Socceroos/A-League/FFA Cup/Asian Champions League

[snowman]

i went mental when he scored!

 

[CrazyMatt]

Lucky I wasn’t holding my daughter at the time, she would of went 50 feet in the air like a beer cup.

 

[Flanno]

Fair red but soft pen! 2-1 down with 10 men away from home, will take a miracle from Sydney

 

[CrazyMatt]

Even for a team with a man down, Sydney were utter piss in that second half. Melbourne City deserving champions though.

 

[Flanno]

Even for a team with a man down, Sydney were utter piss in that second half. Melbourne City deserving champions though.

Yeah, agreed. A League is a bit of a joke though when for the grand final the Australian national players aren’t even able to play!

Like seriously!?

 

[CrazyMatt]

Yeah, agreed. A League is a bit of a joke though when for the grand final the Australian national players aren’t even able to play!

Like seriously!?

I was talking about the red card.

 

[Flanno]

I was talking about the red card.

Yeah I know, I agreed with you?

Then just made another point

 

[CrazyMatt]

Yeah I know, I agreed with you?

Then just made another point

Oh sorry. I misunderstood your post.

Yeah that was a ****ty situation all around. Unfortunately its a byproduct of being in Asia, no such thing as flexibility when it comes to them, they want your season to end by a certain date and there is no movement on that. Unfortunately the 14 day quarantine ruled them out. I don’t know if Redmayne, Grant or McGowen would of stopped Brattan getting that red or Caceras giving up that penalty, the two factors which killed the game, goalkeeper Tom Heward-Belle was by far Sydney’s best player and would of gone close to winning the Joe Marsten medal, Warland was steady and even Retre at RB didn’t commit the howlers that he’s known for.

If anything I felt City had it worse missing Maclaren but giving them Tillio has bit us in the arse as many including myself feared it would.

 

[CrazyMatt]

Final round groups for the Asian World Cup qualifers.

Group A
Iran
South Korea
United Arab Emirates
Iraq
Syria
Lebanon

Group B
Japan
Australia
Saudi Arabia
China
Oman
Vietnam


We got a verrrrrry competitive group. We’ve drawn Japan……AGAIN, they’ll be favourites to top the group, but our rivalry is nowhere near one sided with them. Could definitely jag a win and a draw from them. The Saudi’s present big competition, a team we haven’t played a hell of a lot since joining Asia. Will be very hard to beat. China is a bit of a wildcard, you don’t know which one will turn up, they can potentially beat anyone in the group and also get absolutely pummelled by everyone in this group as well. Oman will be competitive but I think they’ll finish bottom. Vietnam are one of the big improvers in Asian football, expect them to be competing for at the very least, 3rd spot.

At this stage all the games will be played between September and March but no schedule has been announced yet, ill post it here when it is.

 

[Flanno]

Is it too 2?

 

[Flanno]

Top*

 

[CrazyMatt]

Is it too 2?

Top 2 qualify for World Cup. 3rd goes to the playoff against the 3rd placed team of the other group. The winner of that plays in an intercontinental playoff against a North American team, like we did to get into the 2018 World Cup when we beat Qatar then Honduras.

 

[CrazyMatt]

Top 2 qualify for World Cup. 3rd goes to the playoff against the 3rd placed team of the other group. The winner of that plays in an intercontinental playoff against a North American team, like we did to get into the 2018 World Cup when we beat Qatar then Honduras.

Sorry, Syria, not Qatar.

 

[CrazyMatt]

Australia’s fixtures:

vs China (h) September 2
vs Vietnam (a) September 7
vs Oman (h) October 7
vs Japan (a) October 12
vs Saudi Arabia (h) November 11
vs China (a) November 16
vs Vietnam (h) January 27
vs Oman (a) February 1
vs Japan (h) March 24
vs Saudi Arabia (a) March 29

I think its going to come right down to the last game against the Saudis for a spot in the top 2. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be a big bunch of months for us.

 

[CrazyMatt]

Australia’s fixtures:

vs China (h) September 2
vs Vietnam (a) September 7
vs Oman (h) October 7
vs Japan (a) October 12
vs Saudi Arabia (h) November 11
vs China (a) November 16
vs Vietnam (h) January 27
vs Oman (a) February 1
vs Japan (h) March 24
vs Saudi Arabia (a) March 29

I think its going to come right down to the last game against the Saudis for a spot in the top 2. Strap yourselves in, it’s going to be a big bunch of months for us.

Venues have been announced for the first two games:
vs China September 2 @ Bankwest Stadium, Sydney
vs Vietnam September 7 @ My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi

 

[CrazyMatt]

Since the Socceroos shat the bed tonight, we’ll definitely have to go through the playoff system to qualify for the World Cup, which includes a two legged tie against the other groups 3rd place getter, which is likely to be the UAE, the team that knocked us out of the last Asian Cup, then if we get through that, we’ll have a two legged tie against the 5th place South American team which will be an uphill slog for us.

 

[HaroldBishop]

Since the Socceroos shat the bed tonight, we’ll definitely have to go through the playoff system to qualify for the World Cup, which includes a two legged tie against the other groups 3rd place getter, which is likely to be the UAE, the team that knocked us out of the last Asian Cup, then if we get through that, we’ll have a two legged tie against the 5th place South American team which will be an uphill slog for us.

Yep, a loss last night has secured that path

 

[Bundy Shark]

So who will be the coach?

 

[Mr Ryan]

Popovic and pretty sure they’re only single ties

 

[CrazyMatt]

So who will be the coach?

I think they’ll leave Arnold in for the playoff games (in saying that FA head honcho James Johnson is travelling to Qatar for the world cup draw but also to have a meeting with Arnold, so who knows)

Popovic is the favourite to take over afterwards purely because it seems Football Australia is tight on cash and cant afford to go foreign.

Personally I’m hoping FA fork out for a decent foreign coach who can shake up the Australian Football set up if they axe Arnold.

A lot of calls for Marcelo Bielsa but he’s definitely out of our reach. He did a lot of good work at Leeds and he would have no shortage of offers in Europe.

Its not just the coach’s fault in this case, we need a complete rethink about how football development is done in this country. More and more Asian countries are overtaking us and leaving us in their dust.

Popovic and pretty sure they’re only single ties

Correct and both of which will played in Qatar.

Peru is almost certain to finish 5th in South American qualifying so the winner of Australia/UAE will play them the following week in Doha.