“Sport Thought: Arnold, Socceroos can't afford slip-ups on World Cup path Michael Lynch September 7, 2019 — 6.30pm It might seem to be a match taking place almost in a vacuum, so quiet has been the lead-up. But Australia's clash with Kuwait early Wednesday morning (AEST) has a significance which belies its relatively low-key build-up. Graham Arnold's Socceroos are about to begin the qualification phase for the next World Cup in 2022. Graham Arnold's Socceroos are about to begin the qualification phase for the next World Cup in 2022.AP It is the beginning of a long, and what will almost certainly turn out to be a hard, road to the next World Cup in Qatar in 2022. It will also provide the first real test - in a competitive fixture rather than a friendly - of where the Socceroos have got to following their disappointing quarter-final exit in the Asian Cup earlier this year. In wider terms the game and those that follow it have enormous significance, as World Cup qualification has become even more important than ever for Football Federation Australia following the schism in the game's governance. Now that the A-League is being run by the clubs, who will capture the bulk of TV cash and marketing and sponsorship monies generated by the competition, FFA's main revenue stream will be the national teams, the Socceroos and the Matildas. With qualification for the World Cup worth millions of dollars (just making the last 32 for Russia 2018 netted FFA nearly $US10 million) it is clear just how crucial it is for Graham Arnold's team to negotiate their way through the minefield they must cross in Asia. Without the cash that World Cup qualification will provide, FFA - which must now find more sponsors and other ways of boosting cash flow to bankroll grassroots development and pay for the national teams - will be up against it. The reality is that for Australia it is getting harder and harder to make it to the biggest sporting show on the planet. It always seemed virtually impossible in the old days, when the Socceroos got an easy ride through the shallow waters of Oceania where they saw off some Pacific minnows and then beat up on New Zealand before coming to grief at the hands of a battle-hardened South American or Asian rival: Argentina (narrowly) before the 1994 Cup, Iran (heartbreakingly) before 1998, Uruguay (disappointingly) before 2002. It was that cycle of frustration which made the win over Uruguay in November 2005 such a night of national joy and elation. The move to Asia in 2006 was supposed to end all that tension and doubt. By joining the Asian Football Confederation, Australia would get a standard qualification path to the World Cup: a series of home and away games in league format would ensure that even if there was a slip-up or an off night it would not necessarily prove fatal to the Socceroos' hopes of progress. That's how it looked at the start. Under Dutchman Pim Verbeek - a man not always admired here for his pragmatic approach - the Socceroos qualified for the World Cup in South Africa with a couple of games to spare. Four years later it was much closer when German Holger Osieck was in charge and the Socceroos had well and truly entered what Sir Alex Ferguson called ''squeaky bum time'', only ensuring qualification for Brazil 2014 with a Josh Kennedy header seven minutes from time to get a 1-0 win over Iraq in front of more than 80,000 fans in Sydney. Things were even tighter for 2018 as the Socceroos could not nail down one of the four guaranteed places open to Asian nations for direct qualification. This was a reflection both on the level of the Socceroos - who were now nowhere near as strong as the "golden generation" team of 2006 and 2010 - and the improvements made by Asian nations. It took Ange Postecolgou's men two nail-biting play-offs - an extra-time win over Syria which could have ended disastrously had Omar Al Soma's last-gasp free kick gone in rather than hit the post, and a more comfortable victory over Honduras - to seal their place in Russia. While the expectations are that Australia will make it through their first-phase Asian qualifying group with relative ease - opponents Kuwait, Jordan, Chinese Taipei and Nepal hardly look to be world beaters - there will undoubtedly be a banana skin or two along the way. Australia's Aziz Behich and Jordan's Yousef Al-Rawashdeh: Jordan have been troublesome for the Socceroos. Australia's Aziz Behich and Jordan's Yousef Al-Rawashdeh: Jordan have been troublesome for the Socceroos.AP Australia have struggled against Jordan, particularly in away games - the Socceroos lost 2-0 in Amman in 2015 and 1-0 in the UAE in the Asian Cup earlier this year - so nothing can be taken for granted against them. While Kuwait on paper look to be some way behind Australia, the Kuwaitis did get their campaign off to a flying start with a 7-0 win over Nepal on Friday. Arnold and the Socceroos cannot afford slip-ups. FFA's future funding and the halo effect for the game of a World Cup qualification depends on them getting it right. All the way to Qatar.”

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/sport-thought-arnold-socceroos-can-t-afford-slip-ups-on-world-cup-path-20190906-p52osc.html

Heat will be ridiculous , humidity probably worse. 

Heat will be ridiculous , humidity probably worse. 

Will any channel be showing it?

Who is a better player between Ikon and Borello?

Well ones playing Bundesliga ones in the A-League. 

Who is a better player between Ikon and Borello?

Bit concerned Mooy isn't getting game time at Brighton.

Borello didn't do anything against Kuwait. Who's to say Ikon couldn't play in the Bundesliga? 

Borello didn't do anything against Kuwait. Who's to say Ikon couldn't play in the Bundesliga? 

Well ones playing Bundesliga ones in the A-League.