Asian World Cup Qualifiers

John Duerden reviews the first round of matches

Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | Group 5 | Group 6 | Group 7 | Group 8

Group 1

Iran

Five wins out of six for the two-time world cup participants will have pleased Croatian coach, Branco Ivancovic who will be confident that his charges can go and make it three by qualifying from the last eight.
The exciting Iranians are capable of beating any of their continental counterparts and would be an exciting addition to the world cup in Germany. Players such as Hamburg’s winger Mahdi Makhdavikia and Bayern Munich striker Vahid Hashemian will be hoping that they will be able to spend a summer in Germany eighteen months from now.
It is difficult to say if Iranian legend Ali Daei will still be playing then but the 35-year-old striker can rest assured that he will always have a place in Iranian football folklore with over 100 international goals to his name.
Eight of these came during the first qualifying stage as Iran fought off a brave Jordanian challenge to clinch first place in style, with a 7-0 victory over unlucky Laos.

Jordan

For the Middle Easterners, it is a case of what might have been. Although the Asian Cup quarter-finalists triumphed in Teheran by a single goal in June, they lost the return fixture in September. The Iranians, with the initiative seized never looked back, leaving the Jordanians with the forlorn hope that Laos would somehow salvage a point in the Teheran cauldron.
Still, Mahmoud Gouhary’s team can reflect on a successful 2004 with an Asian Cup quarter-final appearance and a creditable second place in a difficult group both helping to shoot the team up the FIFA world rankings to a healthy 38th.

Qatar

The Gulf state has never appeared in a world cup and never looked likely to break that duck during this qualifying campaign. A win in the last group game against a disappointing Jordan side that had all but given up the ghost at least made the group standings look respectable with nine points from six games.
It has been a difficult year for Qatar, Phillipe Troussier was sacked after the first game of a dismal Asian Cup but new coach, Bosnian Dzemaluddin Musovic, has provided some stability for the small country who are traditionally one of Asia’s better sides. We will have more of an idea of Qatar’s standing in the region when it hosts next month Gulf Cup.

Laos

The south-east Asians made it to the first stage by virtue of being a ‘lucky loser’ in the preliminary round. Coach Saythong Syphasay must wonder what it means to be unlucky, as they failed to win a point. However friends were won in Qatar, Iran and Jordan for the way Laos defended -the goal shy Jordanians were gifted eight of the ten goals they scored during qualifying but unfortunately for the group runners-up they were not alone, eleven and fourteen goals were also conceded to Qatar and China respectively.

Group 1 Table

Group 2

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan will be flying the flag for Central Asia in the second stage of qualifying and will be hoping to be the first team from that part of the world to reach the world cup finals. The Asian Cup quarter-finalists have had a good year and are establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the continent. Palestine may be tricky and Chinese Taipei may not but Iraq are an improving team and on their day are a match for any Asian side.

However, the Uzbekis can count on Dinamo Kiev striker Maksim Shakskikh, when his club allow him to play, as well as talented young striker, CSKA Moscow’s Alexander Geynrikh. The two scored the goals in the crucial 2-1 win over Iraq in the group’s penultimate game that ensured that their country were still on the road to Germany.

Iraq

In spite of the disappointment of finishing second the young Iraqis will not be too downhearted at the end of a good year for the troubled nation. Although the team lost German coach Bernd Stange half-way through the campaign due to security concerns, the team finished above the Saudis in the Asian Cup in China. Upon their return to world cup qualifying, the Iraqis gave Uzbekistan a run for their money before succumbing 2-1 at ‘home’ in the Jordanian capital of Amman.
The team, who have participated in only a solitary world cup, back in 1986, like to attack and as the youngsters improve and hopefully return to Baghdad ,then at on the soccer field at least, the future will be bright.

