Day of Draws

[blahblah]

Today at AFC House there are a number of draws being made including the:
u16 Championship qualifiers draw
u19 Championship qualifiers draw
2012 Olympics Asian Qualifiers Round 2 draw
2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Round 1 & 2 draws

It will be interesting to see who we come up against. The Uzbeks and Emiratis have shown some real promise with their youth sides and may be ones to avoid early outside of the usual suspects.

[Steelinho]

EDIT: It's working now!

2012 AFC U-16 Championship Qualifiers:

Group A
Iraq
Iran
Bangladesh
Qatar
Palestine
Sri Lanka


Group B
U.A.E.
Kuwait
Yemen
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Maldives

Group C
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Bahrain
Krygyztan
India

Group D
Syria
Oman
Saudi Arabia
Nepal
Lebanon

Group E
DPR Korea
China P.R.
Timor Leste
Singapore
Malaysia

Group F
Japan
Vietnam
Chinese Taipei
Laos
Korea Republic

Group G
Australia
Indonesia
Thailand
Hong Kong
Myanmar

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Group F looks like it could be nasty, though it's always hard to tell with u16's.

And you missed powerhouses Macua in Group E, Cambodia in Group F and regional heavyweight Guam in Group G

[blahblah]

In our group I am most worried about the Thai's. They have been pushing their development programme and Chonburi in particular have embraced the Vision Asia structure and have some very comprehensive development structures being put in place. I don't know if they've had it in long enough to take effect however their focus on development is clear.

Indonesia are almost the opposite, a real shower and I wonder how many youths miss out due to the split in the federation.

Myanmar are having all sorts of problems at the moment though I don't know whether that is being reflected in their youth structures (if any exist - it is doubtful)

Hong Kong should be beatable though their senior sides have sprung some surprises of late.

Cambodia have no real structure at all though Phnom Penh Crown have started an academy off their own back and some of these kids are highly likely to feature.

[Steelinho]

And you missed powerhouses Macua in Group E, Cambodia in Group F and regional heavyweight Guam in Group G

Ah, well I know the reason behind that; the Internet popup window for the draw wouldn't let me resize and the actual draw itself was too big to fit in said window. So I was blissfully ignorant of the matter - though I should've known better, really. Those aren't teams one should be forgetting about so easily.

I was pretty interested in Group E. North Korea, China, Malaysia and Singapore could all make for some top shelf games.

[Steelinho]

You'll be in scouting paradise with Japan and South Korea coming to Cambodia, mind you. (Maybe Vietnam, too; you never know!) Make sure you get to those games if you can!

[blahblah]

You'll be in scouting paradise with Japan and South Korea coming to Cambodia, mind you. (Maybe Vietnam, too; you never know!) Make sure you get to those games if you can!

I'd love to though I think each group will be played at one venue at a round robin tournament. It will probably be the same for the u19's. Cambodia is highly unlikely to host.

[Steelinho]

Oh, right, like the Challenge Cup and etc. Makes sense. Still a shame, though. Would love the chance to see as many of these as possible. (And, if Cambodia had gone to Japan while I am there, I'd be heading to a game and wearing... Cambodia colours, I guess.)

[Steelinho]

AFC U-19 Championship 2012 Qualifiers Draw

Group A
Saudi Arabia
Iraq
Oman
Bangladesh
Nepal
Maldives

Group B
Bahrain
Jordan
Tajikistan
Qatar
Kuwait
Bhutan

Group C
Uzbekistan
Iran
Pakistan
India
Afghanistan
Turkmenistan

Group D
U.A.E.
Syria
Yemen
Palestine
Lebanon

Group E
Korea Republic
Japan
Thailand
Hong Kong
Guam
Chinese Taipei

Group F
DPR Korea
Vietnam
Malaysia
Myanmar
Laos

Group G
Australia
China P.R.
Indonesia
Macau
Singapore

[Steelinho]

Maldives are freaking screwed. Group G is a tough one for us; two of our bogey sides and China have been focusing a lot on development, especially at club level. Group E will again make for some great games, with Japan, South Korea and Thailand (maybe Hong Kong, one hopes).

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Mate, I saw Japan pop up in the second to last tier and thought "oh &!!@", Koreans nabbed them though. Thais would have to be pretty down about that.

Ours isn't an easy group though, the boys will be made to work. Group B looks pretty even though. Your beloved Maldives may even be in with a chance of progressing. Group F looks rather weak; at least a SE Asian side will be guaranteed of going through.

[Steelinho]

Mate, I saw Japan pop up in the second to last tier and thought "oh &!!@", Koreans nabbed them though. Thais would have to be pretty down about that.

Yeah, I started sweating a little and gritting my teeth. Got pretty nervous. Obviously would've liked Group E, but DPRK will be ecstatic about their chances now.

Ours isn't an easy group though, the boys will be made to work. Group B looks pretty even though. Your beloved Maldives may even be in with a chance of progressing. Group F looks rather weak; at least a SE Asian side will be guaranteed of going through.

Haha, my beloved Maldives. But against the Saudis, Iraq and Oman? No chance. Probably end up the buffer between them and Bangladesh/Nepal.


Tell you what, the excitement these draws have brought so far is really something. Can't wait for when they actually kick off. And we're not even up to the adult sides!
(Another hour and a half left. The anticipation will kill me before then.)

[blahblah]

I know what you mean. The automatic pop-up is a great innovation.

As for Maldives, I'm not sold on Saudi. I know they have been neglecting youth development and after the debacle of the Asian Cup there will be pressure on them to perform, and they may well crack. Oman and Iraq aren't going to give Maldives any quarter though. They will need to hold one of those to a draw and hope Saudi implode. It could happen.

EDIT: much may depend on who is selected as host nation. I'm now looking forward to seeing where the u16's & u19's will be held. They don't have long to decide.

[Steelinho]

Maybe. I'll let you know the technical quality on Velidhoo (and, therefore, the qualifying chances of the Maldives as a whole nation) once I get there and have my first session with the kids.

[blahblah]

The Olypmic Round 2 Draw is in:

Qatar v India
Iraq v Iran
Bahrain v Thailand
Australia v Yemen
Japan v Kuwait
Syria v Turkmenistan
North Korea v UAE
South Korea v Jordan
Uzbekistan v Hong Kong
Saudi Arabia v Vietnam
China v Oman
Lebanon v Malaysia

Yemen should be manageable though a couple of juicy games are in there including Iraq v Iran and North Korea v UAE. Lebanon v Malaysia may be close however I'm not sure what the standard will be like.