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Smiles and tears of Asian soccer in 2004
By FIFAworldcup.com
Updated: 2004-12-31 16:50 The past year has been a hectic period filled with
FIFA World Cup qualifying action, the Olympic games and the Asian Cup. It has
produced many moments of magic as well as drama, which turned into sweet
memories for the winners and bitter ones for the losers.
Kuwait advance, China suffer
Against the predictions of
most pundits and fans, Kuwait pulled off a series of blistering performances to
topple group favorites China in the second round of qualifying for 2006 FIFA
World Cup? Germany. After six rounds of matches, Dutch coach Arie Haan’s China
bowed out while Mohammed Ibrahim’s Kuwait reached the qualifying finals.
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China's Zheng Zhi reacts
during the second half of their World Cup qualifying match against Hong
Kong in China's southern city of Guangzhou, November 17, 2004. Chinese
men's national football team lost their tickets to the 2006 FIFA World
Cupafter a decisive 0-1 defeat in 13th,October 2004 despite thrashing Hong
Kong 7-0 in their last match.
[newsphoto]
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The competition between the two closest contenders of Group 4 turned out to
be the tensest and narrowest of all the eight qualifying groups. Despite the
opening 1-0 loss to China, Ibrahim, who stepped in for Brazilian Paolo Cesar
Carpeggiani in March, successfully guided his team to five consecutive
victories, including the decisive 1-0 over China in the return leg, the
penultimate match, on 13 October. With the two sides level on points, the
all-important final round saw both of them trying to score as many goals as
possible. After fierce attacking and incredible drama for 90 minutes, Kuwait
went through after a 6-1 win over Malaysia while China’s 7-0 drubbing of Hong
Kong was not enough as the 2002 FIFA World Cup participants were eliminated –
finishing just one goal short of what they needed.
Uzbekistan roar back
The central Asian powerhouse had
disappointed on the international stage since winning the 1994 Asian Games in
their continental debut. The 10-year silence, though, was brought to an end with
the former Soviet republic’s brilliant performances at the Asian Cup, where they
reached the quarter-final after three 1-0 wins over Saudi Arabia, Iraq and
Turkmenistan. In the penultimate match of the second round of qualifying for
FIFA World Cup? Germany, Uzbekistan stunned 2004 Olympic semi-finalists Iraq
with a 2-1 victory, claiming a spot in the last eight of the qualifying finals
with one match still to go.
Korea Republic struggle
After their milestone
performances at the FIFA World Cup two years ago, the Taeguk Warriors struggled
in qualification for Germany throughout 2004. The second round campaign turned
out to be a bumpy road for the 2002 FIFA World Cup co-hosts and semi-finalists,
who were held to a goalless draw by Maldives, which cost Portuguese coach
Humberto Coelho his job. Dutchman Jo Bonfrere stepped in to the hot seat to
guide the team to two straight wins, but a 1-1 draw with Lebanon in the
second-to-last match proved the team was far from their best form, with the job
only completed after a 2-0 win in the final game with Maldives.
Coaches sacked
It is a bitter fact that coaches pay for
the teams’ losses. 2004 witnessed a number of coaches stepping down after
disappointing performances on the pitch, with Saudi Arabia’s Gerard van der Lem,
Korea Republic’s Humberto Coelho and China’s Arie Haan the most notable.
Portugal-born Coelho was the first to be sacked, when he stepped down after
the Taeguk Warriors’ unexpected goalless draw with Maldives. Arie Haan’s
resigned after China bowed out, while his compatriot Gerard van der Lem was
ousted after a disastrous Asian Cup, despite his team’s perfect performance in
the second round of qualifying for 2006 FIFA World Cup? Germany, reaching the
last eight with two matches in hand.
Iran on their best form
Many questioned Team Melli’s
future when they suffered an unexpected 1-0 loss to Jordan back in June in the
third match of second round qualifying for Germany 2006. But coach Branko
Ivankovic’s men shrugged off the defeat, reaching the semi-finals of the Asian
Cup in June and August - a run which included an exciting 4-3 victory over Korea
Republic. With the return of German-based Vahid Hashemian, the Iranians defeated
Jordan in the return leg before rounding off the second round qualifying
campaign with two straight wins over Qatar and Laos.
Korea DPR the surprise package
Few expected much from
Korea DPR at the beginning of the second round of qualifying. And, an opening
1-1 draw with minnows Yemen seemed to prove their lack of experience. However,
two back-to-back 4-1 wins over Thailand revealed the huge potential of the East
Asian side, who also overcame Yemen 2-1 to book a spot in the last eight.
Rising Bahrain
Croat Srecko Juricic guided Bahrain to the
qualifying finals with relative ease after their unbeaten run saw them top Group
6 ahead of Syria, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Coach Juricic’s talented young
outfit also proved their class in the Asian Cup 2004, where they reached the
semi-finals for the first time, with 22-year-old A'ala Hubail leading the
scorers chart alongside Iran’s Ali Karimi with five goals apiece.
Iraq out
Iraq set the Olympic stage alight last August as
they progressed to the semi-finals. But the 1-2 loss to Uzbekistan two months
later, the decisive Germany 2006 qualifier, turned out to be a sour ending as
they bowed out of contention with one match to play.
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