pika pika

WE’RE GONNA BE JUST FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!

You wanted Vincent, we give you Vincent. Now go back to watch baseball

I am so nervous about our chances right now. I don’t think we’re qualifying out of League B playoff if it involves Ukraine in the final (if we defeat Bosnia/Herzegovina in the semi who we are 2-2-2 against), and I definitely don’t think we’re qualifying out of a League A playoff that could possibly include Croatia or Italy. If Croatia/Italy don’t go through League A playoff and they manage to finish top two in their group, then sure, maybe we have a chance if we get drawn into A (because from what I understand, we can get drawn into A in case of that scenario, but this is such a confusing playoff system when it’s first time), but I’m not the most optimistic about it and I think we have an 80/20 chance of probably missing out on another major tournament.

Earlier today, I told my friend when it was 6-0, “what if it ended, like, 14-0 or something?” :DDDDDDDDDD

Two well done victories from Japan and South Korea, but it’s still early on, home matches and both teams haven’t faced the toughest teams in their group yet. I can see both going 6-0-0 or 5-1-0 at least by the end of this round, and with nine teams at most qualifying from the Asian continent, these two are certainly part of that pack with the style of play, players, and consistency they have.

Australia with a 7-0 win is also an honourable mention, same case as the two mentioned above, but still, Graham Arnold has turned things around since a near-failure to qualify for the last World Cup. Losing to the eventual world champions is not a failure, and their results now show that the team definitely took a lot from the tournament in Qatar that they are positively using moving forward.

Imagine that, everyone imagines Czechia and Poland through before the qualifying cycle started and we may actually have Albania and Moldova into the EURO… if it goes this way, I’d love to see it though, not lying :DDDDD

I wrote this in another thread for this, but I will write it here as well for those wondering how it affects qualification:

Even if they were to play the match, what would Bulgaria be playing for? Well… really, nothing. Bulgaria is practically out as the League C playoffs will be Georgia vs. Luxembourg and Greece vs. Kazakhstan, seeing where those four teams are in their qualifying groups and their chances of direct qualification. It will slightly impact whether two of Hungary, Serbia, or Montenegro qualify, however, as if Bulgaria were to forfeit the match, Hungary would officially confirm qualification, with Serbia waiting for the result of Montenegro vs. Lithuania (a draw there means Serbia also officially confirms qualification). Even if Montenegro were to win that match, Serbia would probably qualify anyway because they face Bulgaria in matchday 10, at home.

It’s practically guaranteed that Hungary and Serbia qualify while Montenegro will watch the tournament from home, seeing as they cannot qualify for the League B playoff; Bulgaria is guaranteed to be going home as there is nothing they will actually play for here. It could create quite a divide in Bulgaria’s football system, though, that leads to the end of Borislav Mihaylov’s reign as the federation’s leader.

To summarize briefly with regards to the qualification cycle, cancelled or not, this match affects something, but ultimately affects nothing. To summarize briefly with regards to everything else in the Bulgarian system… change is coming.

Even if they were to play the match, what would Bulgaria be playing for? Well… really, nothing. Bulgaria is practically out as the League C playoffs will be Georgia vs. Luxembourg and Greece vs. Kazakhstan, seeing where those four teams are in their qualifying groups and their chances of direct qualification. It will slightly impact whether two of Hungary, Serbia, or Montenegro qualify, however, as if Bulgaria were to forfeit the match, Hungary would officially confirm qualification, with Serbia waiting for the result of Montenegro vs. Lithuania (a draw there means Serbia also officially confirms qualification). Even if Montenegro were to win that match, Serbia would probably qualify anyway because they face Bulgaria in matchday 10, at home.

It’s practically guaranteed that Hungary and Serbia qualify while Montenegro will watch the tournament from home, seeing as they cannot qualify for the League B playoff; Bulgaria is guaranteed to be going home as there is nothing they will actually play for here.

To summarize briefly, cancelled or not, this match affects something, but ultimately affects nothing.

Verdy vs. Chiba is going to be such an exciting play-off, S-Pulse vs. Yamagata is sure to be close too - Machida were absolutely dominant this year and good to see Iwata back in J1 after one year away.

Only one J1 team getting relegated though as the league expands to 20 teams from 18 next season - Yokohama FC vs. Shonan on Saturday may as well decide it but Kashiwa is not out of the relegation possibilities just yet