We Are The Reds

The pots have been decided and the draw for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup will occur on May 4.

The groups are:

POT 1: UAE (hosts), Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia
POT 2: China, Syria, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Iraq, Qatar
POT 3: Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, India, Oman, Vietnam
POT 4: North Korea, Philippines, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, Turkmenistan


Out of that lot I think I'd like us to avoid Jordan & Thailand, both of whom seem to give us trouble, and Lebanon who appear to be on something of a hot streak which may well extend into 2019.

We have Jordan, Syria and Palestine so it would appear it will be an exciting tournament from the get-go.

Groups are:

Group A: UAE, Thailand, India, Bahrain
Group B: Australia, Syria, Palestine, Jordan
Group C: South Korea, China, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines
Group D: Iran, Iraq, Vietnam, Yemen
Group E: Saudi, Lebanon, Qatar, North Korea
Group F: Japan, Uzbekistan, Oman, Turkmenistan

Outside of our group there will be some real geo-political interest in the Qatar-Saudi Arabia match-up, something the Saudi's in particular would have been very keen to avoid. South Korea-China should also be a good match, however most of the interest from neutrals lies in Group B, particularly in the Australia-Syria match

In all it should make for a decent competition and we will get to see very early what GA's tenure is going to look like.

Just some feedback on our erstwhile rivals.....

Over the international break Palestine managed a draw with Kyrgyzstan, 1-1 and a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Qatar.

Jordan went down 1-0 away to Lebanon and had a home draw, 0-0 with Oman.

Syria had a 1-1 draw away to Uzbekistan and followed this with a 2-1 away loss to Kyrgyzstan.

Starts Sunday with UAE v Bahrain followed by Australia v Jordan and lastly Thailand v India.

Ya! Hoo!!!

Australia v Jordan kick off at 12:00 on Sunday
3 hours time difference.

UAE 1 - Bahrain 1

UAE were vert lucky to escape with a draw, with Bahrain conceding a penalty in the 88th. Bahrain have really fallen a long way over the past 15 years; locking up much of your talent, including national players, for dissent will do that. UAE would have pencilled this match in as a win. It leaves Group A somewhat open with Thailand's chances of topping the group being given a significant boost.

Awer starting tonight... excited to see how he goes in the comp, along with the other youngsters & fringe players

Awer starting tonight... excited to see how he goes in the comp, along with the other youngsters & fringe players

He's had a bright start! Keep playing like this and he'll be a regular starter.

Australia 0-1 Jordan

Boom!
From a corner.
Big man, big header.

Jordan are our achilles. Not sure why, but we've often fallen foul of "Chivalrous".

Still, it is early and we are on top so plenty of time to find the back of the net (twice).

They will lock up shop further and look for a counter opportunity.
We must take whatever chances come our way otherwise it's curtains.

Jordan shut up shop well, though that may play into our hands. It depends a bit on how GA uses our wide players.

I'm almost glad the pen wasn't given. We've created zero chances, admittedly Jordan have defended very very well. But like the World Cup. We just can't get the ball into meaningful positions. We wouldn't deserve to be level.

Arnie needs to kick a couple of players up the arse. Because the answers aren't on the bench.

Was there a possible / maybe penalty?
I stepped out and missed it.