Am I the only one not scared of any Asian team?
Over the last 2-3 years every single Asian powerhouse has been exposed both on the Asian level (in WCQs) and on a much larger scale in Brazil.
Japan lost and drew with Uzbekistan in the third round of WCQS, finishing second place with 10 points while Uzbekistan finished on top with 16 points. They also lost to Jordan 2-1 in the final round of qualification. Top it off with their awful WC performance, arguably the biggest under achieves in the tournament.
Australia struggled to finish second place and were on the brink of elimination from the WC, drawing Oman and losing to Jordan just like japan. They really seem to struggle against west Asian sides. They had a fairly good showing in Brazil and played some nice football, but again, they didn't seem superior to Iran in their performance OVERALL. They definitely play a more attractive game but as far as results are concerned, they too aren't anything special.
SK underachieved both in WCQs and in the WC, plain and simple. They were nearly knocked out of the WC in the third round of qualifiers like KSA and we managed to defeat them both in Iran and on their home turf. They were embarrassing in Brazil.
Other dark horses like Uzbekistan, Jordan, UAE, China, Iraq, etc. are decent sides too but again, nothing special, especially in comparison to the Asian heavy weights.
Japan, SK, and Australia's superiority in their personnel hasn't translated into results for them, it's as simple as that.
This is the first time since 2004 that we can and SHOULD say a finals appearance is a must. When our boys are focused, working hard, and ready like they were going into the last three WCQ matches and like they were heading into Brazil, we proved that we can achieve our goals.
Over the last 2-3 years every single Asian powerhouse has been exposed both on the Asian level (in WCQs) and on a much larger scale in Brazil.
Japan lost and drew with Uzbekistan in the third round of WCQS, finishing second place with 10 points while Uzbekistan finished on top with 16 points. They also lost to Jordan 2-1 in the final round of qualification. Top it off with their awful WC performance, arguably the biggest under achieves in the tournament.
Australia struggled to finish second place and were on the brink of elimination from the WC, drawing Oman and losing to Jordan just like japan. They really seem to struggle against west Asian sides. They had a fairly good showing in Brazil and played some nice football, but again, they didn't seem superior to Iran in their performance OVERALL. They definitely play a more attractive game but as far as results are concerned, they too aren't anything special.
SK underachieved both in WCQs and in the WC, plain and simple. They were nearly knocked out of the WC in the third round of qualifiers like KSA and we managed to defeat them both in Iran and on their home turf. They were embarrassing in Brazil.
Other dark horses like Uzbekistan, Jordan, UAE, China, Iraq, etc. are decent sides too but again, nothing special, especially in comparison to the Asian heavy weights.
Japan, SK, and Australia's superiority in their personnel hasn't translated into results for them, it's as simple as that.
This is the first time since 2004 that we can and SHOULD say a finals appearance is a must. When our boys are focused, working hard, and ready like they were going into the last three WCQ matches and like they were heading into Brazil, we proved that we can achieve our goals.
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