This week saw Adelaide lose the ACL final to a classy Gamba Osaka side. The response from some fans and readers has been surprising, who have lambasted the one-sided scoreline. Sure, it was a heavy defeat in the end, but the achievement of making the final in itself is an unrivaled achievement for Australian football.

Also this week, Popa retires from Sydney playing duties to become assistant manager, former Melbourne star Fred joins Wellington and preparations begin for the Socceroos midweek tie in Bahrain.

Trevor Treharne
Deputy editor, Australian FourFourTwo

PS : The December issue of FourFourTwo is on sale - or subscribe now. It includes an exclusive interview with Lucas Neill, the A-League’s 20 best imports including a chat with former Sydney FC star Dwight Yorke, plus players versus managers, we play PES 09 with John Aloisi, speak to rising star Shannon Cole and Eric Cantona tells us why he should have punched a fan harder.

442 News

FourFourTwo Qantas Desktop Widget
The best way to keep track of the latest A-League, world and Qantas Socceroos news is with FourFourTwo's desktop widget. Download it here to access all the fixtures, latest local and world news plus a daily Socceroos diary.

Four... things you must know about the week in football

Australia News
Gamba Too Good For Adelaide
GAMBA Osaka has secured the Asian Champions League title in style by beating Adelaide United 2-0 at a packed Hindmarsh Stadium on Wednesday.

<IMG id=NewsletterTemplate1_FourThingsKnow_niMustKnow1_imgImage style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 73px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid" src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/blank.gif" align=left>

Australia News
Popa: Why I'm Quitting Now...
TONY Popovic, one of the great warriors of Australian football, will never play again - but will start immediately as an assistant coach at Sydney FC.

<IMG id=NewsletterTemplate1_FourThingsKnow_niMustKnow2_imgImage style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 73px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid" src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/blank.gif" align=left>

Australia News
Socceroos Drop Three Spots
AUSTRALIA have dropped three places in the latest FIFA world rankings but still remain the leading Asian nation at No.37.

<IMG id=NewsletterTemplate1_FourThingsKnow_niMustKnow3_imgImage style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 73px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid" src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/blank.gif" align=left>

Australia News
Craig Moore Cancer Shock
CRAIG Moore has been ruled out of the Socceroos after he revealed he was receiving treatment for testicular cancer.

<IMG style="BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 0px; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 0px" alt='<IMG id=NewsletterTemplate1_FourThingsKnow_niMustKnow4_imgImage style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 73px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid" src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/blank.gif" align=left>' src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/utils/imgresizer.aspx?w=73&n=http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/news/82052175.jpg">

Four... things we loved this week

Australia News
Pim: We're Going There To Win
PIM Verbeek is adamant the Socceroos will go for the victory in Bahrain but fears they may well have to do it without the help of Vince Grella.

<IMG id=NewsletterTemplate1_FourThingsLoved_niLoved1_imgImage style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 73px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid" src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/blank.gif" align=left>

Australia News
Reds The 'Pride Of Australia'
ADELAIDE United are the pride of football in Australia, according to Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley.

<IMG id=NewsletterTemplate1_FourThingsLoved_niLoved2_imgImage style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 73px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid" src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/blank.gif" align=left>

Australia News
Official: Bozza v Becks - It's ON
FORMER Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich has been recruited to join the Oceania All Stars to play against his one-time team-mate David Beckham.

<IMG id=NewsletterTemplate1_FourThingsLoved_niLoved3_imgImage style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 73px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid" src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/blank.gif" align=left>

International
UK'S 100 Greatest Imports
IT'S THE bane of Michel Platini's life, but the English Premier League has long been the home of heroes for overseas stars. But who are the top 100 imports to UK football? We produced our list...

<IMG id=NewsletterTemplate1_FourThingsLoved_niLoved4_imgImage style="BORDER-RIGHT: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #ccc 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; WIDTH: 73px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #ccc 1px solid" src="http://backoffice.ajb.com.au/images/blank.gif" align=left>

Two... things that made us laugh

World News
Maradona Dismisses Quit Claim
New Argentina coach Diego Maradona has dismissed suggestions he will resign if he does not get his choice of assistant.

World News
Kinnear Regrets 'Mickey Mouse' Refs Outburst
Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear plans to apologise to Martin Atkinson after branding him a "Mickey Mouse referee".