Asian Cup 2011 preview-Group C: early heavyweight clash
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The Socceroos and South Koreans to feature in one of the best games of first round in Doha.
Korea fired up despite Park blow
South Korea attempts to land its first Asian Cup in 51 years this month but its hope have been hit hard by the withdrawal of key striker Park Chu-young.
The 2002 World Cup semifinalist is one of the pre-tournament favorites but starts its Group C matches against Australia, Bahrain and India without a man who has scored more goals than anyone else in the squad.
Park, who played up front as the sole striker during last year's World Cup, hurt his knee while celebrating an injury-time winner for his French club, Monaco, against FC Sochaux on Dec 23.
Doctors have ruled him out for up to four weeks with cartilage damage, with coach Cho Kwang-rae drafting in Hong Jung-ho, a defender, as a replacement.
It is a major blow but Cho is confident his team can still perform.
"I have faith in our players' capabilities," he said.
"We can't keep worrying about Park Chu-young's injury. Football is not an individual sport, and if each of the 23 players can come together, we can overcome this problem."
Without him, South Korea's front line features Ji Dong-won, Kim Shin-wook and Yoo Byung-soo.
But Cho, who took over from Huh Jung-moo after the South Africa World Cup, also has Celtic duo Cha Du-ri and Ki Sung-yeung at his disposal.
They both scored in their final match before jetting out to Qatar when the Scottish giant beat St Johnstone 2-0.
He also has hugely influential captain, Manchester United's Park Ji-sung, on board after Alex Ferguson agreed to release the midfielder for international duty.
Park missed the last tournament four years ago with injury and has suggested the 2011 showpiece could be his international swansong.
"Playing for the national team is an honor, but I am also very happy to play for United, so missing several games is disappointing," said the in-form Park, who has scored six goals this season.
Park, who has had to balance his commitments with European club sides and South Korea for eight years, also attempted to play down Park Chu-young's absence.
"It's unfortunate we lost our key striker, but it'll also be an opportunity for other players and for the team," he said.
"It will give us a clear reason to work harder."
The team is keen to build on its fine World Cup performance when it reached the last 16, and Cho has made clear he considers the Asian Cup a major prize that has eluded it for too long.
"Before we were concentrating on the World Cup and did not take the Asian Cup seriously enough," he said.
"But this time it is different. I told the players how important the Asian Cup is and they will be mentally prepared for the challenge."
Despite reaching seven consecutive World Cups, South Korea's Asian Cup accomplishments are relatively modest.
It won the first two editions in Hong Kong in 1956 and on home soil four years later and has finished runner-up three times, in 1972, 1980 and 1988.
Agence France-Presse
Formidable Australia looks to make amends
A formidable Australia brings a powerful squad led by Everton's Tim Cahill to the Asian Cup as the team looks to make amends for its disappointing tournament debut four years ago.
After switching from Oceania to the Asian Football Confederation, the Socceroos approached their first Asian Cup in 2007 confident of winning but learned some harsh realities about playing in the region.
They struggled with the heat and humidity in Thailand and Vietnam and crashed out in the quarterfinals to Japan.
Four years on, they are less complacent and more conditioned to Asian football. The milder winter conditions in Qatar should suit them better and German coach Holger Osieck has high hopes.
"I have the confidence that this team is pretty strong and it is ready to really produce something," he said when naming his squad.
"Of course we are going there to have the best possible success."
They are in a tough Group C alongside fellow regional heavyweights South Korea, as well as Bahrain and minnows India.
Only the top two progress to the knockout rounds.
Key players from the 2007 squad - Cahill, Harry Kewell, Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer and Brett Emerton - remain the core of the team.
They are, however, all past 30 and the Qatar tournament is likely to be their Asian Cup swansong.
Captain Neill said the team was fired up to win some silverware.
"To justify and put our name on the trophy would be fantastic ... it will improve the rankings and put some icing on the cake on a good era," he told Australian Associated Press.
"Everybody plays the game to win and this is a great opportunity to go out and compete for major honors."
Fulham goalkeeper Schwarzer, now 38, is taking nothing for granted, saying the last campaign showed Australia's status counted for little on the pitch.
"You can talk as much as you want and be as highly ranked as you want that does not guarantee you anything," he said. "You have to put the performances on the pitch and last time our performances did not warrant us winning the tournament hopefully this time we can produce the performances ... and win the tournament.
"I certainly have learnt a lot from those experiences and I like to think the other players have as well."
As well as his big-name stars, Osieck has brought in two uncapped players, including Melbourne Victory striker Robbie Kruse and Nathan Coe, goalkeeper with Denmark's Sonderjysk Elitesport.
