FIFA has no idea

[hotpie]

This is too important to be stuck on the soccer board.

How in God's name did Australia get such an easy ride to the World cup finals? It is a disgrace and makes a mockery of the World Cup to think that teams like Chile and Peru and Uraguay struggle to qualify against the likes of Brazil and Argentina, and all we have to do is beat the Cocos Islands and New Zealand!

Its a joke. Oceania should be abolished and merged in with Asia, and we would then have to work for our spot against quality teams. Australian soccer had done nothing to deserve this handout.

 

[Diego]

Originally posted by hotpie
This is too important to be stuck on the soccer board.

How in God's name did Australia get such an easy ride to the World cup finals? It is a disgrace and makes a mockery of the World Cup to think that teams like Chile and Peru and Uraguay struggle to qualify against the likes of Brazil and Argentina, and all we have to do is beat the Cocos Islands and New Zealand!

Its a joke. Oceania should be abolished and merged in with Asia, and we would then have to work for our spot against quality teams. Australian soccer had done nothing to deserve this handout.

A thread was started on the G Boards last night I believe.

 

[Ausgard]

Originally posted by hotpie
This is too important to be stuck on the soccer board.

well I wouldn't go that far. Its only soccer. Its not like its life or death .. like the footy

Originally posted by hotpie
How in God's name did Australia get such an easy ride to the World cup finals? It is a disgrace and makes a mockery of the World Cup to think that teams like Chile and Peru and Uraguay struggle to qualify against the likes of Brazil and Argentina, and all we have to do is beat the Cocos Islands and New Zealand!

Its a joke. Oceania should be abolished and merged in with Asia, and we would then have to work for our spot against quality teams. Australian soccer had done nothing to deserve this handout. [/B]

Agree.

So long as australia doesn't kep on having to win these knock out finals in order to qualify for the next knock out final. 8 teams - 3 or 4 go throw - round robin.

that will sort us out and is the fairest way

 

[DaveW]

Hey, if Oceania has to be its own confederation it deserves a spot in the world cup. Simple as that. The injustice is over.

 

[fabulousphil]

So what if its a joke, take it back to the soccer board, it really doesnt impinge on Aussie rules directly.

I suppose now the country will be overrun with the kiddies all wanting to be Kewwell or Viduka............... boring.

 

[Joel]

THe lies of NZ beat us this year.

 

[Lockyer24]

I'm stoked!!!!!

 

[Bomber Spirit]

Originally posted by DaveW
Hey, if Oceania has to be its own confederation it deserves a spot in the world cup. Simple as that. The injustice is over.

If the top team in a confederation doesn't play in the world cup, there's not much point in the confed existing. What other purpose does it serve?
At the moment on the FIFA rankings NZ is above Australia. We're no certainties to qualify, although with the top players available we'll be hot favourites.

But even if Australia is in the World Cup, I doubt the AFL would lose too much sleep. Sure we'll all lose sleep for a month in 2006 when we're staying up late to watch games from Germany with their bleary-eyed time zones. But once that month is over, unless some form of World Cup euphoria makes everyone embrace the NSL which becomes a winter competition, it's hardly going to threaten the AFL.

 

[Peter P]

The reason we got the easy ride is that Oceania supported Sepp Blatter against the Europeans who were wanting him dismissed from the FIFA Presidency for corruption. FIFA is known as Sepp Blatter's fiefdom.

Most of Oceania's nations have less people let alone less soccer players than many Asian or Sth American suburbs - literally! But with 11 nations there is 11 votes for the FIFA Presidency, about as many as Sth America.

So Basil Scarsella got us an easy ride for helping an alleged crook. I say alleged - the Europeans may of course be wrong.

Even Johnny Warren says it is far too easy. He says better to have been through Asia with much more regular competition with Asian nations. That would have helped the standard of Australian soccer. If Oceania is too small to be a true confederation, then Asia is too big especially with the growth of soccer there. Could've split off Sth East Asia and joined it with Oceania.

It probably is bad news for the AFL as it will increase a drift of players and sponsors to soccer. More reason for the AFL to take the long term view and push its own international dimensions - both with Gaelic and also as pure footy.

