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Post by monitorlezard on Jun 24, 2006 11:23:53 GMT 7
So all asian teams are out of the world cup.
Not true according to singaporean journalists.
Australia is their last hope, they say.
Australia? in Asia?
So let me get this straight. When Australia protests against the death penalty , they are immediately dismissed as non asian that cannot understand asian values.
But being in the last 16 of the world cup they are now the last "asian" chance?
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Post by hello on Jun 24, 2006 13:32:50 GMT 7
Australia qualified for the world cup through the Asian qualifying group. You see, there are spots in the world cup allocated to every continent. Australia took up one Asian spot in the world cup. If not for Australia taking up space in Asian qualifying group, one more "real" Asian team could qualify, probably China or Qatar.
Get it now, lizzie? Australia should qualify through the European qualifying group and not Asian.... leave Asia its qualifying spots. Australia is not in Asia, not Asian in character, and NEVER will be. And neither do the Asians want Australia in their group.
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Post by monitorlezard on Jun 24, 2006 13:51:48 GMT 7
What are you talking about you ignorant?
Australia qualifies though the Oceania group then goes on and play the last qualified in the South American group.
They do not take any "space" from the asian group.
So can anyone out there with half a brain reply to my original question?
Why do you call Australia the last asian hope?
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Post by ninja on Jun 24, 2006 15:09:53 GMT 7
Because Australia only recently (like sometime in the past 6 months) became officially part of the Asian Football Confederation and no longer part of the Oceania grouping. The Football Federation of Australia, under Frank Lowy, has worked hard to dis-engage us from the silly Oceania group so that the national team had a chance to play stronger opponents in Asia. Compare this to ridiculous match-ups with Fiji or Samoa in the recent past where scores reached double digits by half-time in our favour, and then having to play some South American team to qualify for the World Cup. Like I said, a stupid grouping. I wonder if the Kiwis would follow suit if they knew what's good for their footballing future.
Shortly after the World Cup, Australia battles a couple of Middle Eastern countries in the qualifying rounds of the Asian Cup. Being part of the AFC makes Australia eligible to play in this tournament and therefore logically the Socceroos are considered an Asian team.
And "hello", get with the program. Why would and should Australia qualify through the European groupings when THEY don't want us there anyway? Think about it and where we are geographically: are we nearer to Asia or closer to Europe? Perhaps the EU should include us, too? Codswallop.
Go search the recent reports on the AFC website yourself and discover that the AFC welcomed Australia with open arms into its grouping. The benefits are mutual.
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Post by ninja on Jun 24, 2006 15:23:39 GMT 7
The following is courtesy of Wikipedia:
Acceptance into the AFC
Many commentators and fans felt that the only way for Australia to progress was to abandon the Oceania Football Confederation. Football had developed over time to place increasing importance on tournaments rather than friendly matches. This established the Continental championships and their qualifiers as the major source of competitive matches for national teams. This served to starve Australia of potential opponents and resulted in long gaps between fixtures for the national team.
The late Johnny Warren, a respected football broadcaster and former Socceroo captain, described his desire for Australia to join Asia. Despite previous attempts to do so, each notoriously ending in failure, a story was leaked from Tokyo in March 2005 suggesting that FFA had entered into secret discussions with the AFC on this very issue. On March 23, the AFC Executive Committee made a unanimous decision to invite Australia to join the AFC.
AFC President, Mohammed Bin Hammam, outlined reasons for this decision.
As well as being a developed football nation, Australia brings a developed economy and this is actually what we want in football. Besides Japan, Korea, China and Saudi Arabia if Australia joins the benefits are huge, this is what we're after.
On April 17, the OFC executive committee unanimously endorsed Australia's proposed move. FIFA approved the move on June 30, and it took effect on January 1, 2006.
On December 1, the AFC Executive Committee announced that Australia will be put into the ASEAN zone.
Australia has duly been entered into the Asian Cup Qualifying Tournament beginning in February, 2006. On 4th January 2006, Australia was drawn into group D, alongside Bahrain, Lebanon and Kuwait.
Australia's first game as a member of the AFC was on 22 February 2006, a 3-1 win away to Bahrain in the Asian Cup qualifier.
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Post by monitorlezard on Jun 24, 2006 18:58:11 GMT 7
Australia did not qualify for Germany 2006 under the Asia group!
Australia qualified for this world cup as the winner of the OCEANIA group and playing Uruguay in the playoff.
So for this world cup Australia has absolutely nothing to do with Asia.
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calamityman
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Naturally Disastrous
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Post by calamityman on Jun 24, 2006 22:11:24 GMT 7
that's right. australia is part of the AFC only after the current world cup. it's just a strategical move. no need to burn your bra over it.
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Post by sgbabe on Jun 24, 2006 22:48:03 GMT 7
<it's just a strategical move. no need to burn your bra over it.> Oops  |
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Post by ninja on Jun 24, 2006 22:50:53 GMT 7
It's not important. I guess what the Singaporean journos were trying to communicate was the fact that Australia IS now a part of the AFC (effective from 1 Jan 2006 and sanctioned by FIFA). We played our first match as an AFC member on 22 Feb 2006 against Bahrain. That the Socceroos are being claimed by some Singaporean sports writers is a tiny step forward towards a new reality.
However, the move to the AFC didn't change the fact that we still had to finish our obligations under the OCF before the swap, hence we still had to beat Uruguay to qualify for the World Cup under the auspices of the OCF.
So, on the one hand, you are right: Australia's qualification in this World Cup had nothing to do with the ACF. On the other, the Singaporean journos are also technically correct in stating that Australia is the last "Asian" team left in the tournament.
No bras or jockstraps or man-Gs burned.
By the way, Germany is playing Sweden now. I'm surprised that Sweden is still in the tournament.
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Post by As I recall it on Jul 5, 2006 8:36:54 GMT 7
Now that you bring it up...
One fine day in 1998 or 1997, I was at MCG watching Iran draw Australia 2-2 in the very last minutes of the match, which made Aus miss the world cup that time after getting so close.
If Aus was at that time in the Oceania group, so how did they end up playing world cup qualifiers against Iran?
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Post by Wondering on Jul 5, 2006 10:51:06 GMT 7
Just wondering. Does anyody from the Oceania group ever join the world cup? Shouldn't the three or four winners of that group join?  |
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calamityman
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Post by calamityman on Jul 5, 2006 11:34:47 GMT 7
only new zealand and australia have ever been to the world cup.
and australia played iran because the rule then was for the oceanian champs to play the best loser in the asian qualifiers, just like last year, except that the oceanian champs had to play south america's best loser.
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Post by As I remember it on Jul 6, 2006 3:02:17 GMT 7
Thanks Calamityman! Does the last opponent of the Oceania group winner change every time or will it now be South America again the next time around?
Just wondering what kind of teams, if any, can we expect from Oceania of Aus is going to be in the Asian qualifiers group.
Oh well, back to match now. Quite lightly given penalty to France, brings back memories from the European Champonships in 2000...
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calamityman
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Post by calamityman on Jul 6, 2006 9:44:12 GMT 7
the biggest kahuna in oceania now would be new zealand. i am sure the oceanian champs would still have to play off against the best loser of one of the other regions' qualifiers. in this case, oceania doesn't have an ice cube's chance in hell.
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