pass to Jean Carlos Solórzano, whose first time chest control gave him space he needed to find a pass to Thomas Broich who set up Henrique to side-foot the ball into the Mariners' goal. The Roar then sensationally equalised with barely seconds to go through Roar midfielder Erik Paartalu. Young Roar substitute Rocky Visconte won a corner for the Roar when Mariners substitute striker Daniel McBreen's clearance went behind the goals. Thomas Broich's corner was met by Paartalu's strong header which completed the comeback and sent the game to a penalty shootout.


2011 A-League Grand Final, Match, Summary
The shootout was taken in front of the Brisbane Roar home end, with the Central Coast Mariners to take the first penalty kick. Veteran Mariners' and Maltese international midfielder, John Hutchinson took the first kick, which he converted, taking a deflection off Roar goalkeeper Michael Theoklitos. Brisbane Roar right back Ivan Franjic stepped up first for the Roar and duly converted his penalty, sending Mariners' goalkeeper the wrong way.


2011 A-League Grand Final, Match, Summary
Mariners' captain Alex Wilkinson and the Roar's goalscoring hero Erik Paartalu both converted their penalty kicks taking the score to 2-2. Mariners' striker Daniel McBreen then struck his shot well to the right of Theoklitos; however, the Roar goalkeeper was equal to it and palmed the shot around the post. Roar captain Matt McKay then took his penalty successfully, giving the Roar a 3–2 advantage. Right back Pedj Bojic took the Mariners' fourth penalty kick.


2011 A-League Grand Final, Match, Summary
Bojic's powerful strike looked destined for the top left-hand corner of Theoklitos' goal; however, the three-time A-League Goalkeeper of the Year pulled off a one-handed save to palm the ball over the bar and deny the Mariners for a second time in the shootout. With the score at 3–2 and the Roar still having two penalty kicks in hand, this meant that the next penalty kick for the Roar would be enough. Brisbane's Brazilian winger Henrique stepped up and converted his penalty kick, beating the Mariners' keeper and Joe Marston Medalist Mathew Ryan to seal Brisbane Roar's first ever A-League Championship.


2011 A-League Grand Final, Match, Details
Assistant Referees: Ben Wilson and Brad HobsonFourth Official: Strebre Delovski


2011 AA Drink–leontien.nl season
The 2011 women's road cycling season was the seventh year for AA Drink-leontien.nl (UCI code: LNL), which began as Van Bemmelen–AA Drink in 2005.


2011 AA Drink–leontien.nl season, Other achievements, Dutch national record, team pursuit
Kirsten Wild, as part of the national team, broke twice together with Ellen van Dijk and Vera Koedooder or Amy Pieters the Dutch team pursuit record.


2011 AA Drink–leontien.nl season, UCI World Ranking
The team finished fifth in the UCI ranking for teams.


2011 AAA 400
The 2011 AAA 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race that was held on October 2, 2011, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware.


2011 AAA 400
Contested 400 laps on the 1.000-mile (1.609 km) concrete oval, it was the 29th race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the third race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. The race was won by Kurt Busch for the Penske Racing team. Jimmie Johnson finished second, and Carl Edwards clinched third.


2011 AAA 400
A series of racing accidents in addition to a brief bout of rain contributed to the vast amount of cautions that this race endured. While the average green flag run was approximately 32 laps, 11% of the race was run under a caution flag.


2011 AAA Texas 500
The 2011 AAA Texas 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event held on November 6, 2011 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps, the event was the eighth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup during the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Tony Stewart led 173 of the 334 laps and won the race while Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne finished second and third respectively.


2011 AAA Texas 500
The race featured five cautions and twenty-three lead changes, while Stewart's win was his fourth of the season and second in a row after winning the previous week's race as well. Before the race, Kyle Busch was suspended by NASCAR due to his actions in the 2011 WinStar World Casino 350K. He was replaced by Michael McDowell.


2011 AAA Texas 500
The race was filmed for footage for the British motor show Top Gear, where presenter Richard Hammond was shown walking around the Texas Motor Speedway campgrounds, being the honorary pace car driver, and being a pit crew member for Mark Martin's team. Afterwards, Hammond would get a ride with Kyle Petty for the Petty Racing Experience.


2011 AAA Texas 500, Race recap, Pre-race
For pre-race cermonies, Dr. Roger Marsh from Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries gave the invocation. Showdog Recording artist Trace Adkins would sing the national anthem, with a singular B-52 Bomber from the Barksdale Air Force Base performing the flyover. The president of Texas' AAA branch at the time, Bob Bouttier, gave the command to start engines.


2011 AAA Texas 500, Race recap, Pre-race
Honorary pace car driver, former Top Gear host and now host of The Grand Tour, Richard Hammond would lead the field to green.


2011 AACTA Television Awards
The categories for television, at the Inaugural Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known commonly as the AACTA Awards, were presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards were presented with the film awards on two separate events: the AACTA Awards Luncheon, on 15 January 2012, at the Westin Hotel, and the AACTA Awards Ceremony, on 31 January 2012, at the Sydney Opera House. Public voted awards were also be presented for Best Television Series, Best Actor and Best Actress.


2011 AAMI Classic
The 2011 AAMI Classic will take place between 12–15 January 2011, at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. Fernando Verdasco was the defending champion, but lost in the first round to Gaël Monfils. Lleyton Hewitt won in the final against Gaël Monfils 7–5, 6–3.


2011 AAMI Classic, Draw, Notes
After the second day of matches was canceled due to rain, the first-round match between Tsonga and Melzer was converted to a single 'pro set' (first to eight games, by a margin of two) instead of the standard best of three, in order to save time and enable the second-round matches to be played later on the same day. (Melzer won 8-6).


2011 AAMI Classic, Draw, Notes
The play-offs were also delayed and ultimately cancelled due to rain delays.


2011 ABA All-Star Game
The 2011 American Basketball Association All-Star Game was held in Jacksonville, Florida at the 15,000 seat Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on February 26, 2011.


2011 ABA All-Star Game
The East team was coached by Kevin Waters of the Jacksonville Giants, while the West team was coached by Steve Tucker of the Southeast Texas Mavericks. The East defeated the West, 123-122, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of 4,488. Kayode Ayeni of the Jersey Express was named Most Valuable Player. J. R. VanHoose of the East Kentucky Energy won the 3-Point Contest.


2011 ABL Playoffs
The 2010–11 ASEAN Basketball League Grand Finals Playoffs was the second season of competition since its establishment. A total of four teams competed. The 2010–11 ABL Grand Finals Playoffs started after the 2010–11 ABL Regular Season ended on 15 January 2011 and will conclude on the Finals.


2011 ABL Playoffs
The Chang Thailand Slammers defeated the defending champions AirAsia Philippine Patriots in the Finals 2 games to none to win their first title.


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
The 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the event known as the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Rotterdam Ahoy indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from February 7 through February 13, 2011. First-seeded Robin Söderling won his second successive singles title.


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
The field was led by Australian Open finalist Andy Murray, Australian Open semifinalist David Ferrer and defending champion Robin Söderling. Other players included World No. 10 Jürgen Melzer and former top 10 players Ivan Ljubičić, Tommy Robredo, and Mikhail Youzhny.


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, Finals, Doubles
Jürgen Melzer /  Philipp Petzschner defeated  Michaël Llodra /  Nenad Zimonjić, 6–4, 3–6, [10–5].


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, Finals, Wheelchair Doubles
The tournament was played in a round robin format with  Robin Ammerlaan and  Stéphane Houdet won the league.


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, Entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry as a Lucky Loser into the singles main draw:


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Doubles
Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić were the defending champions, but Nestor chose not to participate that year. Zimonjić played with Michaël Llodra and reached the final, but lost to Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner, 6–4, 3–6, [10–5].


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Singles
Robin Söderling successfully defended his title, by defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, in the final.


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Singles Qualifying
This article displays the qualifying draw of the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Wheelchair Doubles
This was the first year of the Wheelchair doubles. The tournament was played in a round robin format and Robin Ammerlaan and Stéphane Houdet won the league.


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Wheelchair Doubles, Draw, Standings
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Wheelchair Singles
Stéphane Houdet was the defending champion, and he reached the final, losing to Ductchman Ronald Vink in straight sets


2011 ACB Playoffs
The 2011 ACB Playoffs was the final phase of the 2010–11 ACB season. It started on May 19, 2011 and will end on June 2011. Caja Laboral were the current title holders, but were eliminated by Regal FC Barcelona in semifinals. Regal FC Barcelona won their 16th title.


2011 ACC Championship Game
The 2011 ACC Championship Game was the seventh football championship game for the Atlantic Coast Conference. It featured the winners of the ACCs two divisions, the Atlantic Division and the Coastal Division. Clemson represented the Atlantic while the Coastal division was represented by Virginia Tech. This was the game's second year at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was Clemson's second appearance, and Virginia Tech's fifth, in the ACC Championship Game. Clemson defeated Virginia Tech by a score of 38–10, earning a spot in the 2012 Orange Bowl. Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd was named the game's most valuable player, after completing 20–29 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown.


2011 ACC Championship Game
Virginia Tech went on to play in the 2012 Sugar Bowl, where they were defeated 23–20 by Michigan.


2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place from March 10 to March 13 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.


2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
In contrast to the upset-heavy tournament in 2010 where the 11 and 12 seeds reached the semifinals, there were only two games in the first two rounds in which the lower seed prevailed. Some notable games included the first round game between Miami and Virginia. The Cavaliers held a 10-point lead with 42 seconds left, but the Hurricanes scored 10 straight points at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime, where Miami eventually won.


