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Asia goes to war for berths in 2010 finals
Asia will kick off its competition to reach the finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa tomorrow with the powerhouses of the largest continent on the globe favourites to win the region's five berths at the tournament.
- By Yasir Abbasher, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:41 February 5, 2008
Abu Dhabi: Asia will kick off its competition to reach the finals of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa tomorrow with the powerhouses of the largest continent on the globe favourites to win the region's five berths at the tournament.
The top four finishers of the qualifiers will have automatic seats in the finals while the fifth will enter a play-off against a team from the CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Associations of Football) with the winner of the aggregate of two matches winning a spot in the finals.
The strongest contenders are South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan and Iran.
Australia, promoted twice in their history, are taking part in their first ever Asian qualifiers for the World Cup finals.
They are competing in the Group of Death that also features Asian reigning champions Iraq, China and Qatar.
The Australians depend upon their professionals plying their trade in Europe, England in particular, but they may still find the going tough.
Japan look the best bet in Group B, which also features Bahrain, Oman and Thailand. T
hey are the highest ranked team in Asia and the only team in the group that has taken part in the World Cup finals before - in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
Oman and Bahrain are expected to fight for the second seat in the fourth round of the qualifiers with Thailand being the underdogs.
South Korea are the team that represented the Asian continent the most in the finals. They have featured seven times since 1954 and boast six consecutive appearances in the finals since 1986.
They achieved their best result when they finished fourth in 2002 when they hosted the finals together with Japan.
Fixtures:
Group A: Australia vs Qatar; Iraq vs China. Group B: Japan vs Thailand; Oman vs Bahrain. Group C: Korea vs Turkmenistan; Jordan vs Korea. Group D: Saudi Arabia vs Singapore; Lebanon vs Uzbekistan.
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