Brilliant!!

No bloody way that was a penalty on Cavani. There was some leg clash while both were running but it was so subtle and Cavani just decides to fall forward and turn his head immediately to the ref. What a joke the things they're attempting. The ref stood firm. 

3 through.
To get through
We beat Denmark
Japan beat Spain
South Korea beat Portugal 
in the final round of games.
Remarkable results.

Fuck yes!!!!! Asia has entered the building!!!! 

The gap has been closed! 3 of the 5 qualified teams through. 

Getting American Beauty vibes from this due to the speechlessness of some European and South Americans. 'You don't get to tell me what to do ever again!'

If Cameroon don't defeat Brazil, the round of 16 will comprise:

8 from Europe
3 from Asia
2 from South America
2 from Africa
1 from North America

Incredible. 

The balance is shifting.. especially when India and china get their act together. 

Or even if Cameroon defeat Brazil but Switzerland defeat Serbia, Cameroon would still be out and the breakdown shown above would stand. 

Another awkward prediction.

All 3 of us are on one side of the pool

or i got it 'spot on...but you just ignored the comment....

'Korea on the other hand might be 'lucky' if Portugal pull a France and play reserves they might be able to get out of the group '

- which is exactly what happened....

in your annoying words....'Bump'

Yep, spot on.

Fail.

Proof is in the pudding.  East Asia doing the business yet again whilst West Asia constantly falters

Such a shame that all 3 Asian sides are in the same side of the knockout bracket. It means it is impossible for it to end in an all Asian final. We might get an all Asian quarter and semi final though. 

61% of European
60% of Asian sides (ex Qatar)
50% of Sth American
40% of African
33% of Central American
Asia the new powerhouse of world football?

maybe if 1 team can make it to the final 8 or even better final 4 you got to give the confederation credit 

interestingly it is only east Asia reping, West Asia finished bottom of there group bar iran

'Bump'

KOREA OUT!!!

Bump

Double bump

Just put up this post on another thread, but part of it belongs here:

This is clearly tracking to be the best WC for the AFC since the last time Asia hosted the WC.
Australia has already had its best ever WC regardless of what happens against the Argies.

As for respect for Asian football outside of Asia, well, if you have ever been on a big football board which attracts football fans from Europe and South America, you'll know that fans from these continents do not give a flying f@k about Asia, or anywhere else for that matter.

That's just the reality.

You'd need 50 years of footballing success by Asian nations for that to change significantly.
         

Who  are through from Asia, BOH?

I thought  it was only Aus and Japan?

Terrific that  South K beat Portugal. I thought SK were out though?

In terms of   confederations, I"m starting think that many UEFA teams have too many tall players per team. Spain and Portugal are the exceptions.   South American, Central American, and Asian teams, tend to have a greater number of players with a low centre fo gravity who can turn quickly and are nimble on their feet.

We are not guilty of it, because we've played Aziz Behich, Jamey Maclaren, Kuol and the likes of Jason Culina and Archie  in the past.

SK are through at Uruguay's expense. 

'As for respect for Asian football outside of Asia, well, if you have ever been on a big football board which attracts football fans from Europe and South America, you'll know that fans from these continents do not give a flying f@k about Asia, or anywhere else for that matter'

i agree with this - to a large extent people 'only' know about there own nations football and the big leagues in Europe but ....clubs are 'changing' and as more and more managers from outside of Europe go to Europe it will only change quicker and as more and more money comes into the game it will continue to change.... 

'You'd need 50 years of footballing success by Asian nations for that to change significantly.'

i do not agree with this anymore - it used to be the case pre-internet and pre-youtube higlights etc where teams need to consistently 'over-perform' on big stages to gain an inch of respect but with 'social media' and the overall globalisation of football and the sheer 'crazy' amount of money in the game has changed this. 

Clubs esp at the top level have 'so much' vested in football that scouting is no longer just in 'ones on own yard' the last 10 years we have seen more and more players from Japan and Korea head to top leagues/clubs in Europe because they are a much 'cheaper' pool of talent then European and South America talent. 

it is not longer the case we players only 'show there stuff' at big tournaments you can click a few buttons and get highlights any most decent pro level players these days - clubs can easily pay a Scout 300k pa to fly around different confederations looking for hidden gems. 

simply put the game 'has gotten too big' - when and it will eventually happen the European super league comes in then i reckon it will speed up this process 10x 

the MLS for a long time was considered Rubbish all of a sudden it is a 'decent league' with sides like Chelsea BVB etc scouting for 1st team players, similar to the J-league in which SPL, Bundesliga and Eredivisie Scouts have been thrashing it, whilst the K league is getting hit up by French, Dutch and English etc 

Fuck you’re dumb lol 

fair call ill wear that i did say they might get 'lucky and Portugal would play a weaker side' this actually 'did happen'

but i got to hold the L i did think Japan and S.K would not progress - im shocked how 'shit' Ghana were against Uruguay  


i wonder if anyone else has the balls to make a prediction or just people happy to mouth off after games like a bunch of bitches - im 'hopeful' at least 1 of the 3 afc teams make it to the rd of 8  - im not holding my breath because this is the 'business' end of the world cup

Just  did these stats too.

Originally,  I wrongly counted  Mexico  as qualifying for the 16 at the expense of a UEFA team, and Asia had a higher % than Europe.

Carragher, and other  arrogant, big mouthed,  UEFA-centric big talkers, should probably acknowledge that most European teams diminish their performance playing outside Europe.

frankly, a few richEuropean nations can be labeled chokers. Outside Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, which ores European teams have made the last 8 or semi-finals in Africa, South America and Asia. Switzerland might be another good  traveller for UEFA? I tend to think of WCs in the USA representing North A, as being much closer culturally to Europe.

In the case of England, many football stakeholders, think football stops  at the English Channel! 

Look at the high FIFA ranking teams that have failed at this WC - Belgium (must be mentally fragile with the high quality  cattle that have), Germany, Denmark. Did Croatia make it out of the group? 

I excluded Qatar too, because they did not undertake a WQQ campaign.

To think that Saudi A beat Argentina, they failed to qualify is astonishing. Although Mexico were the better team when they played Saudi. It was a tough group.

In hindsight, Australia had a really tough last round qualifying group in Asia. It helped us become a better team unit.

Interesting that consistent teams in WCs, outside UEFA, at reaching the last 16, Uruguay and Mexico, were knocked out.

I didn't make match predictions on here because it didn't mean anything besides a loss of rep, also based on results before the tournament being erratic as fuck seems strange to be so finite with predictions. I did however throw money down at the start of the tournament on Japan (at 250-1) and yesterday on Korea (at 500-1) to win the tournament.

If your going to shut down an argument like you did on the Korea call, like you did on the pre tournament Friendlies or lack there of do not be surprised when your proven wrong that your nose gets rubbed in it.

All that being said, I do tip my hat, you did throw out your prediction. You hung your balls out there.

So I'll give you mine now based on what I've seen

Interesting.

A lot  of fans can be too heliocentric (like a helicopter hovering over them and their perspectives).