Palestine

With ‘home’ games being played in Qatar, it was always going to be tough for the Palestinians to finish top of the group. Austrian coach Alfred Riedl can be proud of his team, made up mostly of players from Arabian leagues and South America, as they finished a creditable third with seven points. High point of the campaign was a 1-1 draw with second-placed Iraq in the Qatari capital Doha.

Chinese Taipei

The Taiwanese easily disposed of Macau in the preliminary stages but things took a turn for the worse as they were trounced 8-0 by Palestine in the first game of the group stage. Matter didn’t improve much as the islanders conceded a further eighteen goals in the remaining five games. As long as the national team players are amateurs it is difficult to see football replacing baseball as Taiwan’s number one sport.

Group 2 Table

Group 3

Japan

2004 has been a good year for Japanese football. A successful defence of the Asian Cup in difficult circumstances in China was followed by a perfect qualifying record that has helped the nation to forget a disappointing Olympic campaign. Only one goal was conceded by Zico’s team and it is difficult to imagine that the co-hosts of the last World Cup won’t make it to the next one.

Oman

Czech coach, Milan Macala has steered his much-improved team up to 50th place in FIFA’s rankings, a great job considering the nation didn’t have a football team until the 1980’s and only started trying to qualify for the world cup in 1990. The footballing authorities in the Gulf State should not be disappointed that there is still a way for the team to go to challenge the continent’s best.
It was unfortunate that they were drawn in a group with Asia’s best team and despite battling well against Japan, the Omanis lost both games by a goal to nil. A record of two goals in the last three games, two of them against weak opposition, shows that Oman still lack that cutting-edge in front of goal.

India

A surprising draw against Oman in the final game in Muscat enabled the cricket-loving nation’s football team to take third spot ahead of Singapore. A point was necessary as India’s goal difference was poor, eighteen goals were conceded in the group with just two scored. There is still a long way to go for English coach Stephen Constantine. The passion is there, 95,000 turned up in Calcutta to watch Japan score four without reply, but at the moment, the talent is not.

Singapore

While Japan and Oman were fighting for top spot, Singapore was ‘enjoying’ its private battle with India to avoid the bottom place. A 2-0 victory over the South Asians in October looked to have sealed the third spot for the city state until the Omanis took their foot off the pedal in the group’s final match, allowing the Indians to come away with a draw. Singapore will have the chance to forget the wooden spoon in December’s Tiger Cup.

Group 3 Table

Group 4

Kuwait

It couldn’t have been closer at the top of group four, the difference between the top two was one goal scored. Five second-half goals gave the Kuwaitis a 6-1 victory over Malaysia and first place in the group. Mohammed Ibrahim’s players put a disappointing Asian Cup behind them with a vital victory over the Chinese in October that blew the group right open. Kuwait can now look forward to next month’s Gulf Cup safe in the knowledge that they are in the hat for the next round.

China

The biggest shock in the qualifying stage China’s failure to finish at the top of their group. The fact that the margin was so close will be of no comfort for the nation’s fans or to Arie Haan who must be one of the few coaches to resign just after their team had won by seven goals. It had all looked so good at half-time on the final day as rivals Kuwait were being held by the Malaysians but despite scoring seven goals the Chinese were left rueing a missed penalty by defender Zheng Zhi that would have sent the Asian Cup runners-up to the second stage.
Haan and is players will also look back on the opening game of the group at home to Kuwait. The Middle Easterners never had a shot on goal, which was in stark contrast to China’s dominance but the eventual group runners-up only managed a single goal which, in the end, proved to be their undoing.

Hong Kong

Ranked as they are, 144th in the world, it was always going to be nigh on impossible for Hong Kong to challenge Kuwait and China. Goalkeeper Fan Chun Yip ensured that the Chinese would remember his name as despite picking the ball out of his net seven times in Guangzhou, he denied the Chinese attack again and again. That seven goal thrashing rather spoiled Hong Kong’s growing reputation as a difficult team to score against.

