At least Dunga helps me remember players I had forgotten even existed.

Ricardo Oliveira and Renato Augusto!

Of course Renato isn't old or anything and had periods of being at a high level for Leverkusen.

Renato Augusto was awesome for a while, not sure why he fell off a cliff

Tickets turned out to be easy. Just got online and picked up at lock kiosk. Had to pay with credit card so got screwed on exchange rate vs the blue dolar but can live.

AFC update below. Tonight there's also Argentina-Brazil in CONMEBOL qualifying

AFC Round 2 - Matchday 7 (of 10)

Group A: Palestine - Saudi Arabia 0-0 (a few days ago), Palestine - Malaysia 6-0, UAE - Timor-Leste 8-0
Group B: Australia - Kyrgyzstan 3-0, Tajikistan - Bangladesh 5-0
Group C: China - Bhutan 12-0, Maldives - Hong Kong 0-1
Group D: Iran - Turkmenistan 3-1, India - Guam 1-0
Group E: Singapore - Japan 0-3, Afghanistan - Cambodia 3-0
Group F: Thailand - Taiwan 4-2
Group G: South Korea - Myanmar 4-0, Lebanon - Laos 7-0
Group H: Philippines - Yemen 0-1, Uzbekistan - North Korea 3-1

Malaysia, Timor-Leste, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan and Laos have been eliminated.

No team has qualified for Round 3 yet.

Standings:

Team	Played	GD	Points
Saudi Arabia	5	+12	13
UAE	5	+18	10
Palestine	6	+11	9
Malaysia	6	-24	4
Timor-Leste	6	-17	2

Team	Played	GD	Points
Jordan	5	+11	13
Australia	5	+10	12
Kyrgyzstan	6	0	8
Tajikistan	6	-3	5
Bangladesh	6	-18	1

Team	Played	GD	Points
Qatar	5	+22	15
Hong Kong	6	+10	10
China	5	+20	10
Maldives	6	-10	3
Bhutan	6	-42	0

Team	Played	GD	Points
Iran	5	+11	11
Oman	5	+6	11
Turkmenistan	6	-3	7
Guam	6	-6	7
India	6	-8	3

Team	Played	GD	Points
Japan	5	+15	13
Syria	5	+13	12
Singapore	6	+2	10
Afghanistan	6	-12	6
Cambodia	6	-18	0

Team	Played	GD	Points
Thailand	5	+8	13
Iraq	3	+4	5
Vietnam	4	-3	4
Taiwan	4	-9	0
Indonesia	DSQ	by	FIFA

Team	Played	GD	Points
South Korea	5	+18	15
Kuwait	5	+11	10
Lebanon	6	+7	10
Myanmar	6	-15	4
Laos	6	-21	1

Team	Played	GD	Points
North Korea	6	+5	13
Uzbekistan	5	+9	12
Philippines	6	-4	7
Bahrain	5	0	6
Yemen	6	-10	3

Poor Bhutan

http://www.espnfc.com.au/gamecast/st...tatistics.html

ESPNFC has them as having played with only 10 men, which makes sense.

Argentina - Brazil in an hour and a half.

Argentina are at home and in trouble because they're missing that something that takes them from mediocre to finalists in major tournaments. Should be fun.

pitch seems to kinda suck

LOL Venezuela

right Arg-Brazil canceled

let us Sanchez!

https://twitter.com/bgt_eng/status/664944810638360576

So wet. Glad it was postponed. Would've been misterable.

Bump for tonight's Brasil y Argentina match

CAF - Second round, first leg

First team through to Round 3 is Gabon (Aubameyang et al.), who advanced after winning on penalties against Moazambique.

Here are the other first leg results. Notably, none of Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana won their away leg.

Unseeded	Seeded	1st leg	2nd leg
Botswana	Mali	2-1	17th
Chad	Egypt	1-0	17th
Tanzania	Algeria	2-2	17th
Ethiopia	Congo	3-4	17th
Mauritania	Tunisia	1-2	17th
Swaziland	Nigeria	0-0	17th
Liberia	Ivory Coast	0-1	17th
Niger	Cameroon	0-3	17th
Angola	South Africa	1-3	17th
Libya	Rwanda	1-0	17th
Kenya	Cape Verde	1-0	17th
Comoros	Ghana	0-0	17th
Madagascar	Senegal	2-2	17th
Morocco	Equatorial Guinea	2-0	15th
Togo	Uganda	0-1	15th
Benin	Burkina Faso	2-1	17th
Namibia	Guinea	0-1	15th
Burundi	DR Congo	2-3	15th
Sudan	Zambia	0-1	15th

AFC Round 2 - Matchday 8 of 10

Group A: Timor-Leste - Saudi-Arabia 0-10, Malaysia - UAE 1-2
Group B: Bangladesh - Australia 0-4, Kyrgyzstan - Jordan 1-0
Group C: Bhutan - Qatar 0-3, Hong Kong - China 0-0
Group D: Guam - Iran 0-6, Turkmenistan - Oman 2-1
Group E: Singapore - Syria 1-2, Cambodia - Japan 0-2
Group F: Taiwan - Iraq 0-2
Group G: Laos - South Korea 0-5, Myanmar - Kuwait postponed (Kuwait federation currently suspended)
Group H: North Korea - Bahrain 2-0, Yemen - Uzbekistan 1-3

Singapore, Guam, Taiwan, Myanmar, Bahrain and the Philippines have been eliminated today.

