Tough journey: Bahrain has to switch focus to Asia

SEOUL, South Korea (AP)—Just four days after being knocked out of World Cup contention at the last hurdle with a defeat in New Zealand, Bahrain must take a 20-hour trip to Yemen for a 2011 Asian Cup qualifier in what is one of the toughest journeys of the season.

Bahrain is not the only nation switching attention from the global to the continental stage. Some teams are using qualification as preparation for South Africa 2010, while others are trying to use the Asian Cup as a way to forget world failures.

Five spots at the 16-nation tournament have already been taken. Qatar, as host, and the three teams that finished first, second and third in 2007—Iraq, Saudi Arabia and South Korea—are already safe. India booked its place by winning the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, a biennial second-tier competition, and the team that wins the 2010 version will earn a spot at Doha in January, 2011.

That leaves 10 spots available through regular qualification and some of the bigger teams are not finding the road to Doha as smooth as they may like.

Australia and Japan were the first two nations to qualify for South Africa from Asia but the two rivals are still unsure of their places at the 2011 continental championship.

Australia, Asia’s highest-ranked team, has resurrected its attempt with narrow back-to-back wins against Oman. One point from the opening two games against Indonesia and Kuwait shocked the Socceroos to the extent that coach Pim Verbeek summoned all his available European-based players.

English Premier League stars such as Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill and Brett Emerton have helped Australia to take six points from Oman to move atop its qualifying group but the team is not there yet.

“We cannot relax. Once you have definitely qualified, that’s when you can relax,” said Australia’s coach Pim Verbeek. The Dutchman estimates that his team needs three points from its remaining two matches to be sure.

Japan sits on top of Group One, though has played a game more than Bahrain. Should the Blue Samurai win in Hong Kong on Wednesday, on the way back home after an exhibition game in South Africa, a place in the top two will be virtually guaranteed.

Iran, another Asian powerhouse, is trying to forget its own World Cup qualification disaster but with limited success. Team Melli may be top of its group but the football scene in Iran has yet to recover from the World Cup qualifying exit.

Fewer than 20,000 fans watched Iran defeat Jordan 1-0 last weekend.

“We need the support of our fans,” said Iran international Andranik Teymourian, who plays for English Premier League team Fulham. “I hope that they will bury the hatchet after the national team’s failure to reach the World Cup. By coming to the stadium, they can help Team Melli to regain its real status.”

Osasuna star Javad Nekounam, who scored the winner against Jordan, also wants the notoriously critical Tehran sports media to unite with the national team.

“Better support from media and officials could pave the way for our success. Otherwise, the situation could become even more disastrous than what it is now,” he said.

Bryan Robson has no such problems. The former Manchester United and England captain has been in charge of Thailand’s national team for not much more than a month. In his first competitive game in charge, he took his team to the home of bitter rival Singapore to win 3-1.

“It is great to win my first competitive game but my job is to qualify and I need to succeed in that and only then will I be happy,” Robson said. Thailand was a co-host of the last Asian Cup.

The two teams meet again in Bangkok on Wednesday when another win for Thailand would put them on the brink of qualification and leave Singapore facing elimination.

“This is a good result for us and we must now start preparing for Wednesday,” Robson said. “It is important we recover for the next game. It is only half the job done and we need to complete the job.”

China is starting to impress under young coach Gao Hongbo and clinically defeated Lebanon 2-0 in Beirut to move into second place in its group, three points clear of the ASEAN champions Vietnamese team, which lost at home to leaders Syria.

Also in a good position are two teams that failed miserably in the final round of qualification for the World Cup—Uzbekistan and UAE. Both teams look set to book their berths in Qatar ahead of a struggling Malaysia team.