2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
In the quarterfinal game between Florida State and Virginia Tech, the Hokies' Erick Green hit a shot to put Virginia Tech up 1 with 4.7 seconds left. Derwin Kitchen then hit what appeared to be the game-winning shot for the Seminoles, but the shot was waved off after review, and Virginia Tech advanced.


2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament
For the first time in 10 years, Duke and North Carolina played each other in the championship game. The top-seeded Tar Heels had come back from double-digit deficits in their victories against Miami and Clemson. Duke started strong as well, scoring the first 8 points and taking a 14-point lead at halftime. However, Duke did not relinquish their lead in the second half, as North Carolina never got closer than 9. Duke won, 75-58, to give the Blue Devils their 19th ACC championship, the most in ACC history. This title also tied Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski with former UNC coach Dean Smith for the most ACC championships, each having won 13.


2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, Ticket policy
The ACC implemented a new ticket policy in hopes to sell out more of the Greensboro Coliseum's approximately 23,000 seats. In previous years, each school was allotted an equal number of ticket books for distribution. This left large numbers of tickets unsold as some schools, such as Boston College, Miami, and Florida State, do not have large numbers of fans who make the trip to Greensboro for the tournament. In response, the ACC issued more ticket books to schools who traditionally sold the majority of their ticket books.


2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeding
Teams are seeded based on the final regular season standings, with ties broken under an ACC policy.


2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, Awards and honors
First TeamNolan Smith, DukeKyle Singler, DukeHarrison Barnes, North CarolinaTyler Zeller, North CarolinaDemontez Stitt, Clemson


2011 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament, Awards and honors
Second TeamMiles Plumlee, DukeSeth Curry, DukeJohn Henson, North CarolinaKendall Marshall, North CarolinaMalcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech


2011 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament
The 2011 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament was the  25th edition of the tournament, which determined the men's college soccer champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference, as well as the conference's automatic berth into the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The tournament began on November 7, with N.C. State defeating Virginia Tech 1–0 in a play-in fixture. The ACC Championship was played on November 13 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina with North Carolina defeating Boston College 3–1 in the final.


2011 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament
As ACC Champions, North Carolina qualified for the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, and would eventually win the national championship, making it the second time in the last two years an ACC school won the national tournament. Additionally five ACC schools qualified for the tournament through at-large bids, the most of any conference.


2011 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament
The defending champions, Maryland, were eliminated by Clemson in the quarterfinals of the tournament.


2011 ACC Twenty20 Cup
The 2011 ACC Twenty20 Cup was played between 3–11 December 2011 in Nepal. The tournament acted as a qualifying tournament for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. The tournament was won by defending champions Afghanistan who defeated Hong Kong in the final to win the tournament for a third time. Afghanistan had already qualified for the World Twenty20 Qualifier as an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council with One Day International status. They will be joined in the qualifying event by Hong Kong, Oman and Nepal.


2011 ACC Twenty20 Cup, Statistics, Most runs
The top five highest run scorers (total runs) are included in this table.


2011 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship
The 2011 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship was an international women's cricket tournament held in Kuwait from 18 to 25 February 2011. It was organised by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).


2011 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship
Ten teams participated in the tournament, down from twelve at the previous edition in 2009. Iran and Qatar were the teams that did not return. The ten teams were divided into groups of five, one of which was topped by China and the other by Nepal. China defeated Thailand in the first semi-final, but Nepal were defeated by Hong Kong in the other. Hong Kong went on to also defeat China in the final, winning their second consecutive title.


2011 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship, Statistics, Most runs
The top five runscorers are included in this table, ranked by runs scored and then by batting average.


2011 ACC Women's Twenty20 Championship, Statistics, Most wickets
The top five wicket-takers are listed in this table, ranked by wickets taken and then by bowling average.


2011 ADAC Formel Masters
The 2011 ADAC Formel Masters season was the fourth season of the ADAC Formel Masters open wheel auto racing series in Germany. The points system for the 2011 season changed to match the system used by the FIA for other championships such as Formula One. Points were awarded to the top ten drivers in each race as follows: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, and 1. Pascal Wehrlein won seven of the 24 races and won the drivers' championship. Motopark Academy won the teams' title after their drivers Emil Bernstorff, Artem Markelov, Kean Kristensen and Mario Farnbacher occupied second, fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively. Sven Müller was third.


2011 ADAC GT Masters
The 2011 ADAC GT Masters season was the fifth season of the ADAC GT Masters, the grand tourer-style sports car racing founded by the German automobile club ADAC. It began on 24 April at Motorsport Arena Oschersleben and finished on 2 October at Hockenheim after eight double-header meetings. Dino Lunardi and Alexandros Margaritis claimed the championship title.


2011 ADAC Procar Series
The 2011 ADAC Procar Series season was the seventeenth season of the ADAC Procar Series, the German championship for Super 2000 touring cars. The season consisted of eight separate race weekends with two races each, spread over seven different tracks.


2011 AFC Annual Awards
The 2011 AFC Annual Awards was the top football players and coaches of the year in Asia.


2011 AFC Annual Awards
Among six candidates, Server Djeparov win the Asian Footballer of the Year award for the second time.


2011 AFC Annual Awards
Aya Miyama, Japan women's football team player which won 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was awarded Asian Women Footballer of the Year.


2011 AFC Annual Awards
Hideki Ishige and Caitlin Foord becomes the Youth Player of the Year. Al-Sadd which won 2011 AFC Champions League was named as the Club of the Year. Both Japan's men and women's team was named as National Team of the Year.


2011 AFC Annual Awards
Ravshan Irmatov and . Norio Sasaki was awarded as the Coach of the Year. Mohammad Keshavarz, MVP of the 2011 AFC Futsal Club Championship was awarded as Futsal Player of the Year. Nagoya Oceans, winner of the 2011 AFC Futsal Club Championship was named as Futsal Club of the Year. Fair Play Award was given to the South Korea national football team.


2011 AFC Annual Awards, Winners, Men
Only two players of shortlist competed for the award under a rule, which omitted nominees who didn't attend the ceremony.


2011 AFC Asian Cup
The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup. Japan won the cup after a 1–0 win against Australia, and earned the right to compete in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil as the representative from AFC.


2011 AFC Asian Cup
A television viewing audience of 484 million in 80 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, North America and North Africa witnessed Japan defeat Australia 1–0 in the final.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Host selection
Qatar, India and Iran all lodged interest in hosting the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, while Australia also considered making a late bid. Qatar officially submitted their bid on 19 June 2006, while India withdrew their interest and Iran failed to submit proper documentation for their bid on time.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Host selection
Qatar was announced as host nation on 29 July 2007, during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia. Due to FIFA regulations stating that confederation events can be hosted either in January or July, and July being peak summer heat in the Middle East, 2011 Asian Cup took place in January of that year.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Qualification
The teams finishing first, second and third in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, and the host nation for the 2011 competition, received automatic byes to the finals. They were joined by the top two finishers in each of five qualifying groups. The AFC Challenge Cup acted as a further qualification competition for eligible countries within the emerging and developing category of member associations. The winners of the AFC Challenge Cup competitions in 2008 and 2010 qualified automatically to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals. These two winners were India and North Korea. It was India's first play for the Asian Cup since 1984, and North Korea's first since 1992.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Draw
The draw for the AFC Asian Cup 2011 was held on 23 April 2010 in Doha, Qatar. Qatar were seeded among the top group.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Draw, Seeding
Seeding was announced on 22 April 2010. Qatar were automatically placed in Group A..FIFA rankings of April 2010 are given in brackets.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Draw, Seeding
Qatar (96) Iraq (81) Saudi Arabia (66) South Korea (47)


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Draw, Seeding
China PR (84) United Arab Emirates (100) Bahrain (69) Jordan (103)


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Venues
Members of the AFC Organising Committee for AFC Asian Cup 2011 have agreed the use of five stadiums for the 2011 tournament.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Match ball
The Nike Total 90 Tracer was the official match ball of the tournament.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Officials
Twelve referees and twenty four assistants were selected for the tournament:


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Squads
Each country's final squad of 23 players was submitted by 28 December 2010.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Group stage, Tie-breaking criteria
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers are in following order:


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Statistics, Goalscorers
With five goals, Koo Ja-cheol was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 90 goals were scored by 60 different players, with three of them credited as own goals.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Statistics, Awards
The AFC selected the MVP, top goalscorer, fair play award and four quality players of the tournament. They didn't officially announce the all-star team in this tournament.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Theme song
For marketing of the event, the organisers opted for the slogan "Yalla Asia" with a song sung by international artists Jay Sean and Karl Wolf, featuring Radhika Vekaria. Yalla Asia was composed and written by Radhika Vekaria, Max Herman and Zoulikha El Fassi. Max Herman produced the record for Zoul Projects 2011.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Concerns and controversies
The AFC Asian Cup 2011 was not without controversy as concerns were risen about the extremely low crowds at most Asian Cup games not featuring the host nation Qatar. The average attendance was just 12,006, much lower than the previous AFC Asian Cup tournaments. North Korea and the United Arab Emirates both had the lowest attendance numbers with approximately 3,000 and 6,000 attendances respectively.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Concerns and controversies
The final match between Japan and Australia saw as many as 3,000 to 10,000 fans with valid tickets denied entry to the stadium which then allegedly sparked small skirmishes among fans, "It was just incredibly badly handled. There were kids and families, not causing any problem, being confronted by riot police and being told they weren't getting in," according to Andy Richardson, Al Jazeera's sports correspondent. The AFC stated that the gates were closed early for security concerns and organisers did not anticipate an influx of Japanese and Australian fans. The organising committee has offered to refund all tickets not redeemed at the match.


