The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, North Korea and Bahrain are the teams that have disappointed this Asian Cup after failing to reach the second round.
The Saudis were the most disappointing, bearing in mind their brilliant achievements in the tournament since 1984 by reaching six of the seven finals and winning three titles.
Their exit resulted in a total upheaval of their football organisation as they fired Jose Peseiro, the head coach, before the resignation of Prince Sultan Bin Fahd, the President of the KSA FA, and then the resignation of all the members of the National Teams Committee.
Kuwait, the champions of the Gulf Cup and West Asian Zone last year, failed to take a single point. They did not change their technical staff, believing their team was the victim of wrong refereeing decisions from Australian referee Benjamin Williams in their opener against China.
North Korea were also a big disappointment following their performances in the qualifiers of the 2010 World Cup. The UAE did not score but let in two own goals while Bahrain took three points and went out with better morale than the other teams.
The achievers are Jordan, who are appearing for only the second time in the finals and have collected seven points and reached the second round in style.
Syria who defeated the Saudis but failed to make it to the second round, despite their strong performances, went home with heads held high, while India, who despite being the bottom of the Fifa ranking in the whole tournament, were able to score three goals against more experienced teams and went home realising they have improved. They had failed to score a single goal in their last appearance in Singapore in 1984.
