2018 FIFA WC QLF, AFC: Group B

I don't get all the fuss about Saudi Arabia. Most likely they will lose to Australia since the latter plays home and really needs to win that game in order to stay in the race for direct qualification.

The Aussies won 4-2 back in 2012 when they met the Saudi's in Melbourne. The 8-0'ers will probably become 3rd and meet Uzbekistan or South Korea in the play-offs.

For those who haven't seen the match, here it is. Note that it was not even the final round where Saudi Arabia got eliminated, but the previous

 

If Saudi has any brains they will tie Australia by grassrolling, gamesmanship, take the game to UAE and win next round and hope Japan beats Australia. Thats how they qualify most likely. If they lose to Australia it gets tight.

 

Thanks for the tip and splendid idea, this is what the Saudi really should be doing i.e., play for a draw which can be achieved specially by grass-rolling

 

I can't grasp your thinking... No denying that Saudi had a worst world cup in 2002 and lost to Germany with such a big scoreline but what happened after some years... Saudi OR should I say in your words 8-0'ers did beat Iran in Tehran 1-2 in one of the most important world cup qualifying matches, and also, we all remember what happened in the Semi-Final in last world cup i.e., the Father of Football (BRAZIL) lost 7-1 to same opposition (Germany) so, you can expect some out-of-hand results in football and can't tag a team as such... Who knows, Saudi might qualify and land in the same group with Germany but this time either get beaten by some respectable scoreline OR might beat Germany (which can happen)... Is Iran tagged as 5-0'ers since Iran lost with 5 goals margin i.e., South Korea 5 - 0 Iran in 1958, and Turkey 6 - 1 Iran in 1950 ?... Off course "NOT"... so crazy results do happen... The main culprit for such a sorry result are the Saudi FA of that time who did not selected good players... Fahad Al Gheshyan was one of the greatest winger whose career was ruined by the club... He's the player who scored against Sweden in Saudis 3-1 loss in 2nd round of FIFA World Cup 1994... He was not chosen in 1998 World Cup though he deserved to be in the ranks... Similar situation is happening with Salem Al Dowsary (presently playing for Al Hilal in KSA) and Ahmed Al Faraidy (playing for Al Nasr in KSA)... these players are not being considered for the Saudi National Team job even though they bear all the potential of being influential and match-winners for Saudi Arabia... The former is not being selected for the national team though he's playing good for the club while the later is being ruined by the club coach as he's not given ample playing time... I wonder what or who gave Faraidy the idea or advise to join Naser and not Hilal... He was the best in Al Hilal and it would be great if he rejoins Al Hilal... He's an asset for sure.

 

Against UAE, Japan played really good. I agree.

But against Thailand, it was very poor. Maybe you just watched 60 seconds highlights. There were tons of mistakes at midfield and defense. I believe Japan suffered more shots than Thailand and gave more CK.
Japanese experienced GK Kawashima and young blood Kubo(1 goal, 2 assists) covered them.
1st match at Bangkok in last September also poor.
Earning 6 points and +6 goals from Thailand with such poor performances are very lucky for Japan side.

 

Remember in the past Japan would often dominate the game and create lots of chances but had terrible finishing. This even happened at the World Cup against Greece and Colombia. I'd much rather see Japan play efficiently like they did against Thailand.

 

Thanks for the correction, some games I watched and some based on match reports.
When you covering 12 games, then you'll find it difficult to be precise in every game.
Although, I made the point that's just a bit unfortunate for Thailand.

 

Who is like to takeover Iraq as Head Coach ?...
Also, is Iraq likely to play its home game against Japan in Iraq ?... Any update on this home game to be played in Iraq outcome ?... It will be great if Iraq plays home game in Iraq (preferably Basra which is a safe place to be playing matches at the moment)...

 

Interesting that these teams are either eliminated or very close to it. Seems making the Asian Cup finals in 2019 isn't enough for them to keep their jobs.

