the conditions really hurt the oz v china spectacle sadly.

China have been good this asian cup. They would have a very good chance of qualifying. You would think given their size and emphasis on technique china could be the first genuine world football power in the region. The improved so quickly in the olympics, I would expect they could be a mere 8 or so years away. It would be nice to have some world class opposition in the region to compete against (though japan and south korea at times are very near the top level)

I watched it on the edge of my seat, being very tense.

Maybe if I had been a neutral it would've been different.

All four quarter finals were good. I actually thought the Japan-UAE was the dullest and yet still featured two goals of the highest quality and a dramatic pen shoot out. Apart from that the first half of Australia-China was a bit lacklustre but watching these four games I definitely felt like I was watching major tournament football.

Edited by johnnyrook: 24/1/2015 10:43:25 AM

I was at the cricket last night, so missed most of the two games.

But what two dramatic games occurred. Two teams considered the odds on favourites by most, Japan and Iran, were knocked out on penalties.

There is just nothing like international tournament football IMO.

I actually like that style, any idiot can dribble the ball but good defence requires teamwork. It is great that a national side can play like that with such limited time together.

They were still boring to watch and some of the Iran fans in front of me sat down when the UAE anthem was played so I immediately took sides!

Iran have been so relaxed absorbing pressure all tournament and when they lose possession they press so fast and in such numbers that they usually get the ball straight back. Ange would have had a boner watching them last night. One aspect of their defence that I love watching is how they maintain their shape while hunting in packs. The LM and LB were particularly good last night at regaining possession, even when UAE had the ball Iran were still controlling the match.

What about Australia's 8 in the first two games?

It's great all this positiveness, but what would be far better would be some goals!

I agree.

I might be biased because I've travelled in most of the South East and South Asian countries, but it would seem more representative of Asia.

Good point.

It seems other Asian nations are really pleased with the Aussie Asian Cup organisation too.







Edited by Decentric: 19/1/2015 11:44:05 PM

its a pity that didn't start this year. all the south-east nations would've been a hit in australia + we would have been allowed more stadiums (maybe parra, wollongong added to the list) plus the tournament wouldve been longer.

Probably like many others, I'm enjoying watching international teams, all in Australia at the same time, play different football to what we see in the HAL.

I think the Asian Cup will be good with 24 teams in the next Asian Cup. Hopefully, the likes of India, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam will qualify.

Since the first game i saw iran and UAE play i knew one of these two teams (if not both) will be in the final. more so iran than UAE. But there is something special about UAE, They will definitely cause problems for japan. Everyone is dreaming of a jordan upset. But UAE is far more likely, UAE have got the players to hurt japan. Jordan and iraqi (sad to say) are hopeless they don't play football, they are to busy chopping players down.

Iran is the ultimate cup team, solid defense. very quick counter with skill ball players and killer strikers. There is a difference between a team like Iran playing defensively and north korea. Iran can play football and did in the 2nd half tonight.

Australia had more chances on goal than South Korea.

Ultimately, the game comes down to converting chances. No matter how well we play, if we don't convert chances, it means nothing. We have to take them against China.

Yes, and come Thursday, China will be no pushovers. Disappointed UAE couldn't hang on. They did well. Such is life :-({|=

Rather than start another thread, I thought I'd add how I'm enjoying the technical qualities of UAE, Iran and China, after not having watched them that much before the Cup. Apart from Iran, they are not they good off the ball though .


Iran are very well organised in defence. They had little of ball against UAE. Iran's defensive line and midfield has absorbed tremendous pressure, making it difficult to score against them. It will be difficult for any team to beat Iran. They nearly always maintain defensive shape.=d>

When one thinks we didn't even have a pro league in Australia in 2004, the national parent body had no cash to host Socceroo games, etc, one has to pinch oneself to realise we are holding the Asian Cup in Australia within 10 years.=d>

I think the competition is going great i think crowds are better then most non-footballing people expected. There has been some good football played and over all the media has been giving it some lime-light despite cricket and tennis also running around this time of year.

Got to give the FFA cup credit if the cup keeps going like this i'd say it has been a success and we should keep pushing to host football competitions in the future.

Possibly the club world cup could come here.

I am Impressed by the improvement of alot of sides. From the last 2 Asain cups to now, teams I though were rubbish have really improved. Good to see their programs are working. Even the teams that are still low on quality seem to be more disciplined in their positioning and defensive duties.

That number 10 for the UAE with the frizzy, long hair is good.

It certainly seems that the Socceroos can play at a higher tempo than most teams.

I like the technical quality of a number of Asian teams, but they are not working as hard off the ball as Australia has to date.

One thing I certainly think will happen after the final has been played out and we know our winner. All countries will have a newfound respect for one another and will look to improve their football by dramatic amounts.

Edited by highkick05: 14/1/2015 07:13:27 PM

I watched the UAE on Sunday and they were impressive play nice football ,well organised and have some players with flair to.

Same experience, all my football friends are right into the cup going to all the games they can. Rest don't even know, although some sports fans i know are now going because i talked about it, so i think the advertising has been very poor.

Sorry Glenn, this is an example of the usual clueless shit that all-too-often gets written on this site.

It worked like this:
- Foxtel held the rights, not the FFA.
- FFA went to Foxtel and asked it to sell some of the rights so the Asian Cup could be seen on FTA. Foxtel agreed.
- However, SBS was the only FTA bidder. So the FFA asked the ABC to put in a bid. In doing so, the FFA actually topped up the ABC bid (by about half) so the ABC was the winning bidder.
- Foxtel was happy to sell some FTA content cheaply, but it was never going to relinquish (or sell) its exclusivity to matches - but it did for the semis etc.

You have 2 possible bidders for it SBS and ABC, both have been cut by funding.
At the same time FFA can not sell the FTA rights at a price that would undervalue the amount that fox sports payed.

I think we inside football overestimate its potential audience sometimes. On Tuesday I got changed at work to go straight to Brisbane for that nights game. So many people had no Idea where I was going and what was on but had heard of the Asian cup through ads. "Oh is that on tonight???" was a common answer.

Interesting observation that I am not sure has been raised.. Why is spider (aerial) cam only seemingly set up at Melbourne, but none of the other stadiums have it?

I can understand the limitations due to stand design at Canberra and possibly Newcastle, but Sydney and Brisbane should be possible.

It gives some great angles of play during a game.

... They are still a joke.

a clueless nutjob too