Matthew Hall
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2010: Asian World Cup Qualifiers
We got what we wished for.
Having navigated the first round of World Cup qualifiers and dispatched
potential banana skins China and Iraq, Australia now knows the who, what,
and where of much that stands in front of qualification for the 2010 World Cup.
Here's the good news. No worrying about whether we end up in a play-off against Colombia, Brazil, or Uruguay. No sudden death trips to Montevideo. No race across the Pacific to get back to Australia.
This draw is all quite simple. Sort of.
So say hello to Uzbekistan, Bahrain, and Japan and prepare for another trip to
Doha to meet Qatar, Jorge Fossati's team of Brazilian and Senegalese imports
that is, if not exactly rivals, fast becoming regular opponents.
It could have been far worse. Away trips to North Korea and Iran, drawn in
the other group that also includes South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the United
Arab Emirates, could have proved complicated.
For Australia, assuming positive results against both Bahrain and Qatar
are formalities, the troublemakers on our route will be Uzbekistan.
Like Australia, the Uzbeks underperformed at last year's Asian Cup but they have a formidable star in Maksim Shatskikh, the former Dynamo Kiev striker who recently joined Russian side Krylia Sovetov.
I met Shatskikh in Kuala Lumpur a few years ago when he polled runner-up
for Asian Player of the Year.
"This is the greatest moment of my career," he told me, somewhat generously.
Hopefully, finding the net against Australia won't trump that night in
Malaysia.
To make it to South Africa, Australia has to finish as one of the top two
teams in its group.
Failing that, the third place sides in each group will play-off against each
other for the right to play against the top side from Oceania.
Pim Verbeek knows that South Africa is now within sight but also knows there
can be no room for error.
"We have a very interesting group. We have to work very hard to achieve the final round," he said after the draw.
"My feeling is the final decision (of who qualifies) will be made in the last two home games.
"And that's good. We will be ready."
Finally, we have a real World Cup qualifying campaign.
Finally, destiny is in our own hands (or at our feet).
Finally, we have what we always wished for.
And finally, Mark Viduka can tell us now if he's coming on the trip.
Asia World Cup Qualifying Group A
Australia
Japan
Uzbekistan
Qatar
Bahrain
Group B
South Korea
North Korea
Iran
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
COMMENTS
Yeah it would be nice to swap UAE with the Uzbeks but the World Cup is all about quality opposition so playing Uzbekistan and also Japan will be a valuable experience
- by stu on June 28, 2008 at 09:33 PM
A good draw for the Aussies and some interesting and potentially exciting games coming up. The final qualifiers are a long way off, which gives time for our injured and absent players like Tim Cahill, Mark Viduka, John Aloisi and Lucas Neill to make it back into the squad. Harry Kewell is back and looking better with every match. As well, the younger guys will gain more big match experience at the Olympics.
Pim Verbeek handled the first round matches intelligently and while he maybe isn't a Guus Hiddink, he still inspires great confidence.
I hope we can actually see the matches this time without having to pay Rupert. It's a national disgrace that we can't follow the progress of our national football team. The momentum gained from the heroic efforts at the last World Cup has all but disappeared due to a lack of TV coverage.
And as usual, another intelligent piece from Matthew Hall.
- by Peter on June 28, 2008 at 10:27 PM
Brad - I love Viduka but i just dont undrstand his decision. wouldnt leading your country at a world cup be the best thing a player could do for thier career? Its not as if the world cup clashes with any premier league matches. I dont get it - if Viduka retired fair enough, but if he isnt retired and the coach wanted him to play (and he would have probably got the CAPTAINS armband) - why would you knock back the chance of being in another world cup! i wonder how he will feel watching the aussies on tv in 2010.
- by mike on June 28, 2008 at 10:54 PM
Brad, Viduka's club career is coming to a screeching halt. His own career is going to entail having a nice warm place on a barcodes wooden bench. Or are are those seats now Audi sponsored? Anyhow, if Viduka is putting his club career first he left it 4 years too late. 32 year old strikers aren't much of a commodity in club football.
Time to give Kennedy and McDonald a run together, and ditch one of the holding midfielders. McDonald would thrive having Kennedy knocking down the scraps for Scott to poke in. 4-1-3-2 would be ideal, at least at home, but probably too offensive minded for Pim.
- by lach on June 28, 2008 at 10:56 PM
ASK THE REAL INTERNATIONAL SOCCER EXPERTS BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR BIG MOUTH MAT HALL ! EVERYONE KNOW SOCCEROOS WILL BE OUT OF WORLD CUP UNLESS THEY REALLY WORK BLOODY HARD, WITH SWEAT & TEARS AND GAINING MORE INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES ESPECIALLY THE RISING ASIAN TEAMS....DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THEM...THEY WILL BEAT SOCCEROOS WITH PRIDE & SKILLS AND NOT THE BS (BULLSHITS) AS CLAIMED BY MATHEW HALL. SOCCEROOS'S PERFORMANCE IS HEADING DOWNWARD DIRECTION ....REALLY DISAPPOINTING !!! WE NEED A BRAZILIAN COACH FOR SOCCEROOS NOW !!!