Qatar is the first team to qualify for Round 3. (8 group winners + 4 best 2nd place teams)

Standings:

Team	Played	GD	Points
Saudi-Arabia	6	+22	16
UAE	6	+19	13
Palestine	6	+11	9
Malaysia	7	-25	4
Timor-Leste	7	-27	2

Team	Played	GD	Points
Australia	6	+14	15
Jordan	6	+10	13
Kyrgyzstan	7	+1	11
Tajikistan	6	-3	5
Bangladesh	7	-22	1

Team	Played	GD	Points
Qatar	6	+25	18
Hong Kong	7	+10	14
China	6	+20	11
Maldives	6	-10	3
Bhutan	7	-45	0

Team	Played	GD	Points
Iran	6	+17	14
Oman	6	+5	11
Turkmenistan	7	-2	10
Guam	7	-12	7
India	6	-8	3

Team	Played	GD	Points
Japan	6	+17	16
Syria	6	+14	15
Singapore	7	+1	10
Afghanistan	6	-12	6
Cambodia	7	-20	0

Team	Played	GD	Points
Thailand	5	+8	13
Iraq	4	+6	8
Vietnam	4	-3	4
Taiwan	5	-11	0
Indonesia	DSQ	by	FIFA

Team	Played	GD	Points
South Korea	6	+23	18
Kuwait	5	+11	10
Lebanon	6	+7	10
Myanmar	6	-15	4
Laos	7	-26	1

Team	Played	GD	Points
North Korea	6	+7	16
Uzbekistan	7	+11	15
Philippines	6	-4	7
Bahrain	6	-2	6
Yemen	7	-12	3

CAF - Second round

No big upsets here. Libya and Morocco the only unseeded teams to go through.
Draw for the third round still TBD, I'll keep an eye out for it in the next few days.

Unseeded	Seeded	1st leg	2nd leg
Mozambique	Gabon	1-0	3-4 (pso)
Botswana	Mali	2-1	0-2
Chad	Egypt	1-0	0-4
Tanzania	Algeria	2-2	0-7
Ethiopia	Congo	3-4	1-2
Mauritania	Tunisia	1-2	1-2
Swaziland	Nigeria	0-0	0-2
Liberia	Ivory Coast	0-1	0-3
Niger	Cameroon	0-3	0-0
Angola	South Africa	1-3	0-1
Libya	Rwanda	1-0	3-1
Kenya	Cape Verde	1-0	0-2
Comoros	Ghana	0-0	0-2
Madagascar	Senegal	2-2	0-3
Morocco	Equatorial Guinea	2-0	0-1
Togo	Uganda	0-1	0-3
Benin	Burkina Faso	2-1	0-2
Namibia	Guinea	0-1	0-2
Burundi	DR Congo	2-3	2-2
Sudan	Zambia	0-1	0-2

Bump for Canada. 0-0 with El Salvador at the half. Badpitch and laser pointers... Central America!

Bömp.

AFC Round 2 - Matchday 9 of 10

No upsets today. Couple of direct confrontations for spots in Round 3 on the last matchday though.

Group A: UAE - Palestine 2-0, Saudi-Arabia - Malaysia 2-0
Group B: Australia - Tajikistan 7-0, Jordan - Bangladesh 8-0
Group C: China - Maldives 4-0, Qatar - Hong Kong 2-0
Group D: Iran - India 4-0, Oman - Guam 1-0
Group E: Japan - Afghanistan 5-0, Syria - Cambodia 6-0
Group F: Vietnam - Taiwan 4-1, Iraq - Thailand 2-2
Group G: South Korea - Lebanon 1-0, Kuwait-Laos postponed
Group H: Uzbekistan - Philippines 1-0, Bahrain - Yemen 3-0

Qualified for Round 3 (winners + 4 best runners-up): Qatar, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Saudi-Arabia. 6 more TBD. Iran basically qualified as well.

Eliminated today: Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine.

Standings:

Team	Played	GD	Points
Saudi-Arabia	7	+24	19
UAE	7	+21	16
Palestine	7	+9	9
Malaysia	8	-27	4
Timor-Leste	7	-27	2

Team	Played	GD	Points
Australia	7	+21	18
Jordan	7	+18	16
Kyrgyzstan	7	+1	11
Tajikistan	7	-10	5
Bangladesh	8	-30	1

Last matchday: Australia - Jordan.

