2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying V [R]

That article is rather vague. It says

Why would 2 games against New Zealand B cost that much?

How much does a team generally spend while travelling for WCQs? Have an approx average amount, for the sake of comparisons?

It's costing them so much as they were meant to be playing Malaysia, guess they got sued!!

Can't imagine that price is correct, but then again, Adelaide United said it would cost them over 100,000 for an ACL game in Uzbekistan, so I guess they might not be far off the mark.

based on your history it seems that you were going that direction again. anyways, no worries.

Thanks for the half hearted apology.

It does appear that everytime i half an opinion it's a cause for trolling. Maybe in the future you can read earlier posts to see where i'm coming from.

Normally trolling comes with hatred, but you will see from previous comments that I do think Iran are doing well and will qualify for Brazil. I hope they will as from previous experiences at the world cup will do them good. Korea Republic have shown this.

Anyway, in the next round, I do think Iran need to be drawn against teams from outside of the West. The West Asians do appear to see Iran as a team they focus on but in East Asia they have knowledge of them but can/do take the eye off.

The delay between the 29th and the next FIFA WC qualification match is so long that "keeping the momentum" is rather meaningless.

We are bringing in a new player who plays in the Bundesliga and he will be a welcome addition. So my hope is that CQ uses him to help bolster our attack. So I'm guessing the 29th will be an experimental match.

As far as bothered about winning, ask Bahrani players if they wanted to win against Iran in 2002 OR if they wanted ONE TEAM to go (Saudi Arabia) and another team NOT to go (Iran)...hence their waving of Saudi flags after the match. It's not like Iranians are the only ones that want their rivals out!

No, it's not rather meaningless. One day you will realise this.

You think the top coaches in Europe have the same view as you. Course not.
Saying this, the AFC could have helped by having this 6th matchday a lot earlier, so teams could use this matchday to prepare in an environment that could have been used to gel squads together, not every nation gets that at this stage thanks to the schedule.

it wasnt an apology. i just didnt want to create anything. but now it seems like my post may have had some merit. either way, i will stick to not responding to your semi-diatribe any further. good day and may thailand winover oman.

But isn't that what you're asking them to do? If Kuwait sit back and defend for most of the game, it'll only put pressure on Kuwaitis themselves, more than anyone else. And besides, we're not even good at defending to begin with. The more we sit back and invite the Koreans to attack, the higher the chances that we concede a goal or two, and that'll leave us no choice but to eventually go "gung-ho" on the attack.

What I'm saying is, we shouldn't be parking the bus, or sitting deep. All that would do is allow the opposition to attack us at will. Kuwait isn't the kind of team that's resilient enough to alleviate an opposition's pressure on the ball. To the contrary, we'll simply concede faster and easier than ever, if we just sit back. The game plan doesn't fit our type of players.

What we need to do is realize our objectives. While the Koreans are qualified in 3 different possibilities (out of a possible 4), our chance of qualification is only 25%. We need a win. Korea doesn't. Korea's qualified if it draws. In fact, they can also lose and qualify, provided Lebanon loses to the UAE. Kuwait, on the other hand, need nothing but a win. And parking the bus wont help us out.

Besides, we're not the kind of team that can defend without conceding goals, and then decide to score in the last ten minutes of a game. We're the kind of team that needs to attack every once in a while, for an entire 90 minutes, until it has a lucky break in the 89th minute and scores something.

Our best chance of winning is not to go "gung-ho" but also not to sit back and allow the opposition to attack.

Our best chance of winning is to take control of the game by dominating ball possession. We need to start from the back, pass the ball around, dictate the game and increase our total % of ball possession. Then we need to patiently build up our attacking play, knowing that all we need is one goal.

But anyway, it's not going to happen. Korea will score so early in the game, simply because we're not built for sitting deep and defending. We're not defensively astute. But Goran is going to play it safe. He's going to set us up in a defensive-minded way, which in Kuwaiti football means "time to concede goals because we're not fit to defend continuously".

I do agree the 6th matchday should have been a lot sooner.

At the end of the day, I want to see Iran beat Qatar convincingly but in light of the results, I would prioritize experimentation with the system as a bigger priority than winning 5-0 when a 1-0 win would provide the same result!

The only thing I care about is that Iran AUTOMATICALLY qualifies for the World Cup. We simply don't have the caliber of players to get beyond the second round of a WC but I think we can get to the second round in 2014.

But at the end of the day, I want to see TM at the World Cup.

But I also thought we could get to the second round in 2006 by beating Mexico and Angola and losing to Portugal but it didn't happen that way.

A wee piece on this blog about the final match day:

http://sandalsforgoalposts.com/2012/02/20/afc-2014-wcq-round-3-final-matchday-preview/


Will be an exciting round of matches no doubt!

Three major scenarios to be observed, Kuwait vs South Korea and Australia vs Saudi and Oman vs. Thailand.

Kutsuit, I really do think that Kuwait has a chance at Korea. I say this from minimal experience of Iran playing Korea in Seoul on numerous occasions. Every game I've seen was a sloppy encounter where passes were missing, crosses were dreadful etc. The score would end up as 1-1 usually. Remember there isn't a Ji-sung park for Korea to score a quick one on Kuwait. From what I saw of Korea in the last 2 games, the best way to play them is through piercing creativity from the midfield, (their D has somewhat shocking reaction time).

For Saudi vs. Aussie, I still haven't seen the squad Australia have put forward, but the game will be interesting because Saudi know that they can't hope for a draw in any case as an Oman win will spell their doom, this should lead to open play

For Oman vs Thailand, I actually predict a high scoring game now that I think of it. Neither team has anything to gain from a draw. If both teams push up, I'm sure they'll both be punished on counters, which would make it a game that would probably be 3-2 in someone's favor.

