It's concerning how Asia is failing to advance, in particular Japan and Korea, considering how much into soccer they're been for the last 20 years. I'm afraid at some point the fans there may start turning on the game.
You did watch the second half? They didn't dominate Australia the entire match, but the second half after Australia's equalizer was just that. Australia couldn't get out of there half for 30+ minutes.
If that was total domination, to you, where at any moment, none of both teams were capable of knitting 4 continued succesful passes between players of the same team, means your definition for total domination is very low. To me, the match between Cameroon and Australia was more like an endless series of rebounds from one team to the other, where no one had real control of the ball. Worst thing about it, is that these 2 teams are suposed to be the champions of their 2 Confeds. And if this is all we get from the champions, it's hard to imagine what we can expect when the WC gets to be played by 48 teams, where most of the extra teams will be from preciselly these 2 confeds. This only confirms by worst fears, that the WC with 48 teams, will be a complete bore fest.
Your comment and ranking isn't unreasonable and does dove tail with the results we have seen. But there is one team in the AFC that actually looks very impressive these days and which has been consistently ranked as the top Asian team by FIFA for 4+ straight years without missing a beat. Hopefully it will be able to show itself as good in the World Cup as well. Its a team that can deny South Korea even a single shot against it when they met and has been for the most part dominant (without running up the score) against all its opponents. It hasn't conceded a single goal in qualifying to the World Cup. The few times it has played friendlies against non-Asian sides, it has looked pretty good. It is a team that isn't reliant on any individual player, with a bench that is nearly as good as its starting 11. It is a quite a young team, with most of the players under 25. This team might make things look different for the AFC in the World Cup, while I agree the rest of the Asian teams seem to be falling behind the competition from other confederations.
Chile seems to have the same tactic. First 30 minutes of all-out pressing football. I;m pretty sure Chile will fade in the second half, like they did vs Cameroon.
Chile and Belgium are two NTs that are trying to establish themselves as part of the Top Tier in soccer. While they often look fantastic on the field, they still lack the calm of the teams used to winning things. Sometimes, they play at first as if they had taken too much Red Bull, far too wired, far too nervous. And that takes its toll later in the game.
So now Australia and/or Cameroon need to win by two goals to progress. Optionally Australia can go through if Cameroon beats Germany by at least one goal, Australia Chile by one goal and the GS is beneficial to Australia.
Is it me or most of these teams seem a bit tired? For my part I know that some Chilean players look it.
I'll repeat this. The Chileans look so tired by the end of the game, because of the ultra high tempo they play the first 30 minutes. Its a calculated risk by the team manager.
Disappointed, but a draw is fine for now. We are an old team and we need to conserve energy. I like the passing side-to-side thing. We are not Bielsa's team anymore and we need to control the tempo of the match whenever possible, if we have the ball we can't be damaged so we just need to have it as much as possible. The young German players seemed happy with the draw as well as they didn't press hard either and Löw didn't even make any changes. I think our defending was better against Germany than against Cameroon. Cameroon seemed to get more dangerous counters but they were very poor in the last third.
The tournament is catching the players at the end of a long season. The Chilean players specifically have been on this run of playing fast tempo, intense, and elongated soccer for some time now. The WC 2014, 2015 Copa, 2016 Copa, life or death WCQ games, and now the Confederations....... they are likely tired to a degree. I can't remember last time Chile played a meaningless game, other than prep ones for this tournament. It is a strategy and it is made with eyes set on the knock out stages of this tournament. Chile under Pizzi have shown that deep into tournaments they will play at that high tempo the entire game and into OT. The decision to tone it back a bit in the second half is to save the players for a long and intense semi final or final.
Trying? We just won 2 back to back continental cups. Give us some credit please. What has Belgium won? They had the chance of a lifetime against Wales and bottled it. I don't think the comparison is fair. Also we are on our way down. This generation needed to win something. And they did, not once, but twice. They are over 30 and over the hill now. They don't need to prove anyone anything... anything they get from now on is a bonus in my eyes. Belgium is on the way up though, many young talents... as a lover of the underdogs, I hope they win back-to-back Euro's.
I think it's intentional now... we saw it in the last Copa America as well. Against Cameroon as well... I think it might require adjustments against younger top sides and we need to lower the tempo as soon as we hit the 30 minute mark instead of waiting for the end of the first half. We should have finished that first half 1-0 if we had calmed things down a bit. They finally broke our pressing and that messed everything up. In the second half we should press even less. 15 minute mark tops. Then defend with possession IMO. We can still have a competitive team for one more international tournament. But we need to be smart about it.
Chile usually plays ferociously the whole game, in victory or defeat. This tournament, they look a bit tired in all honesty. Now they can't even rest VS Australia due to the tie. The Chilean coach won't underestimate the rival as the Mexican coach did yesterday.
Disappointed with the final score. Chile outplayed Germany in my opinion. Nonetheless, it was a good german side. I expected Mexico in the second round (assuming we beat Australia). I also hope Gary Medel comes up or else it will be a big blow for Chile.
True, a Copa America and a Centenario. It's going to be sad when this Chile team ages into weakness. There are not enough equivalent replacements coming up the line, it seems.