With Saudi Arabia's 0-0 draw at home to Bahrain, the fourth round of the World Preliminary Asian Zone of 18 matches are all over, and the group in which the national football team is located is completely chaotic, except for the leader Japan, the largest score difference between the other five teams is only 2 points, allowing the national football team to see the hope of competing for the second place in the group.
After the fourth round, the latest standings of Group C are as follows:
Japan leads the standings with 10 points, extending its lead to five points, followed by Australia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain with five points, ranking second to fourth on goal difference. In addition, after the first win, the national football team is tied with Indonesia with 3 points, because the goal difference is too far behind, and it continues to be at the bottom of the table.
Judging from the results of this round and the latest changes in the standings, there are also four major surprises, as well as two facts:
Four unexpected:
1. The national football team scored 2 goals in one breath against Indonesia at home, which surprised the fans, and successfully held on to a victory, finally ending the poor performance of the opening 3 consecutive defeats and winning the key 3 points.
2. Originally, the national football team was basically on the verge of elimination, but now a victory, plus other teams in the same group have not won in a row, so that the national football team has rekindled its hope of qualifying, and there is still a chance to compete for the second place in the group, because there is only 2 points left.
3. Japan won all the first 3 games without conceding 1 goal, but returned to the home advantage, facing Australia's back 5 but there was no way, only relying on 1 own goal to equalize, resulting in the end of the whole victory, and the dominance was not as strong as imagined.
4. Since Italy coach Mancini took office, this Saudi Arabia team has gradually become a second-rate level in Asia, playing 3 home games in the first 4 rounds, only achieving 2 draws and 1 loss, which means that there are only 2 home games left in the next 6 rounds, Saudi Arabia currently only has 5 points, and the top two of the competition group are not good.
Two big facts:
1. Indonesia has more than double-digit naturalized players, mainly Netherlands players, but there is no way to face the national football team that lost three consecutive games in the opening game, and the quality of naturalization is greatly reduced.
2. Now in the same group, except for Japan, the other 5 teams have a chance to compete for qualification, including the second place in the group, and the two games next month will play a key role.