Rate Asia's National Teams

the assitant coach(Hang-suh Park) under Hiddink will take place.

But Hiddink will remain as technical adviser and might come back 2 years later. Hiddink wants to continue his relationship with the Korean football(not me).

 

and leelo is always stupid dumbass who needs brain surgery anytime soon

 

btw, why do all people put iran in 3rd? some even in the 1st and 2nd!! what's the reason??

 

maybe out of the same reason why some Koreans keep on saying they are the best no matter what?

 

so that's why Iran is ranked 1st or 2nd?
because of this abstract, mysterious, and vague form of mystical power called the "talent"?
Korea doesn't get any financial backing from the national government. In fact, who does? maybe Saudi Arabia? I don't think any Eastern Asian country's football gets financial backings from the national government. Ministry of Football? anyone?

I ranked Iran third. But it wasn't because they had the best "talents" in Asia. It's just that I thought they are slighltly better than KSA or China as of right now.

 

Oh give me a break. While Iran certainly has a wealth of talent, it is an absolute nonsense that you're a cut above the rest talent wise. All of the major footballing countries in Asia have a wealth of talent.

See through the stereotypes.

The old myth that east asian nations are less talented but more organised isn't true. True, the likes of Japan Korea and China have a long tradition of emphasing the physical and teamwork aspects of the game rather than individual skill, but that doesn't negate the fact that they have a lot of skillful players. And in recent years, their style of football has been evolving. Thanks to in part the influence of foreign coaches they've now got a better balance of flair and teamwork, and thus are making great strides forward.

As for Saudi, if anything we're more reliant on individual talent than Iran. Go to any hara in any city in Saudi, and you'll see skillful players trying to walk the ball into the net beating as many of the opposing team as possible. "tasseheeb", it's ingrained in our footballers' psyche. And the problems in Saudi football are a by-product of that mentality. In Asia, individual brilliance has carried us through to the forefront despite weaknesses in organisation teamwork and physiche, but now we're finding that alone doesn't cut it in the world stage, and with the advancement of other asian nations it's becoming less effective in Asia too.

 

This must be the stupidest comment in Bigsoccer history.

 

We recently beat KSA 2-0 and tied them 2-2 in KSA, and as for China, we always have beaten them. Iran hasnt played Korea/Japan in a while, but I think they are better than us right now.

 

its a shame iran didnt make the world cup. But try not to tie Bahrain!

 

I suppose that because Iran got a 2-2 tie with Saudi Arabia that means that they are good? Saudi Arabia was the worst team in the world cup. If you want to prove you are good, play a team that actually got a point and beat them. I suppose you didn't get the 4-20 joke. Here are my real rankings:

1. Korea
2. Japan
3. China
4. Saudi Arabia
5. Iran
6. UAE

I can't think of any more. I am sure there are plenty of more oil rich Islamic dictatorships I left off. Salamad.

 

The current top teams:

1. Korea Republic
2. Japan
3. Saudi Arabia
4. Iran

These teams are consistently Asia's elite. Korea owns Japan in head-to-head matches, and has beaten Iran in the last 2 A matches. Saudi gives Korea the most trouble, it seems.

Then there is a big drop-off to the rest of the top ten:

5. China
6. UAE
7. Kuwait
8. Iraq
9. North Korea
10. Bahrain

Regarding China - and this is nothing personal - they still have a long ways to go to be among Asia's elite. They have NEVER beaten Korea in an A match. They seem to always get beaten easily by Iran. Their performance in the 2002 WC finals was very disappointing (blame some of it on Bora). Having said that, China has the most potential to be a dominant team in the 21st century. FIFA loves them because of the commercial base of 1/4 of the world's population.

 

If China didn't have 1.2 billion people they would have the same international soccer profile as Oman or Iraq. People are making too big a deal about China and their potential ONLY based on their size: really, shouldn't we be saying the same thing about the U.S., Russia, and India? Still, they are better than India, which has almost as many people, so I'll give them credit just for that.

right now China is number 5, and they seem happy just to draw with korea every now and then. I for one have no problem with that.

I think the Saudis are much better than they showed at the 2002 World Cup. What the hell happened to them in the first match. There were rumors that the Saudi players took in a strip show at a Sapporo strip club the night before - that's the only thing I can think of. The Germans just aren't THAT good and the Saudis aren't THAT bad. I will give Saudi Arabia the benefit of the doubt and place them above China.