2011 AFC Asian Cup, Concerns and controversies
After staging the 2006 Asian Games, this Asian Cup was being closely watched as an indicator to see how Qatar copes with hosting a major international football tournament in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Final
The 2011 AFC Asian Cup Final was a football match that took place on 29 January 2011 at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, to determine the winner of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The match was won by Japan, defeating Australia 1–0 after extra time through a goal scored by Tadanari Lee. Japan thus qualified for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup as the representative from AFC.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Final
The tournament's closing ceremony was held immediately before kickoff. 37,174 people attended the match, although several thousand supporters with tickets were prohibited from entering the stadium after entry was closed 30 minutes before the match commenced.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Final
A television viewing audience of 484 million in 80 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, North America and North Africa witnessed Japan defeat Australia 1–0 in the final.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Final, Background
The final was played between Japan and Australia. Japan, coached by Italian Alberto Zaccheroni, qualified for the final after defeating tournament host Qatar in the quarter-final and South Korea after a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final. Australia, also led by a foreign coach (German Holger Osieck), opened the tournament with a 4–0 win over India on their way to winning their group, before defeating Iraq in the quarter-final, and thrashing Uzbekistan 6–0 in the semi-final. For Australia, victory would bring its first ever title in an Asian tournament, having won three Oceania titles. The match marked a record for Australia's goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, becoming the country's most capped player with his 88th appearance. Shinji Kagawa missed the match due to injury.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Final, Match details
Australia dominated the first half of the match, and had chances to score through their forwards Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell. Japan had a scare shortly after half-time when a cross from Luke Wilkshire was misjudged by Japan's goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and hit the crossbar, only for Cahill's shot to be cleared off the goal-line. Japan, however, had chances on the counter-attack including a wasted opportunity for Shinji Okazaki halfway through the second half, missing a header on goal while he was unmarked. The deadlock remained unbroken until the 20th minute of extra time, when Japan substitute Tadanari Lee scored off a cross from Yuto Nagatomo. Japan held its lead until the end of extra time to win the final.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Final, Match details
After the match, Keisuke Honda was named the "most valuable player" of the tournament. Both managers praised their players after the match; Osieck expressed disappointment that Australia could not convert numerous opportunities to score, while Zaccheroni called Japan's win a "great victory" and hailed Lee's impact as a substitute.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Final, Match details
Assistant referees:Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan)Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan)Fourth official:Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group A
Group A of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup was one of four groups of nations competing at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The group's first round of matches began on 7 January and its last matches were played on 16 January. All six group matches were played at venues in Doha, Qatar. The group consisted Qatar the hosts as well as China PR, Kuwait and Uzbekistan.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group A, Uzbekistan vs Kuwait
Assistant referees:Khaled Al Allan (Bahrain)Mohammed Jawdat Nehlawi (Syria)Fourth official:Abdul Malik (Singapore)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group A, China PR vs Qatar
Assistant referees:Jeong Hae-sang (South Korea)Jang Jun-mo (South Korea)Fourth official:Alireza Faghani (Iran)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group A, Qatar vs Kuwait
Assistant referees:Jeffrey Goh (Singapore)Haja Maidin (Singapore)Fourth official:Ali Al Badwawi (UAE)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group A, China PR vs Uzbekistan
Assistant referees:Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan)Hamed Al Mayahi (Oman)Fourth official:Alireza Faghani (Iran)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group B
Group B of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup was one of four groups of nations competing at 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The group's first round of matches began on 9 January and its last matches were played on 17 January. All six group matches were played at venues in Doha and Al Rayyan, Qatar. The group consisted of Saudi Arabia (the runner-up of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup) as well as Japan, Jordan and Syria.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group B, Saudi Arabia vs Syria
Assistant referees:Jeong Hae-sang (South Korea)Jang Jun-mo (South Korea)Fourth official:Abdullah Balideh (Qatar)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group B, Jordan vs Saudi Arabia
Assistant referees:Saleh Al Marzouqi (UAE)Yaser Marad (Kuwait)Fourth official:Ben Williams (Australia)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group B, Saudi Arabia vs Japan
Assistant referees:Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan)Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan)Fourth official:Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group B, Jordan vs Syria
Assistant referees:Mohammad Dharman (Qatar)Hassan Al Thawadi (Qatar)Fourth official:Abdullah Balideh (Qatar)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group C
Group C of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup was one of four groups of nations competing at 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The group's first round of matches were played on 10 January and its last matches were played on 18 January. All six group matches were played at venues in Doha, Qatar. The group consisted of Australia, South Korea, India (the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup champions) and Bahrain.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group C, India vs Australia
Assistant referees:Saleh Al Marzouqi (UAE)Yaser Marad (Kuwait)Fourth official:Mohsen Torky (Iran)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group C, Korea Republic vs Bahrain
Assistant referees:Bakhadyr Kochkarov (UAE)Hamed Al Mayahi (Kyrgyzstan)Fourth official:Alireza Faghani (Iran)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group C, Australia vs Korea Republic
Assistant referees:Mohammad Dharman (Qatar)Hassan Al Thawadi (Qatar)Fourth official:Abdullah Balideh (Qatar)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group C, Bahrain vs India
Assistant referees:Mu Yuxin (China)Mohd Sabri Bin Mat Daud (Malaysia)Fourth official:Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group C, Bahrain vs India
Clarification on goalscorers: the second Indian goal is credited to Sunil Chhetri, who headed in a rebound after a shot from Renedy Singh hit the underside of the bar and bounced behind the goal-line. However, as the officials did not indicate a goal was scored at that earlier point but only after Chhetri headed into the net, Renedy cannot be credited with the goal.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group D
Group D of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup was one of four groups of nations competing at 2011 AFC Asian Cup. The group's first round of matches were played on 11 January and its last matches were played on 19 January. All six group matches were played at venues in Doha and Al Rayyan, Qatar. The group consists of 2007 AFC Asian Cup champions Iraq, 2010 AFC Challenge Cup champions North Korea, as well as Iran and the United Arab Emirates.


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group D, North Korea vs UAE
Assistant referees:Mu Yuxin (China)Mohd Sabri Bin Mat Daud (Malaysia)Fourth official:Abdullah Balideh (Qatar)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group D, Iran vs North Korea
Assistant referees:Khaled Al Allan (Bahrain)Mohammed Jawdat Nehlawi (Syria)Fourth official:Mohamed Benouza (Algeria)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group D, Iraq vs North Korea
Assistant referees:Mu Yuxin (China)Mohd Sabri Bin Mat Daud (Malaysia)Fourth official:Abdullah Al Hilali (Oman)


2011 AFC Asian Cup Group D, UAE vs Iran
Assistant referees:Jeong Hae-sang (South Korea)Jang Jun-mo (South Korea)Fourth official:Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)


2011 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage
The knockout stage of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup started on 21 January and ended on 29 January 2011. The top two placed teams from each preliminary group advanced to this stage.


2011 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage, Match details, Quarter-finals, Japan vs Qatar
Assistant referees:Mu Yuxin (China)Mohd Sabri Bin Mat Daud (Malaysia)Fourth official:Abdullah Al Hilali (Oman)


2011 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage, Match details, Quarter-finals, Australia vs Iraq
Assistant referees:Mohammad Dharman (Qatar)Hassan Al Thawadi (Qatar)Fourth official:Kim Dong-Jin (South Korea)


2011 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage, Match details, Semi-finals, Uzbekistan vs Australia
Assistant referees:Saleh Al Marzouqi (UAE)Yaser Marad (UAE)Fourth official:Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)


2011 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage, Match details, Final
Assistant referees:Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan)Rafael Ilyasov (Uzbekistan)Fourth official:Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
The 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification saw various countries take part to determine 10 spots to the final tournament in Qatar under the new qualification system set by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification
Six other teams also qualified for the finals, even though they did not take part in the qualifiers:


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Seedings
On 6 December 2007 the Asian Football Confederation announced the seeding for the preliminary round of the 2011 tournament:


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Preliminary round
The preliminary round reduced the number of non-automatic qualifiers to 20. Following the withdrawals of Korea DPR, Myanmar and Turkmenistan, only two teams were involved. The two lowest ranked AFC teams, Lebanon and Maldives, played home-and-away matches in April 2008. The away goals rule would be applied, and extra time and penalty shootout would be used to decide the winner if necessary. The winner of the preliminary round advanced to the qualifying round, where it was joined by the 19 teams seeded 4th to 22nd.


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Preliminary round
Lebanon won 6–1 on aggregate and advanced to the group stage.


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Qualifying round
The 20 teams were divided into five groups of four. Teams played each other home and way in a round-robin format. The top two in each group advanced to the 2011 tournament where they were joined by the other qualifiers — Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, India and North Korea.


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Qualifying round, Tiebreakers
The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers are in following order:


2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification, Qualifying round, Group C
Following their victory in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, India was given a bye to the final tournament and removed from this group prior to the first match. They were not replaced.


2011 AFC Asian Cup squads
This article lists the confirmed national football squads for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup tournament  held in Qatar between 7 January and 29 January 2011. Before announcing their final squad, several teams named a provisional squad of 23 to 30 players, but each country's final squad of 23 players had to be submitted by 28 December 2010. Replacement of injured players was permitted until 6 hours before the team's first Asian Cup game. Players marked (c) were named as captain for their national squad. Number of caps counts until the start of the tournament, including all pre-tournament friendlies. Player's age is their age on the opening day of the tournament.


2011 AFC Asian Cup squads, Group B, Saudi Arabia
Head coach:  José Peseiro (fired after the first match, replaced by  Nasser Al-Johar)


2011 AFC Asian Cup squads, Player representation
† Including Jade North who played for Wellington Phoenix, a New Zealand club competing in the A-League.


2011 AFC Asian Cup squads, Player representation
† Including Jade North who played for Wellington Phoenix, a New Zealand club competing in the A-League. All other New Zealand clubs are members of the OFC.


