World Cup 2018

[mighty hounds]

FIFA rankings that will determine the seedings will be released on April 7

Hopefully our ranking picks up a bit with these last few results as the last time the rankings were done we were only ranked 67 which puts us 6th in Asia.
Iran were miles ahead as top Asian ranking so would think we will get 2 of Iran, Japan, Korea, UAE or the Saudi's in our group

Surely winning the Asian cup would put us in at 2nd

[bennymacca]

It seems weird to me that we are so low. Qualified for the last World Cup, won Asian cup, qualified top of our group here.

Surely that would put us at least in the top few?

[Jim05]

FIFA rankings that will determine the seedings will be released on April 7

Hopefully our ranking picks up a bit with these last few results as the last time the rankings were done we were only ranked 67 which puts us 6th in Asia.
Iran were miles ahead as top Asian ranking so would think we will get 2 of Iran, Japan, Korea, UAE or the Saudi's in our group

Surely winning the Asian cup would put us in at 2nd

If it goes at current rankings we would be seeded at 6 (Pot A).
The top 6 ranked would be in Pot A and the next 6 in Pot B and alternate draws done.
That ensures that there are 3 top 6 and 3 bottom 6 in each group.
If it went on current rankings the top 6 are
Iran, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Australia. This would mean 2 others of those 5 would join us in the group

[RB]

It would be good to get a chance to give Iran some revenge. Hard to believe we haven't met them despite being part of the AFC for ten years. We've met almost all the other teams that have gone through to the Final Round.

[RB]

The match in Sydney last night attracted about 25,000, well short of Thursday's crowd in Adelaide (35,000). Andy Harper described last night's crowd as a 'great crowd'. If he thinks that 25,000 at the SFS v Jordan is a 'great' crowd, then surely Thursday's crowd is nothing short of phenomenal, given that:

- it was against a much weaker team (Jordan beat us in Amman, won their last match 8-0, and are ranked significantly higher than Tajikistan)
- it was on a wet night, where it had rained two hours before the game, putting off late deciders
- it was on the Thursday night before Easter, i.e. when lots of people go away
- Adelaide's population is a quarter of Sydney's

I hope the people at Adelaide Oval/State Government ram this down the FFA's throats...

[Jim05]

The match in Sydney last night attracted about 25,000, well short of Thursday's crowd in Adelaide (35,000). Andy Harper described last night's crowd as a 'great crowd'. If he thinks that 25,000 at the SFS v Jordan is a 'great' crowd, then surely Thursday's crowd is nothing short of phenomenal, given that:

- it was against a much weaker team (Jordan beat us in Amman, won their last match 8-0, and are ranked significantly higher than Tajikistan)
- it was on a wet night, where it had rained two hours before the game, putting off late deciders
- it was on the Thursday night before Easter, i.e. when lots of people go away
- Adelaide's population is a quarter of Sydney's

I hope the people at Adelaide Oval/State Government ram this down the FFA's throats...

Not going to defend them because it was a pathetic crowd.
The only thing I will say is that it rained in Sydney pretty solidly for all of that day and the day before and I think the fact that it was a pretty meaningless game as we had qualified may have kept a few away. Not much we can do as Sydney is locked into a long term deal to hold x amount of games.
We will get 1 game here next round but I'd bet it will be a low ranking side

[whufc]

The match in Sydney last night attracted about 25,000, well short of Thursday's crowd in Adelaide (35,000). Andy Harper described last night's crowd as a 'great crowd'. If he thinks that 25,000 at the SFS v Jordan is a 'great' crowd, then surely Thursday's crowd is nothing short of phenomenal, given that:

- it was against a much weaker team (Jordan beat us in Amman, won their last match 8-0, and are ranked significantly higher than Tajikistan)
- it was on a wet night, where it had rained two hours before the game, putting off late deciders
- it was on the Thursday night before Easter, i.e. when lots of people go away
- Adelaide's population is a quarter of Sydney's

I hope the people at Adelaide Oval/State Government ram this down the FFA's throats...

