Australia v Thailand: World Cup 2018 qualifying – live!

Evening everyone, well here we go again – the Socceroos get a second bite at the sweet cherry of World Cup qualification in a matter of days, but in a Freaky Friday Tuesday-style reversal, the circumstances could not be more different. In the game against Japan on Thursday, avoiding defeat against an AFC heavyweight was the quick route to Russia. They blew it. And so tonight we have the flipside, where the new objective is to hand out a damn good thrashing to a perceived AFC minnow. Sounds simple enough, right?
Well while only the most cynical Socceroos supporter or one-eyed Thai fan would bet their baht on anything other than an Aussie victory, just like the Mayweather-McGregor fight, it’s not really a question of who’s going to win, it’s a question of how convincingly they do it. And the Socceroos have been about as convincing up front as that woman from the marriage equality ad who reckons her son was told to wear a dress at school.
Anyway, enough of my cynicism. For a more nuanced explanation of how the Socceroos can qualify for the World Cup tonight, have a look at Paul Connolly’s article here. Suffice to say, they need to win by a healthy margin - three goals at least, but preferably more to really ramp up the pressure on Saudi Arabia for their game against Japan later tonight. More on that in a second.

SOURCE : GUARDIAN SPORTS
posted by CAMPUS94