China gets tough draw in WCup qualifiers
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China has been handed a daunting task to reach the 2022 World Cup after being drawn in the same group as Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia in the final round of Asia鈥檚 preliminaries.
The draw, which took place in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, also placed Oman and Vietnam, the rising stars of Southeast Asia, in Group B.
Japan, Australia and the Saudis took three of the continent鈥檚 five places at the last World Cup in Russia and will present a significant barrier to China鈥檚 hopes of qualifying for the tournament for the first time since their debut in 2002.
鈥淒ue to the pandemic, for almost two years we didn鈥檛 play any international games, especially abroad, so I wish before the final round of the qualification we can play some international games,鈥 said China coach Li Tie.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a very good group. We will try our best to play well in all the games.鈥
In Group A, Iran will again battle South Korea, with the pair having faced off in qualifying for each of the previous three World Cups. Both teams advanced to the finals in Russia.
United Arab Emirates, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon make up the rest of the group.
鈥淚t will be a difficult group, a balanced group I think,鈥 said Paulo Bento, who will be attempting to qualify South Korea for the country鈥檚 10th consecutive World Cup. 鈥淏ut we will try to do our best and achieve our goal.鈥
The top two finishers from each group secure automatic berths alongside tournament host Qatar.
The third-placed teams play each other and the winners advance to an intercontinental playoff.
The opening matches of the final phase are scheduled to begin in September, with qualifying set to be concluded by March and the playoffs slated for completion by June.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Olympic soccer rosters will be expanded from 18 players to 22 for the Tokyo Olympics.
Teams can include 22 players on squads, but must stay with 18 on team sheets for individual matches, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the change had not been formally announced by the International Olympic Committee.
The change was considered because of the challenges teams faced as a result of the pandemic.
Olympic squads are normally limited to 18 players plus four alternates. An alternate can be substituted for an injured player, but the injured player is not allowed to return to the tournament.
Under the change, alternates are now considered part of the full roster, but teams can only make 18 players available per game. Although details have not been made public, it is presumed that teams will not be able to add alternates beyond those already named.
The expanded rosters should give coaches more flexibility during a tight Olympic schedule with limited rest time between matches.
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