 

Don't Consider UAE to be eliminated since there's equal possibility that UAE can finish 2nd in the group in following match results:

AUS vs KSA ends 0-1 in favour of KSA
IRQ vs JPN ends 1-0 in favour of IRQ
THA vs UAE ends 0-1 in favour of UAE


then:
KSA 19 pts
JPN 16 pts
AUS 13 pts
UAE 12 pts
IRQ 8 pts
THA 1 pt

Afterwards,
JPN vs AUS ends 1-1
UAE vs KSA ends 1-0 in favour of UAE
IRQ vs THA ends 1-0 in favour of IRQ

then:
KSA 19 pts
JPN 17 pts
UAE 15 pts
AUS 14 pts
IRQ 11 pts
THA 1 pt

Afterwards,
IRQ vs UAE ends 0-1 in favour of UAE
KSA vs JPN ends 1-0 in favour of KSA
AUS vs THA ends 1-0 in favour of AUS

then:
KSA 22 pts
UAE 18 pts
JPN 17 pts
AUS 17 pts
IRQ 11 pts
THA 1 pt


In order of matches result happen as per above then UAE requires following 4 conditions to be fulfilled:

1. Require Saudi Arabia to beat Australia in the upcoming game,
2. Match between Japan & Australia ends in a draw,
3. Saudi Arabia beats Japan in the final game,
4. UAE wins all the remaining 3 matches.

So, what do you recon ?...

 

Wining three matches vs KSA, Iraq and Thailand is possible for UAE but KSA wining both Australia and Japan is less likely. A tie between Australia and Japan is also highly likely to happen. It is up to Saudis to make this happens for UAE.

 

I reckon my original assessment of these teams being eliminated or almost eliminated is correct. UAE were the team I had as almost as they need a lot of results to go their way as well as winning all of theirs. If we lose against SA and Japan then UAE should be able to claim the playoff. If we get at least two points from those games I think UAE are gone.

 

Saudis should concentrate more on their own qualification at this stage first than thinking of giving favour to any other team including UAE. If Saudi Arabia wins the upcoming match against Australia then Saudis will 100% be one of the top 2 finishers in the group and may dictate who finishes 2nd and / or 3rd in the group... So, Saudis should be focused more on winning the game against Australia as compared to anything else at this point in time... I believe Saudis have the potential to win the match against Australia but they only need to use their brain in the match than trying to do anything extravagant during the match... The responsibility will be high on Salman Al Faraj in the mid-field to keep calm, composure and concentration to achieve preset targets (as determined by the Saudi Coach) since Nawaf Al Abed is suspended in that match due to yellow cards. Also, Saudi would be requiring attacking players both upfront and in mid-field (in place of Nawaf Al Abed) to have the momentum going against the Aussies. If Saudis manage to score first then Saudis will definitely have chance in Counter-Attacks as Aussies will definitely push forward hard for getting 3 points of the match and will give too many loop-holes at the back for counter-attacks. This Australian team is NOT as strong as it was in 2014/15.

 

The Saudi Football Association's Administrative Official (Mr. Saleh) traveled to
Adelaide on (Friday) 14th April 2017 to see the administrative and residential matters of Saudi Football team's stay there from 31st May 2017.
So, the match between Australia & Saudi Arabia will be played in Adelaide on 8th June 2017.
Knowing the timings difference of 6 hours and 30 minutes between Adelaide and Riyadh (where Riyadh is behind), what's the normal kick-off Adelaide time in an International National Team match ?... Also, which stadium normally international (soccer) matches take place ?...

Any idea ?

 

I don't understand why we're playing at the Adelaide oval.
Australia's got some fine football/rugby stadia, why they chose an AFL/cricket venue is beyond me.

 

Its not any different to watching a game at a venue with an athletics track around it, and there are plenty of those around the world.

 

Running tracks aren't ideal either, which comes back to my point why host in an inferior venue when there are excellent ones available

 

The game is in Adelaide because the South Australian government paid to host a WCQ. The Adelaide Oval is the best venue in Adelaide. It's actually not that bad in terms of viewing from the stands, compared to some other ovals and for TV it basically makes no difference.

 

Cheers thewitness,

Hope we get a good atmosphere to what I think is the most important match in the campaign (at least from the Saudi perspective)

 

What's the crowd capacity in the stadium ?

 

Around 50,000

 

Hmm... Saudi Arabia should be able to bear that crowd pressure specially when Saudi Arabia have previous experience specially of managing the pressure of Azadi stadium in Tehran who had crowd more than 100k and Saudi Arabia got out of the match with victory.

 

I think its the travel more than the crowd that affects players. Most teams from the middle east struggle when they play in Australia, and we seem to struggle when we play there. I think this game is more vital for us than you guys. We need to win to have a chance of direct qualification, and you guys can lose the match and still qualify directly. It's important for you as a win will see you in the world cup and a draw will probably get you there as well.