Albert Posted January 18, 2015 Author Share Posted January 18, 2015 Uzbekistan 3-1 Saudi ArabiaChina 2-1 DPRKSaudi Arabia are out, Uzbekistan are through. The first confirmed quarter finals are:Korea v UzbekistanAustralia v ChinaNext up:Iran v UAEQatar v BahrainIran and UAE are already through, but the winner takes top spot of the group. In the case of a draw, it's the UAE who will take top spot.Still no draws in the tournament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsy Ram Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 UAE to beat Iran. Bahrain-Qatar first draw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Great game by the UAE, lacked a cutting edge though. If they do end up getting Japan, I would back them to give them a bit of a scare. They were a bit unlucky with the result, most days that'd have been a draw or a win for them, but not today. Ultimately though:Iran 1-0 UAEQatar 1-2 BahrainStill no draws.Now, strangely enough, all the teams are still in for the last group. The matches are:Japan v JordanIraq v PalestineI'll draw something describing the possible scenarios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 19, 2015 Author Share Posted January 19, 2015 Iran will play the runners up in Group D, UAE play the winners of Group D.Okay, so the table sorting rules for the Asian Cup favour results between teams over outright goal difference. This leads to the interesting situation where a Jordanian win over Japan may well still send them home. A Jordanian win, and an Iraqi win by 4 or more goals (whether this sends Japan home or not is down to another sorting rule, which I'll get to in a moment), or even just a Jordanian win by two or more goals and any Iraqi Victory will actually send Jordan and Iraq through. Considering tournament form up to now, an Iraqi win is likely, and an Iraqi win by 4+ goals against Palestine on current form in the tournament isn't beyond reason either.Beyond is the table for the results. It's down as team "wins by", with 0 being a draw between the sides. The horizontal and vertical axes are the two matches. The colour the box represents the team going through top, with the colours as in the title bar, and the ' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Japan 2-0 Jordan Iraq 2-0 Palestine Japan and Iraq are through, Jordan and Palestine out. With that it's down to 8 teams. The quarter finals are as such: Korea v Uzbekistan Australia v China Iran v Iraq Japan v UAE In terms of the format of the knockout stages: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 Also worth noting that there were no draw in the group stage, and that all groups ended 9-6-3-0 by points. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsy Ram Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Wining team in bold: Korea v UzbekistanAustralia v ChinaIran v IraqJapan v UAE (But I really want the UAE to win). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Wining team in bold: Korea v UzbekistanAustralia v ChinaIran v IraqJapan v UAE (But I really want the UAE to win).I'm a bit unsure of Japan and Iraq. Japan should beat the UAE, but despite the Palestine result (weakest team in the tournament) they don't look all that impressive. If they click, they will win the Asian Cup, but I'm just not sure of how they've been so far.To be completely honest (35 minutes played, Korea 0-0 Uzbekistan) I think that this one is going to penalties. Uzbekistan to go through.I wouldn't write off China either, have looked decent this tournament.Not sure with Iran v Iraq. That's going to be an interesting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsilks Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I'm a bit unsure of Japan and Iraq. Japan should beat the UAE, but despite the Palestine result (weakest team in the tournament) they don't look all that impressive. If they click, they will win the Asian Cup, but I'm just not sure of how they've been so far. To be completely honest (35 minutes played, Korea 0-0 Uzbekistan) I think that this one is going to penalties. Uzbekistan to go through. I wouldn't write off China either, have looked decent this tournament. Not sure with Iran v Iraq. That's going to be an interesting one. Japan will walk the Asian Cup. They have by far the strongest squad and have beaten their opponents at a canter so far. The only team standing in their way is Australia but I cannot see them providing too much of a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsy Ram Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I'm a bit unsure of Japan and Iraq. Japan should beat the UAE, but despite the Palestine result (weakest team in the tournament) they don't look all that impressive. If they click, they will win the Asian Cup, but I'm just not sure of how they've been so far. To be completely honest (35 minutes played, Korea 0-0 Uzbekistan) I think that this one is going to penalties. Uzbekistan to go through. I wouldn't write off China either, have looked decent this tournament. Not sure with Iran v Iraq. That's going to be an interesting one. My prediction from the start was a Japan Oz final. The disappointing theme though is how countries like UAE could have a much better national team if it wasn't for things like nepotism and badly run football associations. They have the quality but not the structure. Would be nice for once to get someone else aside from Japan and Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 My prediction from the start was a Japan Oz final. The disappointing theme though is how countries like UAE could have a much better national team if it wasn't for things like nepotism and badly run football associations. They have the quality but not the structure. Would be nice for once to get someone else aside from Japan and Australia. Thanks to Australia coming second in group A, there won't be an Australia v Japan final: If Australia beat China and Japan beat UAE, it will be an Australia v Japan semi. One of Korea, Uzbekistan, Iran or Iraq will play in the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsy Ram Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 So the semi final is essentially the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 So the semi final is essentially the final.I honestly don't rate Japan that highly this tournament. They don't look in form, have struggled to finish their chances, and to this point have faced arguably the weakest group, will face the weakest team in the quarters and there is supposedly trouble brewing with the coach.I don't doubt they could win it, any of the last 8 could realistically win it from here, but I would actually rate Korea as a bigger threat, although they are having trouble tonight (90', 0-0, Uzbekistan arguably with the better chances). They are solid defensively, played well in their group, and are still yet to concede. If they are to go out tonight, I would think it'd be on penalties. If they go through tonight, I'd think they'd be in the final, and I wouldn't rule out them having a clean sheet tournament.I'd think Australia should beat China and would probably beat Japan, they have looked dangerous, but look very prone to defensive lapses at this time (i.e. against Korea). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 No draws in the group stage, right off the bat it's 0-0 after 90 minutes between Korea and Uzbekistan.Korea have played 360' minutes in this tournament without conceding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 2-0 to Korea, that should be it.They are going to be very hard to beat. Their tournament clean sheet still stands, and they have the quality to score from nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Korea are through, they'll play the winner of Iran v Iraq. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Pitch looks awful for the match between China and Australia.Mile Jedinak doesn't look like he should be on the pitch. Misplacing all sorts of passes, putting Australia under a lot of pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 Multiple misplaced passes, position seems a bit off, and now a yellow after hacking a player down. He really doesn't look like he was ready to return in this match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 The one positive for Australia so far is that if they do manage to win this, they won't have to play on this cow paddock again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 HOLY SAUSAGE CAHILL!1-0 Australia!This man doesn't age like a human, he ages like a fine French wine made with Australian grapes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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