Beijing olympic qualifiers heating up

[South Iraq]

In group A, both Iraq & Australia are tied up on 8 points with 2 games to go, but Iraq is leading the group on goal difference. The next game between the two teams next month in Sydney will almost decide the winner of the group.

In group B, South Korea is leading the group with 10 points, while Bahrain comes second with only 1 point behind. Matchday 6 will see the two teams playing against each other, with Bahrain having to defeat the Koreans in Seoul to earn their qualification ticket.

In Group C, Qatar tops the group with 7 points after defeating Japan yesterday in injury time 2-1, who are now second with also 7 points. Saudi Arabia is third with 5 points. This group seems the strongest one with all three fighting for top spot.

http://www.the-afc.com/english/compe...asp?action=men

[Arashi_Washi]

Oh man i hope Iraq makes it...
Its amazing to see a country of such extent of war and problems are doing more then Iran

Well done....Asian Cup Glory and now Qualifying for Olympic's

You guys are really the guys IRAN Should look upto...Not the other way around....
Iraq is a better national team then Iran....

Look at what u guys have achieved...And keep achieving...

GOOO IRAQ

[South Iraq]

Arashi_Washi, thanks for your support bro.
The game against Australia will be a taugh one. The Aussies will have no choice but play for a win and they have almost a perfect winning record at home, and Im sure they havent forgot their national team's humiliating lose against Iraq in the Asian Cup. But one thing for sure Iraq will have more fans in Sydney than our home games in Doha.

Hopefully Karrar & Alaa will be at their best.

[Arashi_Washi]

Arashi_Washi, thanks for your support bro.
The game against Australia will be a taugh one. The Aussies will have no choice but play for a win and they have almost a perfect winning record at home, and Im sure they havent forgot their national team's humiliating lose against Iraq in the Asian Cup. But one thing for sure Iraq will have more fans in Sydney than our home games in Doha.
Hopefully Karrar & Alaa will be at their best.

Zahra is a goal machine that kid...He can turn out to become a very good player for Iraq in the future

Mes Kerman idiots for letting him go..They are really lacking a goalscorer

Iraq shall inshallah win In Sydney

[South Iraq]

[EKBATAN]

oh man i wanna see that kangaroo hop .gif picture

[South Iraq]

OLYROOS coach Graham Arnold ranks Saturday night's Beijing qualifier against Iraq as the most important game played by any Australian team since the World Cup qualifier against Uruguay two years ago, and has urged supporters to turn out at Central Coast Stadium in their thousands.

"I'm told by the FFA that Iraqi fans, who are mostly from Sydney, have bought half of the 8500 tickets that have been sold so far," Arnold said yesterday. "I'm not surprised, because when Frankie [Farina] was still coaching the Socceroos, we played Iraq in Sydney and more than half of the crowd were Iraqi fans.

"That's great for them, but what I'm saying is that our guys deserve and would appreciate having the bulk of the support for such an important game.

"I don't want people to just assume that the crowd is going to be dominated by our fans - I'm asking them to come along and make sure that's the case.

"I'm calling on the supporters of Central Coast, Newcastle and Sydney in the A-League to realise how much this game means to football in Australia and get there in big numbers.

"I'd love to see a packed stadium of 20,000 people - with most of them cheering for us."

Realistically, the Olyroos need to win if they are to qualify for the Games next year. They sit second in group A, level on points with the Iraqis but three goals worse off, and only the winner of the four-team pool goes through.

In the final qualifying games next Wednesday, Australia are away to third-placed North Korea and Iraq at home to bottom side Lebanon - although the game will be played in Qatar. A win over Iraq would mean the Olyroos need only draw against the Koreans to clinch qualification.

Arnold said qualification for the under-23s event was critical because it would lead to the hottest young talent in Australian football getting another priceless 12 months of development at international level to help fit them for the Socceroos futures he believes many of them have in front of them.

"This is the biggest game for Australian football since the World Cup qualifier against Uruguay in 2005," Arnold said.

"We've got a terrific group of young players - I would expect a minimum of half-a-dozen of them will be called upon for the 2010 World Cup campaign - and if we qualify for the Olympics, it will get them another year of development at this level.

"I don't want it to look like I'm getting ahead of myself, but a fact of life in football is that you have to plan ahead a long way - and if we qualify for the Olympics, then, once the A-League season finishes in February, I've got a program I would like to put in place running up to August.

"It would involve playing a number of games in Asia that would be great for the development of these players. If we don't qualify, we won't get those games - and that would stunt their development to a degree. That's why it's so important to qualify."

Under the circumstances, in which a draw would leave Iraq with one foot in the Olympics, Arnold is expecting the visitors to play a cautious game. But he believes there is a chance that approach could work in Australia's favour.

"We'll be able to go out and play our normal game," he said. "Iraq may put 10 players behind the ball, and if they do that it could make it hard for us to break them down, but it can turn out to be dangerous for the team playing that way, as well. Sometimes, when you play the percentages, you can get into trouble.

"We may need to score just one goal to win this game and we'll be giving ourselves every chance of scoring that goal.

"Iraq are a very good side. They've got some wonderful players and five or six of them were in their full squad for the Asian Cup, but I feel comfortable about how we are placed as we prepare for a game like this. Our team has continued to improve as this tournament has gone on."


Matchday 5 Fixtures - Saturday 17.11.2007

Group A
Australia Vs. Iraq
Lebanon Vs. North Korea

Group B
Uzbekistan Vs. South Korea
Bahrain Vs. Syria

Group C
Vietnam Vs. Japan
Saudi Arabia Vs. Qatar

[Arashi_Washi]

Well done Australia you gotta say.....

They played well, And Deserved their Ticket to the Olympic's

Good match by Iraq Though...Zahra was dissepointing 2nite

[persianfire]

Australia, Japan and South Korea qualified for the finals.

[teammelli34]

yea i hope iraq makes it.
i remember last olympics.
fans went crazy when they scored!

[Sumerian]

Iraq should have advanced, but Australia equalized in the North Korea came through a handball: http://www.divshare.com/download/2834863-05d

Judge for yourselves...I think he knocked it in with his arm.

North Korea could have been up 3-0 in the first half, they were dominating Australia. Oh well, Australia doesn't deserve to be in the Olympics but good luck to them anyway.