Other Qualifying for Brazil 2014: AFC qualifiers

Remove this Banner Ad

ioppolo

This only ends one way.
Oct 3, 2010
27,266
25,726
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Chelsea, OKC Thunder, Scorchers
On games such as FIFA world cup 2010, 2014 etc. I make my own Asian Cup/qualifying tournaments, do my own draws, write up my own fixtures etc. and keep the results written down in a scrap book. I'm currently playing as the USA in qualification for the 2014 WC, and writing the results down. I've even designed a whole world cup qualfying campaign for Asia, Africa and Europe.

I'm at again, and posting about on for the first time.

Looking forward to seeing your blog.

Well here's a start :p

So yes, the qualifiers for Brazil 2014 are underway, and we're focusing on the AFC region. A different format has been chosen compared to recent years, with all 48 member nations competing.

The first round saw 48 become 42 with the 12 lowest ranked paired up against one another. The winners played the next 6 lowest, again paired up for a 2 legged playoff. Then there were 36. This is where we start to focus in...
 

ioppolo

This only ends one way.
Oct 3, 2010
27,266
25,726
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Chelsea, OKC Thunder, Scorchers
The format the AFC went with for this qualifying tournament is as follows: 9 groups of 4, with each team playing each other twice both home and away. The top 9 teams from each group will go through to the 4th round, along with the 3 best second places teams, and for the first time, the 4th round will feature 2 groups of 6, with the top 2 from each group qualifying for the world cup. The 3rd placed teams will face each other in a 2 legged playoff, with the winner playing a South American team for a place in Brazil.

So the teams were put into 9 pots of 4, based on their world rankings. Here's how the draw ended up:

A: Japan, Jordan, Indonesia, Laos
B: South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Afghanistan
C: Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Syria, India
D: UAE, Lebanon, Maldives, Taiwan
E: Iran, Qatar, Turkmenistan, Hong Kong
F: Bahrain, China, Tajikistan, Palestine
G: Oman, Iraq, Yemen, Bangladesh
H: Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar
I: Australia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia

At first glance, the winners appear to be South Korea & Australia, who look to have secured top spot with luck of the draw. For teams like Bangladesh, Myanmar & Afghanistan, it could be a long 6 games. Groups to watch are C, F & G, with no clear group winners standing out. First match reports coming up...
 
Last edited:

ioppolo

This only ends one way.
Oct 3, 2010
27,266
25,726
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Chelsea, OKC Thunder, Scorchers
Matchday 1:
A: Japan 4-0 Indonesia
Straight forward win for Japan at home as Honda netted a brace in the second half. Inui went off with a knee injury late in the second half.

Laos 0-2 Jordan

B: Singapore 2-1 Vietnam
A dull game ended with a spark. 0-0 after 73 minutes, before Singapore substitute Duric headed in a brilliant corner to send the home fans into a frenzy, only for it to be cancelled out 3 minutes later from an equally impressive free kick at the other end. But there was more, as stoppage time loomed, Duric stepped up again, sending a brilliant through ball to midfielder Rahman who gleefully took full opportunity of the 1v1 against the keeper.

Afghanistan 0-4 South Korea

C: Saudi Arabia 5-1 India
The game started in unlikely fashion, with Browmick putting India up after just 4 minutes through some sloppy (more terrible) defense from the Saudis. Order was restored 6 minutes later through Al Qahtani. By half time it was 4-1 and Al Qahtani had netted himself a brace.

Syria 0-3 North Korea
A game played on neutral ground meant North Korea took advantage of an undermanned Syria, which was further dented when keeper Hisso was red carded for a trip.

D: UAE 0-0 Lebanon
UAE would've been disappointed being kept to a quiet draw at home against Lebanon, chances were squandered left right and centre by the UAE before Lebanon almost pulled off a stunning win with a header hitting the crossbar in the 92nd minute.

Taiwan 1-2 Maldives

E: Hong Kong 0-3 Qatar

Turkmenistan 0-2 Iran

F: Bahrain 1-0 China
A battle of the heavy weights of group F, China headed over to Manama on a hot middle eastern night. The game itself was bland, but the home fans would've still walked away happy with an Abdulrahman strike from the edge of the penalty area on the 50th minute enough to see Bahrain take the 3 points.

Palestine 2-2 Tajikistan
A very attacking game made more so when both teams received red cards just after half time. Tajikistan looked down and out with Palestine up 2-1 on the cusp of stoppage time, but with persistence, somehow found the back of the net from a free kick of fair distance.

G: Iraq 1-1 Oman
A game that could've gone either way ended in dull fashion as both teams looked happy to walk away with a point. Emad Mohammad was taken off with a knee injury in the 27th minute and could be out for a while.

Yemen 3-0 Bangladesh

H: Uzbekistan 1-0 Kuwait
Another big matchday 1 game as Kuwait traveled to Tashkent looking to go home with a win. Their defence held tight until the 54th minute when captain Djeparov crossed to Shatkihk who headed straight into the corner. Al Mutawa injured his hamstring late in the game.

Kyrgyzstan 4-1 Myanmar

I: Australia 3-0 Philippines
Australia had an easy group, and if they didn't do well, BigFooty would've let them know. They started their campaign though with a 3-0 over Philippines, Cahill, Bresc & Holman all scored, while Mat Ryan barely worked up a sweat. Young gun Tommy Oar impressed.

Malaysia 2-2 Thailand

Matchday 2 coming up soon...
 

