2007 AFC Asian Cup coming soon

The latest edition of the Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup is about to kick off today! It will run for about 3 weeks. It's the first time the tournament will be co-hosted by 4 nations, being Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia & Indonesia.

The teams taking part are as follows:

Group A: Thailand, Australia, Iraq, Oman
Group B: Vietnam, Japan, Qatar, UAE
Group C: Malaysia, China, Iran, Uzbekistan
Group D: Indonesia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain

There you are. The tournament kicks off with Thailand taking on Iraq. The tournament sees a new face, Australia, who will be taking part in the finals for the first time since being admitted as a member of the AFC. After their admission, Australia took part in the Asian Cup qualifiers & qualified for the tournament after topping their group.

The top 2 teams in each group will proceed to the quarter-finals. Here's my group stage forecast:

Group A:
Australia are favoured to top this group, & rightly so - most of their squad are based in Europe & therefore have lots of experience in European club football. That leaves the other 3 teams fighting for the remaining spot. I find it hard to pick from the remaining 3. Thailand, the strongest of the 4 host nations, will need to make the most of their home-advantage to have a chance of progressing. Oman will be no pushovers & have often punched above their weight. Iraq finished fourth in the Athens Olympics in 2004 & runners-up in the 2006 Asian Games, & a good portion of the players from those tournaments will be at this Asian Cup. For that reason, the Iraqis may be considered stronger than Oman & Thailand. However Iraq's preparations will have been hampered by the on-going war-time crisis. So it's hard to assess how much of an impact they will make on the Asian Cup, though based on talent alone, there's no doubt they can prove more than a handful for their group rivals. I'd cross my fingers & pick Thailand (who will enjoy the passionate support of their home fans) to join Australia in the knock-out stages, but will not be surprised Oman & especially Iraq prove me wrong.

Group B:
Like Australia in Group A, Japan are expected to dominate Group B. I think they will top this group, although their coach Ivica Osim have warned that fatigue from a long J-League season could hamper Japan's campaign. Nevertheless, based on talent alone, the Japanese should win the group. The Japanese will be keen on making amends for their disappointing showing at WC2006. And let's not forget Japan are the defending champions & will not give up their title without a fight. In fact, Japan won the last 2 Asian Cups & will look to make it 3 in a row. It will be far from easy, though, with tough group opponents UAE & Qatar lying in wait. UAE are coached by Frenchman Bruno Metsu, who will be remembered for taking Senegal into the WC quarter-finals of Korea/Japan 2002. For that reason, expect UAE to be a well-drilled & cohesive unit. Qatar's football league is ever booming, & the Qatar fans will expect that to rub off on their football team. I would pick UAE to edge out Qatar for second spot, but would not be that surprised if the Qataris finish ahead of the Emirates. As for Vietnam, they are an unknown quantity. They will play with much pride, in front of their passionate fans. Unfortunately, I doubt that will be enough in this group, especially given that Vietnam have a young squad short on experience. Thailand looks to have a better chance in Group A than Vietnam does in Group B.

Group C:
Look at this. My country of origin, Malaysia, in the finals of a major tournament! But they are here only because they are one of the hosts. No disrespect to them, but there is no possibility of them getting out of this group, not when it includes Asian heavyweights China & Iran. China finished as runner-up in the last Asian Cup, which they hosted, & will be keen to go one better in this tournament. Recent results & performances have been disappointing, but their coach said the Chinese are raring to go. Iran do have a number of players based in Europe, & are definitely one of the most talented teams in the Asian Cup. While there have been question marks over their temperament & team spirit, there's no question Iran have too much pedigree not to make it past the group stages. In the fight for the top 2 spots, Iran will probably end up ahead of China. Hoping to challenge them would be the Central Asians, Uzbekistan. They are winners of 1994 Asian Games, when they first took part in Asia, but have not done much since. That's not to question the talent in the Uzbek team. In fact, at their best, Uzbekistan will be awkward opponents. China & Iran will be silly to understimate them & I won't be that surprised if Uzbekistan manage to come second in this group. I cannot say the same for Malaysia, whose fans will not expect much at all from the team other than to give a good acount of themselves.

Group D:
This group appear to be a straight-forward tussle between South Korea & Saudi Arabia. Korea's lead up to the tournament have been rocky. Injuries have ruled out several of their Europe-based stars, most notably Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-sung. Korea's Dutch coach Pim Verbeek also has had squabbles with the K-League clubs over a crowded domestic calendar & player availability. Nevertheless, results & performances in warm-up friendly matches have been heartening, & have shown that Korea can still call on some talented young players from their K-League, though it remains to be seen whether or not their talent can overcome the experience lost by the injuries to the overseas-based players. Like the Koreans, Saudi Arabia will also bring a young squad to the tournament. Long gone are the Saudi generation that took part in the 1994 WC (including Saeed Owairan, scorer of that marvellous solo goal in that WC against Belgium), & the Saudis are rebuilding. Whether that rebuilding process will run smoothly is debateable - the Saudi FA are notorious for hiring & firing coaches at alarming regularity - if I heard correctly, more than a dozen coaches have come & gone since 1994! Such a turnover hampers any efforts to rebuild their national team & make full use of player potential. Nevetheless, they should prove too strong for Bahrain & Indonesia. Bahrain got to the semis of the 2004 Asian Cup, but are not fancied to repeat that achievement this time round. Indonesia's hopes have been dealt a blow by injuries to a couple of their key strikers, & I think third place in the group is the best they can hope for.

From the group stages, we get onto the quarter-finals. It's difficult to predict the Asian Cup winner, but it will probably come from any of the following (in no particular order): Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, & outside chances go to China & Saudi Arabia.