 

[rumply]

Originally posted by hotpie
FIFA has no idea

yes, the 2002 world cup was a complete joke, hey?

 

[PAfolwr]

This direct qualification is wrong, and Soccer Australia again shows why it is useless.

The reason we keep losing these qualifiers is not because the other teams have been better, but because they have had better lead ups to these-knock out games.
Now instead of playing against Uruguay or Scotland when they have had up to twenty lead up games compared to our one or two (and friendlies at that), we will go to the World Cup underprepared, and after we make asses out of ourselves, it will give European Countries further ammunition against us.

We should demand to be in the Asian conference. We are after all Australasia, and have more right to be there than some of the other countries. That way we will get games where the Kewells and Vidukas will be released, we will get plenty of lead up games, and if we are good enough we will qualify. Who knows, perhaps both Australia and New Zealand will qualify.

Direct qualification has been deemed to be bad for the winner of the World Cup because of "lack of practice", yet somehow Soccer Australia think we are better.

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

Originally posted by Joel
THe lies of NZ beat us this year.

We didn't have our 105 international players to choose from

And Soccer Australia suck but why are people criticising them over this??? This is the best thing that could have happened to Australian soccer

 

[sbagman]

Originally posted by The_Flying_Egg
We didn't have our 105 international players to choose from

And Soccer Australia suck but why are people criticising them over this??? This is the best thing that could have happened to Australian soccer

I think it's called fear.

I'm loving it.

 

[wagstaff]

I'm surprised at the belief that soccer is a 'sleeping giant' in this country that will be awoken if Australia makes the World Cup and does well.

Admittedly, the coverage and buildup will be enormous, but isn't that the case already for the World Cup without Australia like this year for example?

The only way soccer is going to challenge AFL in any shape or form is if they have a viable, national soccer league that captures the attention of a large segment of the population week-in, week-out.

And that isn't going to happen, no matter how well Australia does at the World Cup.

 

[Mead]

I feel a bit dirty about this.

Look, the fact is, there are very few international championships in any sport which Australia is not a serious contender in. Cricket, Hockey, Rugby, Squash, Tennis, Basketball... generally, if we compete, we're top 5 in the world at the very least.

Now, realistically, if the Socceroos in their present shambolic state (nil training together, administration in tatters, nil games together) make it to the World Cup, they'll get eliminated quick smart. Whats' the point in getting a free ride to arguably the biggest single sporting event on the globe if we're not going to be competitive?
My point? I don't want to see a useless Australian side stroll into the World Cup. It demeans the competition, and it demeans us. If we're going to have a go at it, at least have us earn our entry the hard way, so we know we're not just wasting our time. Realistically, the Asian conference should be split in two, and the south east asian region amalgamated with oceania... At least that way we'll have to work to make it.

 

[sbagman]

I think people are slightly confused here.

The administration of soccer in Australia is shambolic, yes. But the actual team is not. We have some very good players. I mean, do people really think that the governing body of Nigeria, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, etc etc are that much better than Australia's?

The team is good.

 

[wagstaff]

Originally posted by sbagman
I think people are slightly confused here.

The administration of soccer in Australia is shambolic, yes. But the actual team is not. We have some very good players. I mean, do people really think that the governing body of Nigeria, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, etc etc are that much better than Australia's?

The team is good.

That may be all true but what irks me is how this decision came down, not to Australia's merits as a soccer side, but the fact that they sucked up to Blatter enough to ensure they got what they wanted.

I wouldn't say I'm surprised though, as cronyism, back-sliding and corruption are the inevitable products when sport and business merge into one.

The great irony about all this is that for all the allegations and angst over claims of corruption and cronyism about Soccer Australia, it may have been these very features that have enabled Oceania to get its World Cup spot.

 

[The_Flying_Egg]

Originally posted by sbagman
I think people are slightly confused here.

The administration of soccer in Australia is shambolic, yes. But the actual team is not. We have some very good players. I mean, do people really think that the governing body of Nigeria, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, etc etc are that much better than Australia's?

The team is good.

