DJT Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 2006 WCQ - INTERZONE PLAYOFFS</u> CONCACAF vs. ASIA [CONCACAF Final Round (The Hex)] [Asia Final Round + Playoff] TRINIDAD & TOBAGO vs. BAHRAIN First Leg - November 12, 2005 - at Trinidad & Tobago Second Leg - November 16, 2005 - at Bahrain SOUTH AMERICA vs. OCEANIA [South America] [Oceania] URUGUAY vs. AUSTRALIA First Leg - November 12, 2005 - at Uruguay Second Leg - November 16, 2005 - at Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted September 10, 2005 Author Share Posted September 10, 2005 Originally posted by beachesl - 09/09/2005 : 13:56:59</u> Australia hoping for better luck in FIFA playoff draw By Mike Collett MARRAKECH, Morocco, Sept 9 (Reuters) - World Cup hopefuls Australia will discover on Saturday whether they will play the first leg of their final playoff round at home or away despite not knowing their opponents yet. The draw will be made by FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi. He will also make the draw for the playoff between the team that finishes fourth in the CONCACAF group and the eventual winners of the Asian playoff. The final qualifiers will take place on November 12 and 16. The draw could determine whether Australia return to the World Cup finals for the first time since it was played in West Germany in 1974, or fall at the last hurdle as they did in 1998 and 2002. Australia secured a 9-1 aggregate victory over the Solomon Islands in the final Oceania playoff this week and will play the team that finishes fifth in the South American qualifying competition. At present Uruguay are fifth in the South American group with Colombia and Chile chasing them. Uruguay ended Australia's hopes of reaching the finals in 2002 with a 3-1 aggregate win after losing the first leg 1-0 in Australia. Playing the home leg second could give Australia a distinct advantage. Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago are the two contenders to finish fourth in the CONCACAF group, while Uzbekistan or Bahrain will qualify from Asia. None of that quartet have played in the World Cup finals before. The first leg of the Asian regional playoff, won 1-0 by Uzbekistan, was declared void by FIFA on Tuesday after a technical error by the referee in last Saturday's match. He awarded Bahrain a free-kick rather than rule an Uzbekistan penalty to be retaken following encroachment and the match will now be replayed on October 8 with the second leg on October 12. FIFA's executive committee will meet on Saturday before the start of their 55th Congress on Sunday to consider the current suspensions of Yemen and Barbados. They will also decide on whether applications to join FIFA from East Timor and the Comoros Islands should go ahead to be ratified by Congress on Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Australia to start 2006 World Cup playoff on road By JEROME PUGMIRE, AP Sports Writer September 10, 2005 M ARRAKECH, Morocco (AP) -- Australia will begin its two-game playoff for a berth at next year's World Cup at the fifth-placed team from the South American zone. Australia, which has not qualified for the World Cup since 1974, could face a repeat of its 2002 loss to Uruguay, which holds fifth place, one point more than Colombia and Chile. Also, the fourth-placed team in the CONCACAF zone, most likely Guatemala or Trinidad and Tobago, will start at home against the winner of the Asian zone playoff between Uzbekistan and Bahrain. Home legs will take place Nov. 12, with the return games four days later. Uzbekistan and Bahrain must replay the first leg of their playoff -- which Uzbekistan won 1-0 last week -- after FIFA voided the game because the referee awarded Bahrain a free kick rather than making Uzbekistan retake a penalty kick following an encroachment. Despite protests from Uzbek officials, FIFA's executive committee met on Saturday and upheld the decision to replay the game. Uzbekistan, which would have moved 2-0 ahead had it scored, wanted FIFA to award it a 3-0 first-leg lead. ``We appeal to Uzbekistan and Bahrain's sense of sporting fairness to accept the decision and restart the match at 0-0,'' FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. ``Rules are rules.'' The two legs are now scheduled for Oct. 8 and Oct. 12. FIFA's two-day annual congress begins Sunday. The following day, Blatter hopes to receive backing from the 205 FIFA members on a number of key issues: minimum number of homegrown players per team, multiple club ownerships and penalties for doping offenses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 What do you guys think Canada's chances might have been against Uzbekistan/Bahrain had they finished fourth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soju Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 What do you guys think Canada's chances might have been against Uzbekistan/Bahrain had they finished fourth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Soju What do you guys think Canada's chances might have been against Uzbekistan/Bahrain had they finished fourth? Aww, and I was just getting ready to put the booze away for the weekend too![] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Soju What do you guys think Canada's chances might have been against Uzbekistan/Bahrain had they finished fourth? Aww, and I was just getting ready to put the booze away for the weekend too![] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zacRWE Posted September 12, 2005 Share Posted September 12, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Soju What do you guys think Canada's chances might have been against Uzbekistan/Bahrain had they finished fourth? I think we would of had a good shot at it. But it would be hard to play in Bahrain/Uzbekistan. We would have to win the home leg by at least 3 goals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted October 13, 2005 Author Share Posted October 13, 2005 Bump - playoff match-ups and schedules now updated in the first post of this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Concacaf Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 I think it would be better if the playoffs were Uruguay-Trinidad and Australia-Bahrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juaninho Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Joe Concacaf I think it would be better if the playoffs were Uruguay-Trinidad and Australia-Bahrain. Do I sense some bile directed toward Jack Warner, or is it just the desire to see more competitive match-ups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Quick question: How would Canada have done in a home and away vs T&T? Or Bahrain?? I have watched a couple Bahrain groups since they were in the Asian qualifying here on TV, and I can honestly say we would have had a chance. They are defensively quite strong, fairly big, with a few offensive threats- quite similar to the typical Canadian side. T & T, I'm not sure- what a story, eh, with the successful last minute return of the old disgruntled vets- a bit of a Jamaica in the making, perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zacRWE Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Joe Concacaf I think it would be better if the playoffs were Uruguay-Trinidad and Australia-Bahrain. 