Chapter 296 Group A Situation
In fact, most people are not optimistic that the Hong Kong team can qualify for the group.
The Hong Kong team is in Group A. The four teams in Group A are Australia, Iraq, Thailand and Hong Kong. Hong Kong is definitely at the bottom of the list.
This group of Australia is very strong. Regardless of the lineup or the world ranking, Australia is the top in Asia, and even completely overshadowed South Korea, Japan, Iran and other strong teams. The words "starry" are used to describe the first time to participate in Asia. The Australian team in the cup competition is probably not an exaggeration at all.
So when the striker from the Premier League Liverpool team vowed to win the Asian Cup trophy, no one thought he was too arrogant, because even Japan and Saudi Arabia, the traditional Asian teams, regarded Australia as a The biggest opponent to win the championship.
In the recent warm-up match, Australia's 2-0 victory over the Chinese team also shows that the Australians are aiming for the Asian Cup championship, not just talk.
Since leaving Australia to join the AFC in 2005, the Australian team has been hoping to prove itself on this new stage. In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, although the Australian team achieved the best results among all Asian participating teams, at least at that time, the outside world still regarded them as a team from Oceania. After all, in addition to the AFC Champions League, Australia Football doesn't communicate much with other leagues.
In this Asian Cup, the Australian Football Association has paid enough attention, because this is their first appearance in an official competition at the Asian level since they joined the Asian football family.
To this end, head coach Arnold recalled most of the players who played in the Premier League and other European leagues. In the 23-man squad that has been announced, there are 19 players who play overseas, of which seven are from the Premier League and two from Serie A.
In addition, the team has entered a state of preparation ahead of time. On June 21, they had assembled in advance, and the whole team was concentrated in Singapore, where they spent about ten days before setting off for Thailand. Preparing for the first match against Hong Kong.
Because Australia is located in the southern hemisphere, it is winter. This training camp in Singapore is particularly important for the players, and it can be seen from this that the Australians have long been determined to win the championship.
For the team's first Asian Cup trip, Australian players are also full of expectations.
Keville, who has been out for 11 months due to injury, said that his injury has fully recovered and will not affect his participation in the Asian Cup. "I can't wait to get ready to play now. In the past two years. Australia team. Nothing has been achieved, and we have more expectations after the World Cup in Germany. To prove that we deserve the honor, only the Asian Cup will speak for itself."
Goalkeeper Schwarzer, who played for the Premier League Middlesbrough team, said that being regarded as the favorite to win the title is a new feeling, "The experience of the last 16 of the World Cup in Germany last year can help us achieve good results in the Asian Cup, which is for us. It's a challenge, and we're eager to face that challenge."
The 34-year-old veteran said, "Teams like Iran, South Korea, Japan have participated in the World Cup. They are all real threats, but there is no doubt. We are also the favorites to win the championship."
Bresciano, a midfielder from the Serie A Palermo team, believes that if he can win the Asian Cup, it will be a very wonderful memory, "If we can win the Asian Cup, it will be good for our players and for our country. Sports are all helpful and make the world remember the football we play more."
Compared with the players, the Australian Football Association obviously values the position in the Asian football map obtained through this Asian Cup. After all, the World Cup qualifiers in South Africa will start next year. Whether they can successfully qualify in the relatively weak Asian division is very important. The extent is also directly related to whether it can "shock" competitors in the Asian Cup. "Participating in the Asian Cup is a historical event and an honor for all Australians. We will send the strongest team to participate in the competition, hoping to win the competition. Championship."
"We look forward to winning the title, and looking forward to winning more honours for Asian football in the future," said Ben Barkley, chief executive of Football Australia.
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In addition to Australia, the Iraqi team is also very strong. Like the domestic situation in Iraq where the civil strife continues, it is difficult for Iraqi football to have a peaceful time.
About a week before the opening of the Asian Cup, the Iraqi Football Association made an unexpected decision: the head coach Salman who led the Iraqi team to this Asian Cup was sacked and replaced by Brazilian Vieira. . At the same time, three players from the national team were expelled from the national football team for violating discipline and were suspended for two years. The Iraqi team, which was not strong in the first place, cast a thick shadow before the expedition.
