@ronny@Shibier ... Actually Iran was always a Power house in Asia right from the 1960's ,they would always be in the top 5.. Who knows if they did not have santions on them, maybe their league would have been more glamorous and high quality and perhaps they could easily have been No 1 or 2 in Asia.
I remember players of Iran like Ali Daei, Bagheri, Ali karimi. They were Germany based players. But this time Iran fans are not very confident about there team. Very little hope for Iran and Australia. Even Korea is not as strong as it used to be. Japan will fly flag of Asia high in Brazil. This tournament will be dominated by teams from Latin America and put money on Brazil.
Australia: Out of all the Asian teams, they have the hardest group. They should just enjoy this World Cup. Heck, getting 2 draws in this group would be a massive achievement for them. It's a good thing that they sacked Holger and replaced him with Ange. Holger had absolutely no clue what he was doing. Poor performances after another.
Japan: Best team in Asia as of right now. They should have no problem getting through the group stage. Their weakness: defense and their own manager. Their defense tend to make basic mistakes, Yoshida being the biggest offender. They need to fix that before the World Cup. Also prior to the Netherlands and Belgium friendlies, Japan had lost 8 games that year which is tied for the most lost in a year for them. (The lost includes Bulgaria and Belarus People tend to overrate Zaccheroni. With the talents Japan have, they should do better. Zaccheroni can be one of the reason that Japan might not advance further into the competition.
Iran: Best defense in Asia during the WCQ. The question is will their defensive/counter attack style work against the African, European and South American teams. Also their lack of preparation is also a bit worrying.
S. Korea: Despite finishing 2nd in their WCQ group, they were pretty poor. Most of that being their manager, Choi Kang-Hee, fault. That is why after the WCQ the KFA replaced him with Hong Myung-Bo (the manager who won bronze in the 2012 Olympics). They're currently going through a rebuilding process testing out new K-League players. In the coming weeks, they will play against Costa Rica, Mexico and USA. These friendly matches will be used to test out the K-League/J. League players. Also KFA has hired former Utrecht manager, Ton du Chatinier, to help prepare against the Russian and Hong has been asking advice from Guus Hiddink for Russia. The game against Belgium will be very difficult. They can try and use Japan's tactic against them. Their tactic was pretty much keeping the ball away from Lukaku and Hazard. Finishing 2nd in their group will be difficult, but not impossible.
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@ronny @Shibier ... Actually Iran was always a Power house in Asia right from the 1960's ,they would always be in the top 5.. Who knows if they did not have santions on them, maybe their league would have been more glamorous and high quality and perhaps they could easily have been No 1 or 2 in Asia.
http://www.footyshekkeer.in/2014/01/fifa-releases-2014-world-cup-referees.html