We Are The Reds

15min to kick off.

The last Asian Cup from OZ was broadcast here in Europe on Eurosport because I believe the early morning times when the games were played in Australia fitted in well here.
This time with mainly afternoon kick off times, the Asian Cup clashes with all the winter sport stuff so there is no coverage this time around.

Either that or it was a total "no ratings" / nobody interested failure and they did not want to spend the money again.

Qatar just defeated South Korea 1-0.

The gas indulged Gulf Arabs are clearly gearing for the World Cup!

Qatar just defeated South Korea 1-0.

The gas indulged Gulf Arabs are clearly gearing for the World Cup!

WOW!

A precedent has been set ...

UAE 0 - 0 Australia
Sainsbury with a free header but it is waaaaay over.

Not good enough ...
All over, red rover.

Has Arnold resigned in disgrace yet?

Has Arnold resigned in disgrace yet?

The Old Boys Club will ensure he's ok. GA's performance record outside of Australia remains unblemished by any unexpected success. Qualifications for 2022 may be a fraught affair, though we should continue to do well in the home games.

Whilst we didn't exactly shine at the tournament, a couple of players emerged as full-time options which was good.

Oddly enough Japan have been having a pretty ordinary tournament as well, yet seem to continue to find ways to win. More quality in their front third helps.

GA linked with a move to Hibernian in the SPL. Not a bad move for him I think, he is definitely a good club coach at HAL level and Scotland is a closer step up than when he went to Japan. He's had 2 chances as NT coach now, time for a fresh face.

Socceroos manager Graham Arnold has described the 2019 Asian Cup as part of his squad’s “four-year journey” that will culminate with the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but at some point it would be nice to hear him call it what it was: at worst a failure, at best a disappointment.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/20 ... nt-at-best


Winning every game.

Cracking game last night, Japan defeated Iran 3-0. The Japanese have finally turned up to the tournament with a lot of deft one touch passing, though Iran took it to them for much of the game.

The first goal was one for the coaches manual everywhere. Minamino was tackled on the edge of the box and 5 Iranian players rushed to Chris Beath to protest it wasn't a foul. Chris Beath agreed, and hadn't blown the whistle. Minamino knew it wasn't a foul as he'd lept to his feet straight after the tackle and recovered the ball near the goal-line. By the time the Iranian defenders realised what was going on they were out of shape and the whipped in cross found Osako who nodded home.

Play the whistle boys, play the b&**$y whistle.

That first goal is priceless.

Qatar spanked UAE 0-4 in a game laden with geopolitical tension. No Qatari's were allowed to attend the game (or enter UAE) and all extra seats were purchased by local groups and given out to "loyal" supporters. After the second goal the Qatari players were dodging shoes and bottles thrown at them by the hostile crowd. The game finished with a red card to Ahmed for a delightful elbow to the head of a Qatari player behind play.

I dare say the Qataris loved every minute of it.

Come on Japan!

Japan 1-3 Qatar
83min

Japan under the kosh.

Not certain about the Penalty but.

An interesting result. It is a good sign that Qatar won't disgrace themselves in 2022 and also a result that was the worse possible outcome for UAE & Saudi Arabia.