The Asian Cup is about to start, the participating teams of various countries have announced their own lists, for Chinese fans, the most concerned is the national football team, Japan and South Korea, plus Hong Kong, China, what kind of results can the top four in East Asia achieve in this Asian Cup? No matter from the perspective of team strength or player value, the football level of Japan and South Korea has been far ahead of Asian countries, while the national football team has retreated in recent years, from the second-rate team in Asia to the third-rate, but Hong Kong, China has made significant progress in the past two years, and it has been on par with the national football team.
Japan, ranked 17th in the world, head coach Hoichi Moriyasu, 4-time Asian Cup champion. Japan are arguably the strongest team in Asia at the moment, not only are they currently the highest-ranked of any team in Asia, but they reached the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup and have won nine straight games since June 2023, beating the likes of Germany, Turkey and Tunisia.
Japan's head coach Mori Hoichi, who has been coaching the Japanese national team since August 2018, has an overall record of 50 wins, 9 draws and 14 losses, with a winning rate of 68.4%, although he only won the 2022 East Asian Championships, but the progress made by the Japanese team under him is obvious to all, what he lacks is only a heavyweight championship, and now he has the best opportunity.
There are 20 players in Europe in the list of 26 Asian Cup players announced by the Japanese team, including Real Sociedad's Hisashi Hisa, Brighton's Kaoru Mikasa, Liverpool's Endo Hang, Arsenal's Tomiyasu Kenhiro and other famous players, among which the most valuable Hisashi Hisaka has reached 60 million euros, tied with South Korea's Kim Min-jae for the most valuable Asian player. In addition, Kaoru Mikasa's worth has also reached 50 million euros, and Tomiyasu Kenhiro is also worth 30 million euros. The Japanese team has 13 players worth more than 10 million euros, and the value of any one of them exceeds the total value of all players in the national football team. Don't forget to play for Lazio, midfielder Daichi Kamada, who is worth 20 million euros, was also not selected for this national team.
Japan's three opponents in the group stage of this Asian Cup are Vietnam, Iraq and Indonesia, Japan's previous record against Vietnam is 4 wins and 1 draw, and against Vietnam is 5 wins and 1 draw. With the strength of the Japanese team, it is very promising to advance all the way to the knockout stage until the final, and the Japanese team is also the top favorite to win the Asian Cup.
South Korea, ranked 23rd in the world, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, 2-time Asian Cup champion. South Korea have also improved significantly in recent years, being the third-highest ranked team in the world in Asia (Iran 21st), they also reached the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup, and have a record of 6 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in 9 matches from June 2023, including the last 6 games to win all of them, including a 3-0 victory over the national football team in the world preliminaries, and are in excellent form.
The head coach of the South Korean team is German legend Jurgen Klinsmann, who has been in charge of the South Korean team since the 2022 World Cup, leading the team to a record of 6 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses, with a winning rate of 54.5%. Klinsmann has been questioned since taking charge of South Korea, and this is his first major tournament in charge of the team, and it is also his best chance to prove himself.
South Korea's 26-man squad for the Asian Cup includes Son Heung-min, Kim Min-jae, Heavyweight stars such as Lee Gang-in and Hwang Hee-chan, among which Son Heung-min is the captain of Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and is worth 50 million euros; Kim Min-jae is Bayern's main central defender and is worth 60 million euros; Lee Gang-in joined Paris Saint-Germain this season and is worth 22 million euros; Hwang Hee-chan is the main striker of the Premier League Wolves and is worth 20 million euros, which is also the four strikers of the South Korean team worth more than 20 million euros, and the rest of the players in the South Korean team are worth less than 5 million euros.
The South Korean team's three opponents in the group stage of this Asian Cup are Bahrain, Jordan and Malaysia, of which the record of 5 meetings with Bahrain is 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and the record of 5 meetings with Jordan is 3 wins and 2 draws. South Korea are also favourites to win the Asian Cup, and if Japan unexpectedly finishes second in the group, they will meet Japan in the quarter-finals, and if both teams finish first in the group, they will only meet in the final.
China, ranked 79th in the world, coach Jankovic, has the best result of two Asian Cup runners-up. National football coach Jankovic has taken over the national football team since February 2023, with a record of 3 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses, with a winning rate of only 33.3%, and his coaching ability has been criticized by national football fans, so this Asian Cup may be Jankovic's last chance to prove himself.
The highest value in the 26-man squad of the national football team is striker Wu Lei, who is worth 1.5 million euros, which is also the only player in the national football team who is worth more than 1 million euros, followed by the two defenders Jiang Guangtai and Jiang Shenglong who are worth 700,000 euros, and Wu Shaocong, who plays for the Turkish Youth Union, is the only foreign player in the national football team. Compared to Japan and South Korea, it is simply a world of difference.
The three opponents of the national football team in the group stage are Tajikistan, Lebanon and the host Qatar, of which Tajikistan is ranked 106th in the world, and the national football team has defeated the opponent 1:0 in 2019; Lebanon is ranked 107th in the world, and the national football team has played it 3 times, with a record of 2 wins and 1 draw to remain undefeated; Qatar is ranked 58th in the world, and the two sides have played 11 times, and the national football team has 4 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses. Judging from the past records, the national football team is not inferior compared with the three opponents in the group stage, but the poor record in recent years has made people not have too much hope for the national football team.
Maybe the low-key national football team can bring us some surprises, the group qualification should be the bottom line of the national football team's performance in the Asian Cup, if it can reach the top 8, it will be overfulfilled, as for further semi-finals, I am afraid it will be a big surprise, I hope the national football team has the opportunity to let fans watch their games in the first month (the final is on the first day of the first lunar month on February 10)?
Hong Kong, China, ranked 150th in the world, head coach Anderson, the best result was 3rd in the first Asian Cup in 1956. Anderson once coached the North Korean national team and Incheon United, after his appointment, Hong Kong, China has made significant progress, Hong Kong U23 defeated Iran U23 in the Asian Games, entered the semi-finals of the Asian Games, and defeated the national football team 2:1 in the warm-up match not long ago, breaking a big upset. Hong Kong, China, is in the same group as Iran and the United Arab Emirates, and is ranked higher in the world than Hong Kong, and if they can beat Palestine, they can hope to qualify for the third place in the best group.
Note: The picture comes from the Internet.