thank God we are in the same pot as North Korea then I hope Kuwait pulls another surprise, although I can't see it happening!
What makes you so sure? May I ask what was the last time you watched one of Iran's games? And BTW, what were your predictions for Asia's 4.5 spots again?
1. Iran (going to be 1st in its group easily) 2. Japan (going to get at least 2nd place easily, but prolly not 1st) 3. Bahrain 4. Uzbekistan or Korea (Korea going to need to fix their problems. Tied with Lebanon and Maldives, was a bad impression) 5. KSA or Kuwait its going to be hard on N. Korea, so I dont think its going to make it. You can predict easily at 9th of Dec when they draw the 2 groups
i honestly think 4.5 is too many tickets for Asia, they should give extra one to Europe or S. America.. but thats my opinion.. but its decided to 4.5 so i will make predictions like this... I personally hope there wont be any upsets because some of the teams will embarass Asia in world cup Its hard to tell who will qualify so i wont seed these temas but here is what i am hoping for South Korea Iran Japan Saudi A. 4/5 North Korea like Wu Tang said, I think North Korea will sting somebody in the ass and pull out a surprise
Almost all European people say that. I know its your opinion and I respect that but I would like to give a comment. What the European teams did in the last WC? The only 'good' playing team in the WC 2006 was Turkey (and Turkey isn't even a European country) 4 Asian teams made it to the WC. (Japan, Saudi Arabia, China and South Korea) 2 of them went to the second round that's 50% (Japan and South Korea) 5 South American teams made it to the WC. (Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Paraguay) 2 ! Only 2 of them went to the second round thats 40% (Brazil and Paraguay). 15 European teams made it to the WC (Denmark, France, Spain, Slovenia, Turkey, Portugal, Poland, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, England, Italy, Croatia, Belgium and Russia). 8 of them went to the second round thats 53,3% (Denmark, Spain, Turkey, Germany, Irealand, Sweden, England, Italy, Belgium). Look to the teams that qualified for Europe. I don't think Slovenia, Turkey, Poland, Croatia, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium and Russia are much better than the asian teams: Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and North Korea.
By the standard you just applied, Concacaf is the best region in the world (66% of its 3 teams made it to the second round, and one was drawn in what turned out to be the toughest 1st round group (costa rica with turkey and Brazil)). It's a silly way to do analysis -- the question isn't whether japan and SK were as good as, say russia, playing on their own field, but rather how good uzbekistan, saudi arabia and north korea are relative to (to list teams that didn't make it) -- the netherlands, scotland, ukraine, norway and a few others. And they are much, much worse. (note -- I'm a concacaf fan, but it would be dillusional to argue that panama is as good as those sides.) Fortunately for both us and asia, spots in the world cup are not and should not be given to the best 32 sides -- it's more interesting to see people from different areas of the world and different styles. Politics at its best, as far as I'm concerned.
ahem, Concacaf. Three teams qualified for the finals (Costa Rica, Mexico, and the United States), two advanced out of the group stage (Mexico and the United States). That's, what, 66% or so. And Costa Rica lost out to Turkey based on goal difference. Edit: what EVS said.
About the AFC final eight: The Oct? Is the draw weighted in any way? Or is it possible to get two groups that look like this? Group 1 --------- South Korea Japan Iran Saudi Arabia Group 2 --------- Uzbekistan Kuwait Bahrain North Korea
All things being equal, I'd expect to see this: 1. Iran 2. Japan 3. South Korea 4. Uzbekistan ------------- 5. Saudi Arabia -------------- 6. Bahrain 7. North Korea 8. Kuwait But, then, a lot depends on the draw doesn't it.
I think all of the people who bring up the Maldives and Lebenon debacle don't understand the concept of fear. When Maldives or Lebenon play Asian teams other than South Korea, they don't put 10 on defense and expect a draw to be a huge leap forward for their country's football. When Maldives or Lebenon play South Korea, they have no expectations ot win. They expect to get completely routed so playing for a draw is a major success to them. This is why they concentrate on defense and hope for a miracle counter-attack. Again, it's called fear and South Korea is THE most feared footie nation in Asia. End of conversation.
