We Are The Reds

Japan seems to have something of a setback with Tulio looking like he'll be injured for the tournament. Given the sheer depth of the Samurai Blue I'm not sure if it is a setback or merely an opportunity for another talent-laden youngster to step forward.

South Korea may also be playing more youth with Hamburg striker Son Heung-Min making it into the provisional squad (mind you, it is a big provisional squad). Still, it is a great vote of confidence in the 18 y.o.

India are panicking. They have had a woeful November with some heavy friendly defeats including a 9-1 belting by Kuwait and a 5-0 drubbing by UAE. Throw in the fact they have 11 injuries to their squad and things are not looking good for Bob Houghton.

Japan's 50-man training squad is pretty interesting. A few notable exclusions, like Seigo Narazaki, which was a bit of a surprise for me, considering he's just won the league's MVP award and was hands down the best 'keeper in the whole season.

If I've made any mistakes in this translation, it's excused by default out of exhaustion from a long day. Some interesting selections, focuses on very specific J. League clubs and not many more from the domestic comp. Great to see a Sendai player in there, though.

the Japan squad minus Morimoto who I believe may be having some work done on his knee. It will be interesting to see how the back line fares without Tulio.

Goalkeepers: Eiji Kawashima (Lierse SK, Belgium), Shusaku Nishikawa (Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Japan), Shuichi Gonda (FC Tokyo, Japan)

Defenders: Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers, Japan), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo, Japan), Masahiko Inoha (Kashima Antlers, Japan), Yuto Nagatomo (Cesena, Italy), Tomoaki Makino (Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Japan) Atsuto Uchida (Schalke, Germany), Maya Yoshida (VVV Venlo, Netherlands), Gotoku Sakai (Albirex Niigata, Japan)

Midfielders: Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka, Japan), Daisuke Matsui (FK Tom Tomsk, Russia), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg, Germany), Jungo Fujimoto (Shimizu S-Pulse, Japan), Takuya Honda (Shimizu S-Pulse, Japan), Hajime Hosogai (Urawa Red Diamonds, Japan), Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Yosuke Kashiwagi (Urawa Red Diamonds, Japan), Shinji Kagawa (Borussia Dortmund, Germany)

Forwards: Ryoichi Maeda (Jubilo Iwata, Japan), Tadanari Lee (Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Japan), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse, Japan)

12 days away!

Goal.com have put together profiles for all the sides at the Asian Cup. It makes for interesting reading.
http://www.goal.com/en/news/3550/asian- ... m-profiles

Shall we keep it all here?

Cahill is thinking...

And so it's with a hint of disappointment that the 31-year-old - who sits equal fourth on the league's top scorers list - has to put his career-best performance with the Toffees on hold for national duties.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/asi ... 5981651906

Maybe he won't feel so bad if Australia actually win the damn thing.

The World Game...

Socceroos star Tim Cahill admits he'll wonder what might have been had the Asian Cup not interrupted his career-best run of form with Everton.
But the passionate midfielder says disappointment at missing an important month for his struggling English Premier League club is tempered by the chance to do "something special" with Australia in Qatar this month.

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/103 ... ng-special



And...

"I've got no plans to retire as yet," Schwarzer said after arriving in Socceroos camp in Dubai.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/mar ... 5981491939

First game kicks off tonight with Qatar v Uzbekistan. Qatar will be relying on Soria to find some form though I suspect he will continue to struggle.

Uzbekistan on the other hand have Djeparov in fine form with FC Seoul and Shatskikh is still banging in goals in Ukraine and is likely to cause some troubles for a young Qatari defence.

My tip, Soria to struggle up front and likes of Ismail and Kosala to be unable to contain the experienced Uzbek strikers. Uzbekistan 2-0

A great first goal from Akhmedov which hit the underside of the bar during a period where Qatar was being absolutely overrun pretty well summed up the Qatari's night. Cesar tried to get his side back into the game but the the Uzbeks, particularly Geynrikh, were just too good. At least half the crowd left when they were 2-0 down but still had 15-20 minutes on the clock!

The game tonight is Kuwait v China. Kuwait are a much more technical and nimble side whilst China have opted for size and speed. Hao Junmin is going to have to give them a smooth transition from attack to defence as I believe they'll sit back and bit and try to hit on the counter with a few attacks starting from Du Wei at centreback (similar to what they did with effect against Korea & Japan at the East Asia Championship). As usual Kuwait will be relying on Al Mutwa to score their goals. As we've seen the Kuwaiti's can play, however there isn't much expectation (and hence pressure) on the Chinese and this has been their bogey in the past. I think the large, fast Chinese defense will contain Al Mutwa and maybe hit them on the counter. My tip is China 1-0 though this game could really do anything.

can we expect the same from the Qatari supporters during 2022WC when they fail to get a point in the tournament?

i dont think qatar have auto qualification for the 2022 world cup.

meh they would already be planning on paying promising teenage around 2016 to move to qatar for the long term and naturalise so they can play in the world cup, can anyone tell me how many of qatars squad were actually born there?

i dont think qatar have auto qualification for the 2022 world cup.

What?

Yeah I'd be surprised if they didn't have automatic qualification.

oh i thought i heard somewhere they are the only bid ever accepted to not have auto qualification,

Is anyone else slightly annoyed we dont get to watch this tournament on FTA , but we do get to watch American college Football live, rediculous

oh i thought i heard somewhere they are the only bid ever accepted to not have auto qualification,

Is anyone else slightly annoyed we dont get to watch this tournament on FTA , but we do get to watch American college Football live, rediculous

American college Football live?
Which FTA in Oz shows "American college Football live"?

That's strange.

One HD sevengoals - it's a new(ish) 24 hour sports channel run by channel 10.