2011 AFC Beach Soccer Championship
The 2011 AFC Beach Soccer Championship was a continental beach soccer tournament, which took place from February 27 to March 4, 2011, in Muscat, Oman, seeing the tournament leave Dubai for the first time. Beach Soccer Worldwide and FIFA decided to move the location of the championship to the Al-Musannah Sports City complex in Muscat, due to the success of the 2010 Asian Beach Games held there.


2011 AFC Beach Soccer Championship
The two finalists and the third place play-off winner earned qualification to represent Asia at the 2011 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Ravenna, Italy being Japan, who won the championship for a second consecutive time, Oman who finished in second place, qualifying to the world cup for the first time and Iran who beat the United Arab Emirates in the third place play off, to qualify by finishing in third place for the fourth time.


2011 AFC Beach Soccer Championship, Participating teams
A tournament record 11 teams, an increase of four teams following the seven that participated in the 2009 qualifiers confirmed their participation in the competition, with many newcomers, showing the ever growing popularity of the sport.


2011 AFC Beach Soccer Championship, Participating teams
Originally, 15 teams were going to take part, which included Afghanistan, Palestine, Qatar and Yemen. However, the four countries pulled out of the tournament because of an undisclosed reason.


2011 AFC Beach Soccer Championship, Group stage
The draw to divide the eleven teams into the following three groups was conducted on 24 February 2011. The group stage commenced on 27 February 2011 and consisted of each nation playing each other once in a single round-robin format. To qualify for the quarter finals, a team must have finished in the top two of each group or have one of the two best records of the third placed group finishers.


2011 AFC Beach Soccer Championship, Group stage
All kickoff times are listed as Omani local time (UTC+4).


2011 AFC Beach Soccer Championship, Group stage, Third placed teams
Because some groups contain four teams and some three, matches against the fourth-placed team in each group are not included in this ranking.


2011 AFC Champions League
The 2011 AFC Champions League was the 30th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 9th under the current AFC Champions League title. The winners, Al-Sadd qualified for the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.


2011 AFC Champions League, Allocation of entries per association
The AFC approved criteria for participation in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The final decision date was set after the Executive Committee meeting in November 2010.


2011 AFC Champions League, Allocation of entries per association
On 30 November 2009, the AFC announced 12 more MA's that were keen to join the ACL, in addition to ten participating national associations. Singapore later withdrew. The full list of candidate associations were as follows:


2011 AFC Champions League, Allocation of entries per association
Note: Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and India have clubs taking part in play-offs to qualify for the group stages of ACL in 2010.


2011 AFC Champions League, Allocation of entries per association, Entrants per association
The allocation for entry to the 2011 ACL stayed the same as the previous two seasons with the exception of Vietnam who were disqualified and their previous playoff slot was awarded to Qatar.


2011 AFC Champions League, Allocation of entries per association, Entrants per association
* One of the K-League clubs, Sangju Sangmu Phoenix, is unable to qualify for the ACL because the team is not a commercial entity and their players are not professionally contracted.


2011 AFC Champions League, Allocation of entries per association, Entrants per association
* * One of the A-League clubs, Wellington Phoenix, is based in New Zealand, an OFC member country. They are unable to qualify for the ACL.


2011 AFC Champions League, Allocation of entries per association, Entrants per association
The finalists of the 2010 AFC Cup also participated in the play-off, provided that they meet the Champions League criteria.


2011 AFC Champions League, Teams
The following is the list of direct entrants for the group stage confirmed by the AFC.


2011 AFC Champions League, Teams
* Number of appearances (including qualifying rounds) since the 2002/03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League


2011 AFC Champions League, Teams
The following is the list of participants for the playoff stage confirmed by the AFC. The committee further proposed that one team be shifted by the means of a draw from the West to the East for sake of balance.


2011 AFC Champions League, Qualifying play-off
The draw for the qualifying play-off was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010. In order to create balance another draw was held, moving one of the teams (Al-Ain) from the West into the East side of the play-offs.


2011 AFC Champions League, Qualifying play-off
The two winners from the qualifying play-off (one from West Asia and one from East Asia) advanced to the group stage. All losers from the qualifying play-off entered the 2011 AFC Cup group stage.


2011 AFC Champions League, Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010. Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into the same group. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.


2011 AFC Champions League, Knockout stage, Round of 16
Based on the results from the group stage, the matchups of the round of 16 were decided as below. Each tie was played as one match, hosted by the winners of each group (Team 1) against the runners-up of another group (Team 2).


2011 AFC Champions League, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 June 2011. In this draw, the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly two clubs from the same country, they may not face each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two clubs from the same country, they may face each other in the quarter-finals.


2011 AFC Champions League, Knockout stage, Final
The final of the 2011 AFC Champions League was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by draw. This format was a change from the 2009 and 2010 editions, where the final was played at a neutral venue.


2011 AFC Champions League, Awards
The following awards were given for the 2011 AFC Champions League:


2011 AFC Champions League Final
The 2011 AFC Champions League Final was a football match which was played on Saturday, 5 November 2011, to determine the champion of the 2011 AFC Champions League. It was the final of the 30th edition of the top-level Asian club tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 9th under the current AFC Champions League title.


2011 AFC Champions League Final
The game was contested between by Al-Sadd of Qatar and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of South Korea. This was the first AFC Champions League final involving a Qatari club since Al-Sadd themselves in 1989, during the Asian Club Championship era. Al-Sadd won 4–2 on penalties, after a 2–2 draw following extra time. As AFC Champions League winners, they qualified to enter the quarter-finals of the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup as the AFC representative.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Qualified teams
In the following table, finals until 2002 were in the Asian Club Championship era, since 2003 were in the AFC Champions League era.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Venue
The AFC decided that the final would be hosted by one of the finalists. This format is a change from the 2009 and 2010 editions, where the final was played at a neutral venue. On 7 June 2011, the draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final was made. For the final, the winner of semi-final 2 (played between the winners of quarter-finals 2 and 1) would be the home team, while the winner of semi-final 1 (played between the winners of quarter-finals 4 and 3) would be the away team. Therefore, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors were the home team, and Al-Sadd were the away team. The name of the stadium is Jeonju World Cup Stadium which is located in Jeonju, Republic of Korea which was also one of the main stadiums during 2002 FIFA World Cup.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Summary
Jeonbuk had the first attempt on target after four minutes when Eninho saw a dipping shot from 25 yards punched away by Saqr. Mamadou Niang fired well over the top six minutes later before Park's cross from the left was glanced into Saqr's arms by Jeon Kwang-hwan. Jeonbuk then took the lead in the 17th minute. Eninho was brought down on the left edge of the box but the Brazilian picked himself to fire a brilliant free-kick into the far side of Saqr's net.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Summary
The Al Sadd keeper gathered Eninho's low shot shortly afterwards before the Qataris silenced the raucous home crowd just before the half-hour mark. Keita flighted a cross towards Khalfan Ibrahim on the edge of the six-yard box and as the midfielder jumped with Sim, the defender flicked the ball past Kim Min-Sik in the Jeonbuk goal and the sides went in level at the break.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Summary
Saqr comfortably held Jeong's low shot from outside the box as the second-half got under way before Kim Dong-Chan was presented with a sight of goal but the substitute could only sidefoot straight at the keeper from 10 yards. Eninho came close to grabbing his second goal of the game in the 57th minute. Having scored twice from corners against Al Ittihad in the semi-final, the Brazilian tried to repeat the trick but Saqr managed to tip his set-piece from the right against the bar. Al Sadd then took the lead in the 63rd minute when a low cross from the left picked out Keita and the striker spun and fired into the bottom corner from just inside the box.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Summary
Jeonbuk came agonisingly close to a swift reply six minutes later. Kim Dong-chan met Eninho's in-swinging corner with a header that came back off the far post and the midfielder's subsequent overhead kick was cleared off the line before Jeong blazed over from inside the area. Head coach Choi Kang-hee then introduced Lee Dong-gook for Luiz Henrique as Jeonbuk pressed for the equaliser. Kim Dong-chan pulled a low shot wide of Saqr's goal with 10 minutes remaining before the Al Sadd keeper did brilliantly to push Jeong's low drive from 12 yards through a crowd of players onto the post with three minutes to go.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Summary
Urged on by a noisy home crowd, Jeonbuk piled on the pressure in the closing stages and grabbed a dramatic equaliser in stoppage-time when Eninho's corner from the right was headed in from close range at the back post by substitute Lee Sung-hyun as the stadium erupted and the game went into extra time. Lee Dong-gook wasted a great chance in the 101st minute when the ball fell to the striker unmarked eight yards from goal but he sliced horribly wide.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Summary
Jeong headed Eninho's cross off target two minutes into the second period of extra time before Saqr denied him with a fantastic save with seven minutes to go, pushing his shot past the post after Abdulla Koni's slip had let the Jeonbuk striker in. The home side were again foiled by the woodwork shortly afterwards when Eninho's corner hit and Al Sadd defender but bounced off the base of the post.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Summary
Substitute Afif collected a second booking a minute from the end for bringing down Choi Chul-soon but Al Sadd held on for penalties. After the first three spot-kicks all found the back of the net, Kim Dong-chan had his effort saved by Saqr before Al Sadd's Lee Jung-soo calmly strode up but sidefooted his penalty against the underside of the bar. Jeonbuk could not capitalize on this as Park blasted his shot straight at Saqr. Ibrahim Majid then blasted into the corner and Kim Sang-sik scored but Belhadj displayed fine composure to fire home the winning penalty.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Summary
Belhadj held his nerve in front of over 41,000 spectators – a club record – to drive home the crucial spot kick in the shootout as Al Sadd became the first Qatar side to win the AFC Champions League and book their place at the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup. Nadir Belhadj converted the winning penalty as Al Sadd lifted the 2011 AFC Champions League trophy following a dramatic final against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium.