Eric, all versions of my name are spelt with two tees. Regards, MH
- by Eric on June 28, 2008 at 11:33 PM
It will be a fascinating and entertaining ride. Yeah, I would have preferred to have the UAE instead of the Uzbeks, but at least three of the teams arenīt that far from Europe.
As far as Viduka, I think he will play in the cup, but he doesnīt want to mess around with the qualifiers, but expect him to come back early if we fall into trouble within our group. At worst we may have a play-off against Iran again.
Any predictions on possible play-offs or would that be stealing future column material?
- by Chris Thurston on June 29, 2008 at 03:52 AM
Finally someone has hit the nail on the head. Joining the AFC has been the best thing for our national teams, all levels not just the senior mens team. Yes we will qualify, just. But the next editions of the world cup ie 2014 & 2018 will be when the socceroos will do something special. By then with successive campaigns for the WC, olympics and asian cup qualification under our belts then I think Johnny Warrens words may bare fruit, "We shouldn't be thinking of competeing in a world cup, but winning it"
- by crooky on June 29, 2008 at 06:19 AM
"stop your mark viduka bashing. The man has done more for this country than any other player. He has earned this right to finally put his own career ahead of that of his country."
When? the guy has never actually worked for a living?
- by jon on June 29, 2008 at 07:55 AM
Football is a world sport not like all the others Australia excel at. The dream I have for Aussie soccer is for us to lose a world cup semi - that is the best we can ever do. that would be a mighty achievement. England has made one semi away from home. Countries of great soccer pedigree like Spain and Portugal have never won a world cup semi. Answer this - has any Asian country other than at home won a world cup game against a European or South American opponent.
- by realist on June 29, 2008 at 08:24 AM
ERIC, WHY ARE YOU TYPING IN BOLD?
You are statement is very "SIMPLE"...excuse the pun
Pim had a Job to do and he achieved it.
The Soccerroos had a Job to do and it was achieved.
I believe they have been working "Bloody Hard"
- by John C on June 29, 2008 at 09:02 AM
I can understand where Viduka is coming from. He will be 35 by the time South Africa 2010 rolls around, so he must be thinking 'is it worth playing qualifiers for a tournament I might not play in?' Also he is at most probably the last European club in his career so needs to keep fit.
- by oli on June 29, 2008 at 09:33 AM
To right off the any teams so early is a big mistake. Look what occurred at the Asian cup when we rolled up thinking we could deal with whatever came our way. I watched more entertaining, technical football in the first five minutes of the Bahrain vs Japan last week than I did in the entire Australian campaign so far. We have no right to be in South Africa in 2010, we are going to have to fight for every single inch of ground, respect and knowledge. We do have good players at out disposal but we are still amateurs in Asia in regards to our knowledge of football in other parts of the world. Frankly, we can bitch and moan as much as we want, what we need to realise is exactly what Matt opened with "we got what we wished for". Its going to be the best ride of our lives, I agree with Peter lets do what we can to make it accessible to all and enjoy the new and continuing healthy rivalries we are developing in our region. Who can speak Uzbek?
- by MattInJapan on June 29, 2008 at 10:44 AM
We got a favourable draw! Avoided Iran, South Korea and Saudi.
Japan and Uzbecks will be tough but we should hopefully beat Bahrain and Qatar. Consecutive World Cups would be awesome!! (hope I'm not getting ahead of myself)
Here we come South Africa!
- by Pete on June 29, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Not a bad draw. I agree with stu it wudve been better to have UAE than the uzbeks who keep getting better and better & hopefully the aussies can do their bit to try and destroy the japanese again. As for the aussie team, we have to give more game time to spiranovic. He can do just as good a job as north or beauchamp, and maybe even better. Put him with Lucas Neil. Up front, Vidukas time is over. Kennedy and McDonald should be partnered as their games would fit well with each other. The time of the socceroos NEEDING Viduka is over.
- by shaunus on June 29, 2008 at 12:17 PM
good luck to them and keep blooding the young guys.The older guys have been around for awhile and its good to have the young guys feed off their experience
- by Geoff on June 29, 2008 at 01:11 PM
thank u very much frank lowy? 4 killing football in this country by not having our national team on free 2 air t.v. not rupert's fault guys.where does this money really end up?anyway i would not b picking a 32 yr.old striker who doesn't want 2 play from the start of the campaign 4 2010 world cup ahead of McDonald up front.
- by tony c on June 29, 2008 at 01:39 PM
Mark Viduka isn't one of our top strikers anymore and has proven that he doesn't offer much on the international arena. MacDonald is twice the player the duke is. And Kennedy is the future and a better target man.
