World Cup 2010 Debate: Asian Teams - North Korea, Australia, Japan or South Korea!!!
It would be unfair to say that the 2006 World cup was a good one for any of the participating Asian teams. All the four representatives from the continent failed to clear the first hurdle. Iran, Saudi Arabia and Japan were unsuccessful while South Korea fell short by 4 points.
Not a single Asian fan will want to a repeat telecast of what happened earlier. This time around, the qualifying season started with 43 teams battling for four tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2010. Eventually, Australia qualified as members of the Asian Football Confederation along with Japan, South Korea, and North Korea make the long journey to the Rainbow Nation, South Africa, hoping to stick around into the knockout stage.
First - South Korea (Korea Republic)
Group B – Argentina, Greece, Nigeria and South Korea. Argentina is full of talent while Greece and Nigeria are thorough competitors.
Pros - The team is in form that is just about good enough to dismiss a 1-0 defeat against Belarus in an insignificant match as a failure and a good drill. Premier League players such as Park Ji-sung and Lee Chung-yong are looking to put up a strong performance. The defence has looked solid of late and Korea’s pace in attack should cause problems for the other three teams.
Cons – Defence is still shaky especially with the injury sustained by Kwak Tae-hwi against Belarus. It is easy to visualize the kind of goals that Greece scored against North Korea last week being scored against a weak southern defence.
Predictions – A good start and South Korea could still be in the mix after half of the teams have gone home. The chances of South Korea grabbing the top slot cannot be ruled out.
Second - Australia
Group D - Australia, Ghana, Germany and Serbia. It is going to be a close call as all 4 are capable of making it to the last 16.
Pros - Australia have experienced and tough European campaigners in abundance who are least submissive. Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has had another very good season in the Premier League while Harry Kewell seems to be recovering just in time. They are hard to beat, and raise the bar when playing strong teams. Injuries to opposition star players such as Michael Essien and Michael Ballack can only help their cause.
Cons - Australia qualified quite comfortably. Perhaps that is the problem as the Socceroo’s are yet to face a tough time. There is a lack of depth, injuries to the likes of Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell could be costly.
Predictions – Australia are tough to beat and could well be Asia’s second hope.
Third - Japan
Group E – Netherlands, Cameroon, Japan and Denmark. Cameroon can upset the Samurai Blue defence and Denmark has a rock solid back line.
Pros – Japan have abundance of European experience in their team. Makoto Hasebe won the German title with Wolfsburg and played in the UEFA Champions League. Shunsuke Nakamura and Keisuke Honda enjoyed a stellar season in the Netherlands and then Russia.
Cons –Having scored just 10 goals of nine games in 2010 (seven at home), eight of those came against Yemen, Hong Kong and Bahrain. Six games against South Korea (twice), China, Venezuela, Serbia and England yielded just two. Despite an improved performance against England, confidence is bleak and the situation does not look good.
Predictions – Pessimistic, Although Japan plays well against Asian teams, a defeat against Cameroon will certainly be the last nail in the coffin.
Fourth - North Korea (Korea DPR)
Group G – Brazil, North Korea, Côte d'Ivoire, and Portugal. The toughest group by far, perhaps the worst of a bad bunch for Asia.
Pros – A relatively unknown entity playing without pressure. They also have Jong Tae Se, who can score spectacular goals, and a real never-say-die attitude.
Cons - Lack of international exposure.
Predictions - The Koreans are highly unlikely to break out of the group. Avoiding defeat would, raise their confidence levels, be a success in any match.
Tags: