Asian Football Thread

Japan are the biggest name in Asian football so of course they are favorites. I just mentioned S. Korea because recently they've been getting the upper hand in their rivalry with Japan.

IMO south korea have less chances than iran

I think australia will win it though, they came really close at the last 2 tournaments and this one is at home.

I'm probably not watching this tournament though, timings are

South Korea are very dull on the eye and they always seem to expose themselves to dangers. But they also have this gritty mentality and will run like mad until the final whistle. I don't think they're the best in Asia (Japan is better) but they have a way to scrape through stages and at times it feels they only go out because they play 3 ties going into extra time.

Iranian Media considered Qatar as our strongest opponent in the group but it seems they are not dangerous this time,UAE destroyed them 4-1.

Iran looked really good during their match. They definitely have the potential to go far in the cup.

Saudi Arabia crushed North Korea and China beat Uzbekistan. This leaves the match between Saudi and Uzbekistan to determine who joins China in the knockout round.

Well, we lost 0-1 to South Korea. They played really well defensively and highlighted the problems we currently have. This loss has really increased the difficulty for us to make the final as we'll have to play Japan along the way. all in all south korea were always gonna test us more than oman and kuwait.

TopCorner said:

Well, we lost 0-1 to South Korea. They played really well defensively and highlighted the problems we currently have. This loss has really increased the difficulty for us to make the final as we'll have to play Japan along the way. all in all south korea were always gonna test us more than oman and kuwait.

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Now most probably Australia will face Japan in semis,that will be the most entertaining game of this tournament

When are the semis?

Mario9 said:

When are the semis?

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26/27 Jan apparently

TopCorner said:

Well, we lost 0-1 to South Korea. They played really well defensively and highlighted the problems we currently have. This loss has really increased the difficulty for us to make the final as we'll have to play Japan along the way. all in all south korea were always gonna test us more than oman and kuwait.

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What I found amusing/astonishing is that a lot of people in and around Australia ( especially our crap media) where shocked by the result and thought it was an upset!?

I am pretty sure the last time we played them in an official match they bitch slapped us 3-0.

Australia ( I refuse to say "Socceroos" ) should handle China no problem then would have to beat Japan and then likely either Korea or Iran to win the tournament.
My guess is a Japan vs Korea final.

Naraku said:

What I found amusing/astonishing is that a lot of people in and around Australia ( especially our crap media) where shocked by the result and thought it was an upset!?

I am pretty sure the last time we played them in an official match they bitch slapped us 3-0.

Australia ( I refuse to say "Socceroos" ) should handle China no problem then would have to beat Japan and then likely either Korea or Iran to win the tournament.
My guess is a Japan vs Korea final.

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The only reason we were favourites is because we're the host county, so any result against us is gonna be called an upset, but yeah that result is nowhere near an upset. Its funny how people are saying that, but our media has always said funny stuff.

yeah we'll probably have to play Japan in the semi, and based off how we played against them in November I don't think we'll beat them. They're on another level (especially if we play like we did against South Korea). However I hope we beat them and still win the cup haha It would do wonders for the sport in this country.

The reasons why I thought Australia would be favorites are:

1. Home advantage
2. Good club form - Sydney won the AFC CL
3. Good showing at the World Cup

However, when it comes to playing style they remain inferior to Japan and South Korea who are much better technically.

another 1-0 for Iran.Now if Japan doesn't fuck up tomorrow we will face Iraq and then Korea in semis,and as always we will beat them.so the final will be Iran-Japan

japan biggest problem is their end product
okazaki sucks ball at finishing and so does honda

only south korea have the chance to stop japan

Watched tim cahill score two against china this evening - first being a bicycle kick

Australian totti-lvl-of-influence player. Very awesome.

Vms said:

another 1-0 for Iran.Now if Japan doesn't fuck up tomorrow we will face Iraq and then Korea in semis,and as always we will beat them.so the final will be Iran-Japan

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oops

Vms said:

so the final will be Iran-Japan

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oops

lol vms go to sleep

my mate had the same prediction 10 hrs ago. so weak.

Japan

Australia vs UAE. Sage, you might be able to hold off Japan's toothless attacks but 120" later and a more clinical Tim Cahill and friends will make for an interesting encounter.

uae can't deal with australian physicality + tim cahill who is hell aerially.

especially after 1 less day of rest and 120 minutes.

semi final finish is good, better than what I expected.

fuck fuck fuck,i couldn't watch the game but it seems like the stupid referee cost us the game.still no excuses for Queiroz,we should have win this match easily.
I hope Queiroz don't leave iran now,the last thing this team needs is another stupid Iranian manager.

de nuttela said:

lol vms go to sleep

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Sage said:

oops

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iraqi said:

oops

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congrats sage

just saw highlights of the match

some players seem very promising

All signs seemed to indicate that Arabian football is in a state of disaster after 7 of the 9 qualified teams went out with only Saudi Arabia recording a win vs a non-Arab opponent (North Korea) and the only teams that went through were part of a group that included three Arabian teams.

