Tuesday saw the finale of the joint AFC World Cup/Asian
Cup qualifiers Round 2 stage, as the continent splits to compete for
qualification on two separate fronts. Alongside direct qualification
for 2019’s Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the 12 sides to compete
further for a place in Russia 2018 have been confirmed as Australia, Iran,
Japan, Korea Republic, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Thailand, Syria,
China PR and Qatar. The remaining participants will have to contend with Asian
Cup qualification alone when Round 3 of both procedures kicks off in
September. Looking back on the last week of football, here are some of the players, teams and talking points that particularly stood out.
The Player
It could be argued that Aaron Mooy is the whole Round’s most impressive player, going from being left out of Australia’s Asian Cup
winning squad right through to one of their most important starters by the end
of qualification in just over a year. His quality and influence has grown alongside his confidence
to dictate play, with this week being by far his most devastating in Socceroo
yellow. With plenty of rotation being actioned by Postecoglou over the final
two games against Tajikistan and Jordan, Aaron Mooy’s name in the heart of the
midfield remained unchanged, speaking volumes of his indispensability within
the continental champions' hopes of World Cup qualification.
He was on form from the off against Tajikistan on Thursday, as
he went on to assist two of the seven unanswered goals, but his performance in the crunch group decider with
Jordan on Tuesday moved up another level. Involved in all three of Australia’s first half goals, the Socceroos
were quickly past the previously hopeful Jordan side coached for the week by
Harry Redknapp, eventually ending up 5-1 to the home side. Mooy was involved in
a creative capacity in Australia’s first and third goals, with the same tandem
of players; Robbie Kruse who teed up Tim Cahill for a brace. Mooy netted
himself in between those goals, bursting down the left in space before finishing past the keeper
coolly.
To further complement his phenomenal goal and assist records replicated in domestic football where he continues to dominate nearly every A-League statistic, Mooy’s usefulness for Postecoglou derives from the
manager’s wish to regularly adapt his side’s play. Whether it be a defensive,
more counter attacking game or a more possession focused patient approach,
Mooy can fill in as a defensive terrier, midfield architect or lung burster
from deep. All these characteristics make for an unsurprising read when you consider Mooy has featured in more qualification games than the likes of Mark Milligan, Mile
Jedinak and Massimo Luongo. While his future in domestic football is far from
secure, with a move to Europe in the offing over the summer, one thing is for certain; he’ll be starting for Postecoglou as soon as the Socceroos return in September.
The Team
They were all but gone weren’t they? Or so we thought
anyway. Going into the final two matches of Round 2, China PR’s pursuit of a
lucky loser spot looked in tatters. Defeat to Qatar and subsequent 0-0 draws
with Hong Kong hadn’t exactly done their record any favours, and with Qatar
running riot with a 100% record at the top of Group C, World Cup qualification
continued to look distant. Over the winter break, out went the under fire Alain
Perrin, and in came Gao Hongbo on a temporary contact for his second spell in
the dugout purely to regain some respect for Chinese national football.
Two games later he’s turned things around, partially due
to others collapsing but in the main for the improved back to back victories last
week that clinched the final “best runners up” spot ahead of Korea DPR. Korea
themselves had it in their own hands but blew their chances with a spectacular
last 10 minute collapse away in the Philippines. Meanwhile in Doha, China were
not just hanging on but thriving against arguably the team of the round in
Qatar. Gao had made some brave calls including dropping target man Yang Xu for
the red hot Jiang Ning who smashed in a hat-trick against the Maldives four
days previous in what was his first national team appearance since 2013.
The picture isn’t wholly rosy by any means, there are plenty of
areas to work on ahead of September but China at least looked confident and at
times free flowing. Second half goals from Huang Bowen (criminally underused by
Perrin) and Wu Lei late on sealed their place in the next round and
for now brought the fans back around to the side of the national team. The next
question now regards Gao’s future. Recently the CFA have made no secret in that
they prefer overseas coaches to their own, the inflated reputation and
financial muscle that Chinese football is experiencing at the moment also
suggests Gao won’t continue on in his role for much longer. For now however the
CFA can breathe a huge sigh of relief at avoiding a potential footballing
disaster.
The Talking Point
As we’ve now reached the climax of Round 2, it feels the
right time to fully assess the merits and constraints of the new format rolled
out by FIFA and the AFC for this cycle of qualification. From a very narrow
field, which allowed the established nations later entry but less game time for
the smaller nations, to an even spread of game time amongst the vast majority,
the main success point has been guaranteed regular football for the former
“emerging” nations of the AFC.
We were instantly rewarded for this levelling of the
playing field with improved performances from Hong Kong (pushing China hard for
second place), Guam (who held Oman to a home), the Philippines (who
beat Bahrain) and Korea DPR (who came within 10 minutes of qualifying for Round
2, beating Uzbekistan along the way) but in the end there were few if any real
surprises; Thailand overcoming Iraq to top Group F wasn’t the greatest of
shocks, while Syria’s headline grabbing second place finish was seen way before
the draw was even made. Even then, despite looking streets ahead of their former
peers (scoring an average of over 5 goals a game against them), Syria were
easily beaten without scoring in both ties against top dogs Japan.
This lack of tangible success after Round 2 alongside
isolated match days which coupled the best and worst teams in the groups
against one another ending up predictably in clear one sided encounters,
have left outsiders and critics sceptical not only of the new format but the
level of Asian football in general. The initial aim is far from lost though, it’s
really just got going. The increase in playing time is only half way through
given Asian Cup Round 3 is just around the corner, this will build upon
previous match experience, continental logistics etc. but will also pit similar
strength sides against one another on a sustained basis. Every round and every
game will improve the confederation from the bottom up, so it’s likely that the
real benefit of the format switch won’t truly be realised for another 2 to 3
cycles.
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