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Japan, China, Bahrain, Iran target final place
After Brazil and Greece were crowned soccer champions of their continents last month, Asia is closing on a winner of its four-yearly championship. Defending champions Japan take on Bahrain in Jinan before hosts China face Iran in Beijing in tonight's Asian Cup semifinals. The final takes place Saturday. Like Euro 2004 and the 2002 World Cup, Asia's showpiece has witnessed upsets. South Korea, Asia's first World Cup semifinalist two years ago, failed to reach the quarterfinals and Bahrain, a nation of 600,000, is one match away from the final. "It's a really big thing for us because we are such a small country," Bahrain team manager Abdul Razzak Mohamed Abbas told the tournament's Web site. "We are now one of Asia's big four." Bahrain has won just once in regular time, scoring eight goals in four games. The Persian Gulf island state tied with China and Qatar and beat Indonesia in group play before A'ala Hubail got both goals in a 2-2 quarterfinal draw with Uzbekistan. Bahrain won the penalty shootout 4-3. "Throughout my year in charge, we have progressed so fast," coach Srecko Juricic, a Croat, told reporters. "Team spirit has been our main driving factor but I have also been lucky to have such good players who can produce results." Japan, seeking a third title in 12 years, also needed penalties to get through its quarterfinal after tying 1-1 with Jordan, ranked 40th in the world. The shootout produced controversy when the referee agreed to Japan's request to move it to the other end of Chongqing's Olympic stadium after two Japanese misses. Jordan failed with three penalties that would have won the match. Approval The Asian Football Confederation said the referee was entitled to switch ends because of damage to the original penalty spot. Japan, missing stars such as Shinji Ono and Hidetoshi Nakata, has relied on defense, allowing two goals in four games. The team is getting a hostile reaction from Chinese fans. "My players are young and love the game and have nothing to do with the political questions of the past," Japan coach Zico told the-afc.com. "I expect the same reception anywhere in China." Iran is the other former winner left in the championship. It's looking to add to a record three straight titles from 1968 to 1976 after ousting South Korea 4-3 in the highlight of the quarterfinals. The Iranians have nine wins and two draws against China in their past 15 meetings. "We were very confident when we played the Koreans," Iran captain Ali Daei told reporters. "We will take that same confidence to the game against China. We are not scared of them. We can beat anyone, even if they are the hosts." Violent Play Iran has advanced even after having three defensive players banned for violent play. Ali Karimi scored three times against Korea to become the tournament top-scorer with four goals. "After all these problems we're now in the semifinals and every team is confident of winning," coach Branko Ivankovic said. "We will respect China but we will fight very hard." The home team, an Asian Cup finalist in 1984, dispatched Iraq 3-0 to make the last four and is the tournament's leading scorer with 11 goals after easing through the lowest-ranked of the four groups. Coach Arie Haan, a former World Cup finalist with the Netherlands, said his players will go on the offensive. "Their attack is powerful, but they also have some weak points in their defense, which we should make use of," Haan told the-afc.com. "Our lack of confidence against teams like Iran and Korea is our most serious problem." The Bahrain-Japan match starts at 6 p.m. local time, three hours before China-Iran kicks off. |
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