The good news is, if we top the Arab Peninsuila Sheild group lol, we should at least make it to the semis this time.
Hang on a minute! In 2007, Iraq were drawn with Australia, Oman and a team from the Far East. The Iraqi national team was coached by Jorvan Vieira and went on to win the Asian Cup. For the 2015 Asian Cup, Kuwait have been drawn alongside Australia, Oman and another team from the Far East. Kuwait is also currently coached by Jorvan Vieira. Hmm... Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Could it mean that... Are we going to... Well, will we?
I really like our group. Challenge Cup winner is hopefully something new. Refreshing. Jordan is familiar for us. We won a lot of times against them. I expect us to lose against Japan at this rate, but still it's unpredictable. We lost both games 1-0 against them in the WCQ's, but we could handle it.
very interesting to hear Iranians talking about grass rolling. i think you'll find the UAE and Bahrain are genuinely honorable when it comes to fair play while Iran are world famous for their grass rolling and sniffing tactics, that much is a fact. I look forward playing against our very good friends from Korea, Kuwait and Oman
I think Group B is the GOD...Saudi , China and DPR Korea will make it pretty intersting to watch considering the level of performance they show
What a load of bullcrap. Didn't you say you were an expert in Asian football? UAE sure can be honourable especially right now. They have a great team and better discipline. Do you even watch all of Iran's games to say Iran grass rolls or you just trolling? Sure all teams have divers and time wasters Australia included and all the big teams! But nothing compares them to the grass-rolling of Bahrain and Qatar do it to a certain annoying degree too. Don't believe me? Ask a neutral KNOWLEDGEABLE fan. And not one who has an agenda against Iran in BS (like you) and few Koreans who have a grudge against Iran who themselves experienced the Lebanese and Qatari grass-rolling recently which is nothing compared to what they're claiming Iran does only because they nearly got KO'ed out of the WC on GD losing at home. Thank you and saying "that much is a fact" doesn't make it true, you fool.
So which group is the consensus Group of Death? I think it is Group A, Kutsuit's group. Hoping for some surprises in this edition of the Asian Cup.
aside from Rahmati's and Mosalman's grassrolling against Korea, I can't really recall any other time Iran has grassrolled. I recall seeing PDFC posters apologizing on the Korean BS forums so I assume that if it happens, it's either a rare occurrence or an embarrassment. I going to agree with Farhad on this one, a few Middle-Eastern countries are notorious for grassrolling. I wouldn't necessarily group Iran with the grassrolling countries. For me a split between either Group A or Group B. Uzbekistan gave Japan/Korea/Iran a fight throughout AFC WQ. Maybe with all this money being infused into China's domestic league, we'll see a difference in their NT caliber (or not). Saudi Arabia isn't a dominant force in Asia but not necessarily a walkover North Korea has a good chance of pulling off an upset.
I concur, that group looks the most dangerous in my opinion, all four of them can make it through, should be interesting. It will be good to see if Uzbekistan can prove they deserved that top seed
No group of death this time around. It wasn't possible to begin with as the caliber of teams in each drawing pot was fairly comparable. However, I could still categorize the groups in terms of general strength. In ascending order: Group D, Group B, Group C, Group A. The easiest group is D. The most competitive and interesting group to watch would be B. There Will Be Grassrolling; group C. I have nothing much to say about group A, fairly clear cut. But both Kuwait and Oman are capable of causing a costly upset.
