World Cup Qualifier - Australia vs Qatar

Australia are now in the Asian world cup qualifying region. They are in the same group as Qatar, Iraq and China. Each match will be a challenge and no easy ride. Their group has been named the group of death. Iraq are current Asian champions, China is an emerging power and Qatar are a handy team.

I wanted to go see Australia play Qatar at Telstra Dome for the first match. Unfortunately, tickets were sold out. But as luck would have it, Kin got a free ticket from work. And being the Aussie sport hater that he is, refused to go. Hence, I told him to give me the ticket, which he generously did. He even made a side trip to give me the ticket after work.

Having got the ticket with an hour to match kick off, I drove myself quickly to Telstra Dome. I decided to park at the Dome seeing as I was really late. I didn't expect the parking fee to be $23 though. Gee, how steep is that. I thought they would discount the usual parking fees because this was a sporting event. It was only $10 for the World Cup Rugby last time.

I took my seat up in the nose bleed section, happy to be at the game though. I sand the anthem and then waited for the match to start. The first half was electric. I had goosebumps during the three goals from Josh Kennedy, Tim Cahill and Marco Bresciano. It was fantastic and the noise was unbelievable. The overseas Australian players made Qatar look second rate. Qatar didn't have a serious shot on goal for the first half.

I think Pim Verbeek made the right decision to play the overseas players instead of the A-league players. It's probably easy to say in hindsight, but I thought that the whole time. No offence to the A-league players but I think you have to field your best team when you are unsure. No one knew how good Qatar would play and you want to get off to a good start in these qualifying games. The overseas players are professional and can adapt quickly and overcome the jet lag, as they showed.

The second half fizzled out as the overseas players started to tire. There was still a lot of shot on goal and if they had a bit of luck, they might have been another three more goals up. Overall, it was a great night and I can't wait for Australia's next qualifying games.