World Soccer - UK (2021-10)

haveaddedsteel,determinationand
hungertowhatwas alwaysa talented
team, includingmidfielderssuch as
NguyenCongPhuongandNguyen
QuangHai.A third-placefinishisa
longshotbutnotoutofthequestion.
ThesamecanbesaidaboutChina,
anotherteamfullof domestic-based
playerswhoareabletohavelengthy
pre-qualifiertrainingcampsanddon’t
havetoworryaboutplayersinEurope
strugglingtoreport fornationalteam
dutyduetotravelrestrictions.Notjust
thatbutformerEvertonmidfielder
LiTie succeededMarcelloLippiin
2019 and,quite frankly, hasdone
a betterjobthanthe Italian.
Despitea dodgystartin thesecond
round,Chinawon thelastfourgames
tomoveintothe finalround.Theteam
lookssettledandmoreconfidentand
hasbeenboostedby theadditionsof

Brazilianswhohavebeennaturalised

after successfulstintsin theleague.

Elkeson,AlanCarvalhoandFernandinho

(or, to give themtheirChinesenames:Ai

Kesen, A LanandFei Nanduo)wereall

inthe squad.Theleaguewill be paused

wellbefore anyqualifiertogiveLiand his

playersasmuchchancetoaddtothe

country’ssoleWorldCup appearance

backin 2002. It’s hard to seeTeam

Dragontakingoneofthetoptwo spots

butthirdis a definitepossibility.

Saudi ArabiapippedAustraliato

secondplaceontheroadtoRussia

andwill be dangerousagain.TheGreen

Falconshavebeensteadilyimproving

underHerveRenard–themanwho

ledMoroccotoRussia– sincethe

Frenchmanwasappointedin 2019 and

thisisanother nationalteamthathasa

completelydomestic-basedsquadwith

a leaguethatwill,onceagain,doall it

cantohelp;there won’tbeany clubv

countryarguments in Riyadh, just

astherewon’tinHanoi or Beijing.

GroupA looksa littlelessdiverse,as

fiveofthe sixareallWestAsiannations.

WhileIranandSouth Koreaare expected

tomake it,itisnotagiven.Iranstruggled

throughthe secondroundofqualification

butimproved afterreplacingcoachMarc

WilmotswithDragan SkokicinFebruary

2020. In Seoul,thereis a feelingthat

coach PauloBento hasnotyet managed

toget thebestoutoftheTaegukWarriors

sincearrivingin 2018. ThePortuguese

bossmay notsurviveiftheteamstarts

slowlyagainst Iraq andLebanon.

Ofthe otherteamslookingtotake

advantageofanyslip-ups,UnitedArab

Emiratesshouldbe well placed.TheUAE

FAre-appointedBertvan Marwijklast

yearandtherehavebeennoticeable

improvementsin performance.Abdullah

Ramadanhasemergedas a midfielder

ofvisionandcreativityandhashelped

AliMabkhoutmoveintojoint-second

inthe active internationalgoalscorer

rankings– goingintothisinternational

window,hehas 76 , levelwithLionel

Messi,andonlybehindCristianoRonaldo.

SyriaandIraqare unpredictable, partly

becausetheyneverplayat home.There

istalentinboth countries,especiallythe

latter,but there is alackofconsistency.

Lebanon,the lowest-rankedteaminthe

group,isa toughplacetogobuthave

otherpriorities.Giventhecollapseof

thecountry’seconomyand currency,

the$2.5millionearned forreaching

thethirdroundwill go to help prop up

thedomesticgameandpaywagesof

clubsaroundthecountry.

Whilethe draw does look very

familiar,itdoesnotmeanthatthere

won’t be anysurprises;especiallyina

worldofCOVID- 1 9,whichismorethan

capableofthrowingspannersinthe

worksofeventhe best-laidplans.

GROUPA

Iran

Iraq

Lebanon

SouthKorea

Syria

UnitedArabEmirates

GROUP B

Australia

China

Japan

Oman

SaudiArabia

Vietnam

THEDRAW

WORLDSERVICE

Herve Renard...the

coach tookcharge

ofSaudiArabia

inJuly 2019

GroupBlookstobethemost

interestingonpaper,notleast

duetothepresenceofVietnam

inthisstageforthefirsttime

Upstarts...Vietnam

midfielderNguyen

CongPhuong(right)

Wemeetagain...Iran

andSouthKorea will

faceeachother for

thefourthconsecutive

qualifyingcampaign

Oneto watch...

UAE’s Abdullah

Ramadan(right)

inaction v Iraq