|
Post by cjeagle on Dec 5, 2014 18:59:59 GMT 8
Please post news for WC and Asian Cup qualifying in this thread, as the initial stages will be combined for both tournaments. www.mb.com.ph/azkals-to-play-full-sked-in-fifa-plan/The Philippine Azkals test their mettle against some of Asia’s cream of the crop as the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers will start in June under a new format that was formalized recently by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under the new format, 40 Asian teams will be split into eight groups for the second round of the qualifiers with the top teams and the four second placers earning direct entry into the Asian Cup while advancing to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers. The 24 best teams that were eliminated in the World Cup qualifiers will then dispute the remaining 12 spots for the Asian Cup. Philippine Football Federation (PFF) President Nonong Araneta said that the AFC had agreed not to divide the group into zones after the PFF and other federations made the proposal for logistical reasons. “The AFC said that they don’t want to divide Asia,” Araneta said, adding that the AFC may subsidize the trips of the teams that will play in faraway cities. Under the new format, the Azkals are assured of playing eight matches, including four at home unlike in the old format which used a playoff-style system for the first few rounds. Next year’s qualifiers will likely see the Azkals play at the new Philippine Stadium in Bocaue although it depends on whether the 25,000-seat venue will be fully operational. The stadium had been proposed as the site for the home leg for the AFF Suzuki Cup semifinals against Thailand but officials decided to stage the match at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
|
|
|
Post by cjeagle on Dec 15, 2014 7:08:27 GMT 8
Prelim draw(1st Round): 10 Feb 2015 with matches played played over two legs in the month of March 2015
Group Stage draw(2nd Round): 11 April 2015 with matches played from June 2015 to March 2016.
Since the Philippines will be in the group stage(and not have to participate in the initial prelim qualifying because of our higher ranking), we should find out our opponents for the group stage in April during the main draw.
|
|
|
Post by xyz1000 on Dec 23, 2014 10:43:53 GMT 8
Just to get a flavor of what to expect, I looked at how the Philippines might be grouped. Went straight to the top 40 AFC rankings, then separated into five pots. Straight top to bottom. No bias on regions. If I consider the best teams in my opinion, not necessarily the rankings, that would include the Philippines in the group of death, this is what it would look like:
Group of Death S. Korea Australia Philippines Syria India
If I would guess the "easiest" possible group
Easy Group Qatar Lebanon Philippines Laos Guam
In the next two I used a random number generator
Random 1 Iran Bahrain Philippines Laos Guam
Random 2 S. Korea Palestine Philippines Syria Cambodia
First of all, I thought it was strange that the bottom three in the easy group is identical to the bottom three in Random1. And I made the easy group before Random1. Note that our neighbors in the Asean region are not here. That's because we're all ranked relatively close to each other and hence will likely be in the same pot.
PFF should be looking into scheduling friendlies with the Middle East since there are so many teams there are we're likely to get one or two or even more. We already know our neighbors in the Asean region. But we have limited experience in the Middle East. If we can play Bahrain, Lebanon, or Iraq, that would give us more exposure to their style and allow us to scout the teams.
If the Philippine ranking gets to #16 in the AFC region by the time of the draw, that would really be a huge advantage since it would keep us in the higher ranking pot, thus minimizing the possibility of having better teams in the group. I doubt if our performance in the Suzuki Cup would propel us higher. We're at #18 now. Maybe scheduling a few more friendlies before April might do the job.
Cheers.
|
|
|
Post by chizcake on Dec 23, 2014 23:20:37 GMT 8
nice one sir
|
|
|
Post by xyz1000 on Dec 24, 2014 10:12:27 GMT 8
I’ve been thinking more about this and am convinced of the importance of acting now in order to get the best possible draw for the World Cup qualifying. We have got to get into the second pot, which means getting at least the #16 ranking in Asia conference. We’re at #18 now. It’s good to have those 10 games to play in the World Cup qualifiers. A real prize, however, is to make it to the second round. This will generate more income for PFF and importantly, raise the level of football awareness to an even higher level. Personally I’d rather have the team make it to the second round than to win the Suzuki Cup.
So the question is, what can be done between now and around March in order to be the #16 or higher ranked team in AFC? We just finished the Suzuki Cup and there are no major tournaments in sight. Friendlies are the only way. Friendlies. Play more friendlies, get more points. Get more points, move up the rankings.
|
|
|
Post by xyz1000 on Jan 8, 2015 22:42:29 GMT 8
I’ve been thinking more about this and am convinced of the importance of acting now in order to get the best possible draw for the World Cup qualifying. We have got to get into the second pot, which means getting at least the #16 ranking in Asia conference. We’re at #18 now. It’s good to have those 10 games to play in the World Cup qualifiers. A real prize, however, is to make it to the second round. This will generate more income for PFF and importantly, raise the level of football awareness to an even higher level. Personally I’d rather have the team make it to the second round than to win the Suzuki Cup. So the question is, what can be done between now and around March in order to be the #16 or higher ranked team in AFC? We just finished the Suzuki Cup and there are no major tournaments in sight. Friendlies are the only way. Friendlies. Play more friendlies, get more points. Get more points, move up the rankings. 1/8/2015 AFC Rankings: Philippines at #17 We have got to make it to #16 to be at the 2nd pot. This should be a critical issue for the PFF. More games need to be scheduled before the draw.
|
|
|
Post by jpmanahan on Jan 9, 2015 6:20:43 GMT 8
Teams 11-20 in the AFC. Those with * are participating in AFC Asian Cup:
102 KSA 318* 110 BHR 292* 114 IRQ 269* 115 PAL 268* 122 LEB 251 125 KUW 241* 129 PHI 221 131 MLD 220 133 VIE 218 136 TJK 215
FIFA window March 23-31 (which will count on the April rankings that will come out on the 9th). That also happens to be the date of the AFC U-22 Qualifiers.
