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Post by serious14 on Nov 26, 2007 1:39:32 GMT 10
Group 1: AUSTRALIA[/u] China PR Iraq Qatar Group 2: Japan Bahrain Oman Thailand Group 3: Korea Republic Korea DPR Jordan Turkmenistan Group 4: Saudi Arabia Uzbekistan Lebanon Singapore Group 5: Iran Kuwait United Arab Emirates Syria WHOSE GENIUS F*CKING IDEA WAS IT TO NOT SEPARATE NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA??  Good (but tough) group for us - welcome to Asia lads and lasses, it's gonna be a fun ride!!! Match Day 1 – Wed 6 Feb – Australia v Qatar (Home) Match Day 2 – Wed 26 Mar – China v Australia (Away) Match Day 3 – Sat 7 June – Australia v Iraq (Home) Match Day 4 – Sat 14 June – Iraq v Australia (Away) Match Day 5 – Sat 6 Sept – Qatar v Australia (Away) Match Day 6 – Wed 10 Sept – Australia v China (Home) P.S. Who's coming to China with me?? |
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Post by Perm on Nov 26, 2007 8:07:45 GMT 10
Serious, could you please suss out how much it would cost and get back to me?
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Post by Rubbernose on Nov 26, 2007 9:12:41 GMT 10
That's a terrible draw for us, the toughest possible group we could have got imo, with the possible exception of maybe Syria instead of Qatar could have been marginally worse (as a more iffy travel destination), but Qatar are presumably a better side than Syria.
Match Day 1 – Wed 6 Feb – Australia v Qatar (Home, Friendly Date, Wed)
Match Day 2 – Wed 26 Mar – China v Australia (Away, Friendly Date, Wed)
Match Day 3 – Sat 7 June – Australia v Iraq (Home, Euro Date, Sat)
Match Day 4 – Sat 14 June – Iraq v Australia (Away, Euro Date, Sat)
Match Day 5 – Sat 6 Sept – Qatar v Australia (Away, Official Date, Sat)
Match Day 6 – Wed 10 Sept – Australia v China (Home, Official Date, Wed)
The first game at home will have to be an A-League based side, and judging by comments made by several high profile Socceroos yesterday the March 26 China game will need to be an A-League based side too because it's on a FIFA friendly date.
I'd normally question why it's assumed easier for A-League based players to get to China than the Euro based players, but in this instance the A-Leaguers will be out of season (one month out of season since the grand finals and up to 9 weeks for players who didn't make the finals series....although there's also the AFC Champions League starting around the same time), so some A-League players will be way out of match fitness and sharpness, but that is perhaps offset by the fact that they can get together in a camp and travel to China very early...well for a full month actually. Whereas the Euro players only have to be released 48 hours before the game.
So, hey, it's not like I don't have any faith in our A-League players, and they often did the job to qualify us for the Asian Cup - just - but it's not unfathomable that after 2 rounds we'll be sitting on zero points....with Iraq home and away to follow. And a match in Qatar.
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Post by blackadder on Nov 26, 2007 9:34:23 GMT 10
First thing first get a manager, then worry about the rest.
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Post by djebella on Nov 26, 2007 9:34:42 GMT 10
Personally I'm glad we have a tough group. It's exactly what the squad needs if it wants to actually have a chance of winning the World Cup.
An easy way for the A-League players who willl make up the squad to play China, to maintain fitness, would be to form a team and have them play friendlies against Melbourne and Adelaide who will want games to prepare for the ACL. Or even form an over 23's qsquad to play matches against the Olyroos
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Post by Rubbernose on Nov 26, 2007 9:42:25 GMT 10
They'll have to do something like that.
I don't really mind the tough group either, I'm not gonna whinge about it, but that will be tricky, and you can't help but have a chuckle at it, because that really is the worst possible draw we could have got, on paper.