Spot on. Australia will not embarass us or deman soccer by making the World Cup finals. When we play in the finals, assuming we get there, we will most likely be competitive in every game we play. No team in the world is gonna pummel us like Germany did to Saudi Arabia. The good teams like Brazil, Germany, Spain and Argentina would beat us, but we would definetely be competitive

Against most teams in the finals we would have a very good show of winning. Australia has a good team and playing in the finals would give Australia a chance to gain respect and show the rest of the world that we actually aren't bad at soccer

 

[sbagman]

Originally posted by wagstaff
That may be all true but what irks me is how this decision came down, not to Australia's merits as a soccer side, but the fact that they sucked up to Blatter enough to ensure they got what they wanted.

I wouldn't say I'm surprised though, as cronyism, back-sliding and corruption are the inevitable products when sport and business merge into one.

The great irony about all this is that for all the allegations and angst over claims of corruption and cronyism about Soccer Australia, it may have been these very features that have enabled Oceania to get its World Cup spot.

Yep, first time ever politics has been brought into sport. This is the end of sport as we know it.

 

[shiva25]

I think we should be made to earn our right to play in the world cup and the system we had before whereby we had to go through South America was far better system.
How competitive are we going to be in the world cup in 2006 knowing that we only had to beat New Zealand and Tonga to get to the world cup.
We have to play and beat the better nations to deserve our right to play in the world cup

 

[Slax]

Bugger why has Ocenia got a full qualifying birth there were some wierder decisions than that made.

Confacaf (North & Central America) getting another 0.5 of a spot at the expense of South America

Europe lost 0.5 to Oceania.

Oceania is a confederation and FIFA had to either grant us a full spot or give the top 2 teams in Oceania entry into the group stages in Asia. The Asian nations didn't want it so they had to give it to us to make it a true World Cup where every confederation is represented.

I can't work out how Confacaf get an extra 0.5 (knock-out qualifying spot against an Asian nation) when the only two team that can do anything are the USA and Mexico. Stinks of money and merchandising in the states to me.

 

[Captain Random]

Originally posted by wagstaff
That may be all true but what irks me is how this decision came down, not to Australia's merits as a soccer side, but the fact that they sucked up to Blatter enough to ensure they got what they wanted.

I wouldn't say I'm surprised though, as cronyism, back-sliding and corruption are the inevitable products when sport and business merge into one.

That's how it works, unfortunately - cf. pretty much anything Andrew Jennings has written about the IOC.

 

[hotpie]

Re: Re: FIFA has no idea

Originally posted by rumply
yes, the 2002 world cup was a complete joke, hey?

In a way it was a bit of a joke, insofar as the 32 best nations in the world were not neccesarily in the finals. The next World Cup will have an even more uneven playing field. The European and South American nations have been seriously ripped off.

 

[Smokin]

Re: Re: FIFA has no idea

Originally posted by rumply
yes, the 2002 world cup was a complete joke, hey?

Many genuine soccer fans (not the bandwagoners) considered it the worst world cup for a while.

 

[PAfolwr]

Originally posted by sbagman
I think people are slightly confused here.

The administration of soccer in Australia is shambolic, yes. But the actual team is not. We have some very good players. I mean, do people really think that the governing body of Nigeria, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, etc etc are that much better than Australia's?

The team is good.

I think I am to be included into one of your "confused" people here.
However, sadly I am not. Neither is Mead.

The governing body has now removed the clause where the previous winner automatically qualifies for the next World Cup.
Why? Because it has been deemed that this way they would have a chance of going back-to-back. The reason is that friendlies are not a good way to prepare a team for such a tournament.
Also major Clubs are reluctant to release players for friendlies or other meaningless games. Not just Australian players and Leeds United, but players from France and other countries also.

Now does anyone here seriously believe that all of our best players will be released to play against Tonga?
How many games will our squad actually get to play as a team before the World Cup if we qualify?

Our players may be good, but sadly without proper lead up games our "Team" will not be anywhere near as good as they could/should be.
Being part of thew Asian conference is really the only way to go.
Not only will we get games before a World Cup, but Home-Away games in between World Cups as well, where the players MUST be released by their clubs. Then and only then will Australian soccer go forward.