2011 AFC Champions League Final, Match details
Assistant referees:Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (Uzbekistan)Bahadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan)Fourth official:Tan Hai (China P.R.)


2011 AFC Champions League group stage
A total of 32 teams, 16 from West Asia and 16 from East Asia, competed in the 2011 AFC Champions League group stage. They included 30 direct entries and 2 winners of the qualifying play-off (one from West Asia and one from East Asia).


2011 AFC Champions League group stage
The draw for the group stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into the same group.


2011 AFC Champions League group stage
In each group, teams played each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 1–2 March, 15–16 March, 5–6 April, 19–20 April, 3–4 May, and 10–11 May 2011.


2011 AFC Champions League group stage
The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.


2011 AFC Champions League group stage, Tiebreakers
The clubs are ranked according to points and tie breakers are in following order:


2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage
A total of 16 teams, 8 from West Asia and 8 from East Asia, competed in the 2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage. They included the 8 group winners and the 8 group runners-up from the group stage.


2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage
Each round of this single-elimination tournament was played over one or two matches. In the round of 16, each tie was played in one match, hosted by the winners of each group against the runners-up of another group. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played over two legs on a home-and-away basis. The final was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by draw. The away goals rule (for two-legged ties), extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shootout would be used to decide the winner if necessary.


2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage
The matchups for the round of 16 were decided prior to the group stage draw. After the completion of the round of 16, the draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 June 2011. In this draw, the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly two clubs from the same country, they may not face each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two clubs from the same country, they may face each other in the quarter-finals.


2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Bracket
While the bracket below shows the entire knockout stage, the draw for the round of 16 matches was determined at the time of the group draw, and kept teams from East and West Asia completely separate for that round.


2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Bracket
The draw for the quarter-finals and beyond was held separately, after the conclusion of the round of 16.


2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first legs were played 14 September 2011, and the second legs were played 27–28 September 2011.


2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Semi-finals
The first legs were played 19 October 2011, and the second legs were played 26 October 2011.


2011 AFC Champions League knockout stage, Final
The final was played 5 November 2011 at home of one of the finalists, decided by draw. This format is different from the 2009 and 2010 editions, where the final was played at a neutral venue.


2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off
Six teams, four from West Asia and two from East Asia, competed in the 2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off.


2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off
The draw for the qualifying play-off was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010. In order to create balance another draw was held, moving one of the teams (Al-Ain) from the West into the East side of the play-offs.


2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off
Both the semi-finals and finals were played in one match, hosted by one of the teams. Extra time and penalty shootout are used to decide the winner if necessary. The semi-finals were played 12 February 2011, and the finals were played 19 February 2011.


2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off
The two winners from the qualifying play-off, one from West Asia and one from East Asia, advanced to the group stage to join the 30 automatic qualifiers. All losers from the qualifying play-off entered the 2011 AFC Cup group stage.


2011 AFC Cup
The 2011 AFC Cup was the eighth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia.


2011 AFC Cup, Qualifying teams
The following is the list of participants confirmed by the AFC. There were 28 direct entries while 4 teams joined as losers of the 2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs.


2011 AFC Cup, Qualifying teams
2 Al-Qadsia failed to fulfil the criteria set by AFC to compete in the 2011 AFC Champions League, and so directly enter the 2011 AFC Cup.


2011 AFC Cup, Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010. Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into the same group. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.


2011 AFC Cup, Knockout stage, Round of 16
Based on the results from the group stage, the matchups of the round of 16 were decided as below. Each tie was played in one match, hosted by the winners of each group (Team 1) against the runners-up of another group (Team 2).


2011 AFC Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 June 2011. In this draw, the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly two clubs from the same country, they may not face each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two clubs from the same country, they may face each other in the quarter-finals.


2011 AFC Cup, Knockout stage, Final
The final of the 2011 AFC Cup was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by draw.


2011 AFC Cup, Awards
The following awards were given for the 2011 AFC Cup:


2011 AFC Cup Final
The 2011 AFC Cup Final was a football match which was played on Saturday, 29 October 2011, to determine the champion of the 2011 AFC Cup. It was the final of the 8th edition of the AFC Cup, a competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia.


2011 AFC Cup Final
Nasaf Qarshi became the first Uzbekistan team to win the AFC Cup with a 2–1 win over Al-Kuwait from Kuwait.


2011 AFC Cup Final, Venue
The AFC decided that the final would be hosted by one of the finalists. This format is the same as the 2009 and 2010 editions. On 7 June 2011, the draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final was made. For the final, the winner of semi-final 1 (played between the winners of quarter-finals 2 and 4) would be the home team, while the winner of semi-final 2 (played between the winners of quarter-finals 1 and 3) would be the away team. Therefore Nasaf Qarshi were the home team, and Al-Kuwait were the away team.


2011 AFC Cup Final, Match details
Assistant referees:Jeong Hae-Sang (Korea Republic)Lee Jung-Min (Korea Republic)Fourth official:Kim Jong-Hyeok (Korea Republic)


2011 AFC Cup group stage
A total of 32 teams, 20 from West Asia and 12 from East Asia, competed in the 2011 AFC Cup group stage. They included 28 direct entries and 4 losers of the 2011 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off (two from West Asia and two from East Asia).


2011 AFC Cup group stage
The draw for the group stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 December 2010. The 32 teams were drawn into eight groups of four. Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into the same group.


2011 AFC Cup group stage
In each group, teams played each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The matchdays were 1–2 March, 15–16 March, 12–13 April, 26–27 April, 3–4 May, and 10–11 May 2011.


2011 AFC Cup group stage
The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.


2011 AFC Cup group stage, Tiebreakers
The clubs are ranked according to points and tie breakers are in following order:


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage
A total of 16 teams, 10 from West Asia and 6 from East Asia, competed in the 2011 AFC Cup knockout stage. They included the 8 group winners and the 8 group runners-up from the group stage.


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage
Each round of this single-elimination tournament was played over one or two matches. In the round of 16, each tie was played in one match, hosted by the winners of each group against the runners-up of another group. In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, each tie was played over two legs on a home-and-away basis. The final was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by draw. The away goals rule (for two-legged ties), extra time (away goals do not apply in extra time) and penalty shootout would be used to decide the winner if necessary.


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage
The matchups for the round of 16 were decided prior to the group stage draw. After the completion of the round of 16, the draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 7 June 2011. In this draw, the "country protection" rule was applied: if there are exactly two clubs from the same country, they may not face each other in the quarter-finals; however, if there are more than two clubs from the same country, they may face each other in the quarter-finals.


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage, Bracket
While the bracket below shows the entire knockout stage, the draw for the round of 16 matches was determined at the time of the group draw.


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage, Bracket
The draw for the quarter-finals and beyond was held separately, after the conclusion of the round of 16.


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first legs were played 13 September 2011, and the second legs were played 27–28 September 2011.


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals
The first legs were played 4 October 2011, and the second legs were played 18 October 2011.


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, First legs
Note: Match delayed from original kickoff at 19:00 due to sandstorm.


2011 AFC Cup knockout stage, Final
The final was played 29 October 2011 at home of one of the finalists, decided by draw.


2011 AFC Futsal Club Championship
The 2011 AFC Futsal Club Championship is the 2nd AFC Futsal Club Championship. It was held in Doha, Qatar between June 26 and July 1, 2011.


2011 AFC President's Cup
The 2011 AFC President's Cup was the seventh edition of the AFC President's Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "emerging countries" in Asia.


2011 AFC President's Cup
Teams from 12 member associations competed. In the qualifying stage, the 12 teams were divided into three groups of four teams each, and the top two teams from each group qualified for the six-team finals to be played at a centralised venue. In the final stage, the qualified six teams were divided into two groups of three teams each. The winners from each group met in the final for the title.


2011 AFC President's Cup
TaiPOWER FC became the first Taiwanese team to win the AFC President's Cup with a 3–2 win over Phnom Penh Crown from Cambodia in the final.


2011 AFC President's Cup, Qualifying teams
Palestinian Authority clubs began to play in the AFC President's Cup from 2011 onwards.


2011 AFC President's Cup, Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held on 14 March 2011, 15:00 UTC+08:00, at AFC House, Kuala Lumpur. The 12 teams were divided into three groups of four teams each. The group matches were scheduled to be played from 13 to 31 May 2011; however, matches of Group C were played from 20 to 24 April 2011.


2011 AFC President's Cup, Group stage
All groups were played in a single round-robin format at a centralized venue. The top two teams from each group qualified for the final stage. The clubs are ranked according to points and tie breakers are in following order:


2011 AFC President's Cup, Final stage
On 14 June 2011, the Organising Committee for the AFC President's Cup decided to award the hosting rights of the 2011 AFC President's Cup Finals to Chinese Taipei. The matches were played at the Kaohsiung National Stadium in Kaohsiung from 19 to 25 September 2011.


2011 AFC President's Cup, Final stage
The draw for the final stage was held on 29 July 2011, 16:00 UTC+08:00, at AFC House, Kuala Lumpur. The six teams which qualified for the final stage were divided into two groups of three teams each, played in a single round-robin format. The winner from each group qualified for the single-match final to decide the title (extra time and penalty shootout would be used to decide the winner if necessary).


2011 AFC President's Cup, Final stage, Final
Assistant referees:Nassir Al Mudhaffar (Saudi Arabia)Mohamed Salman (Bahrain)Fourth official:Mohammed Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)


2011 AFC President's Cup, Awards
The following awards were given for the 2011 AFC President's Cup:


2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship
The 2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship was the 4th edition of the AFC U-16 Women's Championship. The top 3 teams qualify for the 2012 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.


