The Qatar Asian Cup is now entering the crucial quarterfinals, with the hotly-anticipated favorites eliminated from the tournament after Japan was defeated by West Asian powerhouse Iran in the last eight. Jordan, South Korea, Iran and Qatar will spend the next week deciding who will rise to the top of Asia. With the rise of Asian soccer powerhouses in East and West Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia, and even Southeast Asia, this year's Asian Cup has become more unpredictable and unexpected, making it more difficult to predict who will win the Asian Cup. Here are the key points of interest for the next four countries in the Final Four.
The most unexpected team of the Asian Cup is Jordan. After a great performance in the first two matches of the group stage, Jordan lost to Bahrain in the third match of the group stage, avoided Japan and Saudi Arabia, and then knocked out Iraq and Tajikistan in the round of sixteen and eight in the last round of the group stage. The most important player in Jordan's squad is Tamari, the only player in the top five leagues, who plays for Montreal in Ligue 1. Tamari has top one-on-one attacking ability, strong physical condition, excellent dribbling skills and excellent shooting ability, and he has not only become a headache for all the defenses in Ligue 1, but also performed very well in this year's Asian Cup, with his powerful destructive force in attack and resolute breakthrough. His destructive power in the attack and his determination to break forward have created more space for Olwan and Yazan, the other two attacking players in the Qatar League, and have become the most crucial figures for Jordan to reach the quarterfinals.
In the group stage meeting between Jordan and South Korea, Tamari brought a lot of threat and trouble to the South Korean defenders, and if not for South Korea's lucky goal in the extra time to tie the match, Jordan would have almost taken the victory. In the quarterfinals, South Korea won at
Bayern
München or Munich, capital of Bavaria, Germany
With ace center back Min-Ja Kim already serving a one-match suspension for accumulating two yellow cards, the backline concern will face a more direct attack from Tamari, a former Cypriot League Player of the Year who has played a number of matches.
European crown
tournament and will try to help Jordan advance to the final.
With two tough tests in Saudi Arabia and Australia in the knockout rounds, although the Tigers' resilience has allowed them to win two consecutive matches with last minute equalizers, they still have a lot of worries ahead of them. First of all, Jordan will face a one-match ban and will be without their home defender, Kim Min Ja. As Jordan is one of the strongest attacking teams in this year's AFC Asian Cup, how to limit Jordan's strong attacking intentions and how to match up well with center back partner Kim Young-gwon, who started the first two matches of the group stage, will be the biggest key to South Korea's ability to win, and the experience of playing in Japan in the AFC Asian Cup finals with Kashima Antlers will be a precious asset for Jung to face this crucial battle.
This year's Asian Cup as the most star-studded South Korean team, a number of based on the European football star players, especially the captain Son, but also in this tournament by all the opponents of the heavy guard.
