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Asian Cup [R]


gold_football

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That linesman should be disciplined if not banned from officiating in any top level competition for that mistake.It wasn't even close to being offside. Fans want to see more goals in footbal and this is what happens.Players and teams train so long and so hard and to be denied by that is just sad. Yeah it is even more blatant than what happened to Canada. I didn't seem that the Uzbekis were all that upset.

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If the Asia Cup results thus far, faulty refereeing aside, are any indication, the group at the top of Asian footballing countries includes Japan, South Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, Australia, Saudi Arabia and possibly Iraq. While that's no surpise in itself, what I'm surprised at is how evenly matched the bulk of those countries really are in this tournament. Maybe the hidden factors (like subpar squads in some cases, and lack of motivation in others) throw the results out the window, since I suppose a neutral fan watching the Gold Cup over the years could also (erroniously) draw a conclusion that the gulf between the top 2 or 3 teams and the rest isn't so wide.

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quote:Originally posted by nolando

If the Asia Cup results thus far, faulty refereeing aside, are any indication, the group at the top of Asian footballing countries includes Japan, South Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, Australia, Saudi Arabia and possibly Iraq. While that's no surpise in itself, what I'm surprised at is how evenly matched the bulk of those countries really are in this tournament. Maybe the hidden factors (like subpar squads in some cases, and lack of motivation in others) throw the results out the window, since I suppose a neutral fan watching the Gold Cup over the years could also (erroniously) draw a conclusion that the gulf between the top 2 or 3 teams and the rest isn't so wide.

I think the gap in CONCACAF b/w the top 2 and the rest (apart from maybe Costa Rica) is quite big. WC qualifying is a better tool to measure that gap as anything can happen in a short knockout tournament.

With regards to Asian Cup: mediocrity breeds parity.

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quote:Originally posted by Daniel

Any other competitions had a home team play abroad?

Had South Korea made the World Cup Finals in 2002, they would have played away, in Japan. This Asian Cup is unique because thee are four host teams, so one was bound to play away at some point.

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Should be a beauty tonight - Saudi should be another tough test for Japan. I really wonder if they have what it takes to go the whole way.

On a side note, I have a feeling that the Koreans will rally around their current national crisis (those poor, albeit misguided, women kidnapped in Afghanistan) and that this will spur them on to win the Finals- remember that unlike Japan and most of the other East Asian neighbours, Korea is a country full of Christians - expect an American-style rally that may tap into religion and politics.

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Iraq beats Korea on penalties after a scoreless game - admittedly the team with the better "feel-good" drama attached to it wins. What do I know?

http://www.afcasiancup.com/en/tournament/mtindex.asp?cid=1377&mt=12046

Japan looks dreadful against Saudi Arabia. It is a 1-1 draw at halftime in a battle to see which team is second worst, as this is no exhibition of great talent or force. There are more missed passes and airballs and men standing alone unmarked in the box than you could ever imagine at this level of football. A sea of empty seats just as there were in the same stadium (My Dinh National Stadium - no, I am not making this up) for Australia vs Japan (what gives - are the tickets too expensive or is Vietnam yet another country that is only interested in watching the English Premiership?).

More to come.

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One has to think that Verbeek's head will roll for this performance by Korea. No goals in the knock out round, no spark, and a loss to Bahrain and an ugly 1-0 over Indonesia. They played uninspired, ugly football for five games.

With Cha Bum Kun having great success at Suwon, and Hong Myung Bo having been groomed to be the next coach, one can only wonder how long before one of these two Korean legends takes over for Verbeek, who has the team in apparent shambles.

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quote:Originally posted by Cooks

I don't know if this has been posted already, but The Score will be broadcasting the 3rd place match and the final of the Asian Cup on Friday.

3rd place - 4:00 PM Eastern

Final - 6:00 PM Eastern

3rd place games = YUCK ....even if it will be Japan vs Korea

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Man... I can usually get behind Korea but I'm happy they didn't win this tournament. The Beek has got to go! If you have no aerial advantage over your opponents and your forwards can't physically dominate them FFS don't play route 1 football! Korea should have used their technical skills (Koreans have good touch!) to play a one touch passing game, use their pace, and shred the Iraqi back line like we've seen them do before to tougher teams. Instead they were content to bomb 50/50 balls up field that any defender could intercept. Coming the other way the Iraqis looked organized, patient, and held the ball up well. The forwards took the time to hold up the ball and bring the midfield line into almost every attack. Their midfield general was confident on the ball and dominated the center of the pitch. They were playing something close to good football and deserved to win. Despite Korea not having key players, they had enough talent to beat Iraq. I think tactics played a big role in the outcome of this match and hope Korea can sort out their coaching situation before the next qualifying cycle starts.

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quote:Originally posted by Daniel

If you think Canada was robbed at the GC:

Was that Uzbekistan-China? What was the score at that point? Thankfully Uzbekistan won 3-0 to make that play meaningless(in terms of outcome)(If in fact that was the game).

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Guest Jeffery S.

Iraq-KSA final at the end of 1st half.

Pretty good 1st half I thought, some great intensity, no team is coasting. Quite even, though Iraq with the edge, moving convincingly forwards. I like the way the attacking players will take on a defender, dribble in the middle, get the man advantage on the play that way, also with the give and goes. But then a bit of hogging as well when it comes time to making the last pass.

Iraq has an absolutely spectacular player, Karrar, no 13, a gem with skill and a good head, covers a lot of the pitch too, defends. Can play left side and turn in to the right. Another good striker is Younes, had an overhead bicycle kick off a free kick go just wide, but was also carded for faking being hit by a headbutt, which did not exist. 2nd match I have watched and 2nd such card I have seen. Think this ref is Aussie, but the Bahrein ref carded an Aussie in the Japan-Australia 1/4 final.

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Guest Jeffery S.

Younes gets a header on the far post and it is enough for Iraq, who really had more of the play in the 2nd half and went forward far more decisively. Both keepers did make some strong saves, but the Saudi was a bit lost on the goal, as no marker picked up the striker.

Deserved trophy for Iraq, their first in a major tournament.

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