In 2004, Salman participated in the Asian Cup held in China as the head coach of the Iraqi team. The offensive football he advocated gave people a refreshing feeling. Although they lost to the Chinese team in the quarter-finals, the Iraqi team achieved the best result in history in the Athens Olympics, and Salman became a hero in the hearts of Iraqi fans. In last year's Asian Cup qualifiers, the Iraqi team led by Salman was in the same group as the Chinese team. Team shame.
Salman was dismissed mainly because of his poor performance in the Gulf Cup in January this year. The Iraqi team, which was supposed to make a difference in the Gulf Cup, lost 0-1 to the Saudi team in the semi-finals. For this reason, the Iraqi Football Association was established. A review committee was launched to explore the reasons for the failure of the Iraqi team.
In the end, the Football Association accepted the recommendation of the review committee and removed Salman from the coaching seal. Then they hired Brazilian Juwan Vieira as the national team coach. Before joining the Iraqi national football team, Vieira had coached in African and Asian teams successively, and successively served as Oman, Malaysia under the age of 20 countries the team's head coach.
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After Australia and Iraq, it is the host team Thailand.
Thailand's football history is a bit bleak. They only made a breakthrough in the 1972 Asian Cup. They lost to North Korea on penalties in the semi-finals, and finally defeated Myanmar with a penalty shootout and won the third place. name.
This is also the best result achieved by the Thai national team in the Asian arena.
However, in Southeast Asia, the Thai team has always appeared as a strong team. In 1996, 2000 and 2002, they won three Tiger Cup championships, and at the Southeast Asian Games, they are regulars on the championship podium. , has won the championship trophy 11 times.
Despite having played in the past four Asian Cups, it was embarrassing for the Thai team that they failed to win even a single match, let alone reach the knockout stage. In the 2000 Asian Cup in Lebanon, they came close to achieving this goal, but eventually lost in the contest with the hosts.
In 2003, Peter White, an Englishman who had coached the Thai team for many years, left. The Thai national team was completely defeated in 2004. Whether it was the Asian Cup or the Tiger Cup, including the subsequent World Cup Asian qualifiers, they failed to achieve good results. score.
However, the Thailand U23 national team performed well in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games and won the championship. This is the seventh consecutive time that the Thai team has won this event. More importantly, through this competition, a fairly strong youth football reserve force has emerged in the Thai team, which is also regarded as the biggest capital for Thai football to make breakthroughs in the future.
Although the Thai team has a poor record, they are still confident. In the warm-up match, they defeated the "powerful" Chinese team 1-0, but the Thai team playing at home is targeting to qualify for the group.
"The support of the fans will give us endless fighting spirit, and we will surely create miracles." When it comes to the Asian Cup, Chaveit, the head coach who took over the Thailand team in 2005, seemed confident.
As one of the four host countries of this Asian Cup, Thailand is the strongest and the one with the greatest hope of qualifying from the group.
According to an unwritten convention, the host nation will certainly receive a certain level of care in the group stage to ensure that at least one of them can make it out of the group, and most of the media believe that the Thai team will want to win from the Australian and Iraqi teams. A group broke through, in addition to their own performance, the cheering of the home fans may be their biggest capital.
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Among the comments of many media, "East Asia Sports"'s comments on Group A have been recognized a lot -
Australia, a world-class team.
Iraq, the tough Iraqis are most likely to perform miracles.
Thailand, the most promising host.
The Hong Kong team, the last team, can only learn from the experience of the competition.
In a word, the Hong Kong team in Group A has very little hope of qualifying. In this case, it is understandable that the Hong Kong team is not noticed. Even if Wansheng leads the Hong Kong team, the Hong Kong team is still the Hong Kong team. The mass media does not think it is a good leader. What can the coach change? After all, Wansheng has only been leading Hong Kong for more than half a month. After more than half a month of preparation, what progress can be made?
Many media are almost not optimistic about the Hong Kong team.
In this atmosphere of public opinion, the Hong Kong team was quietly training and preparing for the game against Australia. Wan Sheng, as the head coach, seemed very low-key, and Hong Kong players were also very low-key, so fewer media reporters came to interview. , Except for those Hong Kong media who firmly support the Hong Kong team, there are no other media reporters in front of the hotel where the Hong Kong team is staying. (To be continued ~^~)