2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship, Venues
The host city was Nanjing in Jiangsu, China. The Final round was played on the following stadiums.


2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship, Qualification
There were two qualification rounds to determine one additional place for the final round, for which five teams were automatically qualified.


2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship, Final tournament
The final round will be played as a single round-robin tournament from 3–13 November 2011.


2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship qualification
The 2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship qualification was qualification section of 2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship. It was held from October 10 to December 12, 2010.


2011 AFC U-16 Women's Championship qualification, First qualification round, Group B
Note: Since Jordan and Iran tied in points, goal differences, number of goals and the head-to-head result, a penalty shootout was held after the 90 minutes match to determine the group winner, in which Iran won and advanced to the second round.


2011 AFC U-19 Women's Championship
The 2011 AFC U-19 Women's Championship was the 6th edition of the AFC U-19 Women's Championship. Vietnam hosted the tournament from 6 to 16 October 2011. The top 3 teams Japan, North Korea, and China qualified to the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. Japan was later named host of the U-20 Women's World Cup, so their spot was awarded to fourth-place finisher South Korea.


2011 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, Seeding
2 groups of 4 teams, hosted by Philippines and Bangladesh


2011 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, Qualification
Uzbekistan and Iran progressed from the first qualifying round as winners but then finished in the last two places in the second qualification round. Vietnam came through the qualification as the group winner in the 2nd qualification round.


2011 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, Final round, Venues
The host city was Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. The Final round was played at the following stadiums.


2011 AFC U-19 Women's Championship, Final round, Results
All matches were held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (UTC+7)


2011 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualification
This article include details of 2011 AFC U-19 Women's Championship qualification.


2011 AFF U-16 Youth Championship
The  2011 AFF U-16 Youth Championship was an international football tournament that was held from 7 July to 20 July 2011, hosted by Laos for the first time.


2011 AFF U-19 Youth Championship
The  2011 AFF U-19 Youth Championship was held from 8 September to 20 September 2011, hosted by Myanmar. All games were initially set to be played at the Thuwunna Stadium but the Aung San Stadium was also added to the match schedule due to unfavorable weather conditions that were forecast to persist for the opening stages which would be detrimental to the Thuwunna Stadium pitch.


2011 AFF Women's Championship
The  2011 AFF Women's Championship was held from 16 October to 25 October 2011, hosted by Laos. All games were played at the Laos National Stadium and New Laos National Stadium.


2011 AFF Women's Championship
Thailand won the tournament for the first time after beating Myanmar 2–1 in the final.


2011 AFL Grand Final
The 2011 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Collingwood Football Club and the Geelong Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2011. It was the 115th annual grand final of the Australian Football League (formerly the Victorian Football League), staged to determine the premiers for the 2011 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,537 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 38 points, marking the club's ninth VFL/AFL premiership victory. Geelong's Jimmy Bartel was awarded the Norm Smith Medal as the best player on the ground.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Background
Collingwood entered the 2011 season as the reigning premiers, having defeated St Kilda in the 2010 AFL Grand Final Replay. Collingwood were the best performed side of the home and away season again, winning 14 games in a row in the latter part of the season, to finish with a record of 20–2, and its second consecutive minor premiership and McClelland Trophy. Collingwood progressed to the grand final after two hard-fought finals matches: beating West Coast by 20 points in a qualifying final; then coming back from a four-goal third quarter deficit to defeat Hawthorn by three points in a preliminary final.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Background
Geelong entered the season after finishing third in 2010, and under a new coach, Chris Scott, after dual premiership coach Mark Thompson moved to Essendon. Geelong won its first 13 games in 2011, before finishing with a record of 19–3 to sit second on the ladder. The Cats had comfortable finals wins, over Hawthorn by 31 points and West Coast by 48 points, to qualify for the grand final.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Background
Collingwood and Geelong met twice during the 2011 home and away season, with Geelong winning both games; these were Collingwood's only two losses for the home-and-away season. In round 8, Geelong won a close game in spite of inaccurate goalkicking, with the final score 8.17 (65) to 9.8 (62). In round 24, Geelong inflicted Collingwood's heaviest defeat for more than six years, winning 22.17 (149) to 8.5 (53) by 96 points – although as the top four positions were all decided by the end of round 23, the round 24 match was a dead rubber.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Background
This grand final marked the 41st season in which Collingwood contested a VFL/AFL grand final. The club was attempting to win its 16th VFL/AFL premiership, which would have drawn it level with Carlton and Essendon for the most premierships in league history. It was Geelong's 17th grand final appearance, with the club attempting to win its ninth premiership overall. It was Geelong's fourth grand final appearance in five seasons, with the club attempting to win its third of those contests. It was the first time since 1998 that the premiers from the previous two seasons played in the grand final.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Background
This match was the sixth grand final contested between Collingwood and Geelong and the first since 1953. Three of the previous encounters were won by Geelong (1925, 1937 and 1952) and two were won by Collingwood (1930 and 1953). The two clubs had met in a preliminary final in three of the previous four seasons, with Geelong winning two (2007 and 2009) and Collingwood winning one (2010), but this was the first time in the recent success of both clubs that they had met in the grand final.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Background
When betting markets opened on the Sunday before the game, Collingwood were a slight favourite, with major bookmaker TAB Sportsbet offering $1.80 for a Collingwood victory, compared with $2.00 for a Geelong victory. However, punters backed Geelong heavily and, by Monday, Geelong had become the slight favourite; on Thursday, Sportsbet was offering $1.80 for Geelong and $2.00 for Collingwood.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Media coverage
The match was broadcast by Ten Sport on Network Ten. The broadcast was transmitted only in Standard Definition, as the costs of High Definition were deemed excessive - the HD channel was used for golf. The coverage included the match, pre-game report, post-match report and highlights. The pre-game and post-game reports were hosted by Tim Lane and Michael Christian, and the match coverage was hosted by Stephen Quartermain. The match was called by Quartermain, Anthony Hudson, Luke Darcy and Matthew Lloyd.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Media coverage
The match was Network Ten's final broadcast of an Australian Football League match before its broadcasting rights deal expired at the end of 2011 – although it was not its final AFL-sanctioned broadcast overall, with the 2011 International Rules Series broadcast under the same rights deal in October and November 2011. It was Ten's eighth grand final broadcast. The grand final had a peak audience of over 3.9 million viewers.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Media coverage
Network Ten (Ten Sport) won the 2012 Silver Logie award for Most Popular Sports Program - that being the 2011 AFL Grand Final.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Pre-match entertainment
Pre -match entertainment was provided by American singer Meat Loaf, who performed a twelve-and-a-half minute medley of his best-known songs. Meat Loaf's vocal performance, which was largely off-key, was widely panned by commentators. Vanessa Amorosi performed the national anthem and her performance was also panned.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary
Geelong won the coin toss and chose to kick to the Punt Road end of the MCG in the first quarter. It had rained heavily in Melbourne over the previous few days and on the morning of the game, but it was mostly played in dry conditions, with brief periods of rain in the third quarter.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, First quarter
Geelong scored the opening goal of the game after only eleven seconds, with Geelong winning the first centre clearance and Travis Varcoe scoring the goal. With Brad Ottens winning in the ruck, Geelong had the better of the clearances early. When Varcoe kicked his second goal in the fourth minute of the game, Geelong led 14–0. From then, Collingwood's backline held Geelong scoreless for fifteen minutes and set shot goals from beyond the 50-metre arc by Travis Cloke in the 12th and 19th minutes closed the gap to 14–13.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, First quarter
From that point, the match was goal-for-goal in the latter stages of the quarter, with the lead changing four times: Andrew Krakouer goaled for Collingwood in the 21st minute; Steve Johnson goaled for Geelong in the 22nd minute; Luke Ball for Collingwood goaled in the 24th minute; and Joel Selwood goaled for Geelong in the 26th minute. At quarter time, Geelong led by one point, 27–26.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Second quarter
Collingwood opened the second quarter very strongly, and kicked three goals in the first ten minutes (to Krakouer in the 2nd minute, Cloke in the 7th minute and Ben Johnson in the 9th minute), to build an eighteen-point lead, 45–27; this would ultimately be Collingwood's biggest lead for the match. Cloke's early dominance forced Geelong to take Harry Taylor off him and make Tom Lonergan his new opponent, which helped the Cats stem the flow of goals.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Second quarter
Mathew Stokes goaled for Geelong in the 11th minute, and Tom Hawkins and Johnson both missed opportunities to bring the margin closer; from Johnson's behind, Collingwood went coast-to-coast, with Krakouer scoring his third goal from a strong contested mark, to give Collingwood a 51–35 lead at 18th minute. At this stage, Geelong key forward James Podsiadly, who had scored one behind for the match, was stretchered from the ground with a right shoulder injury, after having fallen on it in a marking contest. Podsiadly was substituted off for Mitch Duncan.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Second quarter
For the remainder of the quarter, Geelong closed the gap on Collingwood: Steve Johnson's goal in the 23rd minute was answered by Collingwood's Steele Sidebottom in the 24th minute. In the 28th minute, a long chain of contested play around the boundary line finished with a goal to Selwood from the goal-square to narrow the margin to 9 points. Then, in the 32nd minute, Jimmy Bartel kicked a goal from a free kick, 25 m out on the boundary line, after the Collingwood ruckman Darren Jolly was penalised for tapping the ball out on the full from a ball-up. There was no more scoring in the long second quarter (which lasted 36 minutes due to the delay for Podsiadly's injury), and Collingwood led 57–54 at half time.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Third quarter
For the first part of the third quarter, it was goal-for-goal, with the lead changing five times. Geelong goaled first in the 4th minute, with Hawkins soccering the ball from a broken contest in the goal square. Collingwood's Sharrod Wellingham kicked a long goal in play from 50m in the 7th minute – although replays indicated that the ball had shaved the inside of the goal post, and should have been awarded a behind. Hawkins for Geelong and Leigh Brown for Collingwood goaled from set shots in the 13th and 14th minutes respectively.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Third quarter
Bartel regained the lead for Geelong with a goal from a strong contested mark in the forward pocket in the 24th minute. Activated substitute Mitch Duncan goaled on the run from 50 m in the 28th minute to extend Geelong's lead to eight points, and Collingwood replied swiftly from the ensuing centre clearance, with Steele Sidebottom kicking a goal from 50 m on the run. In the 31st minute, Tom Hawkins kicked his third goal of the quarter for Geelong, another soccered goal from short range. With five goals to three in the third quarter, Geelong led 85–78 by seven points.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Final quarter
Hawkins had three early opportunities to kick goals for Geelong in the 2nd, 4th and 5th minutes, all from contested marks; he missed with his first two opportunities, then handpassed the third to Steve Johnson, who scored the goal. In the 9th minute, Varcoe was on the end of a long running play which started at full-back to kick his third goal. In the 15th minute, when Bartel goaled from a set-shot, the margin was out to 26 points, and a Geelong victory was no longer in doubt.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Final quarter
Two more goals were scored by Geelong in the dying minutes – one to Steve Johnson in the 22nd minute, and one to popular captain Cameron Ling in the 24th minute – to complete a 38-point victory. Geelong scored five goals to none in the final quarter and scored the last six goals of the match. After the 10-minute mark of the second quarter, Geelong turned an 18-point deficit into a 38-point win, for a 56-point turnaround.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Overall report
The influential players in the midfield were Jimmy Bartel and Joel Selwood for Geelong, and Scott Pendlebury for Collingwood. Collingwood midfielder and 2011 Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan was effectively tagged by Ling, and had a limited influence on the match. The ruck contest was well won by Geelong's tandem of Ottens and Trent West, who beat Collingwood's primary ruckman Darren Jolly and back-up Leigh Brown.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Overall report
In Collingwood's forward-line, Travis Cloke was influential in the first half, kicking three goals while playing against Geelong defender Harry Taylor. A change of match-ups at half time saw Tom Lonergan switched onto Cloke, and Cloke managed only one behind thereafter.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Overall report
In Geelong's forward-line, Tom Hawkins was credited with one of the best matches of his career. He kicked 3.2 after half-time, and set up another to Steve Johnson, with Collingwood defender Ben Reid unable to quell his influence. Hawkins role was particularly crucial after fellow key forward James Podsiadly was substituted out of the game injured in the second quarter. Additionally, Steve Johnson kicked four goals, despite suffering a knee injury in the preliminary final which many speculated during the week would keep him out of the match.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Overall report
For the second time in three grand finals, a goal was incorrectly awarded for a kick which had hit the post and should have been awarded a behind: Tom Hawkins (Geelong) had been the beneficiary in the 2009 AFL Grand Final, and Sharrod Wellingham (Collingwood) in 2011. These two high profile incidents prompted the introduction of video score reviews to AFL games from 2012.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Norm Smith Medal
The Norm Smith Medal was won by Geelong's Jimmy Bartel, who had 26 disposals and kicked three goals. Bartel scored 13 of a possible 15 votes to win the award, including being voted best-on-ground by four of the five judges. Bartel became the fifth player to win a Brownlow Medal, premiership medallion and Norm Smith Medal in his career.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Norm Smith Medal
Joel Selwood (28 disposals, two goals) finished second with nine votes, and Tom Hawkins (19 disposals, nine marks, three goals) finished third with five votes, including the other best-on-ground vote. Scott Pendlebury (two votes) and Cameron Ling (one vote) were the other vote-getters.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Norm Smith Medal
Chaired by Rodney Eade, the voters and their choices are as follows:


