Asia not Oceania deserves vacant WC place

[West Coast Thug]

Originally posted by Samarkand
An automatic spot would increase the quality in Oceania, just as it has done in every other conference which had gained automatic spots.
Asia didn't have automatic spots; now they do, and look at the quality. Same with Africa, same with CONCACAF. Why would Oceania be any different?

That's absolutely ridiculous. The only thing an auto bid would do is possibly increase the qulality of play in AUSTRALIA, cause thats the only nation that would ever qualify! The other nations are going to continue to stink and they'll never get past Australia, who can just breeze into the World Cup and get destroyed when it faces a decent team. The current playoff situation is just fine and if Australia can't beat a team like Uruguay or Iran then they don't deserve to be included in the WC.

[jamisont]

If AFC is crap and they dont deserve to be in WC, then Australia should have no problem beating 4th0 AFC team.
If you cant beat 4th AFC team, you dont deserve to be in WC, no matter who you are.

[DoyleG]

Originally posted by West Coast Thug

That's absolutely ridiculous. The only thing an auto bid would do is possibly increase the qulality of play in AUSTRALIA, cause thats the only nation that would ever qualify! The other nations are going to continue to stink and they'll never get past Australia, who can just breeze into the World Cup and get destroyed when it faces a decent team. The current playoff situation is just fine and if Australia can't beat a team like Uruguay or Iran then they don't deserve to be included in the WC.

Oh stop it thug!!!!!

Australia isn't the power it used to be. recent results by New Zealand have obviously shown that in recent years. Everyone else is catching up.

Besides, the AFC is never going to accept them into their fold. No one wants to travel to Australia to go into a macth where they will likely lose.

[Alberto]

Originally posted by DoyleG


Oh stop it thug!!!!!

Australia isn't the power it used to be. recent results by New Zealand have obviously shown that in recent years. Everyone else is catching up.

Besides, the AFC is never going to accept them into their fold. No one wants to travel to Australia to go into a macth where they will likely lose.

Agreed that New Zealand is catching up, though clearly Australia is still the team to beat in Oceania. It will be interesting to see what happens the next time NZ and Australia play in an important tournament. I will say that the balance of the nations in Oceania are not of the same caliber nor will they be for many years to come.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but I believe there was a possibility that Oceania or Australia could have been part of the Asian Confederation at it's inception. I don't remember the circumstances, but it would have been better for all parties since they would have benefited from an increase in the quality of competition. To me, merging these two confederations still makes the most sense. Then you can award the extra spot to the combined confederation.

[Samarkand]

There seem to be 2 reasons posters here want to deny Oceania an automatic spot in the WC Finals.
1. The confederation is too small and the quality of football is generally lousy.
2. It will end up being an automatic slot for Australia.

Does it not bother anyone that these reasons are patronising and almost neo-colonial? In other words "We here in the developed football world know what's best for you, and we don't think that you are good enough for an automatic spot." Condescending in the extreme.

With the exception of CONMEBOL and UEFA, all other confederations have had to fight for places at the big table. When eventually some far sighted people saw the rationale in allowing in the smaller confederations, all improved.

For everyone howling about the wonderful successes of the USA, Senegal and S. Korea this time around, remember that this success was largely built upon people constantly asking for spots for their respective conferences. Yes, there were ignominies - S. Korea on the wrong end of 7-0 in '54, Zaire losing 9-0 in '74 or Haiti going down 7-0 the same WC - but all of these confederations have become stronger as the years have gone on.

If the staus quo had persisted, as some posters here would now like to do with Oceania, then the WC would NEVER have grown into a World game, remaining a tournament for Brazil, Argentina and UEFA. The USAs, Senegals, and S. Koreas of this world would still be on the outside looking in, being patronisingly told, "Yes, yes, all in good time, you're just not quite good enough now, y'know."

It is remarkably shortsighted to say that the learning curve for Oceania will be longer and not worth the time and effort. Players, teams and confederations do not get better by playing against bad teams, they get better playing against good teams. And for every Zaire that went down 9-0 in '74, there is a Senegal in '02 who were a golden goal away from the semis.

Oceania has more members than CONMEBOL and if you want to talk population, then explain not only China, but also India, the 2 most populous nations on earth. And population itself is no predictor of WC Finals qualification. Slovenia, Ireland, Norway, Denmark and Uruguay (won it twice) have all qualified with populations of 5 million or less.

There is no doubt that the quality of football is lousy in Oceania, but it will improve, as every other confederation has done to date with regular participation. Yeah, Australia beat American Samoa 31-0 and still didn't make the WC Finals. But Iran beat the Maldives 18/19?-0 and didn't make the finals, also.

Oceania is a fully fledged member conference of FIFA, and all members have the same number and type of vote that all other members of FIFA have, yet, they do not have an automatic card to the dance, as everyone else has? This makes as much sense now, as did keeping out CONCACAF, the AFC and the CAF 30-40 years ago. (I know they weren't excluded totally, but they had to qualify via playoffs or drawing lots or acting as replacements for other teams that dropped out.)

Oceania is part of the FIFA family, it should have all the benefits that the other members have; enough with the conservatives who want to change nothing and opt for the status quo.

[Craig the Aussie]

Oz & NZ wanted to be in Asia, Asia didn't want them.

A home & away qualifier is unfair - direct qualification is stupid.

Put Australia, NZ and 2 Oceania qualifiers in pools in Asia, CONCACAF, wherever, and let us play our way in.

[jamisont]

Originally posted by DoyleG


Oh stop it thug!!!!!

Australia isn't the power it used to be. recent results by New Zealand have obviously shown that in recent years. Everyone else is catching up.

Besides, the AFC is never going to accept them into their fold. No one wants to travel to Australia to go into a macth where they will likely lose.

Who will likely lose at australia? remember 94? Aussie was up 2-0 then allowed 2 goals in late 2nd half, failed to make it to WC on goal differenciation.
Last confederation cups(2001), Australia lost to both Korea and Japan.

[Jay510]

if anyone but Concacaf gets that extra spot it will be a complete disgrace for FIFA.....the only reason that Asia and Oceania are even being considered is Blatter is feathering his nest instead of doing the right thing.

[DoyleG]

Originally posted by jamisont


Who will likely lose at australia? remember 94? Aussie was up 2-0 then allowed 2 goals in late 2nd half, failed to make it to WC on goal differenciation.
Last confederation cups(2001), Australia lost to both Korea and Japan.

It wasn't 94. Do your homework.

[oakydoaks]

Well, no matter what you guys say, Asia will get 4.5 spots and Oceania will get 1 spot unless Blatter suddenly changes his mind.
I'm just curious where that extra 0.5 spot will go.

Ok, Aussies, you won that 1 full spot you have been wanting for so long. Now use it well.

ps: I think putting two Oceania teams in 2nd round would be the smartest thing to do.
Remember Asian teams have to face about 4 cup cake teams in 1st round and then they move on to 2nd round. So by the same analogy Oceania teams should have two 1st round groups and then the winners should move on to 2nd round, not final round(3rd round).