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Every nation has now played at least one match at the 2015 instalment of the Asian Cup.
Australia silenced some doubters by slotting eight goals past some albeit rickety defence. The Socceroos have already secured a place in the quarter-final stage.
So while the Australian public may be concerned with green and gold only, there is actually 15 other teams with finals aspirations – not that you would know it with the one-sided media coverage.
So what are the biggest stories to come so far?
1. Massimo Luongo
Seriously, how good can this kid be?
One goal and two assists from two games may not scream superstar, but make no mistake, this guy can play.
Ange Postecoglou’s faith in the 21-year-old by including him in the starting line up may have raised a few eyebrows, but the cries of discontent were quickly softened after Australia’s opening two matches.
Luongo had a hand in just about every attacking move in which Australia has looked dangerous, and while Oman and Kuwait may provide the same danger as a malfunctioning cap gun, it’s still a good sign for the Swindon Town product.
He’s best with the ball at his feet and taking on defenders and is an accurate passer, the ideal number 10 for a modern game which revolves so much around players with those attributes.
Mentally, he still needs some shine, and his nerves were evident in the first 15 minutes of the Kuwait game before settling into it.
With Luongo, Robbie Kruse, Matthew Leckie, Tommy Oar and Tomi Juric, Australia now has the talent in the final third to trouble defences for the next decade.
2. Crowd numbers
In short, the crowds at the Asian Cup have been pathetic.
Not that you can blame the Australian public, who are delirious with sporting fatigue after the Indian Test series and are now amidst a hectic schedule including Big Bash every night, the summer of tennis, the upcoming One Day International cricket series and the upcoming cricket World Cup.
Last December, the organising committee’s CEO Mark Falvo was adamant fans would get behind the event.
Well, you wouldn’t be able to tell so far, with an average attendance of 16,870 being heavily inflated by last night’s bumper 50,276 crowd at ANZ Stadium to watch Australia’s 4-0 thrashing of Oman.
You could have been forgiven for thinking the crowd at ANZ for last Saturday’s North Korea versus Uzbekistan game was one of a Canterbury Bulldogs versus North Queensland Cowboys rugby league match, so dismal was the 12,078 crowd that petered into the 82,000 capacity stadium.
Likewise, you might have thought the 6840 in attendance at Suncorp Stadium Monday night were there for a Reds trial game, not a major football tournament.
But again, it’s not the public’s fault the committee’s marketing strategy has been so poor – you’d hardly even know the Cup was on, unless you’re a football fanatic.
The advertising for BBL04 has been clever and continuous, likewise for the ICC World Cup and while those two events may have more financial backing than the Asian Cup, it’s no excuse for the lacklustre promotion of an event on home soil which Australia has a good chance of winning.
3. Cross with the Socceroos
They may have put eight goals away so far, but at times Australia is still stuck in the Pim Verbeek and Holger Osieck era with the amount of nothing crosses fired into the box.
It’s hard to blame them when you have one of the best aerial threats of all-time in Tim Cahill bobbing up around the six yard box, but the best sides know when to whip one in and when to cut it back.
Australia has looked their most dangerous when they play directly in the final third, as do most sides, or when breaking at pace down the wings and firing in well-aimed crosses with defenders scrambling.
But all too often when play breaks down on the wing in the final third, the ball has been passed back to Australia’s fullbacks who fire in nothing crosses from 30 yards out with defenders mauling Cahill.
It is hard to argue though, when the Socceroos’ best goal so far came from Matthew Leckie’s superb outside of the foot cross, albeit a low, hard, curling one which was absolutely class.
4. Is 16 too many?
I’m all for an equal competition which gives the opportunity for lesser quality sides like Uzbekistan, Palestine, Bahrain and Qatar to compete in major tournaments. Lord knows, Qatar is going to need it to escape major embarrassment at the farcical 2022 World Cup.
But from a spectator’s point of view, wouldn’t the Asian Cup be better suited to say, a 12-team tournament in the fashion of the CONCACAF Gold Cup?
The tournament would work in the same fashion, 12 teams divided into three groups, with the top two teams from each group automatically progressing into the knockout stages.
The third placed teams from each group are then ranked on tournament points, with the top two advancing as well.
For example, in the 2013 Gold Cup, in Group A Panama and Mexico finished first and second, with Martinique third. In Group B, Honduras finished first with Trinidad and Tobago second and El Salvador third.
In Group C, United States finished first with Costa Rica second and Cuba third.
This meant Panama, Mexico, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago, United States and Costa Rica all automatically advanced the quarter-finals.
Of the third placed teams, El Salvador finished with four points while Cuba and Martinique both finished with three each, but Cuba had a better goal difference meaning El Salvador and Cuba advanced to the quarter-final stage.
The average crowd attendance for the group stage at the 2011 Asian Cup was 5036, and while Australia is on track to top that number by at least 10,000, it is clear the fans want higher quality games.
5. Canberra hates football, and football hates Canberra
With the highest quality match to be played at Canberra Stadium (South Korea versus Oman) drawing only a crowd of 12,552, organisers must be wondering why they even bothered.
You can hardly blame the locals though, with the slate of games in their city offering all the appeal of regurgitated vomit.
South Korea versus Oman, South Korea versus Kuwait, China versus North Korea, UAE versus Qatar, UAE versus Bahrain, Iraq versus Palestine.
Yawn. When are the Brumbies and Raiders back again?
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