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Post by dibo (pron. "DIB-OH") on Nov 26, 2007 9:57:57 GMT 10
They'll have to do something like that. I don't really mind the tough group either, I'm not gonna whinge about it, but that will be tricky, and you can't help but have a chuckle at it, because that really is the worst possible draw we could have got, on paper. if we can't qualify, we shouldn't be there. if we can't progress from that group, we certainly won't progress from a group containing say, uruguay, germany and ghana for example. we must win the group to have a shot at doing well in south africa, and we should simply expect it from the team. likewise, they should expect it from themselves. |
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Post by serious14 on Nov 26, 2007 10:54:37 GMT 10
Serious, could you please suss out how much it would cost and get back to me? It depends on what airline you go with, but we're probably looking at around the $1300 -$1450 mark return to Beijing....... possibly cheaper for a midweek flight, Having said that, I've no idea where the Chinese FA will actually play the game - for all we know it could be in Guangzhou (where we played them in that friendly earlier in the year), so that could be done as a flight to Bangkok return ($900) and then Air Asia to Guangzhou (about $200)....... we'll have to wait for venue confirmation before we plan anything definitive, but I'd say put aside $1500 just to cover any potential return airfare. |
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Post by northernspirit on Nov 26, 2007 11:15:05 GMT 10
not going to be easy thats for sure, we need to win our home games and i think then we should be right
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Post by Rubbernose on Nov 26, 2007 11:19:56 GMT 10
They'll have to do something like that. I don't really mind the tough group either, I'm not gonna whinge about it, but that will be tricky, and you can't help but have a chuckle at it, because that really is the worst possible draw we could have got, on paper. if we can't qualify, we shouldn't be there. if we can't progress from that group, we certainly won't progress from a group containing say, uruguay, germany and ghana for example. we must win the group to have a shot at doing well in south africa, and we should simply expect it from the team. likewise, they should expect it from themselves. I think I actually disagree with most of that, sorry Dibo. Beautiful sentiments and all, but I don't see much equivalance in facing the likes of, say, Uruguay, Germany and Ghana type groups in the neutral and temperate environment of Sth Africa, and playing in Qatar in 52 degree heat, or playing in China with 3rd string A-League players who are out of season. With Asian refs, mind you, who are absolute garbage and only too willing to let teams hit the deck on us all day long. It seems pretty clear to me now there are two types of Socceroos. There's the type who can get out of a tough WC group on European soil, there's the type who can dominate Nigeria and look quite good against Argentina, and then there's the Socceroos who are beaten 2-0 by Kuwait, almost capitulate to Oman and Thailand, and get totally outplayed by Iraq, in Asia. Meh, don't mind me, I'm a misery guts. We should top that group, but then again I expected us to win the Asian Cup, too. |
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Post by serious14 on Nov 26, 2007 11:28:49 GMT 10
Asia's a bitch like that - look at the Iraq games in June......... one week we're at home in sub 10 degree temperatures, quite possibly raining (if that particular game is in Melbourne) - and exactly seven days later we're in _somewhere_ in the Middle East (Doha??) in the middle of their summer. 45 degrees in the freakin' shade.
And the China away game is a doozy as well - they could play it somewhere up the North West on the border with Kazakhstan, where electricity is a luxury, or they could play it down South where it's disgustingly humid.
Like I said before - hold on peoples, we're in for one hell of a ride. ;D
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Post by Jesus on Nov 26, 2007 12:35:17 GMT 10
Iraq play out of Jordan im pretty sure?
Is going to be tough. But bring it the fark on!
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Post by serious14 on Nov 26, 2007 14:28:38 GMT 10
Either Jordan, or Doha in Qatar.
Wonder where in the Orient they'll end up playing the China game......
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Post by brett on Nov 26, 2007 21:00:29 GMT 10
This is a nightmare if you ask me.
The reason getting into Asia was so exciting for the naive among us was that the Socceroos would be playing loads of competitive games against competitive opposition and therefore improving in the process, bringing the level of our players up and increasing our chances in tournaments beyond.
The way it's turned out, dates and schedules will prevent that team from getting together for many of the games, or not more than 48 hours beforehand, in conditions that will stop us playing the way we want to. The challenge isn't playing the right sort of football, bringing players through as we choose to, or outfoxing the other teams, it's simply coping with the conditions, gambling the right way with local or European based players, and getting a crash course on who these teams are, what their countries are like, and what motivates them.
Getting an easy group wouldn't have bothered me. We would still learn a lot playing against top 20 Asian teams who have WCQ on the line, and then getting to the Cup unscathed and giving it a red hot go. Don't be fooled, and don't think the Asian Cup was the only learning experience we need. This is a horribly tough group and we're going to have to be super clever to get through it.
Wed 6 Feb against Qatar has Australia vs Japan at Germany written all over it: if we don't win our first game we have a massive task ahead of us.
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Post by Jesus on Nov 27, 2007 13:49:40 GMT 10
Dont forget this is only the 2nd rounds, top 2 progress to the real matches
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Post by omni on Nov 27, 2007 21:27:44 GMT 10
I imagine Iraq would play out of Jordan for this tournament given they've got Qatar in the same group, wonder if Gosford will get a game? Probably not.
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Post by Jesus on Nov 27, 2007 21:49:28 GMT 10
Hmmm. You would have to assume these matches would be at sfs/suncorp/melbourne. I am pretty sure the first home game is in melb, having read that somewhere.
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