The Best, The Minnows & The Rest

Iraq 2 v Palestine 0

Canberra Stadium

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Twitter @ball_sup

Same opening gambit as the last Blog. Come on, for a football fan from Europe, that's a game featuring two teams I never expected to see.

I'll have a go at explaining qualification for the Asian Cup. So, we'll see how Palestine ended up here. It's the hosts, the best, the minnows & the rest.

The hosts (Australia) & the top three from the previous 2011 tournament qualify. That was Japan, Australia & South Korea. So, Australia "qualified twice".

As well as "the best", two qualification spots are held for "minnows".  The AFC Vision Asia programme is/was a plan to raise the standards of football in Asia. Central to that is the AFC Challenge Cup. An international football competition for AFC member countries categorized as "emerging countries". The AFC Challenge Cup gives "the minnows" experience of  playing a continental competition with an AFC trophy at the end of it. AFC Challenge Cup 2012 (North Korea) & 2014 (Palestine) winners qualified for the main AFC Asian Cup.

Then the 20 remaining teams fight it out for 11 slots. To make 16 qualifiers.

It's an interesting approach. Teams at your major continental tournament are NOT all there on merit. Two are there for "the greater good of the game". There'd be hell on if UEFA tried that at the EUROs. But, of course, we accept that at the FIFA World Cup. Some poorer teams are there as regional representatives.

There now follows a cynical view. India are poor in footballing terms. But giants in terms of population, market, TV rights & revenue generation. The AFC Challenge Cup for minnows is a way of getting the Indians into the Big Show. But they keep stuffing up by not winning it. The Mugs.

In 2012. Played 3. Won 0. Drawn 0. Lost 3. Goals for 0. Goals against 8.

In 2014, they didn't even reach the Challenge Cup for minnows finals. Myanmar knocked them out in qualifying.

Mugs.

India did however previously qualify for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup (in Qatar) after winning the 2008 Challenge Cup (for minnows).

That was a great atmosphere in Canberra tonight. First time in my experience that the fella leading a football firm on a march to confront their rivals has carried a MAP above his head. A map showing (I assume) what he felt constituted Palestine.

All a great advert for Multicultural Australia. And no one in sight screaming SPEAK ENGLISH.

77/182