Topic: Asian Football Cup 2019 Discussion Thread (Read 22753 times)

No problem Sy, if I had the chance to catch up with anyone after that long a time, I'd even give up watching Liverpool. Love football but real life's always more important.

Great tournament for me all in all... You're absolutely right, the bookies totally got this all wrong, Qatar's behind-closed-doors training must have really helped keep expectations low. I never even knew who their manager was until the photos started appearing after friendlies. I haven't done my full calculations, but thanks to the outright and the good odds on the final alone I made a tidy profit.

Now all eyes will be on them, wonder which competition is up next for them... and then qualifiers to start all over again after draws in July. Qatar actually will also play in qualification as the first two WC qualification rounds are also 2023 AFC Cup qualification!

Great initiative for starting up this thread, btw!

At last, Qatar won. Sorry for Japan. Qatar really played well and they deserve to be the champion. Xavi's prediction was right lol. All the awards goes to Qatar while Japan got the best fair play award.

Lo and Behold, Qatar are Champions of Asia! it has been an incredible journey for them all through the tournament and without no doubt, they fully deserve to win the trophy. They were one of the underdogs coming into the tournament but I became a fan after their first game against Lebanon, and gradually they became my favorite team in the tournament, I've back them in every single match after the first game, as well as to win the trophy with 6x odds 

The next world cup is in qatar? Didnt realize this until you mentioned it.
Now it all makes sense with their ferousity in this so to make them look good and a contender in that tournament for their own home in the world stage.
Someone did also mention they have poured alot of money into training this squad to make them a world class football club.
I wouldnt doubt this one bit now after seeing their performance in this cup finals.

Japan didnt look to set offensively and when in the box did not pose any threat to the defense at all.
I did notice they had somewhere near 57-59% possession of the ball then the qatar team with 43-41% at the 60 minute mark before japan scored their first goal.
But before the penalty kick given for a hand ball the japanese samurais did have a chance to tie the game.
The qatar team just knows how to tactically be more effective when they possess the ball. They knew when to take advantage of the other team all through out the tournament.
What I mean is falling down even when not touched by the opposing team which switches things around in their favor for instance.
While not honest it does frustrate the other team as it did with japan which I did not see them today demean themselves using these tactics.
Not taking anything away from the qatar team but noticed this watching most of their games during the past month.
But well deserved win for them.

great pick mate , sorry I didn't have time till now to check the forums cause my uncle just came back from travel and I haven't seen him since 9 years

yeah Qatar didn't disappoint me , I knew they have huge chance to make it since day 1 and bookies underestimated them all they way since game 1
my outright cashed and my bet for Qatar to win today cashed as well , great performance

keep remembering this team cause we will see them in many upcoming big events , bookies may now realize how good they are so maybe we won't be able to get good prices for Qatar in the future 

Qatar played very well against Japan at the final in the Asian Cup tournament, even though Japan has managed to gain much more possession of the ball for the whole match, but the Japan players are struggling hard to create goal scoring opportunity against Qatar, and they have indeed pay a big price for it to lose in the finals against Qatar.

Annnnd it is over, Qatar made the history by winning the cup with its good performance and by kicking teams used to be the masters of the AFC with more than 2x goals difference.
Wish they could be as good as now in the next world Cup in Qatar.

It was looking good there for qatar in the first half but the samurai put one past the goalkeeper 28 minutes into the second half.
I played over 2.5 goals and the pay out was 2.9x odds. Alot less then the 2.5 goals of their last game against UAE.
Did notice the odds prelive for over 4.5 goals were 12x odds. But I dont think anybody would of put anything on this.

upadte: Nevermind penalty kick awarded to qatar. They won the cup.

Japan are combative. They're not pretty to watch even though they can be if they choose - same string of performances at World Cup, very niggly, they like to get at you but it's not exactly the positive modern football I prefer to see now... which is what makes Qatar a breath of fresh air in this tourney - very exuberant, is somewhat disjointed in build up. The talent is obvious in the latter though, and they really do have a good team plus a good way of national management as Sy pointed out before (they are like Singapore in the start, willing to grant nationality to sportsmen).

