Socceroos 2018 WCQ THREAD-v HONDURAS FOR SPOT IN RUSSIA (Dates TBC)

[peternorth]

Uzbekistan away trip

i just love saying "OOze- Becks"

Shanghai is a brilliant city...... Beijing not so much.

both delightful in their own unique ways

Would definitely consider an away trip to Shanghai - always wanted to visit there, same with Macau (maybe could make a trip out of it!).

a wee bit of flying between shanghai and macau.

Macau is friggin awesome. So many people I know go to Hong Kong and don't even bother going there for even a day which is a pity

agreed. was in Macau most recently in october for a few days of R/R. great fun. food, especially around the ruins of st paul is very nice, beef jerky and egg tarts. starbucks there too if you wanna weternise yourself.
actually saw macau a few weeks ago from zhuhai. literally just across the water.

 

[The Fonz]

Iran
South Korea
Uzbekistan
China
Qatar
Syria

AUSTRALIA
Japan
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Iraq
Thailand

 

[nobbyiscool]

I'm not sure how difficult it would be to fudge the draw when there's only 2 balls in each pot...

Group A:
Iran
South Korea
Uzbekistan
China
Qatar
Syria

Group B:
Australia
Japan
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Iraq
Thailand

Both groups have some potential banana skins in them... I'm not actually sure which of the groups I would've preferred. Group A is arguably a little easier - but from a personal perspective, Japan & Thailand are the 2 that I potentially could/would go to.

And it wouldn't be an Australian qualifying campaign if there weren't some potential pot holes anyway. (Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iraq could all be a potential bitch though.)

 

[hey shorty]

Got the tougher group marginally but it matters little. At this level of qualification we shouldn't be expecting easy games, although the way we are playing and the depth in squad we are developing we should be finishinh AT LEAST 2nd.

 

[Firestarter]

Freaking knew we would get Japan. But Thailand will be a blast.

 

[Satan]

I'm not sure how difficult it would be to fudge the draw when there's only 2 balls in each pot...

Group A:
Iran
South Korea
Uzbekistan
China
Qatar
Syria

Group B:
Australia
Japan
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Iraq
Thailand

Both groups have some potential banana skins in them... I'm not actually sure which of the groups I would've preferred. Group A is arguably a little easier - but from a personal perspective, Japan & Thailand are the 2 that I potentially could/would go to.

And it wouldn't be an Australian qualifying campaign if there weren't some potential pot holes anyway. (Saudi Arabia, UAE and Iraq could all be a potential bitch though.)

One could argue for the iraq home game be played in a neutral venue and not in Iraq.
Ang should get on the phone to poppa and pick his brains re playing in riyadh like wanderers did .
Hope the fellas have good ear plugs for the away game hotel festas outside in some of the places

 

[hey shorty]

Freaking knew we would get Japan. But Thailand will be a blast.

Prefer Japan than Korea, those Japanese games are built up big time and I reckon thats a good thing

 

[Firestarter]

Prefer Japan than Korea, those Japanese games are built up big time and I reckon thats a good thing

I love Japan as an entity in this world. The rivalry is immense in our part of the world.

 

[chazwazza]

Hopefully Adelaide Oval gets a game against a good opponent. Japan thanks.

 

[nobbyiscool]

I doubt Adelaide will be getting one of these games. As many as 3-4 could be played in Sydney because of the deal they have with the NSW Govt. I'd hope at least 1 is in Melbourne; I would've thought Brisbane is nearly due too, but the Asian Cup a year ago made it a bit less predictable.

 

[hey shorty]

I'm backing 2 Melbourne, 2 Sydney and 1 in either Brisbane or Adelaide. We are absolutely no chance of having the Japan game here, it should be in Melbourne every time but the 'Only turn up for Marquee event' city will end up with it me thinks

 

[The Fonz]

Thursday 1 September 2016: Australia v Iraq (HOME)

Tuesday 6 September 2016: UAE v Australia (AWAY)

Thursday 6 October 2016: Saudi Arabia v Australia (AWAY)

Tuesday 11 October 2016: Australia v Japan (HOME)

Tuesday 15 November 2016: Thailand v Australia (AWAY)

Thursday 23 March 2017: Iraq v Australia (AWAY)

Tuesday 28 March 2017: Australia v UAE (HOME)

Thursday 8 June 2017: Australia v Saudi Arabia (HOME)

Thursday 31 August 2017: Japan v Australia (AWAY)

Tuesday 5 September 2017: Australia v Thailand (HOME)

We also have Confederations Cup between Games 8 and 9.

