AFC Asian Cup 2011 Preview
The 2011 Asian Cup, which begins on 7th January, will be the most anticipated and most scrutinised Asian tournament ever by those outside the continent. Chris Nee previews the competition that has the potential to ease the pressure on FIFA or bang another nail into its coffin.
As the 16 slogan-bearing buses make their way from venue to venue, the eyes of the world will be burning a hole in the host nation. This isn’t just the 15th Asian Cup and it won’t pass without judgements being made around the world about the suitability of the host and the logisitics of the competition, for 2011 is the second time this tournament will be held in the wealthy emirate of Qatar. In early December 2010, Qatar was awarded hosting duties for the 2022 World Cup, a decision widely derided and, to many, carrying a whiff of suspicion.
No sooner had the dust settled on the FIFA Executive Committee vote than the idea of the 2022 competition having to be moved to January began to gather pace – no, I don’t remember that being mentioned before the vote either. And so this, while not exactly a dry run, will be judged as such by observers keen to fuel the anti-FIFA fire. In a way it’s a shame that Qatar’s success will overshadow the western perspective of the Asian Cup because we now live in an age which both inspires and facilitates a truly global support of football. There are plenty of enthusiasts around the world that would have been watching this anyway.
The competition will be played in five stadiums: Khalifa Stadium (Doha), Qatar SC Stadium (Doha), Al-Gharafa Stadium (Doha), Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium (Doha) and Ahmed bin Ali Stadium (Al-Rayyan).
Beginning with Qatar’s Group A clash with Uzbekistan on 7th January and ending in the same stadium for the final on 29th, the 2011 Asian Cup promises much. The globalisation of the sport means that there will be players that are familiar to fans in the big European leagues now, and most likely a few that will become so as a result of their form in January. Here is twofootedtackle.com‘s inexpert take on what’s to come.
Group A
China, Kuwait, Qatar, Uzbekistan
The hosts take their place in Group A alongside three sides that will have their work cut out to reach the last four. China boss Gao Hongbo has selected just one player who plies his trade abroad, Schalke’s Hao Junmin, while only two of his 23 play for champions Shandong Luneng. Han Peng, the highest Chinese goalscorer in the Chinese Super League as the Jinan side eased to the title, isn’t one of them. Yang Xu, Liaoning Hongyun’s top goalscorer, was the Asian Cup squad’s most effective striker in 2010.
Bruno Metsu’s Qatar will be facing Jasur Hasanov, an Uzbekistan midfielder who plays his domestic football with defender Fawaz Al Khater at Lekhwiya in Doha, in the opening game. Hasanov’s team-mates Alexander Geynrikh and Maksim Shatskikh will be keen to continue their excellent scoring record for the White Wolves. Kuwait, like the other sides in the group overwhelmingly manned by domestic players, last won the Asian Cup in 1980 – on home soil – and have been far from a guaranteed qualifier ever since, although perhaps that’s to be expected given…well, you know.
To the untrained eye, this is a tough group to call. The most established team, China, has exported fewer of its current players than many of its rivals in this year’s Asian Cup, and qualified behind ‘Pot 4′ minnows Syria for the competition. Judging by a quick glance at the statistics, it’s a squad that lacks match-winners; the only man to have reached double figures for his country is Qu Bo, who’s scored 17 times but taken 66 games to do so.
Conversely, Geynrikh and Shatskikh could prove the difference for Uzbekistan in a weak group that features three qualifying runners-up. Qatar, of course, qualified as hosts.
Group B
Japan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria
While I haven’t seen enough of their opponents to make a prediction, if I were to pick a winner based on sentiment it would undoubtedly be Japan, now managed by Alberto Zaccheroni. For me they were one of the bright spots of World Cup 2010 and their performance against Denmark was breathtaking at times. Tulio Tanaka was one of the players that impressed in June, but he and Yuji Nakazawa miss out in Qatar through injury. Fortunately, Wolfsburg’s Makoto Hasebe, Daisuke Matsui of Tom Tomsk in Russia (on loan from Grenoble) and the superb Borussia Dortmund playmaker Shinji Kagawa will be present, as will Keisuke Honda, who was scintillating in South Africa.
Japan’s key competition will be from Saudi Arabia. Jose Poseiro’s side has won the Asian Cup three times and qualified by losing the final in 2007. Saudi also missed out on World Cup qualification in 2010 for the first time since qualifying for USA ’94, its first tournament and the last time it won a World Cup finals match. The Green Falcons’ 23-man squad is entirely based domestically, and is split mostly between the nation’s giant clubs Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal.