I'd say Group A is probably the group of death... for my beloved Oman, it's brutal! It will be interesting to see what Australia's team looks like as this tournament comes a little too late for the 'Golden Generation'. However, they will be at home and will definitely be amongst the favorites to win it. South Korea is what makes it such a tough group as they were definitely the unseeded team to avoid, and imo probably should have been seeded ahead of Uzbekistan. Oman don't have much Asian cup pedigree but are no pushovers and were probably the best Asian side not to make the playoffs in the WC. I don't know that much about this Kuwait side. They are always competitive in the Gulf cups, but not so much when it comes to continental competition. Still for me this is the toughest group, the G.O.D - two genuine Asian powerhouses: the host nation, the best non seeded team and two other teams that won't roll over, erm except for when trying to win a free kick or waste time Group B I can see why some are calling this a G.O.D. but to me the teams are too inconsistent to really be considered a group of death. Uzbekistan probably are one of the weaker seeds... up and coming nation, but yet to prove they can make that final push yet to reach an AFC final / qualify for a WC. Saudi are coming out of a dreadful 5 years of form so will be interesting to see how they do. North Korea may have recently qualified for a WC but they don't seem to have improved since then, and rely a lot on home advantage, probably won't get a lot of away support ... and China are the perennial underachievers.. and whenever,we think they're on the verge of something, they always blow it. Group C Hee hee with the Qatar-UAE/Saudi/Bahrain embassy withdrawals, this really is turning out to be the most politically charged group... however, I think it might be a little straightforward than it looks. Iran should qualify, and so should UAE who proved in last years Gulf Cup that they look the best of the GCC countries at the moment, but it's a derby every other game in this group. Group D The Jordan vs Iraq game in the first round will be crucial. But imo Jordan relied a lot on home form for the recent world cup run, which Iraq didn't have. I think on the neutral venue, Iraq should get the better of this one. I really don't get the whole challenge cup thing. Why not let a team that actually took place in qualifying get it, ie Lebanon, Syria or Malaysia, etc. .. and the fact that we don't even know who the team is when the draw is made lol... anyhoo, with a challenge cup team coming in I don't think we can call this the G.O.D... Japan to win this, Iraq to come 2nd. Anyhoo... looking forward to the AFC 2015!
Group A: This group is the G.O.D. without a doubt. Australia is very strong at home as usual, South Korea declined a bit but are still strong. Oman plays with more confidence against Australia now. They really believe they can beat Australia. Kuwait is weak, and I can't see them advancing honestly. Australia, South Korea/Oman Group B I think this group is more straightforward than it looks. Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia should make it easily. China and North Korea both declined heavily, but North Korea qualified as Challenge Cup winner, and played only 2 games in 2013. They are even worse than before. China is better than them, but still no match for Uzbekistan or KSA. Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia Group C This group is easy to predict for me. Iran improved a lot since Carlos Queiroz took over. Results showed up in the WCQ, they topped the groups in the third and fourth round. UAE won the Gulf Cup in 2013, and did not lose any game since September 2012 against Japan. I don't know how they will do against better opposition, but they are in a better form than Qatar or Bahrain. The latter two are average teams, and I can't see them advancing. Iran, UAE Group D In this group I expect Japan to win it. They are the best team in Asia, and won the WCQ group with ease. Jordan improved so much since Adnan Hamad took over. They reached the QF in AC 2011, almost made it to the 2014 World Cup, but the home advantage made them look better than they really are. Iraq.. well what can I say? A lack of support from the federation and lack of home advantage caused us to struggle badly in the WCQ and ACQ. I believe we have what it takes to finish runners-up. The decider is the first match against Jordan. Japan, Iraq
Although I'm probably a biased Aussie, I think we got the toughest group - South Korea's pedigree is obvious, Oman were unlucky not to get the play-off spot against Uzbekistan as they are IMO a better team than Jordan (who were terrible away from Amman). Kuwait, funnily enough, have a good record against Australia, but TBF they were lucky enough to have their 4 Asian Cup qualifiers since 2006 on non-FIFA dates against severely weakened Australian teams. From a neutral perspective, I'd say Group B is the most interesting. Could be some crazy happenings in this group, and the same could be said of Group C.
Group of Death is clearly Group B, the group is tighter than all the others. Group A is straightforward.
Disagree with you bro. Especially Oman are tough to beat. They showed it in the WCQ. Kuwait and North Korea are both weak, and while I think that China could somehow snatch a win and advance, I think KSA has the edge.