UAE at home looks tougher than it actually is in this context, since I do not think they will play "seriously" vs Saudi Arabia if you know what I mean. If there wasn't this alliance factor it would've been interesting but I don't think UAE will really fight for this one
Glad Australia won the game because Saudi Arabia is now our enemy. Bad luck to them for the remaining games of the qualification.
Hey Aussie posters, Regarding Saudi NT not observing 2-minutes silence , its not islamic or anything but only pure based on the culture. The club matches here also don't observe 2 minutes silence if at all any attacks or something happens in home or abroad.Peace.
This depends on whether UAE is still in the race for play-off spot.. I don't believe in that alliance factor you're talking about. At the end of the day every team wants to qualify for the World Cup..
Yeah but only if they are still in for the playoffs. I hope Im wrong then and there's an actual match happening. But I don't expect anything else than UAE giving in the 3 points easily
UAE will definitely fight against Saudi when UAE comes in the match with a win against Thailand this month. Winning all remaining games will give UAE 18 points while losing the match against UAE and even a draw against Japan will give Saudi only 17 points so UAE is hoping for their progress at the expense of Saudi only if UAE wins against Thailand this month.
Watch highlights of Sweden x France WC2018 Qualifier game... This game has 2nd goal of sweden which was scored almost in similar fashion to the 1st goal scored by Australia against Saudi in Adelaide i.e., Mistake by the Goal Keeper...
Looks like UAE has collapsed vs Thailand, everything points towards them offering 3 points to their neighbours in the following matches
Only mathematically i.e., Australia and Saudi Arabia goal difference is +6 and +7, respectively. UAE goal difference is -3... If UAE wins remaining matches then UAE will be on 16 points, and assuming that Saudi and / or Australia lose both remaining matches without scoring a goal then UAE will require to score 11 goals in remaining 2 matches... mathematically it's possible.
@Suren01 I believe this draw against Iraq will hurt Japan more than any other team in the group... Also, i recon that your point made some months earlier that the result against Iraq will hit the other team hard will come true as the points gap is only 1 b/w Japan and remaining 2 teams. Japan x Australia is the most important crunch game of the group (after Aus x KSA)...
Iraq 1-1 Japan This proved to be one of the most painful campaigns for Iraq. We had referees against us, had to play home games at a neutral venue and our management is a disaster... and we still competed in the group If only we had the required stability..... Group is wide open now, KSA v Japan in Riyadh will be huge already..
Interesting results. THA 1-1 UAE. UAE scored late to stay in competition. however they need to defeat KSA by 4 or 5 goals to have a reasonable chance to qualify. IRQ 1- 1 JAP. Iraq played well for pride. Honestly their results do not reflect their true caliber. Japan now must play for a win against Australia at home. If they do, they qualify. The match against KSA in super hot and humid Jeddah will be tougher. I don't see them winning it. Hence must win the next match. Australia also must not lose next match against japan. To me the magic no. is 20pts. But hey third place is not bad. I think all top group trio are stronger than Uzbekistan(?) and Panama(?). KSA must win against UAE any other result and we'll kiss top 2 good bye. might be not very difficult if we play smart. UAE will have to go all out to attack leaving spaces behind.
Last nights results change things a bit from our perspective. We need a draw against Japan and a win against Thailand to guarantee qualification, regardless of what happens elsewhere as Saudi Arabia and Japan can't both get 3 points from their last game. (A win against Japan sees us only needing a draw against Thailand). A loss against Japan leaves us pretty much looking at a playoff unless a miracle happens.
Pretty Straight Scenarios for Saudi for Direct Qualification - Scenario 1 - KSA wins Against UAE and What to Do against Japan in last game - Japan wins against Australia, then any result for KSA will work against Japan as long as Japan don't thrash KSA badly and Australia does not beat Thailand by a huge margin. Then GD will come to picture and will decide who qualifies. Draw and Win against Japan will be sweet. - Japan Draws Australia, then KSA will be more under pressure to play for Draw or Win against Japan in last game. Any other result than 2, they drop to third, If Australia beats Thailand. - Australia beats Japan, then again pressure game for KSA. Need draw or win against Japan. Lost means they drop to third no matter result in Match AUS vs Thailand. Scenario 2 - KSA draws UAE - All scenarios and All cost KSA needs to beat Japan considering AUS will have cake walk against Japan - One least chance of happening scenarios is, Australia loose against Japan and Thailand and KSA drifts away with single point difference. Scenario 3 - UAE beats KSA - If Japan beats Australia, then KSA needs to beat Japan with a good goal line and qualify with better GD. - If Japan draws or gets beaten by Australia, KSA at any cost needs to beat Japan in the last game.. All n All, this will go down the wire in the last match day most possibly for KSA and Australia. Best scenario for KSA will be Japan beating Australia and KSA wins against UAE by a good margin..Japan's last game will be in super hot humid Jeddah climate and they will not be hoping to carry a headache for qualification till the final match day..
I'll simplify it for you. You need 4 points, we need 4 points, and Japan need 3 points. All of us can't get that amount of points so someone wont reach that target. Anything less than that and we start worrying about what other teams are doing.
I was just looking at what we need to do right now to guarantee a spot. You are correct that if we don't get at least a point against Japan it makes things easier for you and we would then have to hope that Japan beats you in the last game (and we beat Thailand by a healthy margin). A point (or 3) against Japan means we still control our own destiny. That's what I am hoping for.
http://footballitarin.com/link_page.php?id=362013 In an interview with the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, UAE midfieilder Omar Abdulrahman said "I hope Saudi Arabia will beat us and qualify for the WC". FIFA should monitor UAE vs Saudi Arabia.
Oh common, I think you are much more educated then a I think..No player will say like this in an interview specially to a newspaper as big as mentioned in news..