Road To South Africa – The Next Phase

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Group:

Australia, Japan, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Bahrain.

Schedule:

Uzbekistan (A), Qatar (H), Bahrain (A), Japan (A), Uzbekistan (H), Qatar (A), Bahrain (H), Japan (H)

Other Group:

Korea Republic, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and United Arab Emirates.

Australia hasn’t been handed an easy draw but it also isn’t the hardest group possible either. If the Socceroos play to their potential, qualification is very attainable. Looking at the group, Australia and Japan will definitely be favourites to get the two automatic qualifying places while Uzbekistan is the clear threat out of the remaining three.

I think the schedule is favourable. With three home games in the last four, we might be able to come home with a wet-sail if need be. Starting away from home in Tashkent won’t be easy with the Uzbeks winning all three games in the last group stage and are yet to concede a goal at home. Any points out of this game would be a good start. Nothing short of all three points at home against Qatar will do. Hopefully we can pick up another win against Bahrain before the crunch game away to Japan. Australia then has mostly home games in the run but hopefully, we will have secured our place in South Africa before Japan comes to visit.

Let’s have a look at each of the opposition teams:

Qatar

We know all about Qatar as well as Jorge Fossati. Their team depends on the talent of Quintana up-front and Fábio César on the flanks while their captain, Abdulla Obaid Koni, keeps things organised in defence. The key is undoubtedly Quintana but without Koni, the defence can become shambolic as it did against Australia. All the teams looking to qualify will be looking to get maximum points against Qatar. While we have had the wood over them and their manager, their familiarity with us could make them hard to break down. With the pace of Quintana in attack and also the set-pieces of César, they could also sneak a goal. For us, more so than Japan, Qatar could prove to be a banana peel.

Bahrain

This is another team that Australia has had the better of in recent encounters. During the Asian Cup qualifying in 2006, we beat them away 1-3 with mostly a second-team while the first-team scored a comfortable 2-0 win at home in the same year. However, this is a very different squad to that of 2006. They scored a 1-0 win over Japan which really laid the foundation for their qualification into this phase. In contrast, they were held at home by Thailand and Oman. In fact, they collected more points away from home. I don’t know too much about their team other than the fact that they have Rashid Jamal, a nominee for the 2008 Asian Player of the Year. Verbeek should really pen in three points in the away leg given the poor home form of Bahrain. They could realistically finish third and get the play-off place if their home form picks up.

Uzbekistan

On their day, they can play very attractive and unstoppable football. They put 9 goals past Chinese Taipei while they also bagged 7 against Singapore away. However, their form is also erratic, beaten 4-0 by the Saudis (although they already qualified by this stage) while they only managed a 1-0 win over Singapore at home. They are a very different footballing team to basically all other nations in Asia. They can play with a physical edge while they also have several technically gifted players in marksman Maxim Shatskikh, attacking midfielder Aleksandr Geynrikh and play-maker Server Djeparov. Most Australians won’t know much about their players as none of them play in the big leagues of Europe. But there is undoubted quality in their ranks and the Uzbeks will no doubt have Japan and Australia concerned.

Japan

A power-house of Asian football. While eventually qualifying into this phase with ease, the last group phase wasn’t all smooth sailing with a surprise loss to Bahrain away on the second match-day. Arguably, in Shunsuke Nakamura, they have the most gifted individual in this confederation. His set-pieces are to be feared while his passing game comes into full effect while playing for the national team as he plays in a central position (for Celtic, he tends to be on the flanks). Japan is also advantaged by the fact that basically their whole first-team is based in Japan. Hopefully we will have Cahill back because defending good crosses into the area is probably Japan’s biggest weakness. Like Australia, qualification is really seen as a minimum expectation.

Predicted Finish:

Australia

Japan

Uzbekistan

Bahrain

Qatar

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