Australia managed to squeeze out a 0-0 draw away to Japan in their World Cup qualifying match in Yokohama tonight.
The point leaves Australia top of their qualifying group with 10 points from four outings.
Japan are second with 8 points from four games.
Australia were on the back foot for most of the game and only had one shot at goal in the 90 minutes.
The Blue Samurai, on the other hand, had some excellent chances but were thwarted either by poor finishing, bad luck, or good shot-stopping by Mark Schwarzer.
Two Australians were cautioned in the first half as the Socceroos fought a desperate rear-guard action.
In the other Group A match, a goal direct from a free-kick in stoppage time by Mahmood Abdulrahman gave Bahrein a 1-0 away win over Uzbekistan in Tashkent to move them into equal third place in the group.
3 comments:
Walter, as a Tasmanian football supporter, do you think that there is any local talent that would be able to make the step up to the A-League? Are we likely to see a Tasmanian in the Socceroos any time soon?
And what's the mood around the state in terms of putting together an A-League bid? Personally I would love to see our southern compadres get a team...
Bill
Personally I would like to see FFT pursue a model like that attempted by AFL Tasmania with a state side in the Victorian Premier league.
Yes this will cost some, but this will be the only way our local lads will get national exposure.
If we are able to secure an A-League license, there is little chance for our guys to get any time on the park, at least initially.
Bill
I don't think any players here are capable of stepping up to the A-League at the moment.
There are some players with potential, but they would not make it at present.
One youngster has been trialing with the Joeys but missed the cut.
The mood is positive about launching a bid for an A-League team, but they can tick all the boxes they like and it won't help until the key box is ticked. That is the box pertaining to finance and that is the key one and, until someone is found who can finance the team and who is prepared to lose money initially, an A-League team is but a dream.
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