Has South Korea played a match in above 45 degree condition (or, something like that)? Because that's what I expect in early June in Kuwait.
Unfortunately, Bahrain is fighting on a different ground!!! we could have made it all three and eliminated SK
What Kuwait can do in their group. S.Korea- We can take them home but lose away. KSA- Hard to see who is going to win. (2 draws). Uzebekistan- If we play well we can take them both Home and Away. Guys I know Kuwait are having trouble with their team...but you can never under estimate them....why?....ask China.
Japan's road to Germany Okay, I'll talk about the other group. Here's our schedule. We have to get a point or three against Iran and win the other four games before CC. Let's get 13 or 15 points by then, and we will make it to Germany. Dec. 16: Japan vs Germany, International Stadium Yokohama Jan. 29: Japan vs Syria Feb. 2: Japan vs Kazakhstan Feb.9: Japan vs North Korea, Saitama Stadium 2002 May 25: Iran vs Japan May 30: Japan vs Bahrain South American Tour in April: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, or Paraguay vs Japan (2 games) Kirin Cup in May: Japan vs Denmark, Norway, Sweden or the United States (2 games) Jun. 3: Bahrain vs Japan Jun. 8: North Korea vs Japan Jun. 15 - 29 Confederations Cup: Japan vs Greece, Mexico, and Brazil (at least 3 games) EAFF Cup in July?: Japan vs Korea, China, and another team (3 games) Aug. 17: Japan vs Iran October: Germany vs Japan (if Japan doesn't play in the playoffs with CONCACAF)
Re: Japan's road to Germany it's interesting to see a lot of the discussion is on group A. but group B is actually kinda crazy -- the top two fifa ranked teams, 3 of the best 4 from the asia cup, and all three nominees for the player of the year award are in Group B. And to add to that, a big question mark on top of North Korea -- these guys by sheer lack of information on them, can prove to be the most difficult to prepare for...not to mention what it will be like to play away in NK, and hyperactive nationalism can be a scary and creepy thing The political issues involving Japan and NK are coming to another ugly head, and who knows what the political climate will be like by the time the game is played... I'd really hate to see the kind of negative stuff that happened with China and Japan last year.
For some reason everyone has underestimates the Uzbeks... Its prolly because no one knows much about them, or they just dont care... They have 10 players in europe and are a very strong team. I think they can definately get a spot, either in the top 4 or our number 5 winner.
i'm looking forward to seeing persiantiger and hama troll the hell outta each other when their countries play
Re: Japan's road to Germany B group is clearly two horse race. With top 2 teams qualifying, unless Japan & Iran really falter, they will make it through. So, group B isn't too interesting. The fight will be for the 3rd place spot. Fast improving N. Korea can claim 3rd place. Please note that they have no foreign based players which will allow them to train all year around as a team.
this is very exciting draw for japan. 3 teams that we really really needed to lecture commonsense and art of soccer for long times are all in the same group. iran - basically not the team, but the fans who need to understand living in their dream and real world is two completely different thing. knowing that their best team with full support from the chinese fans could not beat our second string side which alreadly passed the group stage, i would say they have 0 chance against us and hopefully fans finally realize that they've been just dancing on my palm. n.korea - deserve the worst possible treatment from us and afc. i do demand afc that the game be played either in s.korea or china to be fair at best. i don't wanna see our quality players play in n.korea and get kidnapped by those classness barbaric terrorists. bahrain - the most exciting opponent i have ever dreamed of. they will be our arch rival of 2005. 3 times. yes, 3 times in a row they have shown us the art of grass rolling but hey mister, we've had enough already. we are playing soccer, not a cheap hollywood comedy show. i'm really looking forward to some action on and off the field. another classic game will definetely be iran vs. bahrain. i hope play in civil manner. i have 0 interest in the weak group a where 4 weaklings linked all together.
So one team out of Saudi, Uzbekistan and Kuwait will get an automatic World Cup spot? Wow. Group B is pretty stacked ... I could see Iran finishing ahead of Japan, but I don't think either team will slide behind Bahrain or North Korea. I don't much like giving the AFC muckety-mucks credit, but having SK-KSA and Japan-Iran on the last matchday could be entertaining. Something tells me at least one of those teams will already have a slot wrapped up by then, though.
How come everyone is dismissing Saudis and Kuwaitis out of hand? Saudis are not going to be the same team that lost 0-8 to Germany in 2002. They are always a very formidable team with Asian referees. I willl not complain about their(Saudis and Kuwaitis) colluding with each other. I have too much self-respect to whine about things like that. But, I am worried about their TRADITIONAL hanky-panky with the referees. Once again NEVER predict an AFC-officiated match result based on the intercontinental results of the same team. These are a totally dfferent ball game.
Winners are: Group A:Korea Republic, Uzbekistan Group B:Japan, Iran and 3rd place: Korea DPR vs Saudi Arabia ----> Korea DPR goes to play with south Americans No Arab Team in Worldcup WOOOOHOOOOOO.
Don't worry! Bahrainis are in good hands! We'll buy them a nice Saudi flag to wave after eliminating them from the 2006 world cup, June of 2005 in Tehran
The Asian team will play against a CONCACAF (North and Central American and Carribean) team, not a South American team. Reactions to the draw: Group A: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/041209/1/2sa1.html Group B: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/041209/1/2s9v.html
Actually I think the other group has the two weakest teams as well in North Korea and Bahrain (I think the Uzbeks are definitely a little stronger than Bahrain while the Kuwaitis may or may not be). From my CONCACAF perspective, it will be interesting to see who the 5th placed Asian team will be. Right now I'd pick the Uzbeks but it really could be any one of maybe 5 teams (I expect S. Korea, Japan and Iran to qualify directly).
N. Korea will surprise everyone. Think about it, they're on the verge of going to the World Cup in 40 years. Kim Jong-Il has probably been putting a lot of pressure on players and coaches possibly in a form of threat. Then the players have been practicing together for a long time and will have a "hell" camp this winter.
I'm so excited about the N. Korea - Japan match up. Moreso than our country's games. I'm seeing a N. Korea win for some reason. A 2-0 win in NK and a 2-1 win in Japan for the North Korean squad. It's about time our northern brothers got back in the World Cup with some style. Hope North Korea and Iran make it to the WC.
Everyone might assume that group A could be a walk in the park for Korea, but I think our situation is worse than group B. It is truly my honest opinion to say that Bahrain and DPRKorea won't give Iran and Japan much of a hassle - Japan and Iran will have to battle out which rank they will qualify. However on the other hand, Saudi Arabia, like Wargamer has mentioned, are truly a challenging team with AFC-officiating, especially at their front yard. Not only KSA, Korea will have to travel a long distance to central asia and mid asia to battle against the Uzbeks, a team i rate higher than Kuwait. Group A, imo, is a battle between KSA, Korea, and Uzbekistan.