oldtype

Nailed on for a hat-trick on his debut then.

If you don't put at least two past our lumbering centre-halves while keeping a clean sheet against our "midfielder as a sole striker" attack, you're not going to win this tournament. For all the crap in the Australian media about winning this tournament, our old and impotent team will be lucky to make it past the quarter finals. There's no shame in losing to South Korea (or one of the other decent teams in the competition). Football in Australia would be better served by losing to a quality, professional opponent than going all the way with the rag-tag collection we've sent to Qatar... I agree that we have the better team but I'd never underestimate our capability to self-destruct against big, physical "European" sides. I've seen enough of Korean defenders struggling to mark Ognenovski on set-pieces to make me less than fully confident about this.

because everyone is cheik tiote. You're right. How could I forget that every other signing we've made from abroad has failed miserably.

Because the last time we signed a non-English-speaking foreign midfielder with no Premiership experience who had been on the fringes of his team in a second-tier European League he turned out to be horrible!

Off topic but I never realized that this book existed until now Me want.

I have nothing against your people, just how you go about playing football. You're basically accusing somebody of being anti-semetic just because they can't stand Tottenham Hotspur. Really, who's being prejudiced here Mr. "I always thought East Asians were racist"?

On the other hand, many people are informed and inquisitive - some people might even understand the difference in connotation between "no difference between Koreans and Chinese" as opposed to "no difference between Koreans and Japanese"... To be fair, without google sat in front of them, I can't say I know many people who would have said Iran is not Arabic with any authority on the subject. Most wouldn't even know. There's nothing wrong with not knowing something most people don't know and later admitting it and apologising. I made two errors - firstly not providing a safety wink. Secondly, I teach history for a living, and I admit to treating oldtype as I would one of my students - his "mini-rant" demonstrated a trait I don't tolerate from students: wilful ignorance. He's lucky I didn't assign him a 500 word essay on the difference between Arabs and Persians, to be read out in class tomorrow I do apologise for treating you thus, oldtype. My only defence is that the new school year starts next week and I'm getting warmed up I guess I'm kind of offended that you decided to treat me like a 16-year-old but I guess I'll be charitable since we'll be destroying you in little over 27 hours time now. Seriously, I really wish people wouldn't over-react about this, I would hope people know me well enough to know that I'm not some sort of racist charver mong and really the only part of the original post I was serious about was the fact that I sincerely hate Arabic (AND Perisan!) Football teams.

I'm going to give my standard "safe" answer to all transfer stories to this. If he signs, he's not good enough. If he's good, he won't sign.

me too, it's mental, what's it from? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_civilizations ah, well taking this into account: "The Clash of Civilizations is a theory, proposed by political scientist Samuel P. Huntington, that people's cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world." in a wide sense it doesn't seem he's a million miles off the mark, although obviously you have issues with the classification of Korea for good reason I don't particularly mind being classified as part of the "Chinese Civilization," as if you're painting cultural zones as widely as he is that's inevitably where we'd fall. Completely random that Japan for some reason gets classified separately though. They're the only one-state civilization out of the whole bunch. I guess he just really liked Anime or something. The book is actually decently insightful if you just take it as an opinion piece from one smart, old, white guy on what's going on in the world. Starts falling apart when you try to hold it to scholarly standards but that wasn't what it was written as. Map is of course just completely arbitrary and hilarious whichever way you look at it.

me too, it's mental, what's it from? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_civilizations

Don't ask me, the guy who came up with it was American so it's your fault.

Handy 9PM kickoff over here. Live on TV too.

Actually though, if there was ever a season where strengthening in January wasn't "critical," it's probably this one. We're good enough to not get relegated and we're not good enough to push for Europe, so really it'll be nice if we can pick up some improvements but it's hardly the end of the world otherwise. Prices are usually inflated in January and we shouldn't let agents hold us to ransom.

On the other hand, many people are informed and inquisitive - some people might even understand the difference in connotation between "no difference between Koreans and Chinese" as opposed to "no difference between Koreans and Japanese"... I don't actually find either of the two particularly more offensive than the other. For the record though, fuck you Sam Huntington. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/2/2f/20081221224608!Clash_of_Civilizations_map.png

Seriously, there's nothing sinister here. Just saying that most people from other places in the world wouldn't know the difference between Persian and Arabic, just like none of you would be interested if I gave you my two hour spiel on how Koreans are ethnically and culturally distinct from the Chinese. If you don't like us, I'm sure OFC would welcome you back with open arms

Majority of Iranians are Persian, not Arab. I Apologize for being culturally insensitive, but majority of non-Arabs don't know the difference.

It seems I've stumbled across something of a grudge from N-O's GCC contingent If you don't like my mini-rants here's a full on one. Arabic players dive and play-act so much they make Stevie G look honest. Arabic teams play 10 behind the ball and then engage in disgraceful time wasting until the final whistle the minute they nick a goal. Arabic refs blatantly favor Arabic teams to an embarrassing degree for both international and club competitions. And Arabic nations have used their money and influence to wrest control of AFC and ensure that a blind eye is turned to all of this time and time again. If you can't take the banter just get out. And fuck me I'm honestly curious here, if they're not Arabic what on Earth is the proper cultural and geographical classification to be used for Iran? Enlighten me.

Would love to see China get a reminder that they're terrible at this by dropping out of the group stages. But I want to see Qatar crash and burn as well. I've just realized that South Korea, Uzbekistan, Australia, and India are the only teams in this tournament I don't hate with a passion

2-0 at ht is very good for Qatar. Bruno Metsu has them playing well, but they could still throw it away 2nd half. 2 excellent goals btw http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusef_Ahmed Two brilliant goals from their 22-year-old captain. I've never heard of him before now but he looks like a real player.

Wow That Ali lad from Qatar isn't bad at all. Very disappointing from China, they came into this tournament with a lot of promise but they haven't been showing it. No fight whatsoever.

He has a great work rate and an exceptional left peg but his decision making is frustrating as fuck sometimes. Just doesn't know when to keep it simple and lay it off or take the shot. He's a top, top class player at the Asian level but I don't know how well he'd do in Europe.

Jesus man, at least take a moment to look at their skin colors

and the little Uzbek scores again what a shot

Uzbeks back on again. Go go Dzeparov!

Am I mistaken or will Avram Grant have reached a cup final for every season he's managed in England if West Ham pull off the second leg?