If Messi is the world's best player now, Cahill is arguably the current world's best heading master. When he is playing up front, u just gotta anticipate a header goal from him and he delivers it last night.

Iran v Iraq is a neighboury afair, while North Korea and UAE would be interesting as we will see local pride in the game (Mr. Subkhiddin ). I have no high expectations of both matches, though i would bet North Korea to be winning against UAE due to their determination. Irag will wear gold Asian Cup badge as the cup holder, but i dont think they will repeat the feat again.

Interestingly, Group D has 3 of the countries USA label as the "axis of evil". IF USA were to play in group D instead of UAE, now that would be one hell of a group

nearly all North Korean supporters are wearing white shirts with ties. dunno if this is the result of the communism and brainwashing they are exposed to, ie. wear smart and proud to represent your contry





And Mr. Subkhiddin stamps authority by awarding a penalty and a yellow card for a foul

This post has been edited by pyroboy1911: Jan 11 2011, 09:56 PM

Iran just hit back

This post has been edited by pyroboy1911: Jan 12 2011, 12:58 AM

Managed to get a few free tickets courtesy of my dad's company



as you can see on the tix it says "CORPORATE". Now i am hoping Japan finishes 2nd in group B because Semi Final 1 is scheduled for Winner Group A v Runners Up Group B...Otherwise i could be watching a match like Uzbekistan v Saudi Arabia, none i am interested in

great goals by Yusef Ahmed, shows great striker's instinct.

Jordan beat a poor Saudi Arabia team to go 4 points, and in the likely event of Japan beating Syria, Saudi Arabia will be officially the first team to be eliminated in the Asian Cup.

PS: Alan Curbishley is in the panel of pundits at Doha

This post has been edited by pyroboy1911: Jan 13 2011, 11:41 PM

Intense game! Did the ref give the correct decision on the Syria penalty?

Jordan should be able to control Syria with their current form and confidence, while I don't see Saudi beating Japan. But anything can happen. Personally I hope Japan will finish second to face the Winner of Group A coz I've got myself tickets to the QF1, which is winner A v runners up B

Australia v Korea Republic's game is a tale of 2 stories; Australia with strong and hard play, Korea try to outrun and outmaneuver the opponent. Both teams come out equal, South Korea dominated first half while Australia looked more likely to score and win the second half. Here's some pics:









There's also a mexican wave going for a few rounds:



Bahrain v India on the other hand served a goal fest, mainly from Ismaeel Abdullatif. India is officially the 2nd team to be kicked out of the tournament. Even though they qualified through the AFC Challenge Cup, we would have expected them to put up a stronger challenge, at least similar to North Korea.

For the 3nd round of Group C, Korea should have no problem beating India and will try to get as much goal as possible to overhaul Australia's goal difference. Assuming Australia beat Bahrain, then Korea would have to score at least 5 (or more depending on the goal difference in the other match) to finish first. Australia on the other hand only need a draw to qualify. Complacency will be their biggest threat in that match.

PS: the tie breaker for the AFC Asian Cup is as follows:

1. number of points obtained in the matches among the teams in question
2. goal difference in the matches among the teams in question
3. number of goals scored in the matches among the teams in question (if more than two teams finish equal on points)
4. goal difference in all the group matches
5. number of goals scored in all the group matches
6. fair play conduct of the teams (final tournament)
7. drawing of lots

Since Aus - Korea match is tied, so rule 1, 2 and 3 will be the same for both of them, so overall goal difference will be the judgement (assuming both teams won their last games)

This post has been edited by pyroboy1911: Jan 15 2011, 03:55 AM

the UAE v Iraq game is an amazing one, the amount of chances and shots that hit the post is bewildering plenty. and the way the game ends is such a dramatic one too.

I have to say, this Asian Cup tournament so far serve plenty of excitement even though most of the teams arent known to be world class. Even the gulf and arab countries' football includes nice one touch passing.

awesome advert! din even see it in Qatar TV.

