1/24/2006
John Duerden, goal.com

Twenty-four teams are aiming to travel to one or more of the four co-host countries in the summer of 2007 for the 14th Asian Cup and claim the crown from 2004 winners Japan. Qualifying begins on February 22 and Asian editor John Duerden takes a look at the six groups – starting with A to C.

Group A (Japan, Saudi Arabia, India, Yemen)

Pity poor India and Yemen, neither country would have expected an easy route to Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand but being drawn in the same group as two of Asia’s World Cup qualifiers, and the two nations that have won the last six continental competitions, was greeted with dismay in Delhi and Sanaa.

It was certainly not the news that India, on a high after winning last month’s South Asian Cup, wanted though Uzbekistan and Iraq are perhaps to blame after defeating the Saudis in the last Asian Cup. The losses condemned the Sons of the Desert to last place and a spot in the second pot of seeds.

On the opening day on February 22, the Indians face a daunting trip to Japan while Yemen, at 139 in FIFA’s rankings, 21 places below the South Asians will need to take something from their home game against Marcos Paqueta’s new team. Yemen shouldn’t be taken too lightly however; their 3-1 victory over the United Arab Emirates in the first stage of World Cup qualifying ended the UAE’s dreams of Germany.

The two powerhouses will be hoping to take three points from their opening games next month and then put the competition on the backburner until after a certain tournament in Europe this summer.

It will be a major shock if India and Yemen aren’t free to make other plans in the summer of 2007.

Group B (Taiwan, South Korea, Iran and Syria)

The second group to contain two nations that have other things on their mind in the first half of 2006 – Iran and South Korea have five titles between them though the wins are a little further back in the competition’s history. The two rivals made some modern history however in a titanic tie in the Asian Cup 2004.

The citizens of the eastern Chinese city of Jinan can rarely have seen such excitement on a football field as in the quarter-final of the tournament, South Korea equalised three times before a fourth goal finished them off – Bayern Munich star Ali Karimi doing most of the damage.

Taiwan don’t have much of a pedigree on the international stage and will be happy just to improve on their dismal showing in the World Cup qualifying – six games, six defeats and 26 goals conceded.

Syria are an improving international side and performed well in December’s West Asian Games but will struggle to finish above third place. The best hope of displacing one of the two giants is to take three points from their opening game on February 22 at home to South Korea and coach Miloslav Radinovic will be hoping that the visitors have half a mind on Germany.

Group C (Jordan, Pakistan, Oman, UAE)

Group C looks rather more open than the preceding two. Oman will fancy their chances of topping the group and getting the opportunity to follow-up on their impressive showing in the 2004 competition. Coach Srecko Juricic has a good deal of experience in the competition, taking Bahrain within a whisker of the final in China and has enough expertise to steer the tiny country to the top of the group.

The identity of the country that joins Oman is a little more difficult to predict as the fact that the UAE and Jordan occupy spots 85 and 86 in FIFA’s rankings testifies.

Both nations made it to the competition proper in 2004 and there is little to choose between them. Under the Egyptian coach Mahmoud Al Gohary, Jordan have been a defensive team that sits back and waits to hit the other teams on the break, a strategy that has got the team so far but not yet established in the middle-level of Asian nations.

UAE are already there but have failed to build on their 1990 World Cup experience and since finishing second to North Korea in the first stage of qualifying for Germany 2006, the team hasn’t had much competitive experience and may come to regret not taking part in the West Asian Games held in December 2005.

It could be a tough few months for Pakistan, recently knocked out of the South Asian Games at the semi-final stage.