Asian Cup 2007

[Dirko]

A few "upsets" so far...
Results in Group A are tied away with;
Thailand 1 drawing with Iraq 1 ( The Thais are ranked 122, Iraq 84 difference of 38 spots)
Australia 1 drawing with Oman 1 (Aus ranked 48, Oman 74, difference of 26 spots).
Therefore if you go on rankings...the Iraqi draw was a good result for the Aussies...
Group B
Vietnam winning 2-0 over UAE (Vietnam 142, UAE 94 difference of 48 spots)
Japan drawing 1 all with Qatar (Japan 40, QATAR 85 difference of 45 spots)...
The Japanese could be in a bit of trouble...they would need at least two wins to guarantee to get
through...If UAE or Vietnam snag a draw against them, then it could be....Bye Bye!!
If you look at the results, and compare the rankings etc etc etc, although a draw wasn't a good
result for Australia, by far it was the best result compared to the higher ranked teams in their games....

[silicone skyline]

When i see Asian Cup all i can thiink of is a good serve of chicken satay...

[Dirko]

Yeah number 69 on the menu....

[devilsadvocate]

When i see Asian Cup all i can thiink of is a good serve of chicken satay...

and theeeeennnn.........

[Dirko]

And theeeeeennnnnnn....
GROUP DIndonesia beat Bahrain 2 - 1 (Indo ranked 143, Bahrain in at 100).
If Malaysia (against China) get up in the late game tonight, the opening round so far is definetly out of wack...
So far no higer ranked team has won !!! So much for rankings and favourites !!

[Dirko]

Overnight result in GROUP C
China def Malaysia 5 - 1 (China ranked 76, Malaysia 149).
This is the first result where the higher ranked team has won.
For the Chinese the scorers were;
Han Peng who scored a double, Shao Jiaya and the fantastic.....
Wang Dong who put two balls in !
For Malaysia the scorere was Mayahuddin...
Iran play Uzbekistan to close out the opening fixtures tonight...

[silicone skyline]

I had chinese for tea last night inspired by the asian cup thread.
so, so good.
Problem with Asian cup soccer is that after watching a game, i feel like i need to watch another game about two hours later.
Just not satisying enough.
So much MSG.

[Dirko]

Group C
Iran have scored twice in the second half to beat Uzbekistan 2 - 1 (Iran ranked 47 compared to the Uzbeki's 58)
China and Iran now in the box seat, allthough Uzbekistan in theory should beat China.
So far with Group A having all 1 all draws, this makes it very good for the Aussies should they beat Iraq.

[Dirko]

Final first round Group Game in group D
Korea Republic drew 1 all with Saudi Arabia (Korea ranked 51, Saudis 62).
The Saudies levelled with a penalty 13 minutes before time.
Group standings as follows.
Group A
Australia, Iraq, Oman & Thailand ALL one point, with same goadl difference.
Group B
Vietnam 3, Japan & Qatar 1, UAE 0
Group C
China & Iran 3 points (China have 4 goal advantage), Malaysia & Uzbekistan 0
Group D
Indonesia 3, Korea & Saudi Arabia 1, Bahrain 0.
From the first round a heap of MAJOR upsets, mainly being Australia & Oman draw, Japan & Qatar draw, Indonesia beat Bahrain, Thailand draw Iraq and Vietnam beat UAE.
For me the Indo/Bahrain result is the huge one. Bahrain just missed out on Germany, due to away goals against Trinidad & Tobago...
Bring on the second round, where hopefully the sides not used to the heat i.e Australia, Japan, Korea will find their feet and come on strong.

[Dirko]

Some more results...
GROUP A
Thailand 2 def Oman 0...this is a HUGE upset...The Thais are going great guns and would be
odds on now to go through, with the last clash against the Aussies.
GROUP BVietnam 1 drew Qatar 1...another "upset" on rankings etc etc...
This means that Japan MUST win a game, if it draws against UAE and Vietnam it's curtains.

The tournament is wide open with the 'lesser' sides certainly showing off compared to
the higher ranked teams....

[devilsadvocate]

Iraq 1 - Aus 0

In striff now IMO.

Anybody able to provide a half time wrap, it would be greatly appreciated by those of us unable to see the telecast.

And Arnie - FFS get Timmie Cahill on the pitch!

[dinglinga]

A goal for u cornsey ... Viduka equalisers 1-1 46th minute

[Dirko]

Yeah Spurs man...
Australia playing like crap...defence more holes than swiss cheese...
Emerton would be lucky to get a game for Rushden & Diamonds let alone Blackburn...
But DUKES has scored a equalizer...game on 2 mins in the second half...
Game ON...
Neill, Grella & Cullina all have Yellows...very frustrated.

[dinglinga]

momentum all australia's way now..... some one get the flood gates...they may burst OPEN

[dinglinga]

now down 2-1 .. might retract my comment Floodgates.....

DONT PLAY SQUARE BALLS IN DEFENSIVE PART OF MIDFIELD !!!!!!!

[devilsadvocate]

Thanks lads. Not being able to watch is killing me!!!

The Duke! Finally, the drought looks to be over. I hope the gates do open. With the Duke, when it rains, it pours usually!

Common you Soccer(football)roos!

[Dirko]

I was gonna say Dinga.........AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[dinglinga]

ON:- Archie Thompson
OFF:- Jason Cullina

Does Kossie hate all Aloisi's

[Dirko]

Iraq 2 - Akram 21, Mohammed 60.
Australia 1 - Viduka 47.
Need to score TWICE other wise seeya Aussies....

Need Aloisi on, EMERTON can F##K off !!

[devilsadvocate]

ON:- Archie Thompson
OFF:- Jason Cullina

Does Kossie hate all Aloisi's

We can kiss goodbye the cup with that move. We are well FFFFFFF'd now. Geez I can't stand Archie!

Good bringing on timmie Cahil though.