In Group I of the 2nd Round of the World Cup Extra-Asia Zone, Lebanon will face Australia. Although Lebanon is the "home team", due to the situation in the Middle East, the match will be held in Australia, which makes them the visitors in disguise. The two sides are far apart in strength, and Lebanon has not won in 3 matches, but their defense is quite solid, so even if they lose this match, they are not expected to lose big. As for Australia, they won all three matches in the first leg, so there is no need to fight for the chance in the next round. Considering that Australia has scored 1 goal or less in the first half in 7 of their last 8 matches, we might as well win by 1.5 goals at halftime.
Lebanon is one of the most underdogs in the Asian Cup. In January this year, they went out of the Asian Cup without winning any of their 3 matches, scoring only 1 goal during the tournament. That West Asian team has the self-awareness to "park the bus" to minimize the chances of losing the game, hoping to defend and score. Currently, Lebanon has 2 and 1 loss in three groups of three games, including an earlier 0-2 defeat against Australia, which fell 0-1 in the first half, despite the loss. The two teams are meeting again five days apart, and I believe the game has changed little.
"Kangaroo Corps" Australia won three matches in the first group, scored 10 goals and kept a clean sheet. Their performance was impeccable and they are 5 points ahead of the second-place Palestine and 7 points away from the third-place Lebanon. It was basically hard to get out of the tournament, and the determination to win today was unquestionable. Considering that the Australian team has a lot of players playing for European clubs, they may be focusing on club matches towards the end of the season. As Australia advances, they will probably keep one hand on the ball to avoid injuries. It is expected that Australia will control the ball and wait for their chances and there may not be a wave in the first half.
