The other day I was just going through the list of nations that comprise the AFC. The only new addition has been Australia. This move is not only illogical, but will harm the smaller footballing nations of Asia. Why has AFC not included Papua New Guinea or New Zealand in Asia for the world cup qualifiers? They are just as much 'asian' as Australia. This looks like a move done to appease South America, and give them their 5 spots. With Australia no longer in the fray, The 5th placed South American team can easily dispose off what ever team it has to face from Oceania. Australia being a strong team, probably the strongest in the new AFC, one of the other "big 4" teams from Asia will lose out on qualification, and teams like Bahrain, China, Jordan etc will find qualification all the more difficult.
ITs definately not there appease South America. Australia have wanted this for a very long time so that we can play more competitive games more frequently and improve as a nation. However i see your point. I think (just a guess) the Oceania winner will however join the later stages of AFC qualifying which makes me wonder why shouldnt the other Oceania nations been introduced to Asia with Australia.
Please dont compare China with the likes of Bahrain and Jordan (one hit wonders). Besdies, if we lose a spot and are able to have a better showing, this will increase competition for the spots thus increasing the quality of game and thus a better showing on the world stage.
everyone will find Qualification more difficult~ not only us~ but also Australia~ you havn't enjoy Asian qualifier yet right? Let me tell you what happend to us~ in 1984 we were Asian runners-up, but in 1985 qualifier we just lost to Honngkong at home and out from the qualifier~ that's our only defeat in 1986 WCQ in 2004 we are Asian Runners-up again, two months after the Asian cup~ we lost to Kuwait 0-1, the only defeat in 2006 WCQ, and out from the qualification again. in 2005 when others are playing WCQ~ we have no official matchs to play besides the East Asian Championship~ yes we won it but South Korea and Japan didn't use A squads. we lost to several European teams in friendly matchs like Spain, Germany, France, Ireland, Serbian, Bulgaria, Switzerland ect~ made our FIFA ranking fell to 70+, then Everyone believes China is only a third Level Asian team that is Asian Football, Strong and Big team? you'll never know what will happen to you.
Oh please. Australia will make Asian football more competitive and tougher. This can only be a good thing for Asia & Australia. Raising the standard is not a bad thing in any way shape or form.
They should have just included all of the Oceania group and called it Asia Pacific Federation and given us 5 spots.
FIFA should have, but the OFC (except for AUS) would not. They (OFC) are too wrapped up in themselves & their self-importance to see what's in store for them (minus AUS) in a footballing sense.
Actually I think the move may be good for NZ. They will find themselves in more tournaments at the non senior where oceania has direct qualification. In that sense it could be good for the oceania nations that we went to asia. For asia, I can't see how the addition of Australia is a bad thing. Another strong nation leads to more competition for world cup places. Surley this will improve all of the nations in AFC. I'm not expecting to see australia walk into the next WC, but I am expecting to see us finally play a decent amount of quality and meaningful games. Can't wait, bought tickets today for the Bahrain and kuwait games in sydney later this year.
@greenlion & txtriathlete: I did not mean to disrespect the Chinese football team. It was just an example. I fail to see the logic behind the claim that Australia's inclusion in AFC will raise the over all quality of the AFC teams. For the past few decades, we've had Korea, Iran, and Saudi qualifying for the WC. Japan became a power a little later. But apart from these teams, which were always at a higher level than the others, how has the big 4 rivalry helped improve the standard of the game in say Syria, or India or Vietnam in the last 5 decades. Now, with Australia joining the AFC, the only improvement in standards would be in the teams that have a chance to actually challenge Australia for a WC spot, would see some improvement/change in their gameplay. If Australia truly believes that its inclusion is going to improve the standard of play in Asia, why didn't Australia join CONMEBOL. Surely Australia's standard would have improved if they played Brazil and Argentina consistently over the years. Besides, if Australia are allowed to be a part of AFC, so should all other Oceanic countries.
Geography is against us. I have no problem with that, but the OFC countries don't want to join at this stage.