UAE? “Asian Cup Bad Performance?”

The UAE, led by head coach Paulo Bento, and Iran, which has a deep relationship, will face off in the Asian Cup. The team that ranks first in the group of the two could meet South Korea in the quarterfinals depending on future matches. The UAE (ranked 64th) and Iran (ranked 21st) will play their final Group C match at Education City Stadium in Alaiyan, Qatar, at 0 a.m. on the 24th (Korea time).

Currently, Iran with six points is the top group in Group C, followed by the United Arab Emirates with four points. After that, Palestine with one point is aiming for the second place. There is a high possibility that the UAE will take at least the second place in the group. In terms of gains and losses, the UAE has +2 and Palestine has 3. For the two to turn the tables, the UAE needs to lose to Iran, while Palestine needs to beat Hong Kong by a large margin. The two teams tied 1-1 at the face-to-face meeting in their second round match, and if they are tied at the same point, they will be divided by a margin of gain or loss following the winner. 메이저놀이터

With Iran and the United Arab Emirates virtually fighting for first place in their group, attention is focusing on the outcome of the match. This is because the top-ranked team in the group will be able to meet South Korea in the quarterfinals. South Korea is in Group E, and if it defeats Malaysia in the final match and has a higher margin than Jordan, it will advance to the round of 16 as the first-ranked team. In the tournament matchup table, the top-ranked team in Group E versus the second-ranked team in Group D and the top-ranked team in Group C versus the third-ranked team in Group A/B/F will face off in the quarterfinals. That’s why it’s considered one of many possibilities.

The UAE is under the leadership of Bento, who is the “senior” of South Korea. Bento took the helm of South Korea before the UAE and achieved the feat of advancing to the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Coincidentally, he miraculously reached the tournament by beating Portugal 2-1 through Hwang Hee-chan’s theater goal at Education City Stadium, the venue for the final group match. The possibility of a showdown with the UAE was noted even before the tournament, so Bento must first beat Iran to advance to the round of 16 as the top of the group.

Next up could be ‘bad acting’ Iran. Iran has doggedly harassed South Korea at the Asian Cup. They competed in the quarterfinals for the consecutive years in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007, and 2011. We didn’t meet in 2015 and 2019, but it was a pretty long jinx. Still, South Korea and Iran are favorites to win, so meeting in the quarterfinals is a loss for each other. This is because it requires a lot of effort, and if it goes to extra time, it takes a lot of physical exhaustion. This assumption is, as mentioned earlier, if South Korea advances to the top of Group E. If South Korea goes to the tournament as second in Group E and the United Arab Emirates as second in Group C, it will only meet in the semifinals.