Agence France -Presse
Tiny Bahrain faces daunting task
Tiny Bahrain failed to get into the knockout rounds at the last Asian Cup in 2007 and with Australia and South Korea awaiting it in Doha a similar fate could be on the cards.
Avoiding last place in Group C must be its priority as it comes into the tournament riding a poor run of form.
Its outcome is in the hands of former international Salman Sharida, who recently took over when Austrian Josef Hickersberger quit to return to his previous club, Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates.
But Sharida, who lacks international experience, has enjoyed little success so far, and with failure at the tournament often seeing heads roll, he has his work cut out.
Under Sharida, Bahrain was held goalless by Uganda in November, followed by a 2-0 loss at the hands of fellow Asian Cup finalist Syria.
It was then held 1-1 in the Gulf Cup opener by Oman before losing 3-2 to Iraq, the defending Asian Cup champion.
The Gulf Cup turned into a disaster with the team only managing a point from its group - emphasizing the difficulty of its task in Qatar.
A 1-1 draw in a warm-up game with Uzbekistan last week failed to lift the gloom before it bounced back to beat Jordan 2-1 in another friendly for a much-needed morale boost.
While Bahrain, which is in its third consecutive Asian Cup, hasn't made too many footballing headlines recently, it was plastered over the papers in September when it found itself at the center of an elaborate scam.
The team beat Togo 3-0 in Manama in a warm-up to the West Asian Football Federation Championship only to find that the visitor was a fraud, masquerading as the national squad.
Amusing as it was, it came at a cost with several people, including an ex-Togo sports minister, being detained.
There is no chance of that happening in Doha with Australia and South Korea boasting top-rated teams full of European-based stars.
Bahrain opens its campaign against the Koreans at Al Gharafa Stadium on Jan 10 before facing a must-win match against group minnow India.
With goals a priority, Bahrain will be relying heavily on dangerous striker Ismaeel Abdullateef, while fellow forward Jaycee John will feature after his Turkish club Eskisehirspor released him - it refused to do so for the Gulf Cup.
Sharida will also pin hopes on his overseas players who are mostly based in Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
They include Faouzi Aaish and Abdulla Al Marzooqi (Al Silia, Qatar), Mohammed Hussain (Um Salal, Qatar) and Hussain Baba (Al Wehda, Saudi Arabia).
Other notable members of the squad include midfielder Abdulla Baba Fatadi, who is another who boasts European experience, as well as as captain Salman Isa.
Agence France-Presse
Minnow India has little hope in Qatar
It has taken India 27 years to qualify for its third Asian Cup and few are expecting any fireworks from a massive country that has never realised its footballing potential.
India is in Qatar courtesy of winning the eight-nation AFC Challenge Cup as host in 2008 - a tournament of lower-tier Asian teams.
It will be its first outing at the Asian Cup since 1984 where it failed to make any impact, in contrast to its maiden appearance in 1964 when it finished runner-up.
A repeat of that performance is highly unlikely with Bobby Houghton's squad more concerned with preventing any embarrassing scorelines, with the might of Australia, South Korea and Bahrain awaiting it in a tough Group C.
If recent results are any indication, it could be seriously out of its depth having lost 2-0 to Iraq, 9-1 to Kuwait and 5-0 to the UAE in November.
That match againt UAE, on Nov 18, was the last one it has played and it goes into the tournament clearly under-prepared.
It has also been hit by controversy with manager Pradeep Chowdhury walking out on the team in December after an apparent spat with Houghton, and with players accusing him of deserting them.
English journeyman Houghton, who used to play for Fulham and has previously coached China and Uzbekistan, admitted it faces an uphill task.
"I don't know what is realistic. We are 144 in the world and Australia and South Korea have just played the World Cup. That is a very tough group," he told goal.com.
Houghton, who has been in charge of India since 2006, has also been struggling with a spate of injuries to key players, including captain and striker Baichung Bhutia, although he has been named in the squad.
The 63-year-old has been around long enough to know that a thrashing in Qatar will spell the end of the road for him, despite having a contract that runs until 2013.
"You have to be realistic. If India goes out of the Asian Cup with no points there's going to be an enormous outcry to sack the coach. Sometimes decisions are taken out of your hands."
The 1950s and '60s was India's golden era, with the national team winning the Asian Games gold medals in 1951 and 1962 while becoming the first Asian nation to make it to the Olympic semifinals at Melbourne in 1956. But since those glory days, football has gone backwards, with infrastructure for its development poor compared to other countries in the region.
Currently ranked a lowly 144th in the world, recent successes have been limited to the South Asian region with victories in the Nehru Cup in 2007 and 2009 before the AFC Challenge Cup heroics handed India a ticket to Doha. Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamad bin Hammam recently blasted India's almost stagnant development in the sport, saying it was important that it started showing its potential.
"There is no reason why India should lag behind the rest of Asia," he said.
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