Asia’s strongest team, Korea, is more likely to be in second place in the group. As a result, attention is being paid to whether other teams will make moves to avoid Korea.
The South Korean national soccer team, led by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, is not ranked first but second in Group E of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, which is being held in Qatar as of the 22nd. It won 3-1 against Bahrain on the 15th, but Hwang In-beom’s equalizer at the end of the match against Jordan on the 20th, barely drawing 2-2.
South Korea and Jordan have one win and one draw (four points), but Jordan is divided by +4 and South Korea is ranked first and second, respectively, in terms of gains and losses.
Eventually, Korea’s ranking in Group E will be determined at the final match. Korea will meet Malaysia, which has already been eliminated from the match by losing all two of its matches, at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. Jordan, on the other hand, will face Bahrain, which has one win and one loss. If Korea wants to be No. 1 in Group E, it will have to beat Malaysia by a large margin before watching the Jordan-Bahrain result.
However, it is also true that if Korea ranks first in Group E, it is highly likely that the team will meet its archrival, Japan, in the round of 16. Japan beat Vietnam 4-2 in the first Group D match on Wednesday, but lost 1-2 to Iraq on Wednesday, before being caught off guard. Iraq has already confirmed its No. 1 ranking in Group D. Japan needs to beat Indonesia on Wednesday to rank at least second. 토토사이트 추천
As a result, some argue that it is not bad for Korea to choose Silly and finish second in Group E. Of course, even if Korea ranks second in Group E, it will likely face Saudi Arabia, which is likely to rank No. 1 in Group F, but it is not as burdensome as the match against Japan.
This calculation is not unique to Korea, however. As Korea, which includes many top European players such as Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, Lee Kang-in, and Hwang Hee-chan, may finish second in Group E, other teams may make moves to avoid Korea.
There are examples. The Asian Games, which were held in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia in 2018, are a case in point. The Asian Games national team, led by head coach Kim Hak-beom, made a luxurious list of almost all national teams, including Son Heung-min, Hwang Ui-jo, Cho Hyun-woo, Hwang Hee-chan and Lee Seung-woo, and went to Indonesia. They gained momentum by defeating Bahrain 6-0 in their first match.
However, he was beaten by Malaysia in the second match. After allowing two goals in the first half alone, the team lost to opponent team striker Safawi Rashid 1-2. Afterwards, the team beat Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in the third match, but ended up ranking second in Group E.
When South Korea ranked second in Group E, a strange incident happened in Group F as well. Asian soccer powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia suffered crushing defeat to Myanmar and North Korea, respectively. It was true that the two teams were far ahead of Myanmar and North Korea in terms of overall performance, but they were different in the third round. Iran lost 0-2 to Myanmar, and Saudi Arabia lost significantly to North Korea, 0-3.
In the end, four teams – Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Myanmar – all recorded one win, one draw, and one loss. In terms of goal difference, Iran ranked first, North Korea ranked second, and Saudi Arabia ranked third, respectively, reaching the round of 16. After the showdown between Iran and Myanmar, Japan and Saudi Arabia ended, the Asian soccer community raised suspicions about Iran and Saudi Arabia losing. As Korea unexpectedly ranked second in Group E, the top place in Group F was tied with South Korea in the round of 16, but the countries in Group F played passively to avoid South Korea.
Iran lost two runs to Myanmar, but Saudi Arabia also chose a crushing defeat against North Korea. In the end, Iran met South Korea as the top team in Group F, but was eliminated early after being hit by consecutive goals by Hwang Ui-jo and Lee Seung-woo.
Such a move could be seen in the upcoming Asian Cup group league. If Korea ranks second in Group E after Jordan, there is a possibility that Group F will also make moves to avoid Korea. Saudi Arabia has recorded two consecutive wins for Group F, but if it loses its final match against second-ranked Thailand, it will lose its first place to Thailand.
People might think that it would be better to finish second in Group F and meet Uzbekistan, which is likely to rank second in Group B. As Korea is playing a poor game than expected, other teams’ calculations are complicated. Of course, it is not certain whether Korea will challenge to be the top of Group E or choose the second place to go on a practical path.