JEDDAH, 17 July 2004 — Hosts China kick off AFC Asian Cup today by meeting Bahrain as final touches to the staging of the premier Asian event are under way in China. The championship is set to end on Aug. 7.
Saudi Arabia, one of the favorites in the event, are eyeing their fourth championship. Sixteen teams are participating in this championship and they are divided into four groups.
Group A includes China, Qatar, Indonesia and Bahrain; Group B in made up of South Korea, Kuwait, UAE and Jordan; Group C comprises Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and Group D consists of Japan, winner of the 2000 cup, Iran, Thailand and Oman.
Saudi Arabia’s recent performances in the Asian and world stages make them one of the favorites, but with every other Asian nation making rapid strides in the last two years the route to the top could be difficult. South Korea and Japan are two other Asian giants in the championship fray, and host China, riding a home team advantage, will be the other team to watch. But China’s preparations suffered a hiccup when coach Arie Haan dropped bad-boy striker Zhang Yuning on the eve of the Asian Cup, accusing him of having a poor attitude. While a crowd favorite in China, Shanghai Shenhua forward Zhang has earned a reputation for squabbling with coaches.
Dutchman Haan acknowledged there was enormous pressure on the Chinese team playing in front of an expectant public. “We are at home so of course there is a lot of pressure. It is better we don’t talk about it,” he said.
Gulf teams Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain and Oman are no pushovers and on a given day could work their magic. With most of the teams evenly matched, the form of the team, bench strength and tactics by the respective coaches would be crucial.
UAE coach Aad De Mos believes the battle for the Asian Cup will be won from the bench just as much as it will be on the pitch over the next three weeks. The Dutchman said: “This competition is very tough and all the players should be in their best tactical and physical form.”
“We need to have as many players as possible on the reserve bench because in these types of competitions the most successful sides will be those who have enough substitutes. We have played enough warm-up matches and from now onward will concentrate on the tactical aspect of our preparations.”
History shows that Saudi Arabia have always put their best foot forward in the Asian event. It has reached the finals in five straight championships — 1984 in Singapore, 1988 in Qatar, 1992 in Japan, 1996 in UAE and in 2000 in Lebanon. The only time they failed to reach the finals was in 1976. IT has won the event thrice - 1984 beating China 2-0 in Singapore; in 1988 beating South Korea 4-3 via penalty kicks in Qatar, and in 1996 again via penalty kicks a 4-2 decision against hosts UAE. They lost in 1992 and 2000 against Japan. Both games ended 1-0 in favor of Japan.
Iran is another strong team in fray and they are the other team to have won the cup three times — 1968 against Burma in Iran, 1972 against South Korea in Thailand and against Kuwait in Iran in 1976. South Korea, meanwhile, has won the cup twice in 1956 against Israel in Korea and in 1960 against Israel in Hong Kong. South Korea reached the final three more times and lost against Iran in 1972, against Kuwait in Kuwait in 1980 and against Saudi Arabia in 1988 in Qatar.
Kuwait too has entered the final twice - in 1976 they lost against Iran and in 1980 they won 3-0 against South Korea in Kuwait - and has always shown potential. And again this time round could prove a dark horse with their team showing signs of the old flair.
Japan have made the AFC Asian Cup finals four times, and managed to win the cup twice. Iraq did not participate in 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992 and are rebuilding. But others Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Jordan and Lebanon too have improved and could pose a threat to many favorites aspirations.
Meanwhile, Al-Riyadiyah, one of the sports channels on Orbit, will provide live coverage of the 2004 Asian Cup soccer tournament from China at 1000 GMT (1300 Saudi time) all the way up to the final match in Beijing on Aug. 7 at 1100 GMT (1400 Saudi time).
This was announced by Riyadh-based Orbit marketing manager Tariq Judeh. He said that while the Asian Cup is free to be aired, their cutting edge is “Orbit’s unique style in the coverage presentation and analysis.”