Team	Played	GD	Points
Qatar	7	+27	21
China	7	+24	14
Hong Kong	8	+8	14
Maldives	7	-14	3
Bhutan	7	-45	0

Team	Played	GD	Points
Iran	7	+21	17
Oman	7	+6	14
Turkmenistan	7	-2	10
Guam	7	-13	7
India	7	-12	3

Last matchday: Qatar - China.

Team	Played	GD	Points
Japan	7	+22	19
Syria	7	+20	18
Singapore	7	+1	10
Afghanistan	7	-17	6
Cambodia	8	-26	0

Last matchday: Japan - Syria

Team	Played	GD	Points
Thailand	6	+8	14
Iraq	5	+6	9
Vietnam	5	0	7
Taiwan	6	-14	0
Indonesia	DSQ	by	FIFA

Last matchday: Iraq - Vietnam

Team	Played	GD	Points
South Korea	7	+24	21
Kuwait	6	+8	10
Lebanon	7	+6	10
Myanmar	7	-12	7
Laos	7	-26	1

South Korea - Kuwait will probably not be played.

Team	Played	GD	Points
Uzbekistan	7	+12	18
North Korea	7	+7	16
Bahrain	7	+1	9
Philippines	7	-5	7
Yemen	8	-15	3

Last matchday: Uzbekistan - Bahrain, Philippines - North Korea

Anybody watching Brazil vs Uruguay ? Brazil scored within 35 seconds. Great match already.

Val, thoughts on Juan Antonio Pizzi? i have got to guess that most Chileans are pissed that guy is the new manager of Chile, right? i know Chile wanted Piojo Herrera but his current contract wouldn't let him take the job, so they just settled with Pizzi.

I like him. We needed to find a manager in a period where is tough to do so and given those constraints I'm fine with Pizzi.

I can't really judge him after 1 game in which we basically had all our starting midfield out for different reasons.

Brazil 2-0 up after 25 minutes. Now it's 2-2 after 48. Suarez scored in his return. Great game so far.

GÖAT ÖAT!

I was like "Wait what, I thought Diego Costa played for Spain" for a second there

AFC Round 2 - Matchday 10 of 10

Group A: Palestine - East Timor 7-0, UAE - Saudi Arabia 1-1
Group B: Australia - Jordan 5-1, Tajikistan - Kyrgyzstan 0-1
Group C: China - Qatar 2-0, Maldives - Bhutan 4-2
Group D: India - Turkmenistan 1-2, Iran - Oman 2-0
Group E: Afghanistan - Singapore 2-1, Japan - Syria 5-0
Group F: Iraq - Vietnam 1-0
Group G: Lebanon - Myanmar 1-1
Group H: Philippines - North Korea 3-2, Uzbekistan - Bahrain 1-0

If nothing more happens in Group G, where Kuwait is still suspended, this is how it stands:

Qualified for Round 3 (winners + 4 best 2nd place teams):
Group winners: Saudi-Arabia, Australia, Qatar, Iran, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Uzbekistan
Runner-up: Syria, Iraq, China, UAE

Standings:

Team	Played	GD	Points
Saudi-Arabia	8	+24	20
UAE	8	+21	17
Palestine	8	+16	12
Malaysia	8	-27	4
Timor-Leste	8	-34	2

Team	Played	GD	Points
Australia	8	+25	21
Jordan	8	+14	16
Kyrgyzstan	8	+2	14
Tajikistan	8	-11	5
Bangladesh	8	-30	1

Team	Played	GD	Points
Qatar	8	+25	21
China	8	+26	17
Hong Kong	8	+8	14
Maldives	8	-12	6
Bhutan	8	-47	0

Team	Played	GD	Points
Iran	8	+23	20
Oman	8	+4	14
Turkmenistan	8	-1	13
Guam	8	-13	7
India	8	-13	3

Team	Played	GD	Points
Japan	8	+27	22
Syria	8	+15	18
Singapore	8	0	10
Afghanistan	8	-16	9
Cambodia	8	-26	0

Team	Played	GD	Points
Thailand	6	+8	14
Iraq	6	+7	12
Vietnam	6	-1	7
Taiwan	6	-14	0
Indonesia	DSQ	by	FIFA

Team	Played	GD	Points
South Korea	7	+24	21
Lebanon	8	+6	11
Kuwait	6	+8	10
Myanmar	8	-12	8
Laos	7	-26	1

Team	Played	GD	Points
Uzbekistan	8	+13	21
North Korea	8	+6	16
Philippines	8	-4	10
Bahrain	8	0	9
Yemen	8	-15	3

The final twelve teams will be put into two groups of six.

The seeding will be based on the April FIFA rankings, six pots of two teams.

Current rankings:

Iran (44)
Japan (56)
South Korea (57)
Saudi Arabia (60)
United Arab Emirates (64)
Australia (67)
Uzbekistan (74)
Qatar (80)
Iraq (91)
China PR (96)
Thailand (118)
Syria (123)

Top two of both groups go to Russia, third-placed teams play against each other for a spot in the intercontinental playoff vs. 4th of CONCACAF.

What's wrong with Neymar? Not even on the bench?