Actually, almost everyone outside Asia says this(4.5 spots is too much). But hey more power to ya, take 4.5 as long as they're giving to you, and let everyone else bitch about it. For comparsion, Concacaf had 3 teams in 02, US, Mexico, and Costa Rica, 2 of the 3 made the 2nd round(66.7%). Costa Rica only lost out on the 2nd round due to GD against future semi-finalist Turkey. Now Asia's 2 teams that didn't make the 2nd round (S. Arabia & China) were horrible, two of the worst teams in the WC. Really can't complain about S. America getting the same amount of spots that Asia gets, their federation is much stronger. They get their fair share of spots. Yeah, I know 14 spots seems like alot, but for every Slovenia and Poland that qualify for the WC, there's a Holland and Czech Rep. that doesn't. Please don't take this the wrong way, Asia isn't a bad federation(it's getting stronger every day), it's just most people think you guys get an extra 1/2 or full spot. What I'd like to see is Asia get 5 full WC spots, IF and it's a big IF, Oceania joins your federation. Edit: I see I'm the third person to make the same argument, sorry for the overkill.
Good point! Now as for the teams I would like to see from Asia: Japan S. Korea Iran S. Arabia I would also like to see China, but oh well. It would also be interesting to see the 5th from Asia against the 4th from concacaf (maybe Guatemala) and don't be surprise if concacaf pulls it off!
I think two spots is perfect for the AFC. Nations like China and Japan would never make it to the World Cup if the two spots remained. I liked it when it was always South Korea and a middle eastern nation that went to the World Cup. 4.5 spots is too much and makes the tournament open to mediocrity. With 4.5 spots, Oceania should be included so the Aussies can have a chance.
Don't forget, South America alone has won a staggering 9 world cups!!! ...more than all of the other confederations combined!!!
heheheheheheheh that was so funny mate! sorry no offence!!! that was the case since, as far as I know, from 1982 until 1994, wasn't it? each year, 1982, 1986, 1990, and 1994, take a look at asian teams's performance and compare it to the CONCACAF's (where a player is paid on average double what an asian gets!) and tell me who deserves more spots then. thank you
The draw is actually based on FIFA rankings. Which set of rankings I do not know, but expect Japan and North Korea in the same group.
Ireland actually played the Saudis in the last world cup and won 3-0. The Saudis also played Germany in a match I'm sure they would rather not remember. Asia qualified two teams, yes, but they were both the hosts. The hosts always advance. I'd say it will look something like: Japan South Korea Iran Uzbekistan and the playoff goes to: Saudi Arabia The Saudis, Uzbekistan and Kuwait appear to me to be fairly evenly matched. And Panama would also be roughly an even match for them as well.
Ok, I'll bite Teams in ALL CAPS advanced to the next round. Key: Games Played - Wins - Ties - Loses- Goals For/Against - Points Earned 1978 ------ Mexico 3 0 0 3 2-12 0 Iran 3 0 1 2 2-8 1 1982 ------ El Salvador 3 0 0 3 1-13 0 Kuwait 3 0 1 2 2-6 0 Honduras 3 0 2 1 2-3 2 1986 --------- South Korea 3 0 1 2 4-7 1 MEXICO 3 2 1 0 4-2 5 Iraq 3 0 0 3 1-4 0 Canada 3 0 0 3 0-5 0 1990 ------------ United States 3 0 0 3 2-8 0 COSTA RICA 3 2 0 1 3-2 4 Utd Arab Emirates 3 0 0 3 2-11 0 South Korea 3 0 0 3 1-6 0 1994 ------------ UNITED STATES 3 1 1 1 3-3 4 South Korea 3 0 2 1 4-5 2 MEXICO 3 1 1 1 3-3 4 SAUDI ARABIA 3 2 0 1 4-3 6 Just to sum it all up for you (1978-94): ----------------------------------- Concacaf: 4/9 advance AFC 1/8: advances CONCLUSION: CONCACAF DESERVES MORE SPOTS THAN AFC. I'm not sure, but New Zealand competed in Spain 82. Did they get there by beating a team from Asia?
I am not saying they all advanced to the next round mate!!! but overall, Asia has better quality than CONCACAF teams. Apart from Mexico, I can't really see a team (including the USA) beating a top team in Asia like Japan or South Korea. BTW, in 1982 you forgot to mention that Kuwait was there too! thanks for interacting
every match has its circumstances, but out of ten, either will beat the US 6 or 7 times in my opinion.
I vote the opposite, but I think these teams are very close right now. Although both Japan and SoKo don't have the players to mark McBride, Boca, Pope, Gibbs, EJ, and Mastro on set pieces but durring the run of play the teams are pretty even.