Asian Cup anyone?

[Adequace]

First match kicks off today at 8pm AEST, Australia vs Kuwait. Japan will be most likely winning the entire thing, regardless this will put football in the spotlight in Australia.

[MJRomeo81]

Yes! Best of Asian football right in our backyard.

I also think Japan will win it.

Australia vs South Korea is a must-watch match.

[SkiesTheLimit]

Gotta agree with you guys.

Japan is definitely the strongest team but I believe they aren't certainties. I definitely think South Korea will cause teams problems, Hueng Min Son has been in excellent form for Leverkusen.

I'm actually extremely lucky, I have a package where I can go to all the games in Melbourne

Interested to see how Australia goes but I'm not expecting too much, we've been mediocre in the last 2/3 tournaments. It's definitely make or break time for Ange.

[SE_JM]

Yay! I'm glad i'm not the only one interested in the Asian cup. Hardly seen any advertisement ANYWHERE. Lol. Maybe on youtube once or twice but seriously lacking some Soccer spirit

Australia vs South Korea is a must-watch match.

Even if i miss the other games, i will definitely watch this one!. South Korea has fairly good players, I think.

 North Korean games will be especially interesting. I wonder if any of the players will cry when the national anthem plays. (like the last world cup. Or was that the olympics? LOL)

[Paulrus]

Considering Australia's pretty terrible form recently, I'd be surprised if we end up matching our performance from 2011. Although I still remember the heartbreak of losing that final
With Kruse back in the squad from injury though I reckon we should still do decently. I'd say ideally we should make it out of the group stage at the very least, but Oman and Kuwait have both tripped us up in the past, and South Korea are an extremely strong side, so... We definitely should make it through but I reckon tonight's result will play a pretty big role in determining that.

Actually in addition to South Korea and Japan, which people have mentioned, I reckon Iran has a pretty strong squad - I'll be interested to see how they go as well.

[Anchy]

Is this game going to be on SBS?

[SE_JM]

Pretty sure SBS airs it live on their website (Probably since Australia is playing in that match)
But i'm not sure if they'll air it on TV (coz i never watch TV)

[SkiesTheLimit]

Considering Australia's pretty terrible form recently, I'd be surprised if we end up matching our performance from 2011. Although I still remember the heartbreak of losing that final
With Kruse back in the squad from injury though I reckon we should still do decently. I'd say ideally we should make it out of the group stage at the very least, but Oman and Kuwait have both tripped us up in the past, and South Korea are an extremely strong side, so... We definitely should make it through but I reckon tonight's result will play a pretty big role in determining that.

Actually in addition to South Korea and Japan, which people have mentioned, I reckon Iran has a pretty strong squad - I'll be interested to see how they go as well.

Have to agree there, but I will say, there's a bit of unpredictability about this side. The old cast are all gone (well except for Bresciano and Cahill).

At Gk we're solid, Langerack and Ryan have been having very good seasons (especially Langerack, has been given a string of games for Dortmund recently)

In defence Chris Herd reaching full fitness is a massive plus, I am the biggest Chris Herd fan, he has it all. I'm a little concerned though, it's a very young defence. No real recognized names playing in top tier leagues except for J.Davidson who himself competes with that Belgian LB at Westbrom.

Midfield very solid, I like Jedinak and Milligan in there bashing and crashing + they can play with their feet too. Bit of creativity and youth in there with Triosi (who makes things happen) and Antonis who I'm very happy made the squad.

Up top we've got some pace which we haven't always been accustomed to having.

Korea vs Australia is definitely the key game, we've got to win that.

I definitely think that we have some sort of chance to go decently far in the tournament, home crowds should also be a factor in that but I'm not too sure though. This team will be hot or cold.

[SkiesTheLimit]

Is this game going to be on SBS?

It's on Foxtel and there's a delayed version on ABC.

[Paulrus]

Have to agree there, but I will say, there's a bit of unpredictability about this side. The old cast are all gone (well except for Bresciano and Cahill).

At Gk we're solid, Langerack and Ryan have been having very good seasons (especially Langerack, has been given a string of games for Dortmund recently)

In defence Chris Herd reaching full fitness is a massive plus, I am the biggest Chris Herd fan, he has it all. I'm a little concerned though, it's a very young defence. No real recognized names playing in top tier leagues except for J.Davidson who himself competes with that Belgian LB at Westbrom.

Midfield very solid, I like Jedinak and Milligan in there bashing and crashing + they can play with their feet too. Bit of creativity and youth in there with Triosi (who makes things happen) and Antonis who I'm very happy made the squad.

