AFC World Cup Qualifiers

[Azeem]

Looks like China is also following the Qatar model bringing Brazilian and English players nationalising them to play for China.

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

6 hours ago, McAzeem said:

Looks like China is also following the Qatar model bringing Brazilian and English players nationalising them to play for China.

 

I think China's already done that before. I believe they have an English guy playing for them as well as another Brazilian. In China, most people view their national team as an absolute joke and think the government's insanely expensive plan to revamp their league and national team has just been a complete waste.

[nudge]

6 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I think China's already done that before. I believe they have an English guy playing for them as well as another Brazilian. In China, most people view their national team as an absolute joke and think the government's insanely expensive plan to revamp their league and national team has just been a complete waste.

Browning at least has a Chinese grandparent, so there's some ancestral link to China. The two Brazilians don't... What's funny is that Alan actually wanted to became a naturalised Austrian in order to play for the national team, and Austria's sport director at the time also wanted him desperately; they had the whole legal team working on granting Alan Austrian citizenship... in the end, he was 6 months short of fulfilling the requirements, but transfered to China and that was the end of it  

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, nudge said:

Browning at least has a Chinese grandparent, so there's some ancestral link to China. The two Brazilians don't... What's funny is that Alan actually wanted to became a naturalised Austrian in order to play for the national team, and Austria's sport director at the time also wanted him desperately; they had the whole legal team working on granting Alan Austrian citizenship... in the end, he was 6 months short of fulfilling the requirements, but transfered to China and that was the end of it  

Yeah I mean considering how many English people have played for Ireland (or other countries) because of a Irish grandparent (or in some Irish international players cases... by lying about having an Irish grandparent ) - I can't really fault him for playing for China being a player that has an ancestral link in China. And I think he's played most of his football in China.

[Michael]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Yeah I mean considering how many English people have played for Ireland (or other countries) because of a Irish grandparent (or in some Irish international players cases... by lying about having an Irish grandparent ) - I can't really fault him for playing for China being a player that has an ancestral link in China. And I think he's played most of his football in China.

Poor Tony Cascarino is never going to live that down. 

[Michael]

1 hour ago, nudge said:

Browning at least has a Chinese grandparent, so there's some ancestral link to China. The two Brazilians don't... What's funny is that Alan actually wanted to became a naturalised Austrian in order to play for the national team, and Austria's sport director at the time also wanted him desperately; they had the whole legal team working on granting Alan Austrian citizenship... in the end, he was 6 months short of fulfilling the requirements, but transfered to China and that was the end of it  

It's a similar situation with Ukraine. They naturalised Brazilians Moraes and Marlos. Moraes thank god wasn't selected for the Euros, as Yaremchuk is much better than him and so are Besyedin and Dovbyk . While Marlos is at the Euros and had a very poor game against the Netherlands and thankfully wasn't selected against North Macedonia. The bottom line is that Ukraine don't need either of these players, as they have many local players who are better them, as they have proven at these Euros. If you are a big footballing nation, I think it's a bit embarrassing in my opinion when you opt to naturalise players because you think they will strengthen your team. 

[nudge]

12 minutes ago, Michael said:

It's a similar situation with Ukraine. They naturalised Brazilians Moraes and Marlos. Moraes thank god wasn't selected for the Euros, as Yaremchuk is much better than him and so are Besyedin and Dovbyk . While Marlos is at the Euros and had a very poor game against the Netherlands and thankfully wasn't selected against North Macedonia. The bottom line is that Ukraine don't need either of these players, as they have many local players who are better them, as they have proven at these Euros. If you are a big footballing nation, I think it's a bit embarrassing in my opinion when you opt to naturalise players because you think they will strengthen your team. 

Yeah, I think fast-tracking citizenship solely for footballing reasons is always a bit sad, to be honest...

[Dr. Gonzo]

Weird news coming from Iran's football team...

... last week Skocic confirmed his contract had recently been renewed until 2023 (because he was only contracted through round 2 of the AFC WCQs). And I think it's good he's been renewed... I cannot argue with 7 wins in 7 games and I don't think anyone else can either.

Now the IFF (Iran's FA) has confirmed that Skocic has a contract that runs until 2023... but they are also considering ditching the man with 7 wins in 7 games for a "higher profile manager."

I think that's absurd... unless they've managed to get Carlos Queiroz back (and I doubt they have). But what do they consider "high profile" and if it's someone with a genuinely high profile... would they even consider Iran? Spurs can't even find a manager and the IFF thinks they can get someone high profile ?

