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Asia primes for first big step to South Africa
DURBAN, South Africa (AFP) -- It might be 31 months away, but Asian teams are already dreaming of the World Cup finals in 2010 and their first big step towards South Africa will be taken today.
The draw in Durban for the third round of qualifying will determine not only who the top seeds will play but whether some of Asia's minor sides will have any reasonable hope of progressing to the fourth and final round.
The region has four automatic qualifying berths for the showpiece in South Africa while the fifth placed team will playoff against Oceania's best, probably New Zealand.
Asia's 20 remaining teams, from an initial 41, will be divided into five groups of four, with a seed in each. The first and second in each group will qualify for the fourth and final round.
The draw could throw up some interesting scenarios with potentially strong sides, like China and Asian champions Iraq, being grouped together with one of the seeds -- Australia, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Japan.
The other teams waiting to find out who they will be drawn against include Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Turkmenistan, the UAE, and Uzbekistan.
Of the Asian Football Confederation's 46 member nations, only eight have ever made the World Cup finals in the 53 years that the AFC has been in business.
Outside of this year's seeds, they are the UAE in 1990, Iraq in 1986, Kuwait in 1982 and North Korea in 1966.
Japan is arguably the football power on the continent, having qualified for the last three World Cups.
They have a competitive J-League and an ever growing number of players plying their trade in Europe and it will be a major upset if they do not make it to South Africa.
It is a similar story for South Korea who have six straight successful qualification campaigns under their belt, although they labored to make the finals in Germany in 2006.
Iran's credentials remain strong despite a number of senior players reaching the end of their international careers.
The Saudis though have been on the wane since their World Cup debut in 1994, but making the Asian Cup final this year signaled the side may be bouncing back.
Despite being packed with well-known names, the AFC's newest arrival Australia remains an unknown quantity.
After being widely tipped to lift the Asian Cup at their first attempt this year, they struggled to handle the heat in Southeast Asia and were far from convincing, eventually being bundled out by Japan in the quarters.
Their performances during qualifying for South Africa, and whether their star names will be prepared to jet half way around the world to potentially play someone like Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan remains to be seen.
Another underperformer looking to prove themselves in qualifying will be China, which had a taste of the World Cup in 2002 but has never quite lived up to expectations since.
Asian champions Iraq will be in South Africa for the Confederations Cup in 2009 but whether they can return the following year could defend on which sides they are drawn against today.
In their favor, they have a new, and hugely experienced, coach in Norway's Egil Olsen who helped his home nation qualify for the World Cups in the United States in 1994 and France four years later.
This is in contrast to Australia, South Korea, and Iran who are all without coaches less than three months away from the crucial third round of qualifying.
Group 1: Australia, Iraq, Qatar and China
Group 2: Oman, Thailand, Bahrain, Japan
Group 3: North Korea, Jordan, Turkmenistan, South Korea
Group 4: Lebanon, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia
Group 5: Syria, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iran
The draw in Durban for the third round of qualifying will determine not only who the top seeds will play but whether some of Asia's minor sides will have any reasonable hope of progressing to the fourth and final round.
The region has four automatic qualifying berths for the showpiece in South Africa while the fifth placed team will playoff against Oceania's best, probably New Zealand.
Asia's 20 remaining teams, from an initial 41, will be divided into five groups of four, with a seed in each. The first and second in each group will qualify for the fourth and final round.
The draw could throw up some interesting scenarios with potentially strong sides, like China and Asian champions Iraq, being grouped together with one of the seeds -- Australia, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Japan.
The other teams waiting to find out who they will be drawn against include Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Syria, Thailand, Turkmenistan, the UAE, and Uzbekistan.
Of the Asian Football Confederation's 46 member nations, only eight have ever made the World Cup finals in the 53 years that the AFC has been in business.
Outside of this year's seeds, they are the UAE in 1990, Iraq in 1986, Kuwait in 1982 and North Korea in 1966.
Japan is arguably the football power on the continent, having qualified for the last three World Cups.
They have a competitive J-League and an ever growing number of players plying their trade in Europe and it will be a major upset if they do not make it to South Africa.
It is a similar story for South Korea who have six straight successful qualification campaigns under their belt, although they labored to make the finals in Germany in 2006.
Iran's credentials remain strong despite a number of senior players reaching the end of their international careers.
The Saudis though have been on the wane since their World Cup debut in 1994, but making the Asian Cup final this year signaled the side may be bouncing back.
Despite being packed with well-known names, the AFC's newest arrival Australia remains an unknown quantity.
After being widely tipped to lift the Asian Cup at their first attempt this year, they struggled to handle the heat in Southeast Asia and were far from convincing, eventually being bundled out by Japan in the quarters.
Their performances during qualifying for South Africa, and whether their star names will be prepared to jet half way around the world to potentially play someone like Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan remains to be seen.
Another underperformer looking to prove themselves in qualifying will be China, which had a taste of the World Cup in 2002 but has never quite lived up to expectations since.
Asian champions Iraq will be in South Africa for the Confederations Cup in 2009 but whether they can return the following year could defend on which sides they are drawn against today.
In their favor, they have a new, and hugely experienced, coach in Norway's Egil Olsen who helped his home nation qualify for the World Cups in the United States in 1994 and France four years later.
This is in contrast to Australia, South Korea, and Iran who are all without coaches less than three months away from the crucial third round of qualifying.
Group 1: Australia, Iraq, Qatar and China
Group 2: Oman, Thailand, Bahrain, Japan
Group 3: North Korea, Jordan, Turkmenistan, South Korea
Group 4: Lebanon, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia
Group 5: Syria, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iran
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