Australia's World Cup hopes hang by a thread after Saudi Arabia win

Simoc - Your statement has to be governed by the question ,what do you mean by "playing well"? The aim of the game is to score goals,more than your opponent, and how that superiority is achieved is the root of your statement. "Pretty football" as practised by Barcelona some 5 or 6 years ago was accomplished by getting together some of the best players in World football.To "copy" that style with players further down the pecking order in the talent stakes is extremely difficult, so difficult in fact that those highly paid individuals,the coaches, started to look at ways and means of how to counteract Barca's style. So we have today the counter measure of fast ,retreating defence when possession is lost and this in turn gives the defending team a numerical superiority in their own back third of the field,that area from which most goals are scored. So you see ,tactically the game has moved on since those Barca "master class" displays and it is this fact that is hitting our present Socceroo team right between the eyes almost every time they take the field. That is what AP, s critics mean when they accuse him of not having a plan "B". Today,especially in international football,every game,and opponent, has to be analysed in an attempt to out-think the style of football they may adopt in an attempt to get a "reward". While it is nice to think AP is trying hard to "buck this trend" it has to be recognised that his teams,playing their version of what you term "beautiful football", are going to run into opponents well versed in a strategy to counter AP's hoped for "beautiful football". This is a fact of football life. Cheers jb.

The teams playing well. We don't have the class of players of previous eras and it takes a while to get the younger ones through. The Oz team now is watchable compared to the hack em down mentality or the 11 man defense systems used previously. The idiots who complained then are the same as the fools doing it now. They have zero knowledge or ability at anything other than whining.

You can guarantee that Syria will copy the Thais tactics a will be more dangerous on the counter attack. It might be time to mix up the "beautiful" football with some "ugly but effective" football. In other words if the long ball is going to put Syria on the back foot then use it. Instruct Juric that 2 touches in the box is not acceptable and tell Bailey Wright to attack the ball when a goal scoring opportunity comes, don't pull out. And please Ange start with Robbie Kruse, he is the fastest most skill full attacker we have. I

You're right we are not qualified. But, "not good enough" defies common sense. By your logic, if 2 shots that hit the woodwork went in Australia would have gone from "not good enough" to "good enough". That's not the way I define "good enough". Australia didn't qualify. That's the end of story. The reasons are far more complex than the simplistic "not good enough".

That's why you should focus on AFL. Leave the global sports to people who understand global competition.

I am sorry, are we through? Just a tip, we are not, not yet, so what I said does not defy logic, it is an actual fact. If they were good enough we would have already got through.

To be honest I hope we don't make it as it might make a few of these overpaid primadonnas wake up and realise that they are actually not that good. Not compared to the rest of the world anyway. Ive always thought that Australia should never even be close to the World Cup. Far better teams miss out due to the stupid way FIFA allocates World Cup slots. Should be the top 32 ranked teams in the world end of story anyway. Who cares that it would be just Europe and South America? It would create a better spectacle and less teams would be making up the numbers. Would prefer to watch that than some watered down comp where low ranked teams like the UAE, Australia and NZ can get in.

If anyone thinks this, they're clueless about international football. Judging by the recent losses by Australia's cricket team they'd struggle to quslify for a world cup through Asia. Just as well they get a free entry.

The world cup comes around once every 4 years and is not a "steady stream of income". After expenses, travel, accomodation and paying staff and players and coach, the profit from a world cup is only a couple of million. They make more money from player registrations every year and the growing number of registered players. WIth nearly 2 million players, coaches, officials and clubs they make 20-30 million a year and its all profit.

Not South America - USA or Central America. USA would be huge and the return leg would fill the MCG or ANZ. Bring it on Yankees.

Cahill was very ordinary. He's past it and not the Messiah anymore. He's just a naughty boy . . .

They certainlly looked lost, disinterested and unmotivated to me. Somethings wrong there and not playing as a team. When Leckie scored the second, and winning goal no one embraced him or showed much emotion. Its a very strange vibe. Not qualifying might be the best thing to happen to this team. Hopefully some drastic changes will be made and there will be some improvements.

"This group of players just aren’t good enough to get us through" That sort of comment defies logic. We missed out by 1 point from being top of the table. We missed on finishing 2nd by 1 goal difference. Come up with any explanation, but "not good enough" is ridiculous.

Most of our 26 million live in the major cities, and therefore have one or more teams to support. By major cities, I am excluding Canberra and Darwin, which aren't major anyway.

This group of players just aren't good enough to get us through, I don't think Ange or his tactical tweaks are the real cause of us ending up in the knock out games. Ange's switching to a back 3 seems more like the perfect place for a scapegoat to be found. Ange could have got better performances out of the boys at times sure but there is not enough quality there to get automatic qualification.

We are a country with a population of 26 million .you brag about the same 1,8 million what about the other 24 million who don't follow a team or have no team in their city to follow. Why don't we have any Aussies playing in the biggest leagues in Europe today you can count them on one hand .the NSL era was far superior more Aussies playing in Europe during the NSL era wonder why.A league can't even get a FTA channel to pay to show the league .a national competition encompassing more cities will result in a stronger code and a stronger national team more talent will be unearthed with more teams and more cities included .in a national comp.

It won't be a Sth american team. And while we all might admire how well Thailand did (in both games), they are not a top 50 team, not even close, and when you watch them over the 90 min, you see plenty of evidence as to why they are not a top 50 team.

I just don't get the attitude of the Aussies sometimes. So many people assumed we would destroy Thailand. The TV commentators and Pundits added to this silly scene. It is international football folks! There are no teams to be trounced any more. Is it cockiness or just a lack of international football knowledge. We will hear the same rubbish against Syria and if we progress against the South American team!

You'd have to hold the Syria game in Western Sydney to maximise attendance. ANZ Stadium for sure. Both sides should get a lot of support out that way...

Knox has zero credibility since that appalling piece he wrote on Gale. As far as the argument that if a sport is not worldwide then you are insular to follow it, well that just brings up the cultural cringe. The idea that you need world affirmation for your sport to be worthwhile is just plain silly. What about the love of sport for sports sake, and who cares about the rest of the world think?