2011 AFL Grand Final, Match summary, Result
The premiership was the ninth VFL/AFL premiership in Geelong's history and the third premiership in five years. Twelve Geelong players – Bartel, Ottens, Ling, Johnson, Selwood, Matthew Scarlett, Paul Chapman, Andrew Mackie, James Kelly, Joel Corey, David Wojcinski and Corey Enright – became the first triple-premiership players in the club's VFL/AFL history. Geelong coach Chris Scott became the first man since Allan Jeans in 1988 to win the premiership in his first year as senior coach at a club and, at 35 years of age, the youngest premiership coach since Alex Jesaulenko in 1979.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Teams
The umpiring panel for the grand final, including nine match day umpires and three emergencies, was announced on Tuesday, 27 September. Amongst the umpires were three grand final debutants: field umpire Chris Donlon, and boundary umpires Nathan Doig and Christopher Gordon.


2011 AFL Grand Final, Teams
Numbers in brackets represent the number of grand finals umpired; this number includes 2011, counts the 2010 AFL Grand Final and Replay separately, and does not include times selected as an emergency umpire.


2011 AFL Mark of the Year
The Australian Football League celebrates the best mark of the season through the annual Mark of the Year competition. In 2011, this was officially known as the Hungry Jack's AFL Mark of the Year. Each round three marks were nominated and fans voted online for their favourite here . Andrew Krakouer won the fan vote for 2011 Mark of the Year. The AFL itself later recognised that this was not the best mark taken in 2011, when in 2019 it awarded Mark of the Decade to Andrew Walker's Round 18 mark.


2011 AFL Rising Star
The NAB AFL Rising Star award is given annually to a stand out young player in the Australian Football League. The 2011 award was won by Dyson Heppell of the Essendon Football Club, who received the Ron Evans Medal.


2011 AFL Rising Star, Eligibility
Every round, an Australian Football League rising star nomination is given to a stand out young player. To be eligible for nomination, a player must be under 21 on 1 January of that year and have played 10 or fewer senior games before the start of the season; a player who is suspended may be nominated, but is not eligible to win the award. At the end of the year, one of the 24 nominees is the winner of award.


2011 AFL Under 18 Championships
The 2011 NAB AFL Under 18 Championships were the 16th edition of the AFL Under 18 Championships. Eight teams competed in the championships: Vic Metro, Vic Country, South Australia and Western Australia in Division 1, and New South Wales/Australian Capital Territory (NSW/ACT), Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania in Division 2. Vic Metro were the Division One champions and Tasmania were the Division Two champions. The Larke Medal (for the best player in Division 1) was awarded to Western Australia's Stephen Coniglio, and the Hunter Harrison Medal (for the best player in Division 2) was won by Tasmania's John McKenzie.


2011 AFL Under 18 Championships, Format
The format used for the 2011 championships differed slightly from the format used in 2009 and 2010. The two-division format used since 1992 was continued, with each team playing five matches: three against the opponents from their own division, and two from the other division. The cross-divisional matches were played in the first two rounds, and did not count for points or percentage.


2011 AFL Under 18 Championships, All-Australian team
The 2011 Under 18 All-Australian team was named on 9 July 2011:


2011 AFL draft
The 2011 AFL draft consisted of five opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2011/12 Australian Football League off-season.


2011 AFL draft
It was the first national draft to feature the Greater Western Sydney Giants, who joined the league in 2012. It was the final draft period before the introduction of free agency in the 2012/13 offseason.


2011 AFL draft, Greater Western Sydney concessions
The Greater Western Sydney Giants were to join the AFL in 2012, and were provided with several draft concessions, including additional draft selections, early access to recruit 17-year-old players, and access to uncontracted and previously listed players in this offseason. These concessions were similar to those provided to the Gold Coast Football Club, which entered the league in the previous season.


2011 AFL draft, Greater Western Sydney concessions
Greater Western Sydney was permitted to recruit the following players directly, without the need for any draft:


2011 AFL draft, Greater Western Sydney concessions
Then, in the drafts, Greater Western Sydney had the following selections:


2011 AFL draft, Greater Western Sydney concessions
Additionally, at the end of 2011, Greater Western Sydney had the ability to trade the only four selections in a once-off "mini-draft", which could be used to recruit 17-year-old players (born between 1 January – 30 April 1994). Greater Western Sydney could only use these draft picks as trade currency; the club was not permitted to use the picks for its own list development. Players recruited and traded in this manner were not eligible to play senior AFL football in 2012, and would continue to undergo junior development. This specific concession was unique to Greater Western Sydney; Gold Coast did not have the same concession the previous year.


2011 AFL draft, Greater Western Sydney concessions
Greater Western Sydney began with an expanded list size of up to fifty senior players and nine rookies, to be gradually reduced to a standard list size of thirty-eight senior players and nine rookies by 2019.


2011 AFL draft, Greater Western Sydney concessions
During the 2011 AFL season there was speculation about several players who would be uncontracted at the end of the season, including Tom Scully, Rhys Palmer, Callan Ward and Taylor Walker. In August 2011, Phil Davis from Adelaide was the first player to announce a move to Greater Western Sydney as an uncontracted player signing. After the season had ended, Palmer, Scully and Ward also announced moves to the Giants. As compensation, Scully was rated as a top-level player, resulting in Melbourne receiving both a first-round and a mid-first round draft pick as compensation. Davis and Ward were rated as second-level, earning Adelaide and Western Bulldogs a first round compensation selection, and Palmer was rated a third-level player, giving Fremantle an end of first round selection.


2011 AFL draft, Player movements, Trades
In the lead up to trade week, the requests of players to move back to their home states dominated most trade rumours. Mitch Clark, Leon Davis, Brad Ebert and Jack Gunston all requested to be traded back to teams in their states of origin.


