Alhaji Righteous De Ambitious: World Cup 2006 Blog

Sunday, June 7, 2009

World Cup 2006 Blog

Link to World Cup Soccer - South Africa 2010

Japan, Australia and S. Korea are First Teams to Qualify for WC 2010 (Unless, of Course, you count South Africa)

Posted: 06 Jun 2009 02:07 PM PDT

(I found this photo of Japan fans quite disturbing. Let’s hope those are Japanese flags on his chest and not the result of piercings gone horribly wrong.)

In the world of World Cup qualifying, which would you prefer for your team? That they qualify for World Cup 2010 by having to fight for every point right up until the last second? Or that they qualify a full year in advance and have that year to coast and rest?

Different confederations have different philosophies on this, with the Asian Football Confederation coming down on the “get it over with and rest” side of the issue. As of today, three of the four (or five) AFC slots have been finalized, with the fourth slot to be decided no later than June 17.

After that, the third place teams from both qualifying groups will do battle for the right to play against the top team from Oceania for the AFC-or-Oceania slot.

(For a primer on AFC qualifying process, including why the heck Australia is here, stop by this post.)

The early achievers who’ve already qualified are Japan, Australia and Korea Republic (S. Korea).

Japan punched their ticket to South Africa today with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan this lone goal from Shinji Okazaki in the ninth minute.

Australia only needed a point from their match with Qatar, and that’s what they got in a nil-nil draw. I’d post highlights, but… Come on, people. Nil-nil. Would you really watch them? (Plus, I can’t find any. If you’re really interested, keep checking at 101 Great Goals or TV Golo.)

And finally, S. Korea advances with a 2-0 win over United Arab Emirates, with goals by Park Chu-Young and Ki Sung Yueng.