China-73rd (5th Asia)
Iraq-108th (14th Asia)
Jordan-91st (8th Asia)
Singapore-131st (18th Asia)
Schedule
September 2, 2011
- Singapore at China
- Jordan at Iraq
- Iraq at Singapore
- China at Jordan
- Iraq at China
- Jordan at Singapore
- Singapore at Jordan
- China at Iraq
- Iraq at Jordan
- China at Singapore
- Jordan at China
- Singapore at Iraq
China
- 2011 to date: 7-1-3
- 2010 WC Qualifying/Finals: 3-2-3
- vs. Group opponents: 17-5-7
- 2011 to date: 4-5-2
- 2010 WC Qualifying/Finals: 3-3-2
- vs. Group opponents: 26-12-10
- 2011 to date: 4-2-7
- 2010 WC Qualifying/Finals: 3-4-1
- vs. Group opponents: 8-24-11
- 2011 to date: 3-0-1
- 2010 WC Qualifying/Finals: 4-4-0*
- vs. Group opponents: 2-12-2
Team Glimpses
China
Chinese football fell off after their 2002 Finals appearance. Despite a strong side, they failed to make the final group stages of qualifying in both subsequent campaigns. They seem to have found their rhythm though this year and find themselves ranked in the top 5 on the continent. Key players through qualifying will be Qu Bo, emotional leader and one of the only remaining holdovers from the 2002 World Cup team and Xu Yang, who netted 4 goals in Round 2 of 2014 qualifying.
Iraq
Political turmoil over the past decades has made it difficult for Iraq to compete on a consistent basis at the World stage but when they find their groove, they are a very difficult team to play against. Look no further than their run from 2007-2009. In 2007, they were the upset winners of the Asian Cup, knocking off Australia, South Korea and Saudi Arabia in the process. That win sent them to South Africa in 2009 for the Confederations Cup, where they drew with 2010 World Cup participants South Africa and New Zealand. Dangerous squad and now that they are able to play at home again, they will be a huge threat in this group. Best player is captain Younis Mahmoud, who has 34 goals in his near 100 games with the national team.
Jordan
A team that has flown under the radar in Asia, they are actually the 2nd seed in this group behind only China. An abysmal record against group opponents is not indicative of their current form, as most of those losses came to neighbour Iraq in previous decades. Jordan's 9-0 defeat of Nepal in Round 2 of qualifying will make this entire group wary. No matter the opponent, the ability to explode offensively that Jordan has will concern any opponent. Two names to keep an eye on: Hassan Abdel Fattah who scored 4 goals in 1 game in Round 2 and Odai Al-Saify, a mainstay up front for Jordan and one of the few Jordanian players plying their trade in Europe.
Singapore
The minnow of the group, Singapore boasts just 2 all-time victories against group opponents, 1 each against Iraq and Jordan. Bit of a different strategy employed by Singapore in personnel selection; where most countries embrace home-grown talent, many Singaporean players have immigrated to the country. Perfect example of this is star forward Aleksandar Duric, born in Bosnia. This strategy, while criticized in practice by other nations (Germany, for example) has allowed Singapore the opportunity to compete at a higher level by not relying solely on a small Singaporean talent base. Duric is the man to watch with this team not only because of his scoring ability but because of his age. At 41, he is one of the oldest members of a national team in the world. More impressive: He only started playing internationally 4 years ago...
September Games
Game 1
Singapore at China
September 2, 2011
Time: TBD
Location: Tuodong Stadium, Kunming, China
Game 2
Jordan at Iraq
September 2, 2011
Time: 8:00 am EDT
Location: Franso Hariri Stadium, Arbil, Iraq
Game 3
Iraq at Singapore
September 6, 2011
Time: 7:30 am EDT
Location: Jalan Besar Stadium, Jalan Besar, Singapore
Game 4
China at Jordan
September 6, 2011
Time: 12:00 pm EDT
Location: Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan
The first round of games will be played within a week and in my opinion the first series of games in any group are the most important. You need to get off to a fast start in order to take some of the pressure off. Each team has to play 6 games and odds are everyone will lose at some point in the campaign. You absolutely want to give yourself some breathing room off the start so you don't spend the rest of qualifying trying to play catch-up.
One thing to also watch when 2 games are being played in short succession are travel effects. Jordan has a great opening section, visiting neighbour Iraq before getting China at home. Both China and Iraq have long-distance trips to make before their second game and we'll see if that has a toll on their performance.
Most exciting game should be the Jordan-Iraq matchup which is a regional rivalry. Should both China and Jordan win on the 2nd, that matchup in Amman could potentially vault one or the other to the front of the pack in this group for good. Singapore will need to focus on the Iraq matchup. Beating a fresh China squad in China will be a daunting task but they could catch Iraq napping on the road, especially if Iraq does not get the result it wants out of its Jordan game.
Post-September Standing Predictions:
China-4 pts
Iraq-4 pts
Jordan-2 pts
Singapore-0 pts
No comments:
Post a Comment