It's a very good sign that UAE and Iraq managed to scrape through but WAFF cannot dig it's head in the sand and ignore the problems we are facing. The way we are decking and others are improving soon the likes of Thailand and Vietnam will overtake us in Asia. Arabian football needs technical reform. Player skills need to be honed in a modern way and players should be encouraged to play in tougher leagues in Europe, Far East or Africa.

Jivara said:

It's a very good sign that UAE and Iraq managed to scrape through but WAFF cannot dig it's head in the sand and ignore the problems we are facing. The way we are decking and others are improving soon the likes of Thailand and Vietnam will overtake us in Asia. Arabian football needs technical reform. Player skills need to be honed in a modern way and players should be encouraged to play in tougher leagues in Europe, Far East or Africa.

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Vietnam is slowly closing that gap and I would expect to see them back in the competition fully qualified next time.

not sure about Thailand.

You are right though, Arabian Football does need technical reform, there is some greatly talented Arabian players that either don't leave there national league or if they do generally don't do shit at club level. Only a handful do.

Too much talent in Arabian football to just not act and do anything. Hopefully they can follow Korea's lead. A lot of Koreans have been moderately to quite successful at club level little lone National. One constant about Asia is Korea. more so than Japan IMO who tend to ebb and flow. They're " Golden period" has ended going on this tournament and the WC. They have talent coming though but they don't get utilized like what Korea do.

Any way, point is I hope some Arabian football nations can build and eventually be a similar strong point like Korea / Japan. And some players can have success. Very talented.

de nuttela said:

Watched tim cahill score two against china this evening - first being a bicycle kick

Australian totti-lvl-of-influence player. Very awesome.

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Our success is going to depend on cahil. When he's on fire and scoring we become a different team.
I gotta say though I'm a little more confident in a cup success now that Japan's knocked out, that being said though UAE will still be a tough match. Speaking of them, I've been really impressed with Omar Abdulrahman, any reason he isn't in europe?

Naraku said:

Vietnam is slowly closing that gap and I would expect to see them back in the competition fully qualified next time.

not sure about Thailand.

You are right though, Arabian Football does need technical reform, there is some greatly talented Arabian players that either don't leave there national league or if they do generally don't do shit at club level. Only a handful do.

Too much talent in Arabian football to just not act and do anything. Hopefully they can follow Korea's lead. A lot of Koreans have been moderately to quite successful at club level little lone National. One constant about Asia is Korea. more so than Japan IMO who tend to ebb and flow. They're " Golden period" has ended going on this tournament and the WC. They have talent coming though but they don't get utilized like what Korea do.

Any way, point is I hope some Arabian football nations can build and eventually be a similar strong point like Korea / Japan. And some players can have success. Very talented.

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Arabian players should be the best if we developed our sports the same way the Japanese and Koreans do. Levantine Arabs usually have broad shoulders and are tall and powerful, almost Italian like. Coastal/Gulf Arabs are really light and slick, almost Brazilian like. The Northern Arab player also plays with so much passion which is why they can over achieve on so many levels (Iraq, and Jordan) the southern or gulf Arab is very creative and chaotic. Without tactical discipline it will be a circus.

Today the northern Arabs do better than the gulf Arabs because they at least take the administrative side of the sport much more seriously than before. However they have a huge disadvantage when it comes to finances and always work at minimum potential. They could also become more efficient if they learned how to prioritize and plan their development well but generally speaking there is good progress although at a slow pace. The Gulf FAs are the most embarrassing when it comes to administration, financially they are well covered but they don't know how to build a project, maybe it's the Bedouin mentality to expect things to appear before them instead of suffering for them. Saudi Arabia is a prime example, they fired their head coach just one month before World Cup 2006 and cancelled their friendly matches. A new coaches loses and then he is under intense pressure. The UAE is the only team in recent years to build a project and now they are bearing the fruits however very likely they will rest on their laurels after this tournament because of excessive self praise. Teams in the region compare each other to themselves only and forget that while their neighbors are doing badly elsewhere in Asia they are reaching the world class level.

So its South Korea vs Australia for the final. Just as I had predicted.

Both teams are looking very good. Australia have a good build up and push forward well. They are also very strong in the air.

Korea have not conceded a goal yet so I think they have a slight advantage (unless they concede). They also build up from the back and are dangerous on the counter.

If Australia win it will be by a dead play situation. If Korea win it will be through a counter attack.

Jivara said:

So its South Korea vs Australia for the final. Just as I had predicted.

Both teams are looking very good. Australia have a good build up and push forward well. They are also very strong in the air.

Korea have not conceded a goal yet so I think they have a slight advantage (unless they concede). They also build up from the back and are dangerous on the counter.

If Australia win it will be by a dead play situation. If Korea win it will be through a counter attack.

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It will be interesting to see if Korea use similar tactics to what they used in the group stage game. We have problems trying to break down defensive teams, so I can see korea playing a more counter-attacking game. It won't be a high scoring match I reckon.

Just read an article which stated that there is an apparent movement by some nations to kick Australia out of the AFC. Interesting times ahead

TopCorner said:

Just read an article which stated that there is an apparent movement by some nations to kick Australia out of the AFC. Interesting times ahead

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They have to be proud and also appreciate a Grand Nation Like Australia is playing with AFC.