I hope too. Honestly, I prefer Australia to the UAE. I believe they have a better chance of winning against CONMEBOL representative, more than UAE.
Congrats to Japan and Saudi Arabia. I haven't seen such a horrible game by Australia on own home ground, they hardly controlled the game. Likewise, Saudi Arabia were wasteful with all the possession against China yet, the sloppy play by defender let the entire team lose 2 points. Anyhow, not sure if Australia can progress with such play but who knows the return of experienced players might give them the edge.
I truly miss Australia's best generation IMHO, the likes of Viduka, Schwarzer, Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell, Aloisi, Emerton, Bresciano...etc
It’s not confirmed it’s UAE, and I think Iraq has a better chance than UAE to finish 3rd. UAE looked putrid last night, and I don’t see them beating Korea. I think Iraq-Syria will decide weather the UAE or Iraq will get the 3rd spot. Your point still stands, I don’t think either Iraq/UAE are better teams than Australia, although the playoff being 1 game played in Qatar gives them an advantage over Australia.
Just some notes to close off the group. All opinions expressed are my own, given for free and worth every cent. Saudi Arabia 23 Won the group and never at any stage looked like they may not qualify. I think they are better and more solid than recent Saudi teams I've seen. Japan 22 Had a shaky start but as the group went on started to show their class. They could be just as good as any previous Japanese team. Australia 15 Started the group with 9 points from 3 matches but could only manage 1 win and 3 draws from the last 7 matches. Opposite to Japan as the further the group went the quality of their play deteriorated. The big start meant it unlikely they wouldn't finish in the top 3. Need to improve to be a threat in the playoffs and hold on to tier one status within Asia. Playing more like a good tier 2 team at the moment as only getting one point from the matches against the top 2 suggests. Oman 14 Started with an away win over Japan but losses to Saudi Arabia and Australia and a draw to China left them off the pace at the half way mark. Winning their last two games brought them up a lot closer to Australia but the draw with Australia in the 3rd last game saw their chances disappear. China 6 Started poorly I thought and while they improved they weren't really a threat at any stage Vietnam 4 First time they've reached this stage and while they fought hard the lack of experience at the higher level showed.