Malaysia

New coach, Hungarian Bertalan Bicskei has a big job on his hands to turn the former British colony into a regional power. Questions must have been asked in Kuala Lumpur, not so much about defeats by China and Kuwait, but about how easily Hong Kong dispatched of the team supposedly thirty places above them in the rankings.
Malaysia have now turned their attention to next month’s Tiger Cup, which they will co-host, along with Vietnam.

Group 4 Table

Group 5

North Korea

Group five was one of the most open groups with three teams in with a chance of winning it. North Korea calmly collected the most points and won the group with a game to spare. Going to Pyongyang would be difficult for any team and it is no surprise that the aggressive, physical Koreans have an excellent record in their capital.
The DPRK are ranked 102 in the world, the lowest out of any of the eight teams who made it to the next stage. Lack of international experience could count against Asia’s mystery team who rarely travel outside the country, doing so only when absolutely necessary.
Coach Yun Jon-su will hope however, that his players will have an extended break in Germany in 2006. He even suggested that, if both teams qualify, the two Koreas should send a joint team to the World Cup.

United Arab Emirates

A poor performance in the Asian Cup in July was followed by two devastating defeats in October and November. The first, a 3-1 loss to bottom-placed Yemen, handed the top spot to North Korea and the second, a 3-0 defeat in Bangkok ended the UAE’s hopes of recapturing that spot. Consequently, even though Aad De Mos’s side managed to become the only side to beat North Korea in the final game in Dubai, in just didn’t matter.

Thailand

The Tiger Cup champions have never appeared in the World Cup finals and after two back-to-back 4-1 defeats at the hands of North Korea this campaign proved to be no different. Former coach Chatchai Paholpat had a mass clearout of many established players after the two defeats, deciding to give youth a chance. New coach Seigfried Helm has stated that is prepared to give some of the older players another chance to demonstrate their passion for the national side.
Like the other south-east nations involved in qualifying, Thailand will now concentrate on the Tiger Cup. Unlike some of the other nations however, the Thais with their inspirational skipper, Therdsak ‘Zico’ Chaiman, have a real chance of winning it.

Yemen

Yemen proved to be a thorn in the sides of the other three sides taking points off all of them. However, the team that finished bottom of last January’s Gulf Cup was unable to sustain any momentum and finished bottom again. The highlight of the campaign was an impressive 3-1 victory over the UAE in September that went down well in Pyongyang.

Group 5 Table

Group 6

Bahrain

New Asian powers on the block, Bahrain made no mistakes in finishing top by six points but they almost did. It took a 92nd minute goal from Talal Mohammed to earn a point in Damascus in the penultimate game, thus earning top spot for his team. Abdulrazzaq Mohammed charges will fear no-one in the second stage especially after their unbeaten first stage sandwiched a semi-final spot in the Asian Cup, narrowly losing to eventual champions Japan. Star striker A’laa Hubeil is in the running for the Asian Player of the Year and his goal threat will mean that his team should be in the running to head to Germany in 2006.

Syria

This was a disappointing campaign for the Syrians, finishing six points below Bahrain. It is even more of a let-down when you consider that after 20 minutes of the game against Bahrain in Damascus in October, goals by Shekh Eleshra and Alhoussain had put the home team two goals up and back in with a shout of first place. Unfortunately, Syria’s normally resolute defence didn’t hold and the Gulf State scored an equaliser in the last minute which meant that Nizar Mahrous’s team will have to wait a little more for their first ever World Cup appearance.

Tajikistan

After squeezing past South Asian Champions Bangladesh in the preliminary round, Tajikistan started the group stage well with a 2-1win in Kyrgyzstan which was followed by a goalless draw with Bahrain in the capital, Dushanbe.
The Central Asians weren’t able to maintain their early momentum but will be satisfied with seven points which isn’t bad for a country which only started World Cup qualifying in 1998.

