I wonder if Tony Vidmar will be a better coach though? I have my doubts but hopefully hes watching these games and taking notes in how to improve this team even more with players to come in potentially.

I did see that but felt it was accidental.From what I can remember the Saudi player was clutching his abdomen so he was not concerned about the head kick.Rich was falling and I really think the left leg which was the one which may have hit his head and or neck did not have any force.He did appear in slow motion replay to turn the toe of his right foot into his opponents abdomen but as there was no back swing there was little force in that kick.I think the Saudi player's momentum( and he did come into Rich a bit late) carried him onto Rich's right foot with some force.

Jesus FMD.

Red every day of the week accidental or not.

And no way that was accidental.

Already covered a few pages back in the match commentary.

And there's your problem.

Shit happens in a contact sport and when a player barges late into another player, throwing them into the air, who knows where flailing limbs will go in an effort to regain balance? 

For the playoff for 3rd game I would like to see the starting team be made up of those eligible for U23 as the next Olympics. That has got to be the focus for this age group now.

I would rather pick the best team and try to win.

But I guess a team eligible for the next AFC under 23 would be,
Bilokapic
Rawlins - Trewin - Courtney-Perkins - Bos
D'Arrigo - Yazbek
Hammond - Brook - Peupion
Wood

Kuol, Bernardo and Farrell would also still be eligible.

✨ 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛𝗗𝗔𝗬 ✨

🇯🇵 Japan 🆚 Australia 🇦🇺
⏰ 6:00 pm
🏟 Pakhtakor Stadium

The opportunity to bounce back in style awaits Japan and Australia as they square off at the Pakhtakor Stadium in the battle for third place!

📰PREVIEW: https://bit.ly/3bb1g1C

#AFCU23 | #JPNvAUS

I’d like to see naj and brook out for Bernardo and nisbet 

Quite a bit of rotation

Bilo
Rawlins
Trewin
JCP
Bos 
Francois 
D'Arrigo 
Bernardo 
Najjarine 
Hammond 
Yengi 

About time Kuol didn't lead lead the line from the start. One scorpion kick goal doesn't make a summer. JrB suspended 

Well 1/2 let’s see how Hammond goes 

Happy to see Bilo, Trewin, Hammond and Bernardo starting, as the players we’ve seen the least of throughout the tournament.

Would have preferred to see Wood starting up from though as he’s eligible for the Olympics, but Yengi is too old. Also disappointing to see Yazbek miss out for the same reason. 

Should be a fun game to watch.

Holy shit, Bilokapic looks like absolute hot garbage in goals. Passed the ball directly to Japan TWICE within the first 5 minutes, and has already conceded in under 8 minutes.

His body language looked poor from the first minute. Like he stands way too flat footed, and is not alert at all. Yikes.

The team finally seem to settled down. Its taken a while.

Agree, doesn’t look nervous, just insanely lazy. 

Training at Hartlepool. Gauci much sharper. He's on loan from Huddersfield. Chapman is there too, isn't he?

Did he push that last shot onto crossbar? 

Was it Holmes who came across as quite poor when the play. Kudos to getting signed by good English clubs but a lot font even get minutes. AMB did every to clear the doubt so now he needs the chance at Charlton. 

Francois is looking really good today. Very lively, playing proper box to box, and all of his passes are sticking. This is the best I’ve seen him play throughout the entire tournament. 

I'm not watching. Following on google. 

Jesus Christ, Bilo has not gotten any better as the half has gone on. Just carried an easy catch out for a corner that Japan have now scored from. What an absolute disaster.

@Johnszaz Yes indeed it is Holmes that he reminds me of. 

Has he played much at Fulham reserves? There have been some frustrating moments but some movements in tight spaces have looked Luongo-esc and he's come in with some crucial tackles and interceptions at the end of games. 

It’s such a shame that Cameron Cook wasn’t selected for this squad as he’s Olympic eligible and clearly 10x better than Bilo.

Yeah I want as many of our keepers as possible to succeed. It appears that those who've not had any games get really found out in game situations. Sharpness let alone skill is key. 

Injured for a fair bit of season. Was in first team squad at start of season. 

Chuck Trewin into striker. At least he can get the ball into the back of the net. 

Weve got plenty of 01/02 keepers other than Bilokapic if we were to make Olympics next afc u23

Cook
Pavlesic
Kaye
James
Calderbank-Park

Half time. Down 2-0 to Japan thanks to the worst goalkeeping performance I’ve seen across any of our national teams in recent memory.

Josh Nisbet would do a better job in goals than this lazy bloke. 

Trewin's a goalkeeper?

I really rate Cook but haven’t seen the others play. Here’s hoping some of them get decent game time this season - we really need someone to step up now that Gauci is too old for all future tournaments from this point forward.