No one in the Socceroos camp is playing down the threat of Iraq in Thursday nights World Cup qualifier.Not when the prize is so great, and the margin for error so fine.The Socceroos are assembling in Perth before Thursday nights clash, which begins the final group stage on the long road to Russia.Alex Gersbach will complete the 23-man squad when he arrives on Tuesday night, with fellow left-back Brad Smith predicting a very difficult challenge.Once hes in well do team meetings and video sessions on what we need to work on and how we can take them down to get the win, he said.The first game is very important to get under way and get a good result.Itll be one of the tougher games in the group so we need to make sure were ready.Iraq were Asian Cup semi-finalists in 2015, the tournament won by the Socceroos on home soil.In the visiting squad is former A-League player Ali Abbas, as well as another familiar face to two Socceroos.Yaser Karim, a dangerous attacking midfielder, is a former teammate of Smith and Massimo Luongo at English club Swindon Town.Bizarrely, Iraq are the more settled nation in Western Australia.The bulk of the Lions side arrived well before the almost solely overseas-based Socceroos and drew a behind-closed-doors friendly with Perth Glory 2-2 last week.Luongo enjoyed just a few hours sleep after arriving in Perth early on Tuesday morning.He said his club manager - Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at Queens Park Rangers - quietly suggested staying in London might be easier.I dont think many club managers like the idea of international duty. He does give a few little hints that he wants me to stay, he said.Its a big thing for me.All my focus is on the Australian team and getting over what jet lag I have.Smith, who will win a 10th cap if he plays on Thursday, said finding the motivation for intercontinental travel was easy when the lure was playing in a World Cup.Thatd be the best thing, the best thing in my career, he said.Its what you dream of as a boy ... we have a very good squad and we can do it.Two sides from the six-team qualifying group - containing Australia, Japan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Thailand - are guaranteed a place in Russia. Wholesale Air Max 1 NZ . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. Discount Air Max 1 NZ .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.airmax1salenz.com/ . -- Josh Sterk scored once and set up two more as the Oshawa Generals edged the visiting Belleville Bulls 3-2 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Clearance Air Max 1 NZ .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. Air Max 1 NZ Outlet .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. When the UFC stacked the fight card for the historic first event in New York City, it did so by selecting more than a few talented strikers from its roster to ensure the event sees some fireworks. As well see, the names of these fighters are among the primary reasons fans will be tuning into the nights events. Lets take a closer look at the offensive striking metrics for the fighters on the card -- and see which fighters excel in their standup game, and specifically how they excel.How the graph worksThis balloon (or bubble) chart includes the fighters competing this weekend with sufficient sample size. Many of these figures will move with more cage time, but its a good snapshot of how theyve performed to date.The four metrics in the graph are all related to offensive striking. First, the vertical axis is the power head striking accuracy. This is a general reflection of a strikers skill level in technique. Some fighters are more aggressive than others, while some are primarily counter-strikers; those characteristics lead to very different striking styles. The horizontal axis indicates the ratio of strike attempts while standing compared to that specific fighters opponents throughout their career. Its a measure of output, and a proxy for aggression. An even 1.0 ratio means a fighter matches the pace of their opponents when standing and trading, while a higher number shows more aggressive and higher-volume strikers compared to lower ratios, which indicate counter-strikers.The dots are plotted based on those two metrics, but two additional variables are also shown on this chart. The size of the bubble is based on the fighters Knockdown Rate in all of their UFC, Strikeforce and WEC fights. Bigger bubbles mean a lot more power, while the small specks indicate fighters who havent logged a distance knockdown in recorded competition. Lastly, southpaw/switch stance strikers are in red. Unorthodox strikers are rare, but are worth highlighting, as some fighters have trouble with Southpaws. click to enlargeSnipersHighest on the graph, Conor McGregor leads the pack as the most accurate power striker at UFC 205, landing 42 percent of his power head strikes from a distance. Impressively, he has achieved this while using a high mix of head kicks instead of just punches, which typically lowers a fighters accuracy.Another UFC champion and event marquee fighter, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, comes in close behind at 40 percent. Like McGregor, Joanna Champion excels with precision despite using an aggressive striking style that might normally lower overall accuracy.Cuban wrestler Yoel Romero may have the most noteworthy Olympic credentialss on the card, but surprisingly he has avoided putting them to use so far in the UFC.dddddddddddd Instead of wrestling, he has opted stand and trade with opponents, and has enjoyed remarkable success with his hands.High-pressure strikersJedrzejczyk isnt just an accurate and technical striker, she puts on a blistering pace. Shes averaging over 19 standup strike attempts per minute while at a distance, and shes nearly doubled the pace of opponents by throwing 83 percent more total volume. However, she has only the second-highest striking output on the card, because her opponent Karolina Kowalkiewicz averages 21 attempts per minute. Thats all the more reason to expect a barnburner in the strawweight championship bout.In addition to Kowalkiewicz, welterweight title challenger Stephen Wonderboy Thompson has also vastly outworked his opponents while trading leather. Thats because Thompsons long-range movement and skilled kicking attacks have stymied his opponents to date. However, its worth noting that his opponent, Tyron Woodley, will have the best wrestling credentials of anyone that Thompson has ever faced.SluggersWoodley, the new welterweight champ, is the punch-for-punch hardest hitter on the card, and secured his new belt in an appropriately hard hitting manner. Woodley is the first fighter to win a welterweight title fight in the early rounds in nearly a decade, in a division that has seen more than its share of decisions when the belt is on the line. It will be interesting to see if he chooses to stand and trade with Wonderboy -- whether hell count on power to trump precision and pace, or if we will see an early dose of wrestling.Another welterweight comes in a distant second, and thats Donald Cerrone. Despite lagging behind Woodley on the stat line, Cerrone makes up for it with pure volume of career knockdowns scored -- currently at 17 total since his days in the WEC, and six more than the next-highest total on the card (Alves, 11). Cerrone will try to test the sturdy chin of Kelvin Gastelum on the main card.Keeping it on the groundKhabib Nurmagomedov is arguably the most effective wrestler on the card.?He typically chooses to keep fights on the ground, as hes absolutely dominated opponents while there. That suits Nurmagomedov well, given that he has not demonstrated very accurate or well-paced power striking thus far. In facing a more skilled striker in Michael Johnson, hell have to stick to his bread and butter to ensure the fights stays in the position that favors his style. ' ' '