- by Chris on June 29, 2008 at 02:08 PM
i really like mark viduka as a player and he seems a nice guy personally. having said that, he really hasn't shone in the aussie team. whether that's due to the strategies coaches have employed, or the (lack of) combinations with other players, or whatever, is for others to decide. you wouldn't say lack of ability when he's shown he can do it at club level (scoring goals for australia vs china surely can't be any harder than for mbrough in the epl).
for 2010 surely we need to be developing a different strike force. you can't win the big games without guys up front who can convert a significant percentage of chances into goals. pim has to get a combination working that can do just that. whether that's kewell, macdonald, kennedy, aloisi or some other individuals is his decision (who'd be a coach ??) but i would be looking elsewhere other than viduka anyway.
a few friendlies - in europe - rotating different strike combinations as a trial betwen now & the group stage ????
- by dale on June 29, 2008 at 02:16 PM
We will probably sell out all 4 homes matches here in Australia. There's a piece on foxsports which is suggesting that FFA is set to receive about $15 million from the qualifiers. Football has come a long way.
All we need now is a TV deal which reflects that. Football got 70,000 for a dead rubber against China with the under 23's team last week while the other codes, apart from AFL, are struggling to draw a decent crowd, eg: state of origin.
The Commercial networks will be crazy not to make a bid for the rights when they are up for grabs in a few years time. Socceroos qualifying game 7.30pm on a Sunday night will attract well over 2 million viewers.
- by Ben on June 29, 2008 at 04:08 PM
I think we got a pretty good draw and will qualify. We got the most horrendous draw for the World Cup so its good to see we got some luck here.
This whole proces of the AFC qulaifiication is exactly the thing australian soccer needed, especially if we want to be competitive at world cups. Basically we get regular quality games and if we cant qualify then we dont deserve to be there. We can no longer winge that it comes down to a two game lottery....
- by Daniel on June 29, 2008 at 04:47 PM
If finishing third and then playing off against the corresponding third place getter in other group for the "right" to play the top side in Oceania. Wouldnt it have been better to remain in Oceania? Just a thought!
- by Gunners on June 29, 2008 at 07:09 PM
Why are we so concerned who are opponents are, if we are serious about being competitive and mixing it with the big guns then we should look at any opponent in the eye and give them a serious run. Most teams these days are considered dangerous, thats the competitive nature of the sport. The socceroos I feel at the moment lack any real punch, they dont seem convincing enough on the field, all the players just seem average and thats not good enough. We need some serious burst of talent if we are going to go beyond the 2nd round in any world cup. Please dont tell me that Harry kewell or Mark Viduka has done wonders for the socceroos, they just dont perform, they just seem average. The socceroos seem to have stalled, we need to move forward and move forward now before we start going backwards.
- by gerale on June 29, 2008 at 09:43 PM
I know it's not so relevant since we didn't draw them, but what has been the DPRK's policy on admitting away fans to their home games, and if they do in fact allow travelling fans to attend the games, how exactly does one go about getting to Pyongyang?
- by Hinn on June 29, 2008 at 10:20 PM
gerale ... our time in Asia will improve the sport but only with time. Japan are a force now but that is as a result of 60 year plan for the sport in that country. Only the Japanese could plan something so far in advance. There are many great football countries out there than have never won a a world cup. Patience is required and things will come.
We are country that excels in many sports ... mianly British empire sports. We are still very new to this particular sport on a professional level and it will take support at all levels to make it work.
- by Paul on June 29, 2008 at 10:37 PM
The Socceroos main problem will be thinking that these games will be easy.
I've already checked flights to Uzbekistan, unfortunately they're pretty expensive. I'll be there to cheer the boys on in Doha (again) and neighbouring Bahrain.
- by flanostu from Doha on June 30, 2008 at 02:23 AM
errr why was Eric yelling? Not an 'easy' group but ask the Euros and Africans if they'd swap with us. If we are in the best 32 then we will get there. Its our fairest chance yet. Pim has done the job so far, let him keep going. As far as 'paying Rupert' is concerned, get used to it. This is how major sport is all over the world. Its not going back to free to air so pay up and enjoy, otherwise shut up and go sponge off your mates that do have a dish.
- by Paddy on July 01, 2008 at 02:19 PM
Just a thought: We haven't avoided Iran or any of the other teams in the other group yet. To avoid them, we would have to finish in the top 2 of our group. We may yet have to face up against Iran in a do-or-die match. If that were to happen, it's a chance to gain revenge for my nightmarish night in Melbourne - many qualifying moons ago.
- by Oz Dart on July 06, 2008 at 10:51 PM
To realist: Yes, an Asian country has won away from home against European or Sth American opposition. North Korea beat Italy in the group stage at WC 1966 to sensationally qualify for the quarter-finals.
Great article by the way, Matt. Keep up the great work!
- by Goonerdoy on July 26, 2008 at 09:45 PM
This is realy really cool! Easy draw- look out for the Aussies undefeated! Good starte, 1 v 0 against Uzbekistan. Thank goodness the Italitians didn't manage to get into the Asian cup qualifier!
- by Tim on September 11, 2008 at 06:25 AM
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stop your mark viduka bashing. The man has done more for this country than any other player. He has earned this right to finally put his own career ahead of that of his country.