[Azeem]

Round 3 Draw is in

Group A is very familiar pretty much repeat of 2014 & 2018 groups. I expect it to end up same as last time.

Group B is more interesting expect Japan and Australia to top but Saudis are a close second. China, Oman, Vietnam can pull out an upset

[Michael]

1 hour ago, McAzeem said:

Round 3 Draw is in

Group A is very familiar pretty much repeat of 2014 & 2018 groups. I expect it to end up same as last time.

Group B is more interesting expect Japan and Australia to top but Saudis are a close second. China, Oman, Vietnam can pull out an upset

There's a hell of a lot more travelling to do for the teams in Group B, than there is in Group A, that's for sure. With the exception of South Korea, all the teams in Group A are from the same region. While in Group B, the distances between Saudi Arabia and Japan or Japan and Australia or Australia and Saudi Arabia are huge.

It's nice to see Vietnam making their presence felt for the first time at this stage of the qualifiers, as I believe the other teams have all been here before. Vietnam's home and away games against their big northern neighbours China, should be quite interesting to watch, I'd imagine.

[Azeem]

3 hours ago, Michael said:

It's nice to see Vietnam making their presence felt for the first time at this stage of the qualifiers, as I believe the other teams have all been here before. Vietnam's home and away games against their big northern neighbours China, should be quite interesting to watch, I'd imagine.

Oman is also debuting in this round. Their head coach is Branko who was Iran's manager at 2006 WC also managed club football there too.

[Michael]

7 minutes ago, McAzeem said:

Oman is also debuting in this round. Their head coach is Branko which was Iran's manager at 2006 WC also managed club football there too.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Oman are not debuting in this round:

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) - Wikipedia

I do follow football around the world, even though I'd say Europe and South America are probably my main focus and I have a decent enough memory when it comes to football, well at least I think I have. 

But yeah, I wish Oman well, they should get the better of China and Vietnam, but Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia will be a big challenge for them.

[Dr. Gonzo]

I think Group A is tougher, tbh - but at least it means less traveling for Iran.

Group B I think Japan and Australia are a clear top 2. Saudi Arabia might contend, but on paper I'd suspect Japan and Australia to come through there.

[Michael]

47 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I think Group A is tougher, tbh - but at least it means less traveling for Iran.

Group B I think Japan and Australia are a clear top 2. Saudi Arabia might contend, but on paper I'd suspect Japan and Australia to come through there.

I am not so sure, I think Saudi Arabia will definitely challenge Japan and Australia for the top 2 places. I watched Uzbekistan play them in a qualifier in June and the Saudi lads outplayed them and won 3-0. Their passing and movement is pretty impressive at Asian level. Their technical players are usually very skilled, but their defending sometimes in the past has left a lot to be desired. However, in the match against Uzbekistan, their defending looked on point and they looked much more organised than some of their teams of the past.

I also think China are a dark horse. I mean they have always been underachievers for the region of Asia, considering their population and the league they spend millions on. Despite this though, they are still capable of shocking any side in Asia in my opinion. Sometimes they really underperform and don't look that great, but other times they seem to play very well. I think that they have good enough players to actually achieve things in Asia. Oman are also one of those sides in Asia that can spring a surprise and take points off the likes of Australia, Saudi Arabia and Japan. I am not so sure about Vietnam(I'd like to see their match against China though), they have only recently risen in Asia.

In Group A, I think it's going to be South Korea along with the Middle Eastern sides Iran, Iraq and the UAE who have the credentials to qualify. I expect Syria and Lebanon to battle for 5th spot.

[Dr. Gonzo]

29 minutes ago, Michael said:

I am not so sure, I think Saudi Arabia will definitely challenge Japan and Australia for the top 2 places. I watched Uzbekistan play them in a qualifier in June and the Saudi lads outplayed them and won 3-0. Their passing and movement is pretty impressive at Asian level. Their technical players are usually very skilled, but their defending sometimes in the past has left a lot to be desired. However, in the match against Uzbekistan, their defending looked on point and they looked much more organised than some of their teams of the past.

I also think China are a dark horse. I mean they have always been underachievers for the region of Asia, considering their population and the league they spend millions on. Despite this though, they are still capable of shocking any side in Asia in my opinion. Sometimes they really underperform and don't look that great, but other times they seem to play very well. I think that they have good enough players to actually achieve things in Asia. Oman are also one of those sides in Asia that can spring a surprise and take points off the likes of Australia, Saudi Arabia and Japan. I am not so sure about Vietnam(I'd like to see their match against China though), they have only recently risen in Asia.

