The first qualifying group has just been completed in Jordan. 1st Round, Group C 08.03 Iran 4-0 Palestine 08.03 Jordan 1-1 Bahrain 10.03 Bahrain 1-1 Palestine 10.03 Jordan 1-1 Iran 12.03 Iran 2-0 Bahrain 12.03 Jordan 6-0 Palestine Code: P W D L F A GD PTS Iran 3 2 1 0 7 1 + 6 7 Jordan 3 1 2 0 8 2 + 6 5 Bahrain 3 0 2 1 2 4 - 2 2 Palestine 3 0 1 2 1 11 -10 1 Jordan and Iran advance to the 2nd Round, which will be a single group of 5 teams. Next fixtures: 1st Round, Group B (in Bangladesh) 18.03 Bangladesh v Uzbekistan 20.03 Bangladesh v India 22.03 India v Uzbekistan Top team in group progresses to 2nd Round. India and Uzbekistan should both defeat Bangladesh, but it should be quite close in the decider. 1st Round, Group A (in Taiwan) 18.03 Vietnam v Hong Kong 18.03 Taiwan v Myanmar 20.03 Vietnam v Myanmar 20.03 Taiwan v Thailand 22.03 Thailand v Myanmar 22.03 Taiwan v Hong Kong 25.03 Myanmar v Hong Kong 25.03 Thailand v Vietnam 27.03 Thailand v Hong Kong 27.03 Taiwan v Vietnam Top 2 teams in group progress to 2nd Round. Thailand and Vietnam would normally be favourites, but Taiwan have shown some improvement recently, and with home advantage they may sneak one of the 2 top spots. Myanmar should be competitive, but Hong Kong will be lucky to pick up even 1 point. The 2nd Round will be held from 3rd-12th June, presumably in one of the 5 competing countries. Each team will play each other once in a single-league round robin, with the top team progressing to the final round to join the top 5 in Asia (Japan, North Korea, Australia, China, South Korea) in another single-league round-robin from 1st-11th September in China. The top 2 from this 6-team tournament will go to the 2012 Olympic Games.
1st Round, Group B (in Bangladesh) 18.03 Bangladesh 0-3 India 20.03 Bangladesh 0-3 Uzbekistan 22.03 India v Uzbekistan Code: P W D L F A GD PTS India 1 1 0 0 3 0 + 3 3 --------------------------------------- Uzbekistan 1 1 0 0 3 0 + 3 3 Bangladesh 2 0 0 2 0 6 - 6 0 Bangladesh are getting better - they held Uzbekistan 0-0 at half-time, and were 0-1 v India at half-time. Either India or Uzbekistan will take the lone spot in the next round. These teams are pretty equal, so it might go to extra-time/penalties depending on the rules. 1st Round, Group A (in Taiwan) 18.03 Vietnam 4-0 Hong Kong 18.03 Taiwan 1-1 Myanmar 20.03 Vietnam 2-0 Myanmar 20.03 Taiwan 0-3 Thailand 22.03 Thailand v Myanmar 22.03 Taiwan v Hong Kong 25.03 Myanmar v Hong Kong 25.03 Thailand v Vietnam 27.03 Thailand v Hong Kong 27.03 Taiwan v Vietnam Code: P W D L F A GD PTS Vietnam 2 2 0 0 6 0 + 6 6 Thailand 1 1 0 0 3 0 + 3 3 --------------------------------------- Myanmar 2 0 1 1 1 3 - 2 1 Taiwan 2 0 1 1 1 4 - 3 1 Hong Kong 1 0 0 1 0 4 - 4 0 Thailand and Vietnam look favourites as expected. However, if Vietnam loses to Thailand on 25th, and Taiwan beats Hong Kong (very likely), it will set up an interesting last day clash where Taiwan could leapfrog Vietnam with a win.
Group A Thailand - Myanmar 2-0 Taiwan - Hong Kong 5-0 Group B India - Uzbekistan 1-1 Playoff match tomorrow between India and Uzbekistan http://www.bffonline.com/
GROUP B PLAY-OFF Uzbekistan 5-1 India (0-1) Uzbekistan join Iran and Jordan in the 2nd Round. http://sport.uzreport.com/futbol.cgi?lan=e&id=87356
Today: Vietnam 2-1 Thailand Myanmar 1-0 Hong Kong Vietnam advance to the next stage. Thailand will also advance if they beat Hong Kong, which is very likely, or if Taiwan fail to beat Vietnam. Code: P W D L F A GD PTS Vietnam 3 3 0 0 8 1 + 7 9 Thailand 3 2 0 1 6 2 + 4 6 --------------------------------------- Taiwan 3 1 1 1 6 4 + 2 4 Myanmar 4 1 1 2 2 5 - 3 4 Hong Kong 3 0 0 3 0 10 -10 0
Today: Thailand 4-0 Hong Kong. 2nd Round will be a single group with Iran, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Thailand. The winner will progress to the final round in China against China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea and Australia. Shame that the best 4 teams outside the "big 5" were all in the same group in qualifying.