100% agree. It's the Asian soccer confederation complaning about not having enough spots. Personally I think four is enough considering COMNEBOL gets 4 guarenteed spots and a half spot. Africa also only gets 5 spots. Really, how well do you think Bahrain would fair in the WC? I know it is a "World" Cup but what has Asia done to have a possible 5 spots? [] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 Part of me wants to see Australian lose for two main reasons: 1. There path to the World Cup was too easy (except for the Uruguay part). 2. So that all of the 'Australia is on the right track, why isn't Canada doing this' poster can shut up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Concacaf Posted October 13, 2005 Share Posted October 13, 2005 quote:Originally posted by juaninho Do I sense some bile directed toward Jack Warner, or is it just the desire to see more competitive match-ups? I just want to see the best players and teams available in the World Cup. I do like upsets like Angola beating Nigeria, Ukraine beating Turkey, but I think Bahrain and Trinidad are having an easy ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayBaartz Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 Hello, sorry to drag up an old topic. Just browsing some International threads on opinions about the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. In Australia, all the football followers feel cheated by FIFA that CONACAF and Jack Warner did a deal with Asia so they would play each other. Neither confederation wanted South America or Oceania. We have no clout in FIFA whatsoever so we usually get the wrong end of the stick. The lesson is - don't trust FIFA to live by their own 'fair play' motto. I'll bet that you Canadians and the Jamaicans are rueing missing the easy passage you would have had. We haven't qualified since 74 and have fallen at the last hurdle to some good teams (and one poor one - a shock 2-2 draw at home vs. Iran in 1997 when we had all the chances) One game I remember well is a replay where a young version of our current keeper Mark Schwarzer saved the day against Canada in the qualifiers in '93. Never mind - we lost to Diego Maradonna thanks to an unlucky own goal in Buenos Aires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 Well, the thinking might be "if they're going to have less hurdles, at least give them a bigger one". I'm rooting for Bahrein (ugh). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 quote:Originally posted by RayBaartz Hello, sorry to drag up an old topic. Just browsing some International threads on opinions about the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. In Australia, all the football followers feel cheated by FIFA that CONACAF and Jack Warner did a deal with Asia so they would play each other. Neither confederation wanted South America or Oceania. We have no clout in FIFA whatsoever so we usually get the wrong end of the stick. The lesson is - don't trust FIFA to live by their own 'fair play' motto. I'll bet that you Canadians and the Jamaicans are rueing missing the easy passage you would have had. We haven't qualified since 74 and have fallen at the last hurdle to some good teams (and one poor one - a shock 2-2 draw at home vs. Iran in 1997 when we had all the chances) One game I remember well is a replay where a young version of our current keeper Mark Schwarzer saved the day against Canada in the qualifiers in '93. Never mind - we lost to Diego Maradonna thanks to an unlucky own goal in Buenos Aires. No disrespect to a great sports country, but I hate all the whining from Australia regarding the World Cup. Last time around they had to play Uruguay in the playoff and lost. Uruguay was then eliminated at the group stage (great game against Senegal though). Would Australia have done any better? If you can't defeat a team that finishes 5th in South America and can't get past the first round, maybe you shouldn't be complaining you're not in the big show, when you wouldn't have been able to do much better yourself. I know I want Canada to qualify for a World Cup at least in my son's lifetime, but is the point just to qualify? I was 11 in 1986 and my memories of Mexico was the Maradona game against England, Portugal beating England and then losing to Morocco and Canada not even scoring a goal. If the Canadian soccer establishment (us included) are ok with setting low standards and just being happy qualifying, we'll never progress as far as we can. We have to aim high. And when we fall at least we'll land further ahead than where we otherwise would. Do you guys actually think Canada (in its current setup) would have a shot at scoring this time around had we made it? I'm not trolling, I just wish there was a grand plan with our objective being to win the World Cup and all soccer resources being directed that way. Don't get me wrong, if Canada makes it in 2010 (and assuming my credit cards aren't maxed), I'll be drinking and cheering in Cape Town. But we have to get rid of this 'good enough' mentality. Anyway, back to work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 So GolTV Canada will be showing both legs of Uruguay x Australia as well as both legs of Spain x Slovakia LIVE. Remember that the Uruguay x Australia first-leg game has been moved up to 2:00p EST on Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 Basically, it'd be a farce if Australia qualified and the only "decent" opposition they faced was Bahrain or T&T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amacpher Posted November 9, 2005 Share Posted November 9, 2005 quote:Originally posted by Daniel Basically, it'd be a farce if Australia qualified and the only "decent" opposition they faced was Bahrain or T&T. True. Australia should move to the AFC. Of course, then they'll qualify easily w/o having to beat any decent opposition just like Bahrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Concacaf Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 Kind of strange that Dwight Yorke is playing in Australia. I'm sure it's a decent league, but it seems kind of random to me. I could just as easily picture him playing in Qatar or MLS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
River City Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 The weather is nicer in Australia than in the States, and the women are (for lack of a better term) better in Australia than in Quatar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Concacaf Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 quote:Originally posted by River City The weather is nicer in Australia than in the States, and the women are (for lack of a better term) better in Australia than in Quatar. What about the money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted November 10, 2005 Share Posted November 10, 2005 I'm sure he still has plenty from his EPL days. If you were sitting on a few million, would you rather go hang out in Oz or in Qatar (or at Pizza Hut Park, for that matter)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.