September Review: Asia-Group 3

Standings



Game Results

Game 1-Japan def. North Korea 1-0 in Saitama, Japan on September 2, 2011

• Japan Goals-Maya Yoshida (90+4')

I said in the preview but I will reiterate here again. North Korea won't win every game they play; but they'll lose fewer games then they win. It took all of extra time for the top-ranked Asian team Japan to find the back of the net against a stingy North Korean side that would have happily returned home with a 0-0 draw. The entire second half was played almost entirely in the Korean side of the field but only Yoshida's header at the last second gave Japan the advantage. Credit to both teams in this result. North Korea stuck to their gameplan and nearly emerged with a point while Japan never lost their patience and kept plugging until they got their goal.

Game 2-Uzbekistan def. Tajikistan 1-0 in Tursunzoda, Tajikistan on September 2, 2011

• Uzbekistan Goals-Maksim Shatskikh (72')

Another well-played match, with Tajikistan making the most of a second opportunity in qualifying after Syria's disqualification. Unfortunately for the Tajik players, they were overmatched by their central Asian rivals. Uzbekistan will be disappointed it took all of 72 minutes to get the winning goal against a Tajikistan team they should be beating most of the time.

Game 3-North Korea def. Tajikistan 1-0 in Pyongyang, North Korea on September 6, 2011

• North Korea Goals-Pak Nam-Chol (14')

North Korea doesn't score a lot of goals. But when they get an early tally, regardless of who they're playing, they're likely to emerge with a victory. That was certainly the case in this game as an early Pak Nam-Chol strike was all the offence North Korea needed to defeat Tajikistan. Korea was able to sit back and absorb the Tajik attacks once they had the advantage and coasted to their first win of qualifying.

Game 4-Japan tied Uzbekistan 1-1 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on September 6, 2011

• Japan Goals-Shinji Okazaki (65')
• Uzbekistan Goals-Server Djeparov (8')

One of the best games in qualifying so far as both sides had a multitude of scoring chances and Japan was forced to claw back against a scrappy underdog. For Uzbekistan, a positive result although they'll be kicking themselves for not picking up the win at home when they were ahead. Good for Japan to climb back in it but they haven't exactly blown the roof off of people in their first 2 games. The absence of midfielder Keisuke Honda is really hurting their play right now. Honda injured his knee prior to this set of games with his club team CSKA Moscow.

Thoughts

Japan-Not a bad set of results, defeating Korea at home and tying Uzbekistan on the road. How they've managed those results will concern Japanese fans though. One break the wrong way in both games and Japan is sitting on 1 point instead of 4 right now. It's a testament to the strength of their team that they lead the group in spite of their poor play this month.

North Korea-Painfully boring to watch on TV but they get the job done. Probably going to be fighting with Uzbekistan to grab the second advancement spot from this group which makes their home game against the Uzbeks in October of the utmost importance. Need to find a victory and not just a draw in that game.

Tajikistan-Performed about as well as they could in all honesty. Can't forget that this is a team in Round 3 on a technicality and not on merit. Played as well as can be expected but can't make up for a talent deficiency.

Uzbekistan-The underdogs are alive and well. Might live to regret losing the victory against Japan but they're still in a solid position going forward. A trip to Pyongyang is next on the schedule and a victory would put them 4 points clear of Korea with 3 games to go. A loss, and they might find themselves in 3rd place for good.

Going Forward

Tajikistan travels to Japan in October in what should be their 3rd straight loss. Japan will likely welcome a game against Tajikistan having faced a gauntlet of games to open the qualifying campaign.

Uzbekistan goes to North Korea in probably the most pivotal game this group will see with second (or first) place up for grabs. A draw would not displease Uzbekistan in that game.

Post-September Standing Predictions Revisited:

Prediction:

Japan: 6 pts
Uzbekistan: 3 pts
North Korea: 1 pts
Syria: 1 pts

Actual:

Japan: 4 pts
Uzbekistan: 4 pts
North Korea: 3 pts
Tajikistan: 0 pts

One obvious problem with my prediction in this group...Pretty close to what I was expecting, truth be told if I had done my predictions knowing Tajikistan would have been in the group then Korea would have 3 points and not 1. Otherwise pretty close. Not going to be upset about missing the Japan-Uzbekistan prediction as I've been a big Uzbek fan all along. Just need to learn to trust my instincts better.