“Asia Cup”: A heated “Japanese-Iraqi” duel… and Iran to ensure qualification
Today, the eyes of Asian football fans are turning to the Qatari capital, Doha, where Iraq, the 2007 champion, will compete with the Japanese Samurai, who were crowned four times and are the most likely candidates to win the Asian Cup in football. The confrontation will be held at the Education City Stadium in Doha, at the top of Group D after they scored points in the first round. .
Japan, which held the titles in 1992, 2000, 2004 and 2011, defeated Vietnam 4-2, but it went through a critical period during the match when it trailed 1-2 in the middle of the first half, before regaining its balance and scoring two goals in stoppage time, then adding a goal. In the second half.
As for Iraq, it defeated Indonesia 3-1, which means that a victory for one of them will mathematically guarantee its qualification to the round of 16. The winner and runner-up of the six groups qualify for the second round, in addition to the four best third-placed teams.
Statistics indicate that Japan achieved 8 victories in 11 matches, of which Iraq won once in 1982 in the Asian Games, in addition to two draws.
Officials of the Iraqi mission fear that the problem of the Norwegian Sandefjord midfielder, Danilo Al-Saeed, will be reflected in the team’s path after he left his residence to return to Norway, in protest against statements made by the Spanish coach, Jesus Casas, in response to a journalist’s question after the confrontation with Indonesia, about the reasons for the non-participation of the largest player. Market value on the Al-Rafidain Lions list and his presence on the stands.
Casas said after the first match: “I do not care about the market value of any player, nor do I care about the name of any player, but rather his readiness,” which angered Al-Saeed, who the next day demanded that the delegation management hand over his passport to him to return to Norway.
Al-Saeed, who moved to Sandefjord for $1.5 million, carried the colors of Iraq in the matches between Jordan and Qatar in the Jordan friendly tournament last October, and the friendly match with South Korea in Abu Dhabi before the start of the tournament, which ended with the latter’s 1-0 victory.
It is noteworthy that the Iraqi Federation remained silent about Al-Saeed’s departure, without revealing the circumstances of this case and its true motives, contenting itself with publishing video clips on its official account showing the friendly atmosphere inside his residence, in an indication of the stability of the situation.
Casas said, before the expected confrontation: “The Iraqi national team will not be busy. The focus now is on the Japan match.”
Within the same group, Vietnam and Indonesia meet at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
Compared to the performance of the two teams in the first round, and in general, the Vietnamese team is more likely to win the match and revive its hopes of reaching the second round.
The training of Vietnam is supervised by Frenchman Philippe Troussier, an expert in Asian football, after he coached the Japanese national team during the 2000 Asian Cup in Lebanon, when it won the title, and then in the 2002 World Cup when he led it to the second round for the first time in its history. He also supervised the Qatar national team. And several Chinese clubs.
In the third group, Iran appears to be an extraordinary candidate to achieve its second victory over submerged Hong Kong at Khalifa International Stadium, and to ensure qualification.
Iran struck hard in its first match, defeating Palestine 4-1.
Iran, champion of the continent three times, most recently in 1976, is looking forward to booking its ticket to the final eight for the eighth time in a row.
Iranian striker Ali Reza Jahanbakhsh confirmed that his team is ready to bear the pressure that the tournament requires to win the continental title: “It is a good sign to have pressure. When there is pressure on us, it means that there are high expectations, and that there is quality in the team.”
He added: “As a team, we are ready for this tournament, but the most important thing is to play one match after another. Fortunately, we performed well in the first step, but we want to provide better performances in the upcoming matches, because we know the difficulty of the matches in the final stages.”
He considered that “things will be more difficult, and we must respect all competitors and do our best to make our people happy.”
Jahanbakhsh was a member of the Iranian national team that reached the quarter-finals in Australia 2015 and the semi-finals in the UAE 2019.
Regarding the confrontation with Hong Kong, he said: “We will respect the Hong Kong team. “He lost the first game, so they know how important it is to come back and do their best to get a result in the second game.”
He concluded: “The second match is important to ensure our place in the next round is guaranteed, and we will do our best to win the match and ensure qualification to the second round.”
2024-01-18 19:26:27
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