Up top we've got some pace which we haven't always been accustomed to having.

Korea vs Australia is definitely the key game, we've got to win that.

I definitely think that we have some sort of chance to go decently far in the tournament, home crowds should also be a factor in that but I'm not too sure though. This team will be hot or cold.

Mmm the defence is definitely inexperienced, I think that's been part of why we've been conceding so many unnecessary goals. Langerak is solid but I reckon the defence is probably our weakest area at the moment. I think we've definitely had an overreliance on the old cast though, so I guess it's good to have some newer players. I haven't seen much of Herd but I'm a fan of Davidson.

Jedinak is extremely consistent, he'll be a good presence to have in midfield. Plus Antonis is fantastic - as much as I hate to say it about a Sydney FC player, he's definitely a really skilled player I'm interested to see how he'll work with the squad.
Yeah our style of play up front is a lot faster than it used to be, I guess partially cos we have a lot more younger players. I'm a big fan of Kruse and Leckie actually, it's good to have some decent options up front rather than just relying on Cahill.

Yeah I agree, if we lose the match against Korea it'd be almost impossible to win the group. Luckily though none of the teams in group B are particularly strong, so even if we only get second we'd still have a good chance at winning in the round of 16.

But yeah, football is a fickle game, there's no real point in predicting cos almost anything could happen lol

[SkiesTheLimit]

Mmm the defence is definitely inexperienced, I think that's been part of why we've been conceding so many unnecessary goals. Langerak is solid but I reckon the defence is probably our weakest area at the moment. I think we've definitely had an overreliance on the old cast though, so I guess it's good to have some newer players. I haven't seen much of Herd but I'm a fan of Davidson.

Jedinak is extremely consistent, he'll be a good presence to have in midfield. Plus Antonis is fantastic - as much as I hate to say it about a Sydney FC player, he's definitely a really skilled player I'm interested to see how he'll work with the squad.
Yeah our style of play up front is a lot faster than it used to be, I guess partially cos we have a lot more younger players. I'm a big fan of Kruse and Leckie actually, it's good to have some decent options up front rather than just relying on Cahill.

Yeah I agree, if we lose the match against Korea it'd be almost impossible to win the group. Luckily though none of the teams in group B are particularly strong, so even if we only get second we'd still have a good chance at winning in the round of 16.

But yeah, football is a fickle game, there's no real point in predicting cos almost anything could happen lol

Definitely defensively there are issues to be addressed. We aren't going against scrubs in this Cup. Some of the attackers in this tournament are going to be genuine threats. I see us in good stead in years to come though, there are some very talented defenders coming through. Sainsbury who's in the squad has been getting games in the Eredivise and there were a few more solid young players in the pre-lim squad such as Curtis Good (Newcastle) who got injured.

This is what makes Jedinak and Milligan extremely pivotal to the success of this team. They're the only guys in the midfield with some genuine size and power. I would have liked to have seen Carl Valeri in the team, he's been doing a solid job for the Victory recently, you don't really notice his work.

Anyways, good talking to you, game starts in a min or so

Cmon Australia

[Stick]

ABC's decision to delay coverage by so much is disappointing.

[MelonBar]

Yay! I'm glad i'm not the only one interested in the Asian cup. Hardly seen any advertisement ANYWHERE. Lol. Maybe on youtube once or twice but seriously lacking some Soccer spirit

Even if i miss the other games, i will definitely watch this one!. South Korea has fairly good players, I think.

 North Korean games will be especially interesting. I wonder if any of the players will cry when the national anthem plays. (like the last world cup. Or was that the olympics? LOL)

Will do a better writeup of the main contenders Aus/Sk/Jpn, but to address the north korean thing that was Jung, who is an interesting character because i learned he lives in Japan, and has married a south korean wife?!

[SkiesTheLimit]

Geez, the atmosphere at last nights game was beyond amazing. The Iranians really put on a show, the support was magnificent.

They're also a team that slipped my mind as favourites, they're definitely as good as Japan.

They've easily got the best manager/coach in the tournament. Carlos Queiroz is a mastermind manager, he was the brains behind Fergusons early 2000 Premierleague winning teams and it was no surprise that when he left Arsenal and Chelsea took control. When he returned United went back to winning ways, to add to that, he was the main person who brought Ronaldo to United and nurtured him.

So you can see his credentials right there, Iran have a very good team. Extremely organized and they never lose shape. Very disciplined so they'll be very hard to beat, if they come up against Australia, we're probably goners.

[MelonBar]

hey guys, do you think it will be possible to get 4-7x CAT1 tickets at once when ticket sales open for the QF game.