We made it to Russia!

Yes! I'll be honest. I had no idea that Jedinak would be such a massive influence over the two legs.

I knew we needed his grit and roughness, but I didn't know we would be so utterly dependent on him.

(Courtesy ESPN Soccernet)

So what's the worst possible draw for us at the 2018 FIFA World Cup?

Brazil/Germany
Spain/Uruguay
Denmark/Sweden/Egypt? (depending on how many UEFAs are in our group)
Australia


What would be a kind draw for us?

Russia/Poland?
Switzerland/Peru(?)/Mexico
Tunisia/Costa Rica
Australia

What would be a memorable/interesting draw?

Argentina/Germany
England/Croatia/Uruguay
Iceland/Senegal
Australia

Germany
England
Sweden
Saudi Arabia

Argentina
England
Iran/Iceland
Nigeria


Which teams from Pot 4 are the most likely to get out of their Group, in theory?

Nigeria, Serbia and Japan

Which teams from Pot 4 will everyone want to draw?

Panama, Saudi Arabia and Morocco; possibly Australia or South Korea

Which teams from Pot 3 will everyone want to draw?

Tunisia and Costa Rica

Which teams from Pot 2 will everyone want to draw?

Switzerland and Peru; possibly Mexico and Colombia at a stretch

Group of Death?
Brazil/Germany
Spain/England/Uruguay
Denmark/Sweden with Ibrahimovic
Nigeria/Japan

Andre Lim

Nice formation

Defensive double DM to prevent the away goal.

But will Rogic and Mooy partner well?

Can Cahill tahan?

Andre Lim

Prediction

A tight and nervy 1 goal margin victory.

Say, Australia 1 - 0 Honduras

I think Luongo and Leckie need to start.

Andre Lim

Arab football powers

After varying periods of absence, the traditional Arab footballing nations in the form of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt have all returned to the World Cup.

NB: Iran may be classified as Arab, depending on the definition that you employ. But they were there in 2014.

Andre Lim

False logic?

If USA can beat Honduras 6-0 at home, can we beat Honduras 2-1 at Stadium Australia?

Andre Lim

Honduras

"The stars on the Honduran flag represent the members of the former Federal Republic of Central America: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua; the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea are depicted by the blue bands and the white band is the land between the two bodies of water and a nod to peace."

Andre Lim

Honduras v Austalia

Given our previous away performances, I would say that the best we can hope for in San Pedro Sulo is a draw or a 0-1 win.

Away	Home
0-1 Win vs UAE	2-0 Win vs Iraq
2-2 Draw vs Saudi Arabia	1-1 Draw vs Japan
2-2 Draw vs Thailand	2-0 Win vs UAE
1-1 Draw vs Iraq	3-2 Win vs Saudi Arabia
0-2 Loss vs Japan	2-1 Win vs Thailand

  
We have not had that sort of strong, sturdy away performance since we played UAE on 6 September 2016. (That said, the 1-1 against Syria was not bad)

Bear in mind that, in terms of our away performances, we:

• Drew 2-2 against Saudi Arabia on 6 October 2016; 
• Drew 2-2 to Thailand on 15 November 2016; 
• Drew 1-1 to Iraq on 23 March 2017; and 
• Lost to Japan 2-0 on 31 August 2017.

Our home wins have also not been huge thrashings. The biggest margin we won by at home in the Third Round of qualification was a 2-0 win against Iraq.

Furthermore, the success we had was early on in the qualifying campaign - before Ange started experimenting.

My prediction is that Honduras will beat us in the first leg. I hope though that they only win by a margin of 1. Eg. 2-1. This might then (based on our recent history) go to penalties because our home wins are not exactly convincing.

However, a draw to Honduras is not out of the question.

Can we break our drought and return to winning ways? It will be interesting to see what kind of character we have.

Andre Lim

PS. There is also an element of "Asian" pride going on here too. This match will, to a limited degree, decide which confederation has it tougher.

PS. 2. I hope Northern Ireland and Ireland go through, although they may not be favourites. Croatia and Greece will be played behind closed doors due to fan violence/clashes. And surely Italy are favourites in their fixture?

PS 3. I hope Peru beat New Zealand, and I think they will.

PS 4. There are also some tight African qualifying games. Ivory Coast and Morroco will be a big one.

Oh no..

Cahill could be out. How is this happening?! I know what will be on the front page of the Honduran sports section tomorrow...

Andre Lim