Congrats to KSA, you guys are finally back. Politics BS aside, it is good to have another strong team in Asia. Some teams are just talks and when the actual match begins they are noting but walking in a park.
Still a long ways to go for them. For some reason they have their three hardest games last. Vs Australia away Vs UAE away Vs Japan at home Even UAE still has a chance at the playoff with 3 winnable games
Iraq is under transition period and trying to build a better team for future. Off course Iraq was technically in to try to claim 3rd spot at the least but this was 95% against Iraq as Iraq was playing away game. Off course, Iraq's next big game is against Japan and that game can influence other match results in case Iraq wins. However, better luck next time though Iraqi players played with their heart in tonight's game and I thought Iraq's luck ran out in the 1st 3 games otherwise, Iraq is stronger team than any other Middle Eastern team (with no offense to other teams).
Iraq is out. Everything was against us this campaign, we were screwed from the very beginning and this is how it ends. No team in the world can qualify under the circumstances Iraq went through, first we have to solve our problems and then contend for a place in the World Cup. Congrats to the other teams, hope you'll make Asia proud in the WC.
I don't think UAE would pose a threat to KSA even at their own turf as the Saudis have been their bogey team for a long time. As for the other matches, I predict a loss against the OZ's and a draw or maybe a win against the Japanese provided that they (Japan) have already secured their spot in the WC by that time. The remaining games for this group should be REALLY interesting. Congratulations to all the victorious teams in this round and tough luck to the losers.
I am sure Iraq has a bright future since Iraq will be allowed to play home games in Iraq... I believe Iraq will play against Japan in Iraq. It's only a matter of time FIFA allows this... Iraq deserves to play home games. Football will unite the entire country.
Congrats to KSA and tough luck to Iraq. The results of this match-day made Australia vs Saudi Arabia game very interesting.
Off course, and Australia favorites to win since all players will be available and have to play in FIFA Intercontinental Cup after Saudi game... Saudi is under-dog in that game... Also, Nawaf Al Abid and I think Salman Al Faraj picked up Yellow card in match against Iraq hence, both players would be suspended for the match against Australia... Time for Salem Al Dowsari and Ahmed Al Faraid to be recalled
I totally agree with you. I wanted to mention the suspension of Nawaf Al Abed (My favorite player of Saudi Arabia team) and Salman AL Faraj which is a bad news for KSA. The good thing is that the results of March gave Saudi Arabia less headache for away Australia game. KSA must not slack off at any moment during this campaign and focus on the next games from now on. In this campaign, Saudi Arabia team and their fans showed that they really deserve to be in Russia. So best of luck to KSA and hope to see 5 Asian teams in Russia.
Syria has the worst condition and they still manage to perform decent. Afghanistan doesn't have a proper league and they can not have home matches just like Iraq and Syria, but look at them now. They are trying their best to improve. My hats off to Syrians. They are literary playing with no back up and just try to make their people happy. Finally the picture is clear in group B and the final outcome will be decided between Japan, Australia and KSA.
Exactly, Saudi should play friendly matches against teams that are similar to Australia for example, Saudi Arabia should play friendly matches against Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales... these teams are having similar playing style as that of Australia.
Keep your head up bro. Iraq is one of the most talented Asian countries in football. We all know that. Despite difficult circumstances in Iraq, you won AC 2007 and finished 4th in AC 2015. Your u23 team qualified to the last Olympic and showed a good performance. Your youth teams are always among first tier teams in the continent. If Iraq did not have the current problems such hosting the home matches outside Iraq, etc. you would have been in a better position. Hopefully Iraq will be able to host the home matches in Iraq soon and wish the best of luck to Iraq football.
So KSA beats Iraq convincingly unconvincing. First half Iraq performed much better and could have got the lead by 1-2 goals..Nawaf chance was only shot on target for KSA. Second half KSA started as it had too and got the lead but again KSA were back to defence throughout and did not produce any shot on goal.. The match was too disciplined from both sides... KSA are weak in defending set pieces plus also for there set pieces..None of the corners for KSA fall in near Iraqi goal..They need to improve on it.. For Iraq, hard luck and prepare well for the Asian Cup.. KSA vs Australia will be decider..KSA needs 4 points from 9 now to auto qualify ..