Kyrgyzstan

Like neighbours Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan are newcomers to the world stage and also did well to beat Pakistan 6-0 on aggregate in the preliminary round. The group stage was not so rewarding for the former Soviet republic but they did take four points off second-placed Syria, Viacheslav Amin’s 47th minute winner in Damascus being the highlight of Kyrgystan’s football history so far.

Group 6 Table

Group 7

South Korea

The best thing that can be said about Korea’s performance during the group stage was that they qualified for the next one but that will be of scant comfort for former coach Humberto Coelho who lost his job after the second game, a dismal goalless draw in the Maldives. The Koreans, who are one of the two top seeds for the next round, made hard work of a relatively easy group in which the highest team ranking was 94th.
The fourth placed team at the last world cup staggered into the next round, with a 2-0 victory over the Maldives in Seoul but the Red Devils remained to be convinced that Jo Bonfrere is the right man to inspire the team’s underperforming stars. Nine goals in the goals for column show that the Dutchman has much work to do to make sure that Korea appears in its sixth consecutive World Cup finals.

Lebanon

Coach Mohammed Quweid can reflect on a competent performance by his team finishing second to Korea but without ever really looking like they would pip the East Asians to the post. Quweid was able to call on Roda Antar and skipper Yousuf Mohammed who both play for Bundesliga strugglers SC Freiburg and the experience that the pair bring to the team is vital for the Lebanese. Signs are encouraging; striker Ali Nasserdine’s four goals in the six games helped his team to outscore the Koreans by two goals but it was the two goals that Korea scored in the opening game in Suwon back in February which meant that Lebanon were always trying to catch up.

Vietnam

The Vietnamese would have expected to finish third in the group but they wouldn’t have planned on finishing level on points with the Maldives. A 3-0 drubbing in Male was hard to swallow for coach Edson Tavares whose team managed to jump above the island nation courtesy of a goalless draw in the last game against a turgid Lebanon side.
It’s time for the Tiger Cup for the south east Asians who will be hoping that home advantage will lead them on to a first ever championship.

The Maldives

The days seem to be gone when the islanders were on the wrong side of double-figure thrashings; a seventeen goal defeat by Iran in qualifying for the 1998 World Cup still rankles in this small part of South Asia. Holding the 2002 semi-finalists to a draw is the best result in the islands twenty year football history.

Group 7 Table

Group 8

Saudi Arabia

The Saudis were far too good for Turkmenistan and the rest of the group with six wins out of six with only one goal conceded accurately reflecting the Arabs dominance. New coach, Argentine Gabriel Calderon will know that anything other than qualification for the world cup will be a failure but his players will not be taking anything for granted after a disastrous Asian Cup performance. The three-time Asian Champions could only manage a 2-2 draw in that competition against Turkmenistan but that result was sandwiched by two victories in world cup qualifying.

Turkmenistan

The Turkmen will be happy with second place but disappointed with only seven points. Two wins from the first two games at home in Ashgabat against Sri Lanka and Indonesia set the Central Asians up nicely for two crucial clashes with West Asian powerhouse Saudi Arabia. Two defeats against the leaders were followed by only one point from the last two games as their challenge fizzled out badly.
Still, much will have been learned in this former Soviet republic in 2004 suggesting that the Turkmen can follow the Uzbekis up to the next level in Asia.

Indonesia

Peter Withe will be heading into next month’s Tiger Cup in good heart as his team finished the group strongly with a 3-1 win over Turkmenistan with striker Ilham Jayakesuma scoring a hat trick in Jakarta. The 2002 Tiger Cup runners-up started badly under former coach, Ivan Kolev, losing the first two games which quickly put paid to any faint qualifying chances. Still, the team rallied somewhat and it could be time for the Indonesians to take over from Thailand as South-East Asia’s best team.

Sri Lanka

Two draws will probably have been more than the South Asians expected. Hope can be taken from the fact that they were never conceded more than three goals in a game.

Group 8 Table

John Duerden

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