Asia World Cup Qualifying Group E - West Asian Affair

GOAL - Iran finally have a coach in the form of the experienced and respected Javier Clemente. It has a long and frustrating wait for fans of Team Melli.

With the Spaniard in place, those fans are hopeful that underperforming in tournaments with be a thing of the past. The 2006 World Cup was hugely disappointing and last summer’s continental competition wasn’t a great deal better.

Apart from the belated arrival of the former coach of the Spanish national team, the one piece of good news was the fact that the draw could have been a lot worse. However, the West Asian trio of Syria, UAE and Kuwait are all tough places to visit and would all like nothing better than causing problems for their Iranian rival.

Iran are still without inspirational midfielder Javad Nekounam, the Osasuna star has been injured all season.

Even without one of the continent’s best players, there is still a wealth of talent for the new boss to call upon. Andranik Teymourian At Bolton and Mehdi Mahdavikia at Frankfurt are well-known but there are a whole host of skilful stars earning big bucks in the UAE along with former Bayern Munich man Ali Karimi.

Syria

Like Iran, Syria haven’t enjoyed the best of build-ups and lost their coach in January as 1982 World Cup winner Antonio Cabrini was forced to step down as the company picking up the tab for his wages were no longer able to do so.

On paper, Syria have a tough task ahead but they showed during qualification for the 2007 Asian Cup that they are a resilient team. Creditable draws were collected from trips tpo Seoul and Tehran during that campaign and winter trips to the northern stronghold of Aleppo are not for the faint-hearted.

Football in the nation does seem to be heading in the right direction and the recent good showings of Al Karama in the Asian Champions League means that Syrian football will be treated with respect but it is unlikely to make the final round of World Cup qualification.

United Arab Emirates

Another Gulf State with a mixed build-up but preparations have not been normal for Bruno Metsu’s men. Some of them were accused of dancing the night away at a Dubai club while on national team duty.

Star striker Ismail Mattar dismissed the reports and the UAE need the youngster on top form. The group could be a tight one but the 2007 Gulf Cup winners are probably favourites to take second place though they will need to find their shooting boots. UAE haven’t found the net once in six friendlies in 2008.

Metsu has a World Cup pedigree after leading Senegal to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup but his tournament touch deserted him last summer as the UAE were sent packing from Vietnam in the first round of the Asian Cup. A comprehensive defeat at the hands of Japan was followed by a 2-0 setback against the hosts as UAE became the first of the 16 nations to be eliminated.

Revenge against Vietnam was achieved in the previous World cup qualification round and it is a determined United Arab Emirates that will do battle with Kuwait in the opening game.

Kuwait

Another hopeful that has a new coach at the helm and it remains to be seen if Radion Gacanin can help bring the glory days back to the tiny Gulf State.

Kuwait dominated the Gulf Cup tournament in the seventies and were soon enjoying similar success at a continental level. The team were champions of Asia and in 1980 and were doing battle with the likes of England and France at the 1982 World Cup.

It is doubtful if Kuwait can reproduce such success this time around and 2008 friendly results haven’t been too encouraging. In five games, only one victory was recorded – against Lebanon. Defeats at the hands of Ivory Coast, Bahrain and Singapore saw no goals scored and much depends on star player Badar Al Mutwa.

A tough opening day trip to Abu Dhabi awaits for the new Croatian boss. A point will be a good result especially as Iran provide the next opposition.

John Duerden
Asia Editor
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