I am excited that Australia is going to join the AFC. A good team is going to bring competition to Asia, but don't be fooled. We are not the OFC and there will be no 31-0 wins here.
Thanks for the welcome. The fact that there wont be any 31-0 wins is one of the reasons we want to join AFC.
I for one can't wait for Australia to start playing in Asia. Australia will take awhile to match nation's like Japan & South Korea. I think other than that it will be healthy compatition with the likes of Iran, Saudi Arabia, China etc. Club football will be brilliant aswell. Here in Adelaide, AFL + Cricket rain supreme (BORING!) I'm from New Zealand originally. Rugby is my 2nd sport. Football is all I really care about. So to show these aussie minor sports what it's all about will be good. Real compatition etc. It will open some eyes over here, And they won't like it! So looking forward to the Asian Cup draw to see who we are matched up with, Only one negative though. What Australian teams will turn up is a different story. European clubs will be hating the idea of even more matches to release the players for. But we will wait and see! But Football Australia has ball's these days, and money talks! Asia is the place to be!
Iran have defeated Korea and Japan recently.. and KSA have defeated Korea too, so it will take a while before australia can take on Korea,Iran,Japan and KSA..these 4 teams are better at the moment.
I still think Saudi Arabia would find it very hard to defeat Australia, Even though the aussies aren't playing that well. Believe Japan, South Korea & Iran are the stand out teams though. But given time Australia will compete very well with these nations. Don't really know what to expect from asian clubs though. Time will tell.
Well, the last ( and I think only) time we played them we beat them, for all it's worth. We'll see how good the Aussies are once they start competing at Asian level. It is difficult to judge their strength before that.
Ya I think it was Confed cup (then King fahd cup) 1997 we beat them 1-0... Still I think they would have a tough time with the big 4
Many teams thought that KSA will have a hard time beating them, but in the end they lost badly. I doubt Australia is strong enough to beat any good team in Asia yet, but maybe in a couple of years it will be able to play better, we just need to wait before making judgements like these.
I think when Australia plays in Asia we will start to play together regular hence our squad will be used to playing together. Therefore I feel that with our squad we will be able to match it with the best of Asia given enough matches together.
I'm hoping a coaching change will make a difference as well. Frank farina had run out of idea's in the last year or so. We played well but the players seem to have little idea of how they should play, against Indonesia & Iraq we were made to work hard. Interesting to see who the new coach will be. Hope it isn't an aussie coach again. They seem to keep harping on about that. The coach would be better off being based in Europe, as thats where all our players are. About playing top asian nations, I still can't wait to see what happens with the aussie press when we start playing do or die fixtures for World Cups etc. It will open there eyes. Rugby Union is the closest team sport to real World coverage. Football is bigger than any other sport. But the press here can't seem to figure that out. AFL is to limited. League pretty much the same. Here in Adelaide there is a large core of Football supporters (Don't go by the last oceania world cup qualifiers). I'm talking real tough/top nations. AFL and Cricket is all they care about here. AND IT SUCKS! Na soccer want take off, why watch soccer when it end 0-0! Thats one of the many line's people come up with. But I still remember what happend when Iran beat us on goal difference a couple of world cups ago, Non football supporters where shattered, How quick the forget. It's all about passion! Not many sports have that! So come on Asia! We are ready!