DOHA
\nAn Asian Cup that will be remembered for shocks and dramatic finishes has showcased the region\u2019s strength in depth and raised hopes its teams could reach new heights at the 2026 World Cup.
\nEight direct spots and one intercontinental playoff berth are up for grabs for Asian Football Confederation sides at the expanded 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
\nThe Asian Cup in Qatar, which concludes with Saturday\u2019s final between the hosts and Jordan, suggests that the region\u2019s traditional heavyweights now have some serious competition.
\n\u201cAsian football has improved a lot,\u201d South Korea coach Jurgen Klinsmann said in Doha.
\n\u201cThe quality has risen over the last 10, 15 years dramatically.\u201d
\nHis strongly fancied side were subsequently beaten 2-0 by Jordan in the semi-finals while pre-tournament favourites Japan crashed out in the quarter-finals to Iran, who then lost to Qatar.
\n\u201cAll of the teams at the Asian Cup have a lot of quality and we have had difficult games because they are getting better,\u201d said Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu, whose team conceded at least one goal in every game.
\nTeams have mostly found success by playing positive, attacking football, while games have generally been close.
\nThe biggest margin of victory at the tournament was matching 4-0 wins for Australia and Jordan over Indonesia and Malaysia respectively.
\nNotable successes have been Jordan, whose high-tempo attacking style made a mockery of their world ranking of 87, and debutants Tajikistan, who reached the quarter-finals.
\nHong Kong, the lowest-ranked team, were competitive despite losing all three games, giving Iran a real scare before going down 1-0.
\nAnother so-called regional minnow, Malaysia, pulled off a famous 3-3 draw with South Korea.
\nSouth Korea skipper Son Heung-min thought he had scored the winner from the spot in the 94th minute, only for Malaysia to grab the leveller in the 105th minute.
\n\u201cThey fought until the end,\u201d said Son. \u201cI was very pleased to see this for Asian football.\u201d
\nFor all the progress, a few teams appear to be treading water or going backwards.
\nIndia and China both headed home without scoring a goal in their three games each.
\nSome of the goalkeeping has also been iffy at times and Japan, notably, badly lacked a reliable stopper.
\nFootball writer Scott McIntyre, of The Asian Game website, believes the World Cup expansion gives Asia\u2019s smaller nations a reason to invest more in the sport.
\n\u201cIf you\u2019re one of the handful of Asian nations that have consistently gone to the World Cup, those nations have invested in their domestic leagues,\u201d he told AFP.
\n\u201cFor others, it\u2019s like, \u2018What\u2019s the motivation if you\u2019re an Uzbekistan or a Jordan?\u2019
\n\u201cYou think with four spots, you\u2019re never going to get to the World Cup.\u201d
\nAsian teams had some notable success in the group phase of the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Japan beat Germany and Spain, and Saudi Arabia stunned eventual champions Argentina.
\nSaudi Arabia are throwing money at football and are set to host the 2034 World Cup.
\nHowever, South Korea\u2019s run to the semi-finals in 2002 as co-hosts remains the region\u2019s best World Cup performance, and no AFC team has gone further than the last 16 since.
\nTeams from other confederations beyond Europe and South America have done better, with Morocco giving Africa its first World Cup semi-finalist in 2022.
\nHussein Ammouta, the Moroccan coach of Jordan, believes the key to improving national sides is to have their players in the major European leagues.
\nOf his Jordan squad, only Mousa Al-Tamari at Montpellier currently does that, but Ammouta sees a growing number of Asian players good enough to follow suit.
\n\u201cAsian football has developed so much and is producing those quality players that are being sought by big European teams,\u201d he said on the eve of the final.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DOHA An Asian Cup that will be remembered for shocks and dramatic finishes has showcased the region\u2019s strength in depth and raised hopes its teams could reach new heights at the 2026 World Cup. Eight direct spots and one intercontinental playoff berth are up for grabs for Asian Football Confederation sides at the expanded 48-team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386469,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-386456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n