Nearly a month has passed since the World Cup draw, and people are still lamenting that Qatar as hosts does not seem to have very good luck because they have drawn the Netherlands. Originally, the seeded team would most likely avoid the top teams, but Qatar stepped on the Netherlands.
Of course, this is Qatar's perspective. From a Dutch perspective, this group is really not too difficult. Ecuador's strength is certainly not comparable to that of the Netherlands, although Senegal has a top player like Mane, but the overall strength of the team has not yet reached the top, at least much worse than Liverpool. As for Qatar, although it is the host, the team is weak and it is difficult to pose a threat to the Netherlands.
In fact, the Netherlands drew qatar, making itself the first Asian team killer in the history of the World Cup.
How do you say that?
Because before this, the Netherlands had encountered as many as 5 Asian teams in the World Cup. Qatar, on the other hand, will be the 6th.
In the 1994 World Cup, Saudi Arabia emerged from the united army, defeating Morocco and Belgium in succession to advance to the round of sixteen, but only lost 1:2 to the Netherlands. In the 1998 World Cup, the Netherlands hit South Korea 5-0 in the group stage, giving the other side a lesson. In the group stage of the 10-year World Cup, the Netherlands met another East Asian team, Japan, and this time they won the opponent 1:0 without bloodshed.
In the 2014 World Cup, the Netherlands met Australia again in the group stage. Australia has joined the AFC, so in terms of football, they are also an Asian team. This time the Netherlands won 3:2.
What about Iran?
In fact, as early as the 1978 World Cup, Iran had encountered the Netherlands. It was Iran's first World Cup trip, and they lost 3-0 to the Netherlands in the group stage and paid tuition.
So by now, the Netherlands have met five Asian teams in the World Cup, and the result is a five-game winning streak. There is no team in world football that has the opportunity to play against so many Asian teams.
And this year's World Cup, after the Netherlands and Qatar play, this number will rise to 6. In terms of the strength of the two teams, the Netherlands' victory over Qatar should not be a problem. In the European qualifiers, Qatar was played by Serbia in two legs of 4:0, which shows that they face European powerhouses with little resistance. The Netherlands is a strengthened version of Serbia, and the technology and strength are online, so it is good that Qatar meets the Netherlands and loses a little less.
Historically, a total of 12 Asian teams have played in the World Cup, and 6 of them have played against the Netherlands, accounting for half of them. Arguably, the Netherlands is the most familiar team in Asia. Of course, the 5 consecutive defeats are indeed very bad, after all, Asian teams have many classic cases of defeating strong teams, such as Germany, Spain, and Italy have all been defeated by Asian teams in the World Cup. But the Netherlands seems immune to the Asian miracle.
Although the probability is extremely small, we still hope to see Qatar play a little miracle against the Netherlands and stop the momentum of 5 consecutive defeats. Do you think this will happen?