We Are The Reds

It will be a hub format for our next four games, all within a couple of weeks so a huge squad will be taken. The other sides only have three games, however depth will be sorely tested for all.

Whilst it means we miss out on our home advantage (we were scheduled to play 3 home and 1 away), we've beaten Kuwait & Jordan & Taiwan away so a neutral venue should not bother us.

The bright-side is that such a large amount of games will mean a few opportunities for fringe players to don the green & gold, though we'll be missing the Olyroos contingent.

A chaotic time, however it is the same for everyone and we tend to manage these situations well.

What a huge blow missing out on those three home games.

Home games in Asian qualifying are such a massive advantage. Probably bigger than anywhere else in the world due to our distance from everyone.

Still, if we are good enough we will qualify. If we don't, then we don't deserve to proceed. Simple as that.

Still, if we are good enough we will qualify. If we don't, then we don't deserve to proceed. Simple as that.

Agreed. We are 2 points ahead of 2nd place with a game in hand. The ball is very much in our court.

Where is the hub? I presume Doha or Dubai.

Where is the hub? I presume Doha or Dubai.

Kuwait. Looks like we have to play Kuwait in Kuwait again.

I thought they would have gone for a neutral venue...apparently not. Same deal with the other groups.

The only substantive difference is the Australia-Kuwait game as the other games Kuwait has are against Taiwan, which you'd have expected them to waltz through in Taipei, and Jordan, which was already scheduled for Kuwait City.

WCQ 2022

Mongolia 0 - 14 Japan

Socceroos v Kuwait coming up soon; early Friday morning for most of us.

There's been remarkably little media attention given we win this we are pretty well through to the next round. Probably the toughest of the remaining fixtures, though Jordan historically give us problems, though usually in Amman.

McGree has been getting onto the pitch with Birmingham City so hopefully gets a start at some stage.

Given we have four games in the space of 11 days there is going to a lot of squad rotation. A good chance for some of the younger players, particularly against the minnows.

Easy 3-0 in the heat; could have been a lot more.

Hrustic and Irvine looked very good, though the amount of space the Socceroos were afforded by Kuwait made all our players look pretty special.

Kuwait were pretty disappointing given they were playing at home and have played 10 matches together during the period we played none. Jordan won't be as easy, though we probably will have qualified for the next round before we meet.

Next up are Taiwan in 4 days so I expect a very different starting XI.

Another good, but expected, result against Taiwan. This round is almost like being back in Oceania.

Another good, but expected, result against Taiwan. This round is almost like being back in Oceania.

It's looking that way, especially when we ran out the "B" team. Certainly the pitch is reminiscent!

The only match that's looking like a proper football game will be against Jordan, however if they beat Kuwait then the final match will be a dead-rubber for both sides. A different venue though, so hopefully the pitch is somewhat better.

EDIT: Got that wrong! Even if Jordan defeat Kuwait they'll most likely need at least a point off us to proceed.

Didn't see all of the match however it looked a pretty standard win. Nepal were defending well, though once they went down to 10 men their chances of catching us on the break dissipated.

Next game will be interesting as we've just used a lot of our first choice starting XI and Jordan most likely need all three points but played their first choice in the 0-0 draw against Kuwait. They'll be motivated, but tired.

Hopefully we will see McGree starting against Jordan given Hrustic started the last match.

1-0 on another cow paddock in extreme heat. We controlled the game and got the result we needed against a motivated opposition. Souttar with the goal from a Boyle corner.

On to the 3rd round.

Its exciting to see our strength from set pieces coming thru. Its a bit concerning the total lack of goals coming from open play.
But if we're facing another hub in the middle east in September my guess is we'll face a similar scenario as this one. So I'd say that's probably the best tactic.

Its exciting to see our strength from set pieces coming thru. Its a bit concerning the total lack of goals coming from open play.
But if we're facing another hub in the middle east in September my guess is we'll face a similar scenario as this one. So I'd say that's probably the best tactic.

It will depend a lot on the opposition.

If we play Japan the likes of Yoshida and Tomiyasu are not going to blink at the prospect of 'Big Harry'. Rather we'd have the opposite problem., Souttar would not be able to match these two when defending set pieces. In that scenario, we'd be far better off with Sainsbury & Degenek.

Against Iran it is a different prospect. Iran are remarkably light on tall defenders at the moment. Strange, as normally they have a big, toothless defender doing an Og Monster impersonation across their backline. Harry would really cause them an issue, however he'd also leave us exposed at the back so he needs to be paired with a fleet-footed CB. Maybe a back three scenario.

South Korea, Harry wouldn't bother them but they are in the same pot as us so cést la vie.

Iraq have Ibrahim who wouldn't have too much trouble matching up with Souttar. It's another game that I'd probably sit Harry out of.

China would be in full panic. Have a few 'Big Harry' interviews in Mandarin going into the match as China get into their own heads; they are their own worst enemies.

Saudi, same scenario as Iran; 3 at the back.

Syria... I'd be wary. I think I'd have him on the bench as a "wait and see" option. I am struggling to get a gauge on them, however they will be highly motivated if they face us.

Lebanon & Vietnam, sure throw him into the mix but I don't think he'd be the deciding factor one way or another.