Not going to defend them because it was a pathetic crowd.
The only thing I will say is that it rained in Sydney pretty solidly for all of that day and the day before and I think the fact that it was a pretty meaningless game as we had qualified may have kept a few away. Not much we can do as Sydney is locked into a long term deal to hold x amount of games.
We will get 1 game here next round but I'd bet it will be a low ranking side

Yep and unfortunatley AO stuffed things up with a surface that the FFA hated.

[Jim05]

The match in Sydney last night attracted about 25,000, well short of Thursday's crowd in Adelaide (35,000). Andy Harper described last night's crowd as a 'great crowd'. If he thinks that 25,000 at the SFS v Jordan is a 'great' crowd, then surely Thursday's crowd is nothing short of phenomenal, given that:

- it was against a much weaker team (Jordan beat us in Amman, won their last match 8-0, and are ranked significantly higher than Tajikistan)
- it was on a wet night, where it had rained two hours before the game, putting off late deciders
- it was on the Thursday night before Easter, i.e. when lots of people go away
- Adelaide's population is a quarter of Sydney's

I hope the people at Adelaide Oval/State Government ram this down the FFA's throats...

Not going to defend them because it was a pathetic crowd.
The only thing I will say is that it rained in Sydney pretty solidly for all of that day and the day before and I think the fact that it was a pretty meaningless game as we had qualified may have kept a few away. Not much we can do as Sydney is locked into a long term deal to hold x amount of games.
We will get 1 game here next round but I'd bet it will be a low ranking side

Yep and unfortunatley AO stuffed things up with a surface that the FFA hated.

Definately.
Last nights pitch looked like a potato field but by all reports it will still better than the AO surface which was absolutely slammed by the FFA. Has definitely hurt our chances of getting a big game

[RB]

To be fair, the pitch was only in that state because of the removal of the drop-in wicket a couple of weeks earlier. Far from ideal, but it'll only be a problem in March or October.

[Jim05]

To be fair, the pitch was only in that state because of the removal of the drop-in wicket a couple of weeks earlier. Far from ideal, but it'll only be a problem in March or October.

Next round starts in August so hopefully we will get one around then

[Keefy]

To be fair, the pitch was only in that state because of the removal of the drop-in wicket a couple of weeks earlier. Far from ideal, but it'll only be a problem in March or October.

Wasn't there an opening to some festival or something at the oval too?

[whufc]

To be fair, the pitch was only in that state because of the removal of the drop-in wicket a couple of weeks earlier. Far from ideal, but it'll only be a problem in March or October.

Nope the pitch has been a problem every time Adelaide United has played there as well.

[RB]

It's true that players complained of a heavy pitch last season, but this season in Round 1 it was fine. It wasn't heavy on Thursday either, just the removal of the cricket wicket left scars. As I said, so long as they don't have games just after the changeover they should be fine.

[Jim05]

Pots have been done according to latest rankings.
Pot 1: Iran, Australia
Pot 2: South Korea, Japan
Pot 3: Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
Pot 4: UAE, China
Pot 5: Qatar, Iraq
Pot 6: Syria, Thailand

Each group will consist of 1 from each pot, happy that the latest rankings put Japan and South Korea in the same pot so we now only can get 1 of them.
If I could choose our group I'd take Japan, Uzbekistan, China, Iraq and Thailand

[bennymacca]

As Jim said we were up to 2nd overall, which feels about right given our recent form.

[Jim05]

As Jim said we were up to 2nd overall, which feels about right given our recent form.

Current rankings of remaining sides.
Iran 42
Australia 50
South Korea 56
Japan 57
Saudi Arabia 60
Uzbekistan 66
UAE 68
China 81
Qatar 83
Iraq 105
Syria 110
Thailand 119

[Keefy]

[whufc]

The Draw has been done for the next stage

-Australia
-Japan
-Saudi Arabia
-UAE
-Iraq
-Thailand

Group B is

-Iran
-South Korea
-Uzebkistan
-China
-Qatar
-Syria

Personally reckon we got the slightly easier draw.

[RB]

Would have preferred China to the UAE, but apart from that it's probably the easier group.

[bennymacca]

Saudi Arabia is probably harder than Uzbekistan for the third team, which is probably who we need to worry about