WORLD CUP BETTING PICK - AUSTRALIA V QATAR

World Cup

2008-02-06 - Australia vs Qatar

A Sports Betting Pick by Romerz

Australia v Qatar
World Cup 2010 – Asia Qualifying – Round 3
Telstra Dome, Melbourne, Australia
6 February 2008 – 19.30 (local time)

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This match comes from Group 1 which comprises Australia, Iraq, China PR and Qatar. Australia will be entering the Asian preliminaries of the World Cup for the 1st time since they switched confederations from Oceania to AFC though they have tasted Asian competition during the Asian Cup last year.

Australia

World ranked 48 Australia is the top seed amongst the remaining 20 teams left even though they were knocked out of last year’s Asian Cup by Japan in the quarterfinals. The reason for this I believe is Australia boasts many players plying their trade in top European leagues and their good performance at the last World Cup where they lost to eventual champion Italy.

Since Australia’s unexpected poor performance in last year’s Asian Cup, new coach Pim Verbeek took charge in December 2007. Working with the Socceroos for the 1st time, he has called up a large squad of 34 players including 8 from England, 3 each from Italy and Holland, 2 from Germany, 1 each from Scotland and Poland and the rest from the local A-League.

Since most of the Europe based players are playing for their clubs over the weekend, they are expected to join camp by 4 February. So serious is Australia about this match that they have sent the Head of Medical Services to London to oversee the return of these players and to ensure that they arrive home in tip-top condition.

Australia have never lost in a World Cup qualifying match at home since 1993 and have even beaten Uruguay twice. In the last 10 matches at home spanning back to June 2006, Australia has won 4, drawn 3 and lost 3.

Note that the 3 losses were friendly matches against the likes of Uruguay, Denmark and Argentina, where the European based ‘stars’ were absent. In the matches where it mattered (non-friendly matches), Australia has won 3 and drawn 1 out of 4 played.

Qatar

Ranked 87 in the world, Qatar did not make it out of the group stage in the qualifiers for the last World Cup. Even at Asian level, they furthest Qatar got was the quarterfinals in Lebanon 2000. In last year’s Asian Cup, Qatar never got out of the group stage, managing only 2 draws, 1 against slow-starting Japan and the other against Vietnam.

Since then, Qatar has appointed a new coach, Uruguan Jorge Fossati, who has assembled a 36-man squad for this match. Of the 36 players, only 1, Striker Hussain Yasser, plays for Sporting Braga, with the remaining 35 playing in the domestic league.

Of Qatar’s last 10 away matches, they have won 4, drawn 3 and lost 3. It is important to note that the 4 away wins Qatar has were from matches against Laos, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, hardly teams comparable to Australia. Since January of 2007, Qatar has played a total of 22 international matches, both home and away, and they have only managed 5 wins.

Analysis

Even though Pim Verbeek will be working with half of his squad for the 1st time and within such a short period before a competitive match, he will have enough talent to choose from to form a team the likes we saw at the last World Cup. Neither is Pim Verbeek lacking in experience, as he was the Assistant Coach for South Korea under Gus Hiddink in World Cup 2002 and Dick Advocaat in World Cup 2006.

With Iraq and China PR in the same group, Australia must have learnt from last year’s Asian Cup that they can’t take these 2 teams lightly. To earn the billing of ‘top seed’, they must take maximum points from matches like this and especially at home.

As for Qatar, I think back about all the matches I watched during last year’s Asian Cup and I can’t recall a single one involving Qatar and I think that says it all. The only reason why I think Qatar is here in round 3 is because they had an easy passage against Sri Lanka in round 2.

Verdict

Australia to win @ 1.30 has to be the only sensible choice.

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take AUSTRALIA to win.