After a two-day suspension, the AFC Asian Cup 2023 in Qatar will resume play with the final tournament starting on Sunday.
Before every action, here are five talking points.
How will the Saudi team led by Mancini compete against South Korea?
Saudi Arabia vs. South Korea is theoretically the biggest matchup of the second round. The group stage got off to a bad start for Saudi Arabia, with Oman taking an early lead, but since then the Green Falcons have not conceded a single goal in 256 minutes of play (and a long stoppage time could be added). There is also a gender).
This is encouraging, though, as Kyrgyzstan played with 10 men for almost all of the matches and nine for almost half of the matches, never looking to mount much of an attack, while Thailand had two goals ruled out for offside. I should point this out. Still, Roberto Mancini will be happy.
The question is what to do about South Korea. The Koreans are going to attack as much as possible, but this team is stronger at the front than at the back. Mancini’s side will have to defend well, but will also need to use counter-attacks.
Wing-backs Saud Abdulhamid and Mohamed Albraik have perhaps been the team’s most impressive performances so far and will play key roles at both ends of the pitch in this game.
8 out of 10 Arab teams are ready
Of the 24 teams that started, 16 are still alive, giving them a two-thirds survival rate. For Arab teams, the percentage is 80%, and surprisingly only Lebanon and Oman have failed to break through.
It was very impressive. Bahrain will advance to the group stage ahead of South Korea and will give Japan a good match. Jordan also looked solid despite having a poor build-up and poor results.
Syria will be playing for the first time, despite having only scored one goal. Qashiun Eagles are currently in the knockout stage, coached by Hector Cooper, and will be difficult to beat, even though Iran is a very difficult opponent, and they will be prepared for extra time and penalties.
Qatar was also in good form, winning all three games with Hassan Al-Haydos scoring a volley that could be the goal of the tournament.
UAE have yet to make an impression, but there is still time to change that and Paulo Bento’s side will be eager for the chance to face Tajikistan in what will be the Central Asians’ first finals tournament.
Palestine has nothing to lose
Palestine will play host Qatar in what will likely be their last match of the tournament, but it has already been an unforgettable match. They may have gotten off to a bad start, losing 4-1 to Iran, but they bounced back admirably. They drew 1-1 in the next game against UAE, and then achieved their first win in the Asian Cup. His dramatic 3-0 victory over Hong Kong sent the team riding a wave of excitement to reach the finals for the first time.
Qatar has performed well so far and it would be a big surprise if Palestine could break through. Even if it goes into overtime, it would still be a victory of sorts. The players are already giving pride to the Palestinian people, who are currently experiencing a difficult situation, and showing a different face to the world. Everyone expects defeat, which means Palestine can emerge victorious.
You have nothing to lose in this game.
Japan and South Korea need to work together
When the tournament began, everyone, including this writer, said these two East Asian giants were the teams to beat. That could still happen, but so far neither Japan nor South Korea has done anything to respond to Tokyo or Seoul.
Japan arrived on a 10-game winning streak, but their 4-2 victory over Vietnam looked unconvincing. Zion Suzuki’s goaltending error cost them one point, but the same thing happened in the 2-1 loss to Iraq when Japan looked faltered. We conceded 5 goals in total. South Korea deployed six players and relied too much on the dignity and creativity of Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in. Fans have been revolted by what they see as Jurgen Klinsmann’s laissez-faire attitude, with Son Heung-min having to beg him to stop making offensive comments on social media.
There is still room for improvement, but all is not well.
Iraq can keep recalling memories of 2007
Iraq vs. Jordan could be a classic match. The Mesopotamian Lions won all three matches, including the already famous 2-1 victory over Japan. It was a great combination of skill, strength and teamwork. It also helped that Aymen Hussein scored two headers that came from Younis Mahmoud’s playbook. This isn’t the only reminder of 2007. Seventeen years ago, Iraq arrived in Bangkok with little expectations, and the same thing happened in Qatar earlier this month.
But Jordan is not a player to be pushed around. The build-up may have been terrible in terms of results, but coach Hussein Ammuta has organized his team well and they have a very talented Moussa Al Tamari on the wing. Jordan conceded an own goal at the last minute and was disappointed that they missed out on the win against South Korea.