Asia & Oceania

The Asian & Australasian countries are not too badly represented this year. I was chatting to a mate recently and we were discussing how strange it is that two of the most populated countries in the world - China and India - can't seem to get a footballing team up and into the World Cup... India actually qualified back in 1950 but withdrew from the tournament because they refused to wear football boots!!! This was required, according to FIFA legislation and because they only ever played barefoot, they did not participate. China did qualify once, as recently as 2002 during the South Korea / Japan World Cup but were a little unfortunate to be drawn in a group with Brazil, Turkey and Costa Rica and were beaten by all three. Still, the ever present South Korea will be there, taking part in their 8th World Cup thus far. Japan's record is not as colourful as their arch rivals but will still be more than happy participating in this, their 4th tournament after qualifying in second behind Australia in their Qualifying Group. Australia, North Korea and New Zealand make up the final 3 from the Asian / Australasian / Oceanic teams.

Of these 5, South Korea (here comes Mr. Bias again hehe) have to be the favorites. Still on a high from their recent forray through to the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup - which they co-hosted with Japan - with magnificent, battling (if not occasionally controversial), performances against Portugal, Italy and Spain, South Korea are a confident team this year. The biggest smiles on the Korean's faces right now comes from when someone mentions the word 'Messi' :-) The answer to the ultimate of conundrums? Well, somewhat humourously, DEATH! Yes indeed. Drawn in a group with Nigeria, Greece and Argentina, after "DEATH" to Messi, then DEATH to Tevez, DEATH to Higuain, DEATH to Agüero, the list goes on :-) Indeed, the truth is, I don't think any Korean you ask has a proper, logical and anything other than humorous response to this particular puzzle. But it's OK because, who does? And who knows, maybe their immense tag of underdogs will put them in good sted for the match and, well, funny things happen in football so, lets see :-) No, South Koreans are focusing on the other two matches but with only 400 Red Devil fans travelling to support their team in South Africa (due to security issues), some here are rightly sceptical. Anyway, their team still has their rock Park Ji Sun firing on all cylinders. His lovely finish against Japan in last weeks friendly typifying their hunger and desire to do well this year and Bolton's Lee Chong Young's recent rise to in his premiership team's ranks coming at just the right time. Both will be instrumental if any success is to be had.

South Korea's neighbours in the North, however, I'm afraid are going to be something of an enigma. Their recent denial (or refusal) to stay in Zimbabwe during their World Cup preparations and their even more recent cancellation of the friendly match against DR Congo in Austria - due to a supposed injury crisis (!) - are clouding their preparations and our ability to make any kind of real assessment of their chances. But their first friendly against Greece earlier this month ended in a respectable 2-2 draw and much must be taken from that. Stay tuned to this one, what with all the political argy-bargies going on on the Korean peninsula, I wouldn't even be surprised if there was some kind of official withdrawal. Let's wait and see.

Also heavily involved in the Korean peninsula's political strife are nearby neighbours Japan. Their recent disasterous performance against South Korea (0-2) in their last home friendly before jetting off to Austria resulted in calls for their manager Takeshi Okada to get the sack. But alas he remained and just last night he pushed his team on to a highly respectable and thoroughly underserved defeat to England (2-1). And suddenly the fan's weren't so "p"'d Off either. What a difference a week can make in football, eh? Players to look out for are Brazilian-born Marcus Tulio Tanaka, defensive midfielder Yasuhito Endō and striker Shinji Okazaki.

On the flip side on the continent, the ever merry Ozzies and Kiwis. Probably still down there living in perfect harmony with each other ;-) Am I right? Hehehe. New Zealand were many peoples cannon fodder this year with most suspecting they'd be leaking goals in like a two million-year-old roof in bad need of some serious repair but, suddenly, last Saturday they surprised us all with a superbly taken Shane Smeltz goal giving the Kiwis a fantastic 1-0 win over Serbia. The Serb fans were less than impressed an began rioting, invading and throwing flares onto the pitch. Stand-in captain and Manchester United rock defender Nemanja Vidić had to grab a mic at the end to earge calm from those in the stands! I wonder if Rio would do the same if the US beat England in their first match on June 12th???!!! Well done to the Kiwis anyway and lets see what they have in store for us :)

And finally the Ozzies. This will almost certainly be the very last World Cup for ageing stars Mark Schwarzer (37), Brett Emerton (31), Mark Bresciano (30), Tim Cahill (30), their captain Lucas Neill (32) and Harry 'Potter' Kewell (as he's now affectionately know in his new home in Galatasaray). How they'll cope with the dizzy hights of the South African stadia is anyone's guess but the omens are there for one last push to grab some sort of respectable World Cup glory. The two key players will probably be Everton's attacking midfielder Cahill and of course Kewell. The 31 year-old wing wizzard has had a terrible time, fighting against his constant injuries during his career but seems to have picked up some sort of form at his new-found Turkish home of late. For a guy that promised so much back when he made his debut as a 17-year-old in 96 for Leeds United, it's a shame he's had such a torrid old time. The "Wizard of Oz" has been shrouded in controversy and blighted by a string of highly unfortunate injuries all throughout his career. Often refered to in the media as "Australia's finest football export", I guess it would be fitting to see one last dazzling Harry dance on the world stage. But the man on form in the last few years has definitely been that man Tim Cahill and with Viduka now in international exile, he might well be the man to bring them their goals this year. And what a joy he's been to watch up at Everton. I reckon he's the best, smallest headerer of the ball of all times!!! His positioning off the ball is supreme and he's a tough cookie to mark in and around the box. Let's see what kind of music he decides to play for The Socceroos this year :)