I've spied on Aliraqi a few times and I've never understood your obsession with Japan and Uzbekistan, esp Uzbekistan! For some reason you guys all think these two teams are football gods. Ironically, the only top team that doesn't have a superior head to head against Iraq is Japan (2-2-2). Uzbekistan has done nothing so far to warrant this praise. In the 2010 WCQ, they finished 1st (5W, 1L) in the group stage, but ended up dead last in the last stage with a shocking total of 4 points. Let's see what they will do this year before we call them football gods. Edit: lmao wow my rant had nothing to do with your post haha
I believe that Australia should be no problem for us. The Australians are very physical set. They are big, and they often make headers, that's all. Our last game last year, January was bad luck for Iraq .. The referee was bad. (did not give us 2 penalties) Nevertheless, I think the first 2 matches against Jordan and Oman will decide whether we qualify or not. We shall see
Iraq has a good team and good players at their disposal, its their golden generation Id say. But not as good as Japan and Australia. However Iraq can challenge these teams and get good results. What MIGHT be Iraq's downfall in the end is the result from the other matches against Jordan and Oman, as I believe they are rather equal teams, with Iraq having a little more edge perhaps. The danger being those encounters ending in draws. Because I expect Australia and Japan to get at least 4 points from each of them. So its vital that Iraq win those games at "home" and draw away, if they want to stand a chance of surpassing Japan or Australia and book a ticket to Brazil. I say this danger also exists for Iran in the other group, if they slip up. Too many draws like last time... Hard to imagine that this will pose a problem for Japan or Australia, as they are consistent teams and get the job done.
Iraq has always been a team that surprises. If we have a good start (6 points in the first 2 games) we can get high! And probably we can play home games in Iraq, as soon as FIFA decides, and then it should go well!
Iraq managed to tie Egypt in a friendly match today which is an impressive result. Egypt, in my opinion, is on par with Australia and Japan.
Yes, I told you already before.. Iraq is a team that is able to achieve good results. Until now, since we had Zico, we've only lost against Jordan (without counting the friendlies), but that was only a few days after Zico was appointed to coach, so I did not count that game. Now if i see Iraq play, I see stability in the team. I see structure, I see that the defense is stable, and we have a well-organized attack. If we continue like this, we are certainly able to obtain enough points to get to the second place.
Good grief this thread is boring. What..no bash talk to build up the suspense and anticipation? Its gonna go down in 3 weeks. You're all bunch of diplomatic sissies
Getting ready for it to go down... gonna go to Qatar vs South Korea & Iraq vs Oman here in Doha - need to use that new Oman jersey! ;-)
It's so quiet here, no one locally is talking about the WCQs at all. They only just started playing a few ads for the Denmark friendly on tv and even then it's still very low key.
Denmark/Oman will barely get 1/4 of a page in the biggest newspaper in QLD. State of Origin in full swing... Anyway, this thread needs more squad lists. Mark Bresciano Alex Brosque Tim Cahill David Carney Nathan Coe (GK) Adam Federici (GK) Chris Herd Brett Holman Mile Jedinak Joshua Kennedy Harry Kewell Neil Kilkenny Robbie Kruse Matt McKay Mark Milligan Lucas Neill Jade North Sasa Ognenovski Nikita Rukavytsya Mark Schwarzer (gk) Matt Spiranovic Archie Thompson Carl Valeri Luke Wilkshire Rhys Williams Michael Zullo
Japan sqaud http://www.espnstar.com/football/as...tem806313/Miyaichi-gets-Japan-World-Cup-call/ Goalkeepers Eiji Kawashima (29) - Lierse (Belgium) Shusaku Nishikawa (25) - Sanfrecce Hiroshima Shuichi Gonda (23) - FC Tokyo Defenders Yuichi Komano (30) - Jubilo Iwata Yasuyuki Konno (29) - Gamba Osaka Yuzo Kurihara (28) - Yokohama F. Marinos Masahiko Inoha (26) - Vissel Kobe Yuto Nagatomo (25) - Inter Milan (Italy) Tomoaki Makino (25) - Urawa Reds Atsuto Uchida (24) - Schalke (Germany) Hiroki Sakai (22) - Kashiwa Reysol Maya Yoshida (23) - VVV Venlo (Netherlands) Midfielders Yasuhito Endo (32) - Gamba Osaka Kengo Nakamura (31) - Kawasaki Frontale Makoto Hasebe (28) - Wolfsburg (Germany) Keisuke Honda (25) - CSKA Moscow (Russia) Hajime Hosogai (25) - Bayer Leverkusen (Germany) Hideto Takahashi (24) - FC Tokyo Forwards Ryoichi Maeda (30) - Jubilo Iwata Shinji Okazaki (26) - Stuttgart (Germany) Takayuki Morimoto (24) - Novara (Italy) Shinji Kagawa (23) - Borussia Dortmund (Germany) Ryo Miyaichi (19) - Arsenal (England) Hiroshi Kiyotake (22) - Cerezo Osaka Mike Havenaar (25) - Vitesse (Netherlands) Honda returns to national team action after 9 months absence.
Iraq 25 Players Goalkeepers Mohammed Kassid (Al-Talaba, Iraq) Noor Sabri (Najaf, Iraq) Mohammad Hameed (Al-Shorta, Iraq) Defenders: Ali Hussien Rahema (Al-Wakra, Qatar) Salam Shaker (Al-Khor, Qatar) Ahmad Ibrahim (Arbil, Iraq) Waleed Bahar (Al-Shorta, Iraq) Samal Saeed (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Iraq) Bassim Abbas (Baghdad, Iraq) Hussam Kadhim (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Iraq) Midfielders: Nashat Akram (Al-Wakra, Qatar) Qusay Munir (Baghdad, Iraq) Muthana Khaled (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Iraq) Ibrahim Kamel (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Iraq) Fareed Majeed (Al-Shorta, Iraq) Mahdi Kareem (Arbil, Iraq) Karrar Jassim (Esteghlal Tehran, Iran) Hawar Mulla Mohammed (Zob Ahan, Iran) Forwards: Alaa Abdulzahra (Qatar, Iraq) Luai Salah (Arbil, Iraq) Emad Mohammed (Sepahan, Iran) Younis Mahmoud (Al-Wakra, Qatar) Mustafa Karim (El-Ittihad El-Iskandary, Egypt) Ali Salah Hashem (Al-Wehdat, Jordan) Hammadi Ahmad (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Iraq)
Just 3 days left before the first matches.... Iraq HAS to win the first two games.. It's against Jordan and Oman dammit, they should fear Iraq not vice versa
Some changes: GK Mark Schwarzer Mitch Langerak (replaces Federici) Nathan Coe DF David Carney Lucas Neill Jade North Sasa Ognenovski Matt Spiranovic Luke Wilkshire Rhys Williams Michael Zullo MF Mark Bresciano Mile Jedinak Neil Kilkenny Matt McKay Mark Milligan Nikita Rukavytsya Carl Valeri (misses Denmark game) FW Alex Brosque Tim Cahill Brett Holman (in doubt for Oman) Joshua Kennedy (misses Denmark game) Harry Kewell Robbie Kruse Archie Thompson Two to be dropped for Oman.