Even for a developing country, in my opinion i think as a winner of the AFC Challenge Cup India could have done better. I mean sure they are a developing football country, but winners means the best of them all. If this is the display of the best, then i am not sure how the rest of that category "C" countries can compete in future. Maybe i expect too much from them..but if minnows like Syria can excel, i think India can do better if measured according to their real potential. But on the other hand, i dont think they are the worst team in the competition so far. Saudi Arabia is by far, the worst both in terms of performance and failure to achieve expectation.

Losing all 3 games, only managed a single goal (even India got 3), sacking their coach after first game, their football director after 2nd and sacking the stand in coach after the 3rd game. Typical Arab rulers and their family interfering as an act of "discarding the shame". Really really stupid decision to do after the shock lose to Syria in the first game..that is the real reason they did so badly.

Tonight's game will see North Korea v Iraq, and UAE v Iran. I think Iran will at least get a result against UAE putting them in 1st spot to play Korea Republic in the QF, while the NK v Iraq game will see the winner playing Australia (in Iraq's case a draw would be enough). Even if Iraq drew with NK and UAE managed to beat Iran, then Iraq will still qualify since they beat UAE 1-0 and based on the rules of the tournament, the results between tied teams are prioritized over the goal difference of the whole group.

This post has been edited by pyroboy1911: Jan 19 2011, 04:22 PM

PS: aressandro, your Siggy seems like disrupting the forum's layout...im on a 13" Macbook and it stretches beyond the width. Not sure what is the limit for the forum, but just for your attention

it stops by the "The Battle" part of the siggy, then its my scrollbar. the layout of the forum is stretched until i can only see half of the "E" on the "REPLY" button. not too big so maybe those with bigger screen wouldnt notice haha.

i think reducing the length by just a bit will do. if you wanna mantain the ratio, then making it smaller by 10% would be sufficient

amazing game, who said Asian games are not worth watching? Japan showed great tenacity to comeback even when down to 10, Qatar also showed great performance since the 1st game defeat and the home fans have every reason to be proud regardless of results. Japan will either meet Iran or SOUTH KOREA, hopefully for the later to set up an epic game!

Park is gonna play his 100th International cap against Japan this Tuesday (A game i have the privilege to attend ) So as a Man Utd fan, of course i want him to have good performances.

Basically Uzbekistan, Japan, Korea and Australia (Host) will qualify for the 2015. That leaves remaining 12 spots coming from top 2 of the 5 group-stage qualifying and 2 from the 2012 & 2014 AFC Challenge Cup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_AFC_Asia...p#Qualification

One thing i dont understand about the 2015 tournament is the time of the tournament (5th -26th Jan). AFC allows either Jan or July tournament, and Qatar obviously chose January due to weather in July. But it will be summer in Australia during January, not to mention players will need to leave their club mid-season. Of course, winter time it can be as cold as 10 degrees....But i think the player can cope with cold rather than the 30 degree Australian summer.



Hopefully Malaysia wont be grouped in that category this time round

If u watch match on telly and it's intense, imagine the atmosphere in the Stadium when the Korean groups and Japanese group sit next to each other, outsing and outdrum each other!

Will post pics in FB and share here soon

Meanwhile Aussie looks set to go to the final as well. News is that several Japanese players travel to the current match (only about 30 minutes drive from the Japan match and OZ match) to watch who they will be facing in the finals. Of course i want Australia to win it, no benefit for me if Japan win, while maybe there will be parades and showcases around Australia should they bring the trophy back...then i will have a chance to see the trophy up close

This is all just footballing groupings, same can be said as why Turkey is in UEFA and not AFC . Those Uzbeks players also more like European rather than Asian, simple because Asia is a huge continent. Dont forget Australia is nearer to Indonesia than it is to New Zealand If wanna question why Australia is in AFC, should ask back in 2006 instead of now when they are nearing a win or after they win it


Anyways, pics from the earlier match:

haha...dubious indeed. offense happened outside penalty box. watching there, hard to judge coz no replay is allowed to be shown. but arrive home and watch highlights..but those amoi damn patriotic man