UFL and the final stage of the SMART-Club Nationals tabled to begin later this month.
AFC club competitions kick off in February. (Global and Ceres making up the bulk of the current national team)
Let's see if there will be something done for this one regarding any friendlies.
Based from this, i don't think there is much that can be done other than a couple of FIFA friendlies in the window or hope things go one way in the Asian Cup.
|
|
|
Post by xyz1000 on Jan 18, 2015 3:45:55 GMT 8
Teams 11-20 in the AFC. Those with * are participating in AFC Asian Cup: 102 KSA 318* 110 BHR 292* 114 IRQ 269* 115 PAL 268* 122 LEB 251 125 KUW 241* 129 PHI 221 131 MLD 220 133 VIE 218 136 TJK 215 FIFA window March 23-31 (which will count on the April rankings that will come out on the 9th). That also happens to be the date of the AFC U-22 Qualifiers. UFL and the final stage of the SMART-Club Nationals tabled to begin later this month. AFC club competitions kick off in February. (Global and Ceres making up the bulk of the current national team) Let's see if there will be something done for this one regarding any friendlies. Based from this, i don't think there is much that can be done other than a couple of FIFA friendlies in the window or hope things go one way in the Asian Cup. Kuwait (#125) lost all three games. Palestine (#115) has lost two. Last/next game is with Iraq N. Korea (#150 with 127 pts) has lost two, and their next game is with Uzbekistan (#71). The way things are going I think there's still a possibility of gaining points and moving up in the next month or two. Gotta watch out for the Maldives or Vietnam if they start playing more friendlies and move above the Philippines. Same message applies: play friendlies soon. As many as possible.
|
|
|
Post by jpmanahan on Jan 20, 2015 3:55:30 GMT 8
Teams 11-20 in the AFC. Those with * are participating in AFC Asian Cup:
102 KSA 318* (L's vs CHN and UZB. W vs DPK) 110 BHR 292* (L's IRI and UAE. W vs QAT) 114 IRQ 269* (L vs JPN. W vs JOR. Pending vs PLE) 115 PAL 268* (L's vs JPN and JOR. Pending vs IRQ) 122 LEB 251 (None scheduled) 125 KUW 241* (L's vs AUS, KOR, and OMA) 129 PHI 221 (Pending vs CHN) 131 MLD 220 (None scheduled) 133 VIE 218 (None scheduled) 136 TJK 215 (None scheduled)
FIFA window March 23-31 (which will count on the April rankings that will come out on the 9th). That also happens to be the date of the AFC U-22 Qualifiers.
Final stage of the SMART-Club Nationals January 22-31.
UFL tabled to begin in February, which also happens to be kickoff date for AFC club competitions. (Global and Ceres making up the bulk of the current national team)
Really just have room to play probably one more friendly on that week-long FIFA window.
|
|
|
Post by cjeagle on Feb 9, 2015 2:40:33 GMT 8
|
|
|
Post by jonny on Feb 9, 2015 2:46:07 GMT 8
Playing South China (Hong Kong Club) instead of China NT ?
|
|
|
Post by cjeagle on Feb 9, 2015 3:04:54 GMT 8
Playing South China (Hong Kong Club) instead of China NT ? Writer clearly did not proofread his article before it was published and has the teams crossed up in his mind. Still, it is good to hear that reinforcements are coming.
|
|
|
Post by markdelvalle on Feb 12, 2015 19:44:57 GMT 8
And I am hoping China wont back out so we dont end up facing South China FC....
Anyway, who do you think we will end up having? I am hoping/guessing:
1. Takahashi 2. Ott 3. Palla 4. Kempter
|
|
|
Post by jpmanahan on Feb 14, 2015 6:10:06 GMT 8
Teams 11-20 in the AFC.
11. KSA 12. BHR 13. QAT (pending vs ALG, SLV) 14. LEB 15. PLE 16. KUW 17a. VIE 17b. PHI (pending vs CHN) 19. MLD (pending vs TJK) 20. TJK (pending vs MLD)
I dunno how the devaluations work (sure did for VIE), but I doubt we leapfrog into top 16.
|
|
|
Post by xyz1000 on Feb 14, 2015 23:52:46 GMT 8
Teams 11-20 in the AFC. 11. KSA 12. BHR 13. QAT (pending vs ALG, SLV) 14. LEB 15. PLE, 234 16. KUW, 231 17a. VIE, 221 17b. PHI (pending vs CHN), 221 19. MLD (pending vs TJK), 220 20. TJK (pending vs MLD), 215 I dunno how the devaluations work (sure did for VIE), but I doubt we leapfrog into top 16. Looking at the points calculation it looks like a win is the only real way of cracking the top 16. Against CHN that would be unlikely even during a friendly. I'm not sure whether a tie will help at all but it will stabilize the ranking. Calculating the points total for a match is easy. It's doing the average over the last 12 months and for other periods past that takes more time to do.
|
|