One match against the u23s, none against the All Whites.

Squad announced:

Mark Bresciano, Al Nasr
Alex Brosque, Shimizu S-Pulse
Nick Carle, Sydney FC
David Carney, Bunyodkor
Brett Emerton, Sydney FC
Harry Kewell, Melbourne Victory
Michael Marrone, Melbourne Heart
Mark Milligan, Melbourne Victory
Lucas Neill, Al Jazira
Jade North, FC Tokyo
Sasa Ognenovski, Seongnam Ilhwa
Eric Paartalu, Brisbane Roar
Matt Ryan, Central Coast Mariners
Adam Sarota, FC Utrecht
Mark Schwarzer, Fulham
Matthew Spiranovic, Urawa Red Diamonds
Archie Thompson, Melbourne Victory
Michael Thwaite, Gold Coast United
James Troisi, Kayserispor

Largely first-choice back four+goalie but experimental midfield and under-power forward line.

That is not very sportsmanlike by Australia. They are not taking the game seriously, which is unfair to the Thais and Omanis. Iran is in the same position as Australia, but our coach has called up every regular player, including those playing overseas.

Like calling Nekounam, Haghighi and Dejagah to fly a couple of timezones to Iran is comparable to us dragging Cahill, Holman, Wilkshire, Jedinak, Williams, Valeri, McKay and Federici to the other side of the planet.

ETA: even the guys flying in from Japan and the UAE will be travelling longer distances than any Iranian call-up. Taking games 'seriously' is a lot harder and more expensive for Australia.

I cant see what's wrong with Australia's lineup. Apart from the absence of Tim Cahill and Brett Holman, I cant think of how unreasonable the lineup looks like.

In goalkeeping, you've got the legend himself, Mark Schwarzer. And it cant get any better than that, goalkeeping-wise. Defensively, you've got Lucas Neill and David Carney (and maybe Brett Emerton). Ognenovski (Sasha) isn't so bad, either.

In midfield, you've got Mark Bresciano, (possibly) Brett Emerton, (possibly) Alex Brosque and James Troisi. In the attack, you've got the expertise of one/two of: Harry Kewell, Archie Thompson and (possibly) Alex Brosque.

It's not a bad lineup by any means. Granted, one or two regular starters (i.e. Cahill and Holman) are missing but it's understandable why it would have been extremely difficult for some to join the team, and it's also commendable to see Australia use well-known names in their lineup, even when they know full well that their team is already qualified.

I mean, the likes of Harry Kewell, Archie Thompson, Mark Bresciano, Brett Emerton, Alex Brosque, James Troisi, Sasha, Neill and Carney are certainly no joke. Defensively, it's a respectable lineup, and that's the most important element to Australia's game. In midfield, it might lack Tim Cahill's expertise but it certainly isn't toothless and it can certainly perform well, regardless of his absence. Offensively, there is an aging problem, perhaps. But in the Asian game, it shouldn't cause much of a problem. Plus, the experience of these forwards should not be underestimated; neither should their fitness levels be. I would've personally opted for Holman but it's not like Kewell or Thompson (or even Brosque, if used as a striker) cant score when given the chance to do so.

So I think it's definitely game on. Australia vs. Saudi Arabia will be the most exciting fixture in the Asian qualifiers. It's do-or-die for the Saudis, and the Australian manager is dead serious about fielding the strongest squad he is capable of bringing together in these difficult time-frames.

I think we'll line up with something like

-------------|Schwarzer|
Marrone--Neill---Ognenovski---Carney

which is near full strength

Emerton---Milligan---Paartalu---Troisi

Emmo is a regular, Troisi's been auditioning for left midfield for a while now and the guys in the middle aren't much worse (and could even be better) than Jedinak and Valeri.

The forward line will likely be two of Kewell, Thompson and Brosque. That's a definite step down from Holman, Kennedy, Cahill but we owe Saudi Arabia no favours and we'll do them none on the pitch, no matter who we start.

The Saudis will still struggle with the physicality of the Aussies regardless. Gulf teams are of slight build on the whole, I predict a comfortable Australian home win.

you live in footballistan or delusionistan? oman remembers you. do you remember oman?

Considering Australia's last home loss at a WCQ came in June of 2008, when they fielded a much weakened side against China (in the 3rd round). I'd have to go with footballistan.

There is absolutely nothing to suggest the Saudis will take anything away from this game. The first encounter in Dammam in September ended 3-1 to the Aussies.

Of course anything can happen in football, I'm just looking at the facts and making assumptions on what is most likely to occur, like any other football enthusiast.

I've never bought into this arguement! This only applies to a few countries like Vietnam and Malaysia. They're truly at a disadvantage because they're on average shorter and smaller physically.

Persian Gulf Arabs are no different than, say, the Japanese. The Japanese seem to be doing fine.

This I agree with
Saudi Arabia over the past couple of years has been a joke compared to its former self. Most Saudis don't want to accept it but countries like Kuwait are much better than them right now (it's all in the results)

Peace be upon you all! I'm a Sadd supporter from Qatar and I wish my national team the best of luck against Iran. Allah willing, I hope Qatar will get the three crucial points.

The new manager is temporary caretaker Paulo Autuori of the Olympic team. I think he is temporary because he cannot take two jobs at once. He has coached Rayyan and won the cup of the Emir of Qatar two times. He has good knowledge of the football teams and competitions in Qatar but he is in a race against time to prepare the team for Iran's match.

My prediction is 1-0 to Qatar, Allah willing.