While most of us have been nursing Christmas food-comas and writing "get fitter" yet again on our New Year's resolution lists, the Socceroos have spent the start of 2024 preparing for one of football's toughest challenges: the Asian Cup.
Despite their rise up the global rankings, Australia's men's national team haven't won any major silverware since the Asian Cup way back in 2015.
But after a galvanising run during the 2022 men's World Cup in Qatar, including pushing winners Argentina all the way in the round of 16, Graham Arnold's squad reminded the country that they can compete with the best on their day.
Over the next month, the Socceroos will try to keep that momentum going, with Arnold combining a core of wise old heads with a bunch of young and emerging stars to wrestle their way back to the top of the Asian game.
But before they kick off their campaign on Saturday night, let's take you through the key questions and talking-points to bring you up to speed on exactly what you're about to watch so that if the Socceroos do end up going all the way, you're not going to feel left out when the rest of the country is talking about it.
The Socceroos are playing in what?
The Asian Cup is basically Asia's version of the World Cup.
The best national teams from across the continent play off against each other every four years, with the winner receiving a bunch of money and a big silver trophy at the end.
The Socceroos know what lifting that trophy feels like, having won the Asian Cup on home soil back in 2015 under Ange Postecoglou.
They weren't able to defend their title four years later, though, losing to the United Arab Emirates 1-0 at the quarterfinal stage of the 2019 edition.
In fact, they only qualified for that game after squeaking past Uzbekistan (who they play this time around, too!) on penalties in the round of 16 after a pretty forgettable group stage.
So Australia have got some work to do to recapture their glory days.
Wait, I thought they were in Qatar for the World Cup recently?
They were.
Don't worry, you're not going crazy. This year's Asian Cup was actually meant to be hosted by China in the middle of last year, but because of the country's heavy COVID restrictions, they gave up the rights to host it.
As a result, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) threw the tournament out to tender, with four countries (including Australia) submitting bids. When it became clear that Qatar — who'd just hosted the men's World Cup, so had all the infrastructure in place — was the front-runner, everyone else withdrew.
Qatar hosting the tournament also meant it had to be pushed back by six months: partly because of the last-minute planning, partly because Qatar's national team were already competing in something, and partly because of the insanely hot mid-year temperatures over there.
This is also why the tournament is still technically called the "2023 AFC Asian Cup" even though it's being played in 2024, just like how the Tokyo Olympics are still referred to as "2020" when, in reality, it took place a year later.
Which is why it feels like a bizarre time-warp.
Okay, so which Socceroos from the World Cup are playing?
If you watched the Socceroos' Qatar campaign, there are a couple familiar faces you'll recognise (though one of them is wearing a Batman mask — more on that in a second).
Craig Goodwin and Mitchell Duke, the two attackers who scored against France and Tunisia respectively, are back in Arnold's squad, though Mathew Leckie — who scored the solo goal against Denmark — wasn't picked due to injury.
Gentle giant Harry Souttar is back in the centre of defence, as is his centre-back partner Kye Rowles. They're joined by defenders Aziz Behich, Thomas Deng and Nathaniel Atkinson, while further upfield, Jackson Irvine, Riley McGree, Marco Tilio, and Keanu Baccus have all returned too. Winger Martin Boyle, who missed the World Cup due to a last-minute injury, is back fit and firing.
Finally, goalkeeper Mat Ryan — who started every World Cup game, and is the highest-capped player in this 26-man squad with 86 appearances — will captain the side once again, and he'll do so from behind a cool-looking Batman mask after fracturing his cheekbone not too long ago.
Cool, so who are these other guys?
Around half of Arnold's squad for this Asian Cup are pretty new. Eleven of them have five caps or fewer, with some of them only getting their first Socceroos call-ups in the last couple of months.
Some of the most exciting are in defence: towering centre-back Cameron Burgess, full-backs Jordan Bos, Gethin Jones, and Lewis Miller, and defensive midfielders Aiden O'Neill and Patrick Yazbek.
Further forward, 36-year-old Uruguayan playmaker Bruno Fornaroli has been called back into the squad after he switched allegiances to Australia two years ago, while the new attack includes Samuel Silvera, Kusini Yengi, and uncapped John Iredale. Connor Metcalfe has also cemented his spot alongside FC St. Pauli teammate Irvine in midfield, too.
The squad is rounded out by two new goalkeepers, as well: Western Sydney Wanderers shot-stopper Lawrence Thomas, and young Adelaide gloveman Joe Gauci, who many expect to be the heir to Ryan's throne.
And which teams are they playing against?
So far, we only know the first three teams that the Socceroos will be playing against in Group B.
The first is India, ranked 102 in the world, who Australia last played back at the 2011 Asian Cup. It was a comfy 4-0 win for the Socceroos then, and their opening match against India on Saturday night at 10:30pm AEDT should be the same. A good way for the team to ease their way into this month-long campaign.
Their second opponent of the group is Syria. Despite being ranked 91 (compared to Australia's 25), Syria has caused the Socceroos problems at major tournaments in the past, most notably during the qualifying play-off for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as well as during the last Asian Cup. They face off on January 18 at 10:30pm AEDT.
Finally, Australia finish their group stage against the trickiest team of the lot: Uzbekistan. As the second-highest ranked team in Group B (68), the Socceroos last faced Uzbekistan at the round of 16 stage of the last Asian Cup, with the game finishing 0-0 after extra time and going all the way to penalties (which the Socceroos won 4-2). They play them on January 23 at 10:30pm AEDT.
Who are the biggest title contenders?
After their mostly smash-and-grab performances in Qatar, the Socceroos are definitely up there in terms of challenging for the Asian Cup.
The only problem is that a lot of other national teams are, too.
Unfortunately, Australia have been placed on the side of the draw with some of the favourites for this year's title including: Saudi Arabia, who famously defeated Argentina in the group stage of the Qatar World Cup, and is now coached by the legendary Roberto Mancini.
Japan, who topped their World Cup group with wins over Germany and Spain, and whose squad is speckled with Premier League stars like Liverpool's Wataru Endo, Arsenal's Takehiro Tomiyaso, and Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma.
South Korea, spear-headed by captain and national treasure Son Heung-min who's found a new lease on life at Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham Hotspur, is supported by a bunch of Europe-based countrymen scattered across England, Germany, France and Scotland.
And while current title-holders are usually there or thereabouts in subsequent competitions, Qatar — who won in 2019 — are probably not in the picture this time around, having rapidly faded during their home World Cup in 2022 and not doing much else since then.
Sounds awesome. Where can I watch it?
The Socceroos' games will be live and free on Network Ten from 10pm AEDT every match night.
All other games of the tournament will be streamed live on subscription platform Paramount+.
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDI0LTAxLTEzL3doZW4td2hlcmUtc29jY2Vyb29zLXBsYXktYXNpYW4tY3VwLWV2ZXJ5dGhpbmcteW91LW5lZWQtdG8ta25vdy8xMDMzMTM3ODLSAQA?oc=5
2024-01-12 22:54:15Z
CBMicGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDI0LTAxLTEzL3doZW4td2hlcmUtc29jY2Vyb29zLXBsYXktYXNpYW4tY3VwLWV2ZXJ5dGhpbmcteW91LW5lZWQtdG8ta25vdy8xMDMzMTM3ODLSAQA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "When and where are the Socceroos playing in the Asian Cup? Everything you need to know - ABC News"
Post a Comment