 

[hey shorty]

Pretty handy run home, 3 of the last 4 games at home against teams who don't travel well historically. Saudis were garbage here in the Asian Cup and we accounted for UAE easily enough.

 

[peternorth]

group of death!

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

UAE are the danger to pip someone for second. A very decent team at the Asian Cup. We always seem to drop points in Iraq too. Saudis who knows. Should do it but it will be a tough one much like last time. Flights for Thailand booked.

 

[Punchy Bassett]

One bonus is the middle eastern sides always seem to take a lot of points off each other.

 

[nobbyiscool]

UAE are the danger to pip someone for second. A very decent team at the Asian Cup. We always seem to drop points in Iraq too. Saudis who knows. Should do it but it will be a tough one much like last time. Flights for Thailand booked.

Serious? Jealous!

I'd so love to go... but I feel like, the first time I go to that part of the world, I need a good 3 weeks to do Thailand & Cambodia & Vietnam. Thinking about it tonight, and looking at the dates, I'm much more likely to go to Japan. I reckon I can get that done in 2 weeks, and I have an extra 9 months to plan/save for it.

 

[ioppolo]

UAE will be tough. Could make the world cup via 3rd place playoff.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Serious? Jealous!

I'd so love to go... but I feel like, the first time I go to that part of the world, I need a good 3 weeks to do Thailand & Cambodia & Vietnam. Thinking about it tonight, and looking at the dates, I'm much more likely to go to Japan. I reckon I can get that done in 2 weeks, and I have an extra 9 months to plan/save for it.

$540 return from Perth. Have to stop off in KL but worth it. Was planning on going to SE Asia for a quick holiday anyway so it works well. I think it might be the rainy season that time of year though.

 

[ioppolo]

If I could, I'd definitely do an away trip to the UAE. Always wanted to see what the rich oil kings have built the country into.

 

[Satan]

If I could, I'd definitely do an away trip to the UAE. Always wanted to see what the rich oil kings have built the country into.

A lot of high rise buildings that are fire hazards with dodgy external cladding

 

[BobbyMorri]

why should we fear Saudi Arabia. They have always played well against other ME teams. Once they play a team outside of that region, then they begin to struggle. we beat them home and away last WC qualifying. Thailand gave us more trouble back in 2011.

Thailand is a good team to get, because they will take points off other teams as well. good counter attacking team. Dont like Iraw, simply due to the fact that they always beat us.

UAE are a solid team, but that is it.

The first 3 games are key. Iraq home and away to UAE and Saudi Arabia. if we get 5-7 points in those 3 games, then we are well on our way to Russia.

 

[FreoRicci]

Like this group. The previous qualifying, apart from Jordan away, was pretty straight forward. Think alot of the star players will relish playing against better opponents and push for the World Cup squad. Glad we avoided Qatar, Syria and Uzbekistan. At least with UAE and Saudi Arabia they have decent pitches and facilities with hardly sold out crowds (Jordan's fans and atmosphere helped them win 2-0 big time). Would be interesting to see how we match up against Japan this time around. We were so defensive and parked the bus away uner Holger . Ange will push for a more attacking style, so Rogic/Mooy/Luongo will have something to prove. Think only Cahill, Milligan and Kruse are the the only players left from that qualifying round.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Hey NUFC Tiger, did you edit the topic title? Then may I suggest that you should walk on then? Lol.

Of course it's Japan, it's never truly an Asian competition without them.

I'm feeling a bit conflicted at the moment, because I want Okaz-err, I mean, Japan and Thailand to do very well in qualifying. Of course I want the Aussies to qualify, but I will be keeping an eye on both team and player in this round. (If anyone's going to Thailand, please gauge how big we're are there!)

 

[peternorth]

whatever happens i hope we dont have a repeat of the vicious, disgusting, vile insults leveled at our opponents like seen posted here when we played Jordan.