I think the force of nature will mean yes, Qatar will maintain 100% defensive record. And they will win without extra time. No use playing fancy lines that won't pay as well as a ML outcome anyway. (It's about 2.4/3.4/3.8 right now).

So what is the play for the game today.
Havent seen Japan play yet and watched three qatar games and they were impressive and havent been scored on yet in the contest.
So would this mean Japan will be all over them early to get that first goal and ruin their clean sheet?
Maybe an over on goals would be a more realistic bet if they happen to draw and go into overtime then penalties like how most finals go.

Right, Sy, you must be hoping Qatar win so you get your outrights, my outright was only 4.5 (in my mind I kept thinking it was 6.5 but I guess I caught it a bit late!). I was actually thinking to put a small hedge on Japan to qualify but odds too crap (1.5), and if I bet on a Japan win, I lose if it goes to extra time.

So I'll do my usual risky move and bet on Qatar again haha at 3.93

They are in the finals.
And you are right Japan is no joke and should not be taken lightly.
Qatar is on a roll and have not been scored on in the tournament yet.
This being said it is more than likely they will be scored on and might even cause them to lose the match.
If Japan can score on them early enough they will panic and not concentrate on scoring but defending which will cost them the finals.

Even if Qatar makes it to the finals I think that Japan is going to win the tournament.
This team even when they are in a bad form and they cannot play good football they have the chance to win the game with an opportunity that will start from a foul or a corner or even a counter-attack. I am in favor of Japan and if I find a satisfying odd I will bet for them.

yeah I watched all the episodes of that show , it's called "Twakkoaati" which means "My Predictions"
when Xavi made his selections people here and in Arab world overall made fun of him , they said that Xavi predicted that just because he is playing in Qatar and probably got paid to make such prediction 

well they were all wrong and Xavi was right 

Finally got a nice 5x parlay done well thanks to Qatar's comprehensive victory. What a way for the finalists to go through. 3-0 and 4-0 emphatic wins!


That's a really amazing bet x14 my friend. I wish my bookies would have offered outrights earlier. I know you shared a few but I was a bit tight with time and didn't manage to open new accounts. I eventually bet Qatar but only at x4.5 so they're in the final and I feel I've got a good chance at that. I'll even hedge with a Japan ML, depending on the scores. To ensure I win something out of this tournament!

First time in a long time I got the finalists right in a major tourney though... just a pity I lost so much money from parlays that lost because of favourites haha.


No idea this was a thing! I also predicted Japan-Qatar but secretly wanted Syria or someone from Southeast Asia to win. I was wrong that syria would progress from group, or that Australia wouldn't reach QFs...

You gave me a new mission. From now on I am going to follow the predictions coming from Xavi LOL
Yes, indeed. No one would have thought that Qatar will be in final. They played well in the whole tournament and in my opinion they deserve the cup although Japan is the favorite here. 

You got my feeling. Final will be a good one. Both the team is really playing good. It will not be easier to win for any team. As per Xavi who had correctly predicted that Qatar and Japan will play the final, said that Qatar will be the winner. Almost all of his predictions on AFC came true. Now, it's time to see whether the final one will also happen or not.
https://www.foxsportsasia.com/football/asian-football/afc-asian-cup/1032166/barcelona-legend-xavi-correctly-predicted-a-japan-vs-qatar-finals-in-the-afc-asian-cup-2019-before-the-tournament-even-started/

If you did not mentioned about it, I would not noticed that Qatar has managed to keep a clean sheet throughout this Asian Cup tournament to reach the final, Qatar has managed to score four goals against United Arab Emirates in the Semi-finals yesterday, and I think this is a strong signal sent to Japan that Qatar are a team that are capable of scoring goals.

Despite them reaching the Asian Cup final for the first time ever, I think that stat you mention is actually more impressive...really shows that this isn't just some lucky team, they actually have a solid defensive system.

Funny how the next world cup will be in Qatar, it'll be interesting to see what these young players can do in +3 years. And let's not forget that they'll have a big test in June since they were invited to participate in the Copa America, they'll play against the likes of Colombia and Argentina in the group stages.

It'll be a great sight to see, but should they fail to lift the trophy I don't think it would change their impressive tournament so far, They should be extremely proud of themselves regardless of the final outcome, but the tales will be more complete if they can win the trophy.