Asia Cup: Group C Preview
Two more footballing heavy weights will open their Asian Cup campaign in group C of the event. Australia and South Korea will do well to not to underestimate their opponents like http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Saudi-Arabia-c3000 did yesterday.
In India and Bahrain, Australia and South Korea should not have any major problems in winning, but they have to avoid complacency at all costs. Lessons should be learnt from what happened with Japan as they just managed a 1-1 draw against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Jordan-c2929, while Saudi
Arabia were also punished by a determined Syrian team, who deservedly came out 2-1 winners.
Australia have already been labelled as one of the early favourites to lift the trophy, and they might not have too many problems in disposing of an Indian side that qualified for the tournament after winning the 2008 Challenge Cup. Everyone is expecting
India to crash out in the group stages, but the Indian side will surely not be mere pushovers.
Australian coach Holger Osieck will expect nothing less than a win against India. The German surely won’t take any chances and should field a full-strength squad. Australia will be looking to improve on their performances four year ago, when the Socceroos
barely made it out of the group stages.
In 2007, Australia suffered a shock draw against minnows Oman, and this time India will be looking to repeat http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tim-Cahill-c35085 and Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer know all about the tournament, and will make
sure they don’t repeat the same mistakes.
India’s talismanic forward, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Bhaichung-Bhutia-c7586 is very unlikely to start the game, and manager Bob Houghton will use him as a substitute. Although the match is supposed to be an easy one for the Aussies, India will be dangerous since they have nothing to lose.
The other Group C game between South Korea and Bahrain is expected to be a close encounter, but just like http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Captain-c8314 Salman
Isa is also a doubt for the game.
The South Korean’s are looking to lift the trophy for the first time since 1960. The current South Korean squad is brimming with talent and confidence. However, the absence of AS Monaco man http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Park-Chu-Young-c29137 will surely be felt. Chu-Young’s absence though,
won’t be a major problem for coach Cho Kwang-Rae, as Bolton midfield maestro http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Park-Ji-Sung-c29147.
Despite having abundant talent and depth in their squad, the South Koreans will have a tricky task when they face Bahrain, who were very solid defensively throughout the Asian Cup Qualifiers.
Predictions:
On paper, the Australian side is an exciting squad that is very balanced and professional, and beating http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/India-c750 won’t be a very tough job for them.
Bahrain will cause the South Koreans a lot of trouble, but the Koreans have enough about them to get all three points.
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