I have no issues with him wanting to take the penalty. Whilst I disagree with how he came out into the media and tried to pressure GA into selecting him otherwise he’d accept call ups, it shows he’s taking the opportunity with both hands.
It’ll also get that monkey off his back with the pressure of scoring goals.
The celebration was maybe a bit obnoxious given that the game was settled by that point, but it’s his first national team goal. Doesn’t matter how it comes, the adrenaline and thrill of scoring your first goal for your nation, a backflip is alright. It’s not like he ran to the corner flag, turned around and pointed to his name in the back. I interpreted it as genuine exhilaration for scoring his first NT goal.
I still maintain he’s a raw, young, inexperienced player who probably has a lot of maturing to do, but hopefully he kicks on and really becomes an integral part of the national set up.
Can’t disagree with any of that, honestly. The job was done in the end, and probably done by rotating a couple of players in that may not have started otherwise.
Iraq pipping Saudi Arabia into Pot 2 means we could still end up with Japan + Saudi Arabia from Pot 1 and Pot 3 respectively. Would be good to avoid the playoffs this time around and go straight through.
Subconsciously wrote playoff, but meant additional group stage. However, there is still another intercontinental playoff should we fail to qualify in that group phase.