We have Fahd Muwallad, Salman Muwasher and Abdul Fatah Asiri to replace..Nothing to worry about..Filling Salman Faraj's gap will be big and we have Ibrahim Ghalib and Jamal Bagandoh but both do not have international experiences lately..If not , the coach will push Tayseer Jassim back and where he usually plays with Ahli and deploy Yahya Sehri, Fahd Muwallad and Salman Muwasher behind striker
Comiserations to Iraq. It was tight, but I'm glad we managed to grab the victory. With the group so close, it was a must win. Yeah I'm not concerned with Nawaf's suspension (I'm relieved if I'm honest. We have too many luxury players in our starting lineup, and he hasn't delivered). Salman al Faraj is more worrying. He's the better of our 2 holding players. I would call up Bajandouh personally. He's a battler, important against a physical team like Australia, and he's more composed on the ball than Khaybari. I would do something like this for midfield/attack: Khaybari , Bajandouh .........Tayseer Yahya...........Muasher ..........Fahad
What did he say wrong? Syria did have the hardest conditions. Even their best player, Omar Al Somah couldn't compete for their national side and they've done real well for all that has worked against them. They deserve credit.
come on it was our first trophy ever if you wont count Kirin cup you did the same thing but agree with you they should not have celebrated that much cuz Vietnam happened then but it fine, I started hating you too when you snatched that 96 asian cup until Sami Al Jaber, anyways I like the current Saudi team, which is something we dont have. Ahmad Khalil our best player and saved us more than the other members of the offense trio, too bad he wasn't 100% for the games thanks to Al Ahli & Cosmin, Omar best moments were against Qatar in Bahrain and in the qualifiers first round against East Timor never had a memorable game against the top GCC nations Saudi & Kuwait not even at jr. lvl, maybe he need Amer Abdulrahman to reduce the pressure since he also can be a play-maker, Ali Mabkhot is a choker they compare him to UAE legend Adnan Al Talyani which is kinda funny cuz even Al Talyani choked in Asian Cup 96 final against Saudi Arabia and against Yokohama in the Asian cup winners/ Asian Champions Cup but to Al Talyani credit and what makes him UAE's legend he managed to led the team to the world cup and his team was close to qualify to 1986 WC but Iraq turned things around in the final minutes in days were AFC got two spots and players get paid less than 10k aed. Mahdi Ali confirmed he will step down after the defeat at the Sydney Football Stadium, which all but ended the UAE’s chances of reaching next year’s World Cup in Russia. "For me, I have spent around 13 years with the national team, and five years with the first team," he said. "We have had so many achievements with the team, we have worked very hard and I think this is the time for me to leave. Mahdi Ali was in charge when the UAE qualified for the Olympics for the first time, at London 2012. The same core of players saw the national team to Gulf Cup of Nations success in Bahrain the following year. They also reached the semi-finals of the Asian Cup in 2015, where they lost out, ironically, to the same scoreline to the same opponents – 2-0 against Australia in Newcastle. “I resigned before the Iraq game, the federation asked me to stay. After 5 years I did my best.” here the UAE FA president say it didn't happen in an old interview the man that said the UAE team road to the World Cup is easier the space probe road to Mars
Some random thoughts on our game last night 1. Happy with 3 points. 2. We still aren't playing well and cough up the ball too often. 3. Visiting teams still don't seem to play all that well in Australia for some reason. 4. The refereeing was poor. I know that we don't exactly supply great referees ourselves to international matches but this bloke seemed to think we came to watch him blow his whistle and wave his arms around. Thought he lost control a bit towards the end and just started handing out random cards. 5. We still need to play better if we want to make it to Russia, even if its through the playoff route. I rate our chances of making it direct and making it to the playoffs about the same. Very small chance we don't at least make the playoff. Chances are (IMO) direct qualification 48%, making the playoff 50%, missing out 2%. 6. Not convinced of the new 3 man defensive line. Don't think we have the wingers to play like that effectively yet. Maybe it will work better when Rogic returns as he will give us a bit more in midfield.
Oh c'mon...Australia is far away for the Gulf nations..By the time the teams come and settle to the atmosphere they have to play and thats main reason they don't perform..Plus many teams specially Arab teams are not used to play in Australia..We had one chance through ACL, but that too is a long shot ..
I agree with you and its the same reason we dont play as well away from home. Travelling with a short window to adjust to local conditions is hard