I vertainly don't think its a foregone conclusion and I have my tickets for next Tuesday night. They were a lot cheaper than the NRL Grand Final tickets I forked out for so there is really no excuse if we don't get a decent crowd.
May be fans looking for the first leg result and decide to turn out to second leg . If Aussie win comfortably then fans might save up some to watch some other sports?
The first leg being the home one for Syria makes it more interesting I think. I think Australia would easily win the home leg if was the first game and have all the moment. But if Syria can get something out of this, or even win this one.. they could go into the return leg with all the momentum and do something. Australia firm favorites, but nothing is guaranteed. After all, did any of us see either of these teams being here at the end of the day?
1-0 Australia at half time. Not the prettiest game so far. A bit physical at times with not a lot of flowing play.
Faghani is the most overrated ref in Asia. I never really liked this guy. And once again he screws an important match up. We really need video replay in every single football match, especially in corrupt Asia. We can't continue like this.
Agree with the softness of the penalty but I thought there was a pretty good shout for handball on one of Syria's corner kicks that went uncalled. As for the penalty that was called- pay attention to the Australian players leg which he uses to knee Al-Somah in the back. I think that was why the call was made.
I think maybe he got told he made a mistake on the earlier "handball" and was trying to make up for it.
It was not a penalty. Faghani made a wrong call. I am not a fan of socceroos but they played better and had to win. Now you may feel how it hurts when a referee's wrong call changes the outcome of the match.
We know it feels from 1997. A missed offside call that resulted in Iran's first goal changed the course of the game in Melbourne. You just have to move on and hope you get a bit of luck later that evens it out.
I'm not sure about that. Watch 6:20. The two Australian players stopped the Iranian player with both hands. One even pulled his shirt. It should've been a penalty given I think.
I am, but its ancient history now and rather than anger I only felt disappointment at the time. Poor calls happen in football all the time, and there are plenty of them in Asia as the standard of refereeing overall isn't very good. The "penalty" call the other night is just another example. Will it actually change the course of the playoff? I doubt it. There will probably be another poor decision that will be the topic of discussion after the game.
I don't blame the ref or Iran for '97. Terry Veneables, gets all my blame these days. Why didn't he make any subs before the 82nd minute. Sure up the defence, slow the game down when you're 2-0 up. Fast forward 20 years. I think there was just enough in the penalty against Leckie for me not to get too upset. The hands in the back were enough for me to understand the refs penalty call. Harsh but believable. Move on to Tuesday and I hope Ang doesn't do anything crazy. Out of the humidity of Malaysia and back home the Socceroos should be too strong for Syria. Panama looked pretty lame the other day, but will probably finish 4th.
^ at 97 we scored fair and square. I believe the person you need to blame was that Aussie hooligan who jumped on our goal and ripped the net. It gave us 5-6 minutes to regroup and come back strong. I never blame Australia for crazed ben. I just don't like the taste of some Aussie fans otherwise I still prefer socceroos over any team in west Asia. Here I only said you can also experience something close to medicine of benny boy. It is irritating.
He wasn't too bad, but had a tendency to give too many soft yellows which is what caught out Iran in the last Asian Cup. The player who was sent off in that game should never have got his first yellow, and even the second was a bit debatable (maybe if he hadn't got the first you could have given him one, but getting sent of for the two transgressions he made was pretty tough.)
. Iran's comeback against Australia in Melbourne was miraculous. And I wouldn't focus on culprits to explain a miracle. That was simply no ordinary game and I don't think there will be another one like it. I have never been left in such an utter state of shock after a football match as I was after Iran's match against Australia in Melbourne. Despite having high hopes for Iran winning that game before the match had started, for 70+ minutes, I was left to only hope that the scoreline wouldn't be worse for Iran than it was by then. Iran was trailing 2:0 in match where Australia had created half a dozen excellent chances, while Iran had created zilch. We weren't able to string together 2-3 passes before being dispossessed of the ball. And each time we were dispossessed, Australia would seem to be all over our team. But as all hope seemed lost, Iran was first gifted a breather: a deranged Australian fan ran into the field, tore up Iran's net, and disrupted the match. And then boom: 2 goals late in the game followed by 8 minutes of extra time which felt like eternity. When the final whistle was blown, Iran had qualified for the World Cup in the most memorable football match I have ever watched.