2011 AFL draft, Player movements, Trades
Early in trade week, many trades involved unlisted players being recruited directly by Greater Western Sydney under the club's concessions, then immediately traded. Where this has occurred, the club from which GWS recruited the player is shown in parentheses after his name.


2011 AFL draft, Player movements, Trades
Note: the numbering of the draft picks in this trades table is based on the original order prior to draft day. The final numbering of many of these draft picks was adjusted on draft day due to either the insertion of compensation draft picks in the early rounds, or clubs passing in the later rounds.


2011 AFL draft, Mini-draft
As part of their entry concessions, Greater Western Sydney was allocated up to four selections in a mini-draft, which could be used to recruit seventeen-year-old players who otherwise would not be eligible for the 2011 National Draft, but who could not play senior AFL football until the 2013 season. Greater Western Sydney were not permitted to use these draft picks directly, but had to trade them to other clubs. In 2011, Gold Coast and Adelaide secured trades with GWS for selections in this draft, leaving two selections remaining for the 2012 AFL Draft.


2011 AFL draft, 2011 national draft
The 2011 AFL National Draft was held on 24 November in Sydney. It was the second time that the draft was held outside of Melbourne, after being held at the Gold Coast in 2010.


2011 AFL draft, 2011 national draft
Prior to the draft, three players were selected under the Father-Son Rule. Dylan Buckley, son of Jim was selected by Carlton, Andrew Bews' son Jed was selected by Geelong and Tom Mitchell, son of Barry was selected by Sydney. Buckley and Bews were secured with no rival clubs submitting bids, allowing Carlton and Geelong to each use its final draft selection for the father-son pick. Fremantle submitted a first round bid for Mitchell, which Sydney was able to match, so, Mitchell was drafted with the 21st selection in the draft.


2011 AFL draft, 2012 pre-season draft
The 2012 AFL pre-season draft was held on 13 December 2011. Zac Dawson, Leon Davis and John McCarthy were considered to be the delisted AFL players most likely to be selected. The changes to the list rules to allow mature age players to be rookie listed has also resulted in less preseason draft selections.


2011 AFL finals series
The 2011 Australian Football League finals series determined the winner of the 2011 AFL season. The series was scheduled to occur over four weekends in September 2011, culminating with the 115th AFL/VFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 1 October 2011. Traditionally held on the final Saturday in September, the Grand Final date was pushed to October to accommodate two extra rounds in the home and away season.


2011 AFL finals series, The finals system
The system is a final eight system. This system is different from the McIntyre Final Eight System, which was previously used by the AFL, and was used by the National Rugby League in 2011.


2011 AFL finals series, The finals system
The top four teams in the eight receive what is popularly known as the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals. This means that even if a top-four team loses in the first week, it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games, in that only the winners survive and move on to the next week.


2011 AFL finals series, The finals system
Home-state advantage goes to the team with the higher seed in the first two weeks, to the qualifying final winners in the third week. Games in Victoria are played at the MCG, regardless of the team's usual home ground, if a crowd larger than the seating capacity of Etihad Stadium (53,359) is expected.


2011 AFL finals series, The finals system
In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final plays the elimination finals winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final at the MCG in Melbourne.


2011 AFL finals series, Week one (qualifying & elimination finals)
For the first time since the current AFL finals system was introduced in 2000, all four finals were played in Melbourne in the first week of the finals.


2011 AFL season
The 2011 Australian Football League season was the 115th season of the Australian rules football competition and the 22nd under the name 'Australian Football League', having switched from 'Victorian Football League' after 1989. It was the debut year for Gold Coast, and was scheduled to be the only season to be played with 17 teams. Geelong beat Collingwood in the 2011 AFL Grand Final by 38 points.


2011 AFL season
The season opened on 24 March 2011, with Carlton defeating Richmond at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.


2011 AFL season
This was the first season since 1994 to have byes, and only the fourth after the 1991, 1992 and 1994 seasons to feature a 24-round format. The full fixture was announced on 29 October 2010.


2011 AFL season, Pre-season, Draft
The 2010 National Draft was held on 18 November 2010 at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. 107 players were drafted, including 28 promoted rookies. Gold Coast were awarded the first three selections as part of its draft concessions, and selected David Swallow with the number one draft pick.


2011 AFL season, Pre-season, Draft
The 2011 Pre-season and Rookie Drafts were held on 7 December 2010, with another 80 players being selected. Greater Western Sydney had the first eight selections in the Rookie Draft as part of its draft concessions.


2011 AFL season, Pre-season, NAB Cup
The 2011 NAB Cup featured the addition of two new teams, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney. The first round of matches featured 6 pools of 3 teams, with each game being shortened to two twenty-minute halves. Collingwood defeated Essendon in the Grand Final at Etihad Stadium on Friday, 11 March.


2011 AFL season, Premiership season
The fixture was officially announced on 29 October. Some of the highlights included:


2011 AFL season, Win/loss table
Bold – Home gameX – ByeOpponent for round listed above margin


2011 AFL season, Notable events and controversies, Betting scandals
The issue of betting became prominent during the 2011 season. The previous few years had seen other sports compromised by major spot-fixing scandals – most notably the Pakistan cricket spot-fixing controversy – so the issue was already well publicised at the time. The AFL had in place a strict policy prohibiting anyone involved in the AFL from placing any bet on any AFL outcome.


2011 AFL season, Notable events and controversies, Betting scandals
Early in the season, it emerged that there were several suspicious plunges on players who were usually defenders to kick the first goal of a match; in each case, the player unexpectedly started in the forward-line, indicating that the plunges may have been caused by team information somehow leaking to punters. Five suspicious plunges on defenders for the first goal were identified during the season:


2011 AFL season, Notable events and controversies, Betting scandals
Nathan Bock was the only of the five players to kick the first goal of his respective match. The cases all raised concerns about "exotic bets" and the risk of spot-fixing, although in no case was a deliberate attempt at spot-fixing ever implicated.


2011 AFL season, Notable events and controversies, Betting scandals
The controversy deepened prior to round 17, when the investigation into the Maxwell plunge revealed that Heath Shaw was implicated in bets placed on Maxwell's first goal. Shaw and a friend from outside the Collingwood Football Club were found to have placed a shared $20 bet on Maxwell for first goal at a TAB venue, using Shaw's knowledge from team meetings that Maxwell would be starting forward; that friend had later placed two more bets on Maxwell worth $15, shared with another friend. Shaw was penalised by the league under the anti-gambling code, receiving a suspension of eight matches, with a further suspended sentence of six matches, and was fined $20,000.


2011 AFL season, Notable events and controversies, Betting scandals
In their respective investigations, it was found that both Nick Maxwell and Nathan Bock had informed family members and friends that they would be starting in the forward-line before their respective plunges, and, unbeknownst to the players, those family members and friends then placed bets. Maxwell was fined $5,000, with a further suspended fine of $5,000, and Bock was fined $10,000 and suspended for two matches.


2011 AFL season, Notable events and controversies, Betting scandals
Following round 24, Essendon assistant coach Dean Wallis was found to have placed three separate FootyQuad bets worth a total of $400 during the latter half of the season, one of which included a leg which involved an Essendon match. Wallis was fined $7,500, and suspended for fourteen matches (the suspension prevents him from participating on match-day, and from interacting directly with his players during training, until the suspension is complete).


2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships
The 2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships was held at the Heydar Aliyev Sports and Exhibition Complex in Baku, Azerbaijan from September 22 to October 10, 2011.


2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships
The competition ran under the supervision of the world's governing body for amateur boxing, the AIBA, and followed on from the biggest World Championships in AIBA history which was held in Milan, Italy in 2009.


2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships
This world championship served as a qualifier for the 2012 Summer Olympics. 685 boxers participated from 127 countries.


2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships
The preliminary rounds started on September 26 with the finals being held on October 10.


2011 AIHL season
The 2011 AIHL season is the 12th season of the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL). It ran from 14 April 2011 until 28 August 2011, with the Goodall Cup finals following on 3 and 4 September. The Melbourne Ice won the H Newman Ried trophy after finishing first in the regular season standings with 65 points. The Ice also won the Goodall Cup final series after defeating the Newcastle North Stars in the final.


2011 AIHL season, Teams
In 2011 the AIHL had 8 teams competing in the league.


2011 AIHL season, League business
During the off-season the Australian Ice Hockey League (AIHL) announced two new teams would be joining the league. The Mustangs IHC were announced to become the eighth team in the AIHL starting in the 2011 season. The Mustangs are based at Docklands, Victoria, the home of the Melbourne Ice. The ninth team, Perth Thunder, were accepted into the league as a provisional member. The Thunder will play exhibition games against other AIHL teams during the 2011 season in order to gain the vote to be accepted for the 2012 season.


2011 AIHL season, League business
At the Annual General Meeting it was proposed to increase the length of the games periods from 15 minutes to 20 minutes to be inline with International Ice Hockey Federation rules however the proposal was unsuccessful due to reasons such as costs to the teams and the ability to fill the four lines with AIHL-level players.


2011 AIHL season, League business
On 10 July the game between the Gold Coast Blue Tongues and the Sydney Ice Dogs was cancelled due to an unsafe surface at the Blue Tongues home venue, Bundall Iceland. The AIHL deemed that the Blue Tongues have forfeited the game against the Ice Dogs 5–0, with the Ice Dogs being awarded the full three points.


2011 AIHL season, League business
From 20 to 21 August the Australia men's national ice hockey team will field a team at the 2011 New Zealand Winter Games so only two games will be held for that weekend.


2011 AIHL season, Exhibition games
Prior to the regular season, the Sydney Bears hosted an exhibition All-Star event and match at the Penrith Ice Palace. The All Star Classic had the Bears Veterans (over 35's) face off against the Rookies (Under 35s). The Rookies team won the All Star Classic 9–5.