Having watched at least bits and pieces of all teams opening games in the Asian Cup I'm coming to the conclusion that there is a lot more depth in Asia than I thought. I think I was deceived a bit into thinking there wasn't depth by the way that the same sides have been qualifying for World Cups consistantly. However many nations teams have surprised me with the quality of their play. All of the hosts were supposed to be weak but three of them played well in their opening games and Indonesia was a real surprise. Other teams that shocked me were Oman, who are as good as anyone, Uzbekistan, even though they lost, and China, who looked a lot better than they did in the friendly against us earlier this year. The overall standard of the matches has been good, with plenty of skills on display. Joining AFC was the best thing that has happened to us football wise, even better than getting to the round of 16 last year.
I think you mean in Aussies and American-Asian thought, we local asian knows the quality of asian cup. it's always been a tough tournament Welcome to AFC Kangaroo
I'm talking from an Australian point of view. We haven't seen too much Asian football apart from seeing the same sides each time in the World Cup. So far I like what I see. Even though the same teams have been on top the last few years its clear that the teams just behind them aren't that far behind.
Agreed. Vietnam played, tactically a near perfect game against UAE. Arnold could use a couple of tips from their coach apparently. So too, it would seem, could Metsu.
I knew it would be much more competetive than OFC, but I'm surprised by how much more. This Championship has shown me that we can't afford to relax in the 1st round of World Cup qualifyers like we used to do in OFC. If we don't come prepared to play at our best we wont be in the final round.
Ahh you have yet to experience the spectacle that is Asian world cup qualifiers. Due to the huge distances travelled by teams and the different environments there is always room for surprises, at least in the early rounds. We'll have to wait till November for the draw though, I'm already excited
In general, the host nations are supposed to do fairly well in the interest of fan interest and attendence, so I thought that would be a failure of this year's competition. With all due respect to the four host nations, I didn't know they could play so well. They just hadn't been on the scene. However, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand have been playing some fantastic football. The dedication, teamwork, and skills are just amazing. I hope now their fans will be much more interested in their national teams on the Asian scene. These countries should be able to obtain more friendlies and will probably perform better than ever with more confidence and fan support. I never thought I'd say this, but BRAVO AFC for helping develop football in that region! There is obviously alot of talent there. The competitiveness of the cup is also at a higher level this year with their being 4 host nations. Malaysia was a flop, I must admit (hopefully they will catch up to the other three-and I am aware they used to be stronger), but the other countries really stepped up.