Taiwan 1-1 Vietnam Group A Final table Code: P W D L F A GD PTS Vietnam 4 3 1 0 9 2 + 7 10 Thailand 4 3 0 1 10 2 + 8 9 --------------------------------------- Taiwan 4 1 2 1 7 5 + 2 5 Myanmar 4 1 1 2 2 5 - 3 4 Hong Kong 4 0 0 4 0 14 -14 0
Is Iran even eligible to participate in official FIFA tournaments? I thought their dress code was in some violation of international regulations, or something along those lines. It would be interesting to see them play in next year's Olympics.
I think FIFA reached some sort of compromise. It's not only Iran, but a lot of the Arab countries also impose this dress code on their women players. In this clip of Palestine v Kuwait (which ended 17-0 to Palestine), you can see that a few of the Kuwait players cover everything except their faces. http://www.puddleofred.com/blog/?p=7539
http://www.the-afc.com/en/womens-olympic-qualifiersschedule-results?view=Competitions&id=409 2nd Round schedule (host to be selected from the 5 competing nations) 03/06/11 Uzbekistan v Thailand 03/06/11 Jordan v Iran 05/06/11 Iran v Vietnam 05/06/11 Jordan v Uzbekistan 07/06/11 Vietnam v Jordan 07/06/11 Thailand v Iran 10/06/11 Thailand v Jordan 10/06/11 Uzbekistan v Vietnam 12/06/11 Iran v Uzbekistan 12/06/11 Vietnam v Thailand
I agree. I think it depends who will be the host. If Vietnam are hosts, they will be favourites. If Thailand are hosts, they will be favourites.
Thanks for the 17-0 reminder. I hope you're right about FIFA reaching some sort of a compromise with the Iranians, as well as the Arabs. It would be very interesting seeing Iran and/or one of the Arab countries play in next year's Olympics, provided they qualify of course. There might be a huge difference in quality between the Middle Eastern and Western teams but I think it would be a good experience for all of them.
There is only one Arab team left - Jordan. Unfortunately, Iran and Jordan will struggle even in this group (against Thailand and Vietnam - Uzbekistan may be at a similar level). Even if Iran or Jordan win this group, they have absolutely no chance at all of finishing in the Top 2 ahead of the likes of Japan, North Korea, Australia, China and South Korea, all world class Top 20 teams. Jordan have at least some experience of playing China and Japan, but it wasn't a good one - losing 12-0 and 13-0.
The match details for the Olympic qualifications are as follows: City: Amman, Jordan. Stadiums: Amman International Stadium and King Abdulla Stadium. Dates: 03 - 12 June 2011. Qualified Teams: Vietnam (1A), Thailand (2A), Uzbekistan (1A), IR Iran (1C), Jordan (2C). http://www.the-afc.com/en/inside-af...ens-u-16-u-19-finals-olym-qual-r2-details-out
the winner round schedules in out,Host city - Qingdao(China). 9.1 China - South Korea(19:30) Japan - Q(round2) North Korea - Austarlia 9.3 China - North Korea(19:30) Japan - South Korea Australia - Q 9.5 China - Q(19:30) Japan - Australia South Korea - North Korea 9.8 China - Australia(19:30) Japan - North Korea 9.11 Japan - China(19:30) Q - North Korea Australia - South Korea the time of others update later
Thanks for the info, I wasn't well aware of the Middle Eastern teams' tough position or outlook. I guess there's always next time.
First matches in Round 2 today: Thailand 5-1 Uzbekistan Jordan apparently got a walkover against Iran (awarded a 3-0 win). I'm sure we will hear more about this soon.
Iran were disqualified because the players' ears and necks were covered - and this is against FIFA rules. I think this means they will be disqualified from the whole tournament, because I can't see them changing their dress code.
As expected: http://www.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/football/06/07/football.iran.hijab.fifa/index.html http://english.aljazeera.net/sport/football/2011/06/201166124927699569.html
The athletes would be more than happy to follow the rules but can't due to government restrictions. They're the only ones being screwed here, FIFA should have more common sense and be lenient with the rules in this case since the government sure as hell won't let them play without covering up.
No in that case FIFA should ban Iran from Soccer until the government backs down. If the government is interfering with match dress they are interfereing with soccer and FIFA should act, not just punsihng these poor women. Hit Iran where it hurts instead.
You're clearly not familiar with the Iranian government and the strict Islamic laws they impose on the people. Under no circumstance would the government allow even a slight loosening of the female dress code in Iran even if it costs Iran a permanent FIFA ban. They would in fact use a move like that for propaganda purposes saying how the west wants to impose their dirty culture on Iran, etc. The only people who would be screwed are the athletes. FIFA knows this so they try to be lenient with the rules.