Congratulations to Oman for becoming the 5th side to qualify for the Third Round. They are the first change from the set of teams that played the Third Round during the previous edition of 2018 WC.
Lebanon face South Korea on the 13th..if the Lebanese win , they qualify for the Third Round without any trouble however if they lose , that will make things easier for the other teams in the table. China would need to avoid a very heavy defeat against Syria to go past Lebanon on basis of goal difference while Uzbekistan, UAE and Iran only need to avoid a defeat ( minimum : secure a draw ) as all of them have a better GD than Lebanon.
I guess they are the only runners-up so far guaranteed WCQ 3rd round. Their 90th min goal against India made lost of difference for them. Things would have been different for them if not that goal. They really deserved that goal as they keep on pushing in last 10-15 mins. Also their substitutes with pace & energy made lot of difference in that game.
None of the following 4th placed teams at-least got a draw against top 2 teams in their respective groups.
Maldives, Hong Kong , Singapore , Afghanistan & Malaysia
I'm not counting Nepal (weaker team) , Sri Lanka (N.Korea with-drawn) & Mongolia (Group F is messed-up with covid & has weaker teams).
I know we had little luck against Qatar along with good defense from our team. But draw is a draw. Also I don't think anyone would expect us to win against the likes of Qatar, Iran, Japan, South Korea & Australia.
We have dominated first half against Oman, but couldn't able to convert the chances and lost the game in last 10 mins. Though I'm happy with a point against Qatar & not disappointed despite losing by 1 goal against Qatar as we have played most of the game with 10 players.
But totally disappointed against Oman game results, as we couldn't able to get even a point against them.
Similarly Maldives couldn't able to get even a point against Syria/China.
I would say that the gap has been exaggerated by the situation.
The traditional powerhouses haven't been as affected by COVID because they have more quality in their squads and a greater number of players to replace their regular starters. Some of them are benefiting from having a large number of legionnaires playing in Europe and other well-organised Asian leagues, so they came to these matches with plenty of minutes under their belt.
In contrast, certain minnows have been hit hard by COVID. SAFF teams had their preparations hampered by finding themselves in the midst of the epicentre of the pandemic at the most crucial stage of their preparations.
Similar stories for many Pot 3, 4 and 5 teams. They all lost the crucial home advantage as well. We saw more double-digit scorelines during the last 3 matchdays than the previous 3 World Cup qualifying campaigns put together.
COVID definitely hit SAFF & other Asian Nations. But we should not show it as an excuse as same thing happened in 2018 WCQ.
Teams like India, Maldives, Tajikistan & Afghanistan failed to collect even a point against top 2 teams in their respective groups.
Only Maldives came closer in 2018 Qualifiers. In home game, Maldives NT conceded in 90+ min against Qatar, otherwise that game would have been a draw for you.
Comments
Updated Runners Up Group Table.
I guess they are the only runners-up so far guaranteed WCQ 3rd round. Their 90th min goal against India made lost of difference for them. Things would have been different for them if not that goal. They really deserved that goal as they keep on pushing in last 10-15 mins. Also their substitutes with pace & energy made lot of difference in that game.
The traditional powerhouses haven't been as affected by COVID because they have more quality in their squads and a greater number of players to replace their regular starters. Some of them are benefiting from having a large number of legionnaires playing in Europe and other well-organised Asian leagues, so they came to these matches with plenty of minutes under their belt.
In contrast, certain minnows have been hit hard by COVID. SAFF teams had their preparations hampered by finding themselves in the midst of the epicentre of the pandemic at the most crucial stage of their preparations.
Similar stories for many Pot 3, 4 and 5 teams. They all lost the crucial home advantage as well. We saw more double-digit scorelines during the last 3 matchdays than the previous 3 World Cup qualifying campaigns put together.
Teams like India, Maldives, Tajikistan & Afghanistan failed to collect even a point against top 2 teams in their respective groups.
Only Maldives came closer in 2018 Qualifiers. In home game, Maldives NT conceded in 90+ min against Qatar, otherwise that game would have been a draw for you.
Kick off 11.30 am IST