Draw of World Cup Asian qualifiers unveils
Updated: 2012-03-10 10:39
(Xinhua)
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KUALA LUMPUR - The draw for the final round of 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers was unveiled in the Asian Football Federation headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, and the ten Asian national football team will soon begin their battle for tickets to Brazil in the summer of 2014.
South Korea, Iran, Uzbekistan, Qatar and Lebanon are listed in Group A, while Australia, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Japan are in Group B.
Kicking off in June this year, the final round of Asian Qualifiers will see each team play home and away games with every opponent in the group.
The top-two teams of each group will represent Asia at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, while the two third-place teams take part in a home-and-away play-off with the victorious side taking on a representative from South America in a two-leg fixture with a ticket to the finals at stake.
Bora Milutinovic, former head coach of national football team of China, said Japan, South Korea and Australia are the three favourites to walk through.
"Experience are so important for every team, and they have so many players outside Japan and South Korea," he said.
Australia, South Korea and Japan, which qualified to the final stage of 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, are the only three Asian teams ranked among the top 50 in the latest FIFA World Ranking.
Milutinovic also said Jordan may be able to make a difference the final round.
"People don't know very well about Jordanian, they have very good players, they have so many patience for the game, they have excellent coach, Jordanian can be surprise in this," he said.
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