 

1. S Korea
2. Japan
3. SA
4. Iran
-- imaginary line of separation --
5. China

----
China isn't a great team right now, mainly because their players lack the drive to compete for the national team. The players have potential, but in an overpopulated country, with a poor domestic league (with teams named after beer brands i.e. QingDao) the players are more focused on making money and supporting their families than developing the national system. With that said, there are the exception of guys like Fan Zhiyi, who realizes the importance of making a living but also dutifully carries the responsibility of competing vigorously for the national side. As a Chinese born in Canada, it was really exciting to see my parent's home country as debutants in WC2002. But it was obvious from the first game that the Chinese team lacked focus and was so very well below the standard of play at the top level of competition. But hopefully, because of the exposure this WC has created for some of the Chinese players, Europe's teams will take some chances on some young Chinese players and possibly four years from now Berlin will be host to a more skilled and determined Chinese squad. Guys like Li Tie, Li Wei Feng and Qu Bo have been either signed or have tried out for squads in the Premiership. China will have to rely on these they young pillars of the Chinese squad for leadership and overseas experience in the future with the near certain retirement of Fan Zhiyi by the next WC.

Sidenote: as an Asian, the greatest highlight of the WC was the success of South Korea and to a lesser extent, Japan. To see these squads play the way they did was spectacular and one could not help but feel proud of Korea and Japan, despite the blunders of China.

 

good post. I have a Chinese friend and he told me the reason China is not doing very well on international level is because there are corrupt people who bribe money so their sons can play for nation. I said I would not be sure about that because the coach is not Chinese, but then I am not familiar with Chinese team.
Either way, Chinese team will get better as the time goes. But I'm not too afraid Chinese being strong in Asia because Korea is also heading in the right direction and I hope it will be something like Holland- small population and VERY VERY GOOD team.

 

good point. but rather than saying korea is special, Korea loves soccer the most. See the red fans during the the WC? that's what makes a country good in soccer, more than the system that exports good young players abroad or something.

 

We also beat them 2-0 in Iran, read my post again.

Why did you put China ahead of us? We ALWAYS have beaten them.

 

I don't agree entirely with you. I think that Korean fans are one of the best in the world for a number of sports - it's just the nature of the Korean beast.

But I don't think that Koreans love soccer specifically all that much more than say Iranians (these guys are raving loonies), Japanese, and even a lot of the SE Asians. Koreans just love to support Koreans, whether it's the national soccer team, Chanho Park, or short track skating. I guess a lot of nationalities are the same. The difference is that Koreans can organize the support into something that is awesome, like in the World Cup, and it's a beautiful thing to watch. The Korean problem is always being too extreme in its passion, or else not caring at all. It is either HOT or COLD. We need more mainstream, sustained support... and the jury is still out on the soccer craze that is still gripping the nation. But, I believe that the younger generation fell in love with soccer in this last WC along with the rest of the population, and so I have great hopes that our passion for soccer will continue to grow.

 

Corruption probably isn't the biggest problem, and I think it would probably be more evident in the domestic leagues than the national system because with the Chinese national system there isn't much to be had at the moment, but with the domestic leagues there still is money involved.

China has a long, long way to go before they can be anywhere near getting past the first round of the WC. With foreign intervention though, ie european or south american coaches and trainers and advisors, China could progress a lot quicker. But I still think that China won't be competitive with the likes of Japan and Korea for another 5-10 years. (from my pessimistic point of view)

Korea is a great team and because they have finally put Asian football on the map, they've built a foundation for other nations to go from here. It was really ironic how on the day that KSA lost to Germany 8-0, the AFC asked for five spots in 2006 And luckily, we have Korea (and Japan to a lesser extent) to thank that the AFC didn't LOSE any spots

Korea is probably going to continue being on the forefront of Asian football for a while, but I think losing guys like Hwang Sun Hong and Hong MB is a big hit to the team's experience factor and leadership factor. Skill is really not an issue with Korea though. Guys like Seol Ki Hyeon (even though he was a bit disappointing), JS Park, Lee Chun Soo, and Cha Du Ri are all young and highly skilled. And then there are the older guys like Ahn Jung Hwan, Kim Nam Il, Lee Eul Yong who will still be around for 2006. The the defense though is really aging. But a guy like Song Chong Gug, who can play both DF and MF, could probably step in and fill a hole back there. As for the other spots, we'll just have to wait and see.

 

ah...the mystical and magical power under the abstract name called "the talent."

it seems to have put teams on the top ranks solely under that mythical name (regardless of the results) doesn't it.

 

but they will be real soon. Just wait until last year's U-20 generation grows up.