Last night’s games saw four strong teams battle it out in their opening games. Iran scored a good win to come from a self inflicted goal behind to beat Uzbekistan 2-1…Uzbekistan had a great chance to have gone in at half time 2-0 up but their striker flashed his header wide. Iran took time to get into their stride but when they did they looked a strong and powerful outfit and will definitely be one of the teams to watch. With China playing Iran next both teams will know a win will take them through to the knockout stages and Uzbekistan could still have a big say in this group if they beat Malaysia (and they should) to set up their final game with China… if Iran have beaten China in game two then it will be between China and Uzbekistan for the quarter final spot.
In the second game both Korea and Saudi Arabia showed high levels of good possession football with Korea probably edging the game over the 90 minutes (or was that 115minutes!?)… Mark Shield didn’t exactly cover himself in glory giving a soft penalty to allow the Saudis to equalise and then showing some “Australian Industrial language” according to the Star Sports commentator when the lights went out again as they were about to restart. When the game finally did re-start after much embarrassed pointing at extinguished floodlights from various officials especially one prevalent one who looked the Sherminator from the American Pie movies the Saudi’s had a golden opportunity to have won the game but their forward showed a distinct lack of composure in front of goal and couldn’t even hit the target…it would have been tough on Korea to have lost the game and in the end the draw was the right result. My mate James and I watched the game at the GGA HQ in Bangkok and we both commented on the fact that this game really felt like a World Cup game… the pace, the control the intensity over consistent periods made this probably, IMHO the best game of the tournament so far from a technical perspective… and it would be a shame if both these teams didn’t progress from the group.
Tonight sees the return of the beach-going Aussie hordes in time to see Thailand take on Oman… a Thai victory followed by an Aussie victory tomorrow would set up Monday’s game as the group decider to see who would top the group and who might need a nervous look over the should at the result of the other game. It would be great for the tournament but Thailand will have to play significantly better than they did against Iraq to beat what now know to be a strong Oman team. I predict Oman to have too much strength and pace for Thailand especially on the counter attack when the Oman team moves forward as a unit with players on both flanks which caused the Socceroos so much trouble in game one.
The second game sees hosts Vietnam try to set the country alight with a second famous win and guaranteed progression to the quarter finals… roared on by a partisan home crowd I’m going with my heart to tip a Vietnamese win as I’d love to see the place go off!
The first Copa America semi final finished in farcical manner with the referee showing blatant disregard for the laws of the game by allowing the Brazilian keeper Doni to charge a good three or four strides forward off his line at Lugano on the decisive spot kick. The fact that Lugano’s penalty was so weak he probably could have saved it legally is neither here nor there. The laws clearly state the goalkeeper is allowed to move laterally but not off his line….most keepers will try to take a step forward to push off either left or right but Doni’s effort was a full on charge and it’s a shame that officials seem unwilling to order spot kicks retaken for this infringement. That said Uruguay only have themselves to blame with Pablo Garcia missing the penalty that would have got the Uruguayans home prior to Lugano’s effort.
In the second game both Korea and Saudi Arabia showed high levels of good possession football with Korea probably edging the game over the 90 minutes (or was that 115minutes!?)… Mark Shield didn’t exactly cover himself in glory giving a soft penalty to allow the Saudis to equalise and then showing some “Australian Industrial language” according to the Star Sports commentator when the lights went out again as they were about to restart. When the game finally did re-start after much embarrassed pointing at extinguished floodlights from various officials especially one prevalent one who looked the Sherminator from the American Pie movies the Saudi’s had a golden opportunity to have won the game but their forward showed a distinct lack of composure in front of goal and couldn’t even hit the target…it would have been tough on Korea to have lost the game and in the end the draw was the right result. My mate James and I watched the game at the GGA HQ in Bangkok and we both commented on the fact that this game really felt like a World Cup game… the pace, the control the intensity over consistent periods made this probably, IMHO the best game of the tournament so far from a technical perspective… and it would be a shame if both these teams didn’t progress from the group.
Tonight sees the return of the beach-going Aussie hordes in time to see Thailand take on Oman… a Thai victory followed by an Aussie victory tomorrow would set up Monday’s game as the group decider to see who would top the group and who might need a nervous look over the should at the result of the other game. It would be great for the tournament but Thailand will have to play significantly better than they did against Iraq to beat what now know to be a strong Oman team. I predict Oman to have too much strength and pace for Thailand especially on the counter attack when the Oman team moves forward as a unit with players on both flanks which caused the Socceroos so much trouble in game one.
The second game sees hosts Vietnam try to set the country alight with a second famous win and guaranteed progression to the quarter finals… roared on by a partisan home crowd I’m going with my heart to tip a Vietnamese win as I’d love to see the place go off!
The first Copa America semi final finished in farcical manner with the referee showing blatant disregard for the laws of the game by allowing the Brazilian keeper Doni to charge a good three or four strides forward off his line at Lugano on the decisive spot kick. The fact that Lugano’s penalty was so weak he probably could have saved it legally is neither here nor there. The laws clearly state the goalkeeper is allowed to move laterally but not off his line….most keepers will try to take a step forward to push off either left or right but Doni’s effort was a full on charge and it’s a shame that officials seem unwilling to order spot kicks retaken for this infringement. That said Uruguay only have themselves to blame with Pablo Garcia missing the penalty that would have got the Uruguayans home prior to Lugano’s effort.