In Group A, I think it's going to be South Korea along with the Middle Eastern sides Iran, Iraq and the UAE who have the credentials to qualify. I expect Syria and Lebanon to battle for 5th spot.

Most Iran football fans I know seem to be pretty disappointed our group has Iraq/Syria instead of China/Oman. I've only watched China play a couple of times and every time I've seen them they've been absolutely awful. But I know they're not as bad as those few matches I've seen and they're definitely capable of getting a result on their day. They all seem to be pretty elated we've avoided Saudi Arabia though.

I guess Australia's in something of a transition period (they did really well in the last round though) - so a lot of the people I talk to about AFC international football seem to think that Saudi Arabia have a good chance to make the top 2. They also came in the top 2 last time around in a group with Japan & Australia (Australia came 3rd so they had to play in the Round 4 playoffs). I suspect the top 3 in that group will be those 3 teams though - and I wouldn't bet against the 3rd place team of that group being the side that makes it through the round 4 playoff either.

I'm excited to see how Vietnam do.

I do think Syria will do better than you're expecting them too. Last World Cup, I think they finished 3rd in the Round 3 group - and I think it's likely they're better than they were 4 years ago considering the way they handled Round 2 (although as we discussed before, their group was a bit easy... although I think the variance in quality in teams in the 2nd round is pretty staggering - you can play someone decent & someone awful in the span of a couple games in round 2). I wouldn't be surprised to see them challenge for 3rd place or better in the group, tbh.

From an Iran perspective, I think we can probably go through as one of the 1st or 2nd place teams. But it is really important to get off to a good start (which we didn't do in round 2, and left it late to top the group) - and I definitely think those matches against South Korea will likely be the decider in which side finishes 1st or 2nd respectively... provided Iran gets off to a good start. If we don't start well against the Arab nations in the group, I do worry that these fairly decent and improving sides will develop momentum.

Having said that, Skocic's got 7 wins in 7 matches with Iran... and I think having players like Azmoun and Taremi means we've got one of the better attacks in Asia - so there's no reason we can't give it a real go and finish in the top 2. But I do think it's important the players and manager do not underestimate the Arab nations here. Especially Iraq, Syria, and UAE. Unfortunately for Lebannon, I do think it's likely they are rooted to the bottom of the table of this group.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Carlos Queiroz is now being linked with the Iraq job.

Personally, I hope he doesn't take it. I think he can turn Iraq into contenders because I think he could take any decent Asian team and make them incredibly tough to beat.

[Dr. Gonzo]

Looks like Iraq are on the cusp of appointing Dick Advocaat

[Azeem]

Why is Dick a surname? 

[Stan]

4 hours ago, Khan of TF365 said:

Why is Dick a surname? 

*first name.

 

Short for 'Richard'.

[Azeem]

Iran Iraq again on 7 September. China will be opening against Australia, the average height of their team is higher than Australia lol 

Vietnam play Saudis and Australia.

Matches are being played as regular on home away basis. 

 

[Michael]

Oman are holding Japan to a 0-0 draw in Osaka with only 10 minutes left to play. In all fairness, Oman have looked worth earning the draw with how they have performed so far. It will be a surprising result if they hold out for the next few minutes.

[Michael]

Oman score and take the lead against Japan in Osaka. What a surprising lead this is for Oman as they go into injury time . 

[Azeem]

Oman win. Yes I want to see a new face from Asia this time !

[Michael]

7 hours ago, Khan of TF365 said:

Oman win. Yes I want to see a new face from Asia this time !

Japan 0-1 Oman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHhgwIEhVnw

South Korea 0-0 Iraq

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAes-LsoOJA

Yes and it was a very nice winning goal as well. The cross was met with an accurate volley aimed for the far post. Oman were well worth their win, they had lots of efforts on the Japanese goal and forced the Japanese keeper into several important saves. Japan created chances of their own, but they seemed to lose the midfield battle. I watched Kamada in the 1st half and he just wasn't given any space by the Omani midfielders, a similar scenario happened with Doan in the 2nd half. An important away win for Oman against the group favourites and this result has really made this group interesting.

In the other match that has been played, Iraq managed to earn a 0-0 away draw against South Korea. Iraq defended well to gain a very precious away draw. It seems like the Middle Eastern sides are getting the better of the Far Eastern teams these days. 

Australia will play China later on today in what should be an interesting match. But Australia won't have much of home advantage, as the game has to be played outside of Australia due to Covid issues in the country. Doha in Qatar is the venue where they will play. 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

Iran looking pretty shit in the first half against Syria