Log in to remove this ad.

ioppolo

This only ends one way.
Oct 3, 2010
27,266
25,726
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Chelsea, OKC Thunder, Scorchers
Matchday 2

A: Indonesia 3-1 Laos

Jordan 2-2 Japan
A late penalty saved Jordan at home with a clear dive from Dardour enough to trick the referee.

B: Vietnam 3-0 Afghanistan

South Korea 2-0 Singapore
The Singapore team made Korea wait 52 minutes before the deadlock was broken. Singapore had their chances but it was Korea's day as an 85th minute header sealed the win.

C: North Korea 1-1 Saudi Arabia

India 0-1 Syria

D: Maldives 0-2 UAE

Lebanon 3-1 Taiwan

E: Iran 1-0 Hong Kong
Hong Kong showed they can match it with the best as they held Iran to only 1 goal at home after conceding in the 12 minute.

Qatar 1-0 Turkmenistan

F: China 3-0 Palestine

Bahrain 0-0 Tajikistan
A disappointing result to Bahrain who failed to break down Tajikistan's defence on home soil. 3 chances hit the crossbar and a header was saved on the last play to ensure the Tajiks went home with a point.

G: Bangladesh 0-2 Oman

Yemen 0-5 Iraq

H: Myanmar 0-5 Uzbekistan
The game went as expected with Uzbekistan thrashing a hapless Myanmar, Djeparov and Geynrink both netting a brace.

Kuwait 1-0 Kyrgyzstan
Kuwait had to wait an hour before finally breaking down the Kyrg's defences. Al Mutawa, the favourite son of Kuwaiti football was the hero taking on 3 defenders by himself before netting it in the back corner.

I: Thailand 0-2 Australia
Australia really had to battle this one, scoring 2 goals in the last 15 minutes to secure victory in Bangkok. Thailand almost went ahead on 12 minutes with a Mat Ryan save then hitting the bar. The bar was at work again for Australia ten minutes later when Ryan misjudged a cross and left a Thai player free, only for the header to be 10cm the wrong side. Osieck bought on Archie Thompson on 72 minutes and 4 minutes later it payed dividends with the national leading goal scorer heading Australia into the lead. 8 minutes later Holman found space and put the result beyond doubt. Thailand were probably the better team on the night.

Philippines 4-2 Malaysia
The crowd in Manilla certainly got their money's worth with 6 goals scored between East Asia rivals Philippines and Malaysia. with the score at 3-2 in the 88th, the game was put to bed when an attempted clearance hit a fellow defender, rebounded into the air and was headed home.

The teams now have 5 weeks break from international duties before matchday 3 takes place. Stay tuned...
 

ioppolo

This only ends one way.
Oct 3, 2010
27,266
25,726
Perth
AFL Club
West Coast
Other Teams
Chelsea, OKC Thunder, Scorchers
A: Indonesia 2-2 Jordan
A game dominated by Indonesia, yet they couldn't quite find that killer blow. Jordan held on to snag a point from the hosts.

Japan 3-1 Laos
A spirited Laos gave Japan a fright after it was 2-0 after 20 minutes. The Japanese wasted many chances, before in the 68th minute, Laos found the back of the net to have it 2-1 with just over 20 minutes remaining. It wasn't to be however, with Nagatomo putting the result beyond doubt in the 85th minute.

B: Vietnam 0-4 South Korea

Singapore 1-1 Afghanistan
A topsy turvy game ended with a 94th minute equalizer from the Afghans. Singapore were lucky to not concede earlier with some shoddy defending in the final 10 minutes. They eventually paid the price to leave the home crowd rather disappointed.

C: Syria 0-0 Saudi Arabia

India 1-2 North Korea

D: Taiwan 0-4 UAE

Maldives 0-0 Lebanon

E: Turkmenistan 2-0 Hong Kong

Qatar 2-1 Iran
A tense battle between the two top ranked of the group didn't fail to live to expectations. Iran took an early lead through Ghoochenejad in the 15th minute and held that lead until half time. 2 minutes after the break, Soria headed home a corner to make it 1-1. Iran couldn't string 2 passes together from there as Qatar dominated but couldn't find the winning goal. It eventually came from Ahmed in the 84th minute.

F: Tajikistan 0-1 China
Tajikistan did well to hold out China for 59 minutes but in the end the Chinese were just to strong for them.

Palestine 0-0 Bahrain
A dull game on neutral ground petered out to a 0-0 draw.

G: Iraq 3-0 Bangladesh

Oman 5-0 Yemen

H: Uzbekistan 2-0 Kyrgyzstan

Kuwait 4-0 Myanmar

I: Malaysia 1-4 Australia
Although Australia dominated play, and the scoreboard suggests that, Malaysia were very competitive for much of the second half. Australia were 2-0 up by the 13th minute but stalled from there till the break as Malaysia threw numbers back. After half time it all changed, as a deflected shot off Lucas Niell ended up in Malaysia's net to make it 1-2. Malaysia tried but couldn't break Australia's defence. In the 86th minute Josh Kennedy finally put the game to rest and in the 91st Cahill snagged his second goal.

Thailand 0-1 Philippines
A very heated battle ended with the Philippines going home with the points. Thailand had all the running in the last 5 minutes but couldn't find the equalizer, with shot after shot missing the target. The whistle put the home crowd out of their misery and the Philippines came away with a surprise win.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Back