SME-By/ Ali Al-Basha
Alialbasha540@gmail.com
It is important for our first team to score a victory today over its Chinese counterpart in the fifth round of the third stage: If we really want to compete to qualify for the 2026 finals, or at least remove any ambition for China to be among the competing teams to advance through the fourth stage, especially since the Australia-Saudi Arabia match will sift things towards second place, so we emphasize the importance of today’s matches for all teams
We previously acknowledged and before the start of the third stage that Japan will be an exceptional candidate to win first place, leaving the next seat for others, most notably Australia, which achieved an important draw with it, and the Chinese team, I do not think it will be easy prey, but it will certainly not be a bogeyman, although China at one point allocated billions to develop football through its clubs and professional league in it
We were and still are betting that our team needs stability at the level of formation and also at the level of psychological and competitive preparation that can be created through league matches with its continuity, because it is the one that creates the most capable players capable of leading the team towards actual competition in the face of national teams Studded with professional players, its leagues only stopped during the FIFA days! Personally, I am completely confident that we have players who can please the fans who support them strongly and want to make a history for themselves that no one else has ever done before, who were on the verge of qualifying for the finals twice (2009) and (2010). Therefore, competing for the second card for direct qualification is not difficult, but it is important that we do not waste more possible points, as is the case in today’s match against China, and there is no alternative to winning it. In fact, if Japan is singing in this third group alone towards the first card, then the other two groups, the first and second, are not in a better situation, although things in the second are almost similar to the third: South Korea is proceeding like Japan to achieve qualification, benefiting from the conflict of points among the Arab teams, which we can see today in the match between Iraq and Jordan in Basra. The bet in the other two groups on the results of the competition screening, such as a victory for North Korea over Iran and Qatar over Uzbekistan, opens the door for the Gulf Arabs to return to the competition in the first group, and also a Kuwaiti surprise for South Korea, which will return the competition to its fiercest in the second group. Especially if the Basra match ends in a draw between Iraq and Jordan, which is expected.