Three of Jordan’s squad also play their football in Saudi: Hatem Aqel for Al-Raed, Anas Bani Yaseen for Najran and Shadi Abu Hashhash for Al-Taawon. Jordan qualified as a group runner-up and are coached by the Iraqi Adnan Hamad, who has managed his country on no fewer than five occasions (not including the under-19, under-21 and Olympics sides) – again, the underlying reasons behind that cannot be ignored. Syria qualified ahead of China, Vietnam and Lebanon but may well meet their match in a tough group.
Group C
Australia, Bahrain, India, South Korea
If the World Cup pedigree of Saudi Arabia and Japan is notable, South Korea’s is remarkable. Reaching the semi-finals as the Blue Samurai’s co-host in 2002, Korea have qualified for every World Cup since 1986 and reached the second round in 2010. They qualified for the Asian Cup by virtue of winning the third/fourth place playoff in 2007. They won the first two Asian Cups by beating Israel in the 1956 and 1960 finals, and finished second the last time it was played in Qatar. The squad features four exports to Britain, with Park Ji-Sung and Lee Chung-Yong starring for Manchester United and Bolton Wanderers, and Cha Du-Ri and Ki-Sung Yueng for SPL side Celtic.
Australia play in their second Asian Cup after defecting from the Oceania region in 2006. They were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Japan on that occasion, and after a disappointing South Africa 2010 will be hoping for a strong showing in Qatar under new boss Holger Osieck. Eight of Osieck’s squad play in the Premier League and Football League, with only Jason Culina, the uncapped Robbie Kruse, Jade North and Matt McKay representing the A-League.
India, who qualified by beating Tajikistan in the final of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup on home soil, have only one player employed outside the country (Sporting Kansas City’s Sunil Chhetri), but they do have an imported coach. What’s more, he’s English. Bob Houghton’s incredible globetrotting managerial career has taken him from the Isthmian League to Asia via Sweden, Greece, er…Bristol, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and the USA. Houghton has managed clubs in China as well as the national team, and Uzbekistan for good measure. Although his career has been a fascinating one, the 2008 Challenge Cup was his first trophy in almost 30 years.
The high point of Bahrain’s Asian Cup past came in 2004, when they went unbeaten in Group A and progressed behind China before beating Uzbekistan and being beaten by eventual champions Japan thanks to a Keiji Tamada goal three minutes into extra time. Their 2004 conquerors also bettered them in 2011 qualifying, leaving Bahrain to qualify in second place in their group.
Group D
North Korea, Iran, Iraq, United Arab Emirates
It says something about Iraq’s footballers that they became both the story and the winners of the last Asian Cup despite the physical and emotional destruction inflicted by what was then called the coalition (what is it about coalitions plus British government equalling total d*ckheads?) in the war. Their win over Australia in Bangkok secured top spot in the group and they swept aside Vietnam, South Korea and Saudi Arabia (with varying levels of difficulty) to lift the trophy in Jakarta. Skipper and goalscorer Younis Mahmood was the hero that day and plays for Al-Gharafa in Qatar. They’ll have to top the group and reach the semis in order to play at his home stadium.
North Korea qualified as 2010 AFC Challenge Cup winners but that particular year will be remembered by most of us for their appearance in the World Cup. Jong Tae-Se first caught my eye during highlights of a match involving Kawasaki Frontale and earned notoriety by bursting into tears during the national anthem ahead of the World Cup defeat to Brazil – he also secured a move to Germany, where he’s in good goalscoring form for 2.Bundesliga outfit Bochum.
Iran qualified ahead of Jordan in Group E and have won the competition three times consecutively and, remarkably, qualified for each of these competitions automatically. After withdrawing from Israel 1964, Iran hosted and won the Asian Cup in 1968, won as champions in Thailand four years later, and won as champions and hosts – without conceding a goal – in 1976. The UAE can boast a losing final and a losing semi-final in its Asian Cup history, but have qualified only once for the World Cup.
Knockout Rounds
The latter stages of the competition begin with quarter-finals on 21st and 22nd January, in which the winner of Group A faces the runner-up in Group B, and so on. On 25th January, the semi-finals see the winners of the odd-numbered quarters play one another and the winners of the even-numbered quarters play one another. The third/fourth-place playoff takes place on 28th, with the final being held at Khalifa Stadium in Doha on 29th.
Considering the strength of modern technology and the increasing taste for global football, it’s perhaps surprising that relatively few of these players are known to non-geeky audiences in Europe, and even to football nerds like me. As a result, it would be ridiculous to make predictions but it’s difficult to imagine Japan and South Korea going out early after decent displays in 2010.
Elsewhere, North Korea will be hopeful of success in Group D but Iraq in particular should make life difficult. Saudi will surely expect to follow Japan out of Group B, while Australia will have similar expectations in a group that includes an India side that lost all three group matches in its Challenge Cup defence in 2010 and is playing in the Asian Cup for the first time since 1984.
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