East Asia vs West Asia performance

[Pub League Champion]

Thought I’d start a conversation here as a carry over to my commentary in the AFC u23 Asian Cup and because many of the people advocating that Australia is best served by the AFC not splitting into East & West Asia, do so because of the quality of West Asian opposition.

So far, with the group stages almost finished, it looks like all of the u23 Asian Cup groups will be topped by EA teams. Japan, obviously; SK most likely. However Vietnam already has 9 points, while China is likely to top a group with both us and Iraq in it. Vietnam and China have never succeeded like this before.

Is it possible this might mark a shift? Japan is consistently ranked no1 in the AFC, SK and Australia top 5. Could Vietnam, maybe Thailand or any others ever get to that level?

 

[Pub League Champion]

It also seems that after being perennial underachievers on the national stage, the Chinese u23 team might have found a style that works for their national team. Ultrasound defensive, park the bus, 5-3-2.

This suits there strengths of positional discipline and working for the good of the team. They also had no trouble physically when they beat us and were often rough and welcoming (causing) hard physical contact. Chinese players generally can’t make teams like Iran or Japan skill wise, so until they improve in skill and creativity, perhaps this is the way for them to go. In Simon Hill’s commentary, he stated something like they hadn’t conceded a goal in 8 games, plus last night’s loss makes it 9.

 

[Hillbilly55]

We'll get a better reading of this after next year's Asian Cup. Good topic.

With the drop in the oil price, has the money shifted?

With the advent of electric vehicles will we see the decline of the West Asian countries?

 

[rebelliousfeminist974]

Is it possible this might mark a shift? Japan is consistently ranked no1 in the AFC, SK and Australia top 5. Could Vietnam, maybe Thailand or any others ever get to that level?

I think only a few East Asian national teams will reach the quality of the West Asian powerhouses like Saudi Arabia and Iran, with South Korea, Australia and Japan the most likely to do so. Vietnam and Thailand definitely have the potential to make it to that level in the future, but having said that they are two of the strongest teams in ASEAN, which mainly comprises minnows trying to punch above their weight both in club and international competitions.

 

[NoMates]

When you look at the World Cup if Iraq get though that would be 6 west Asian sides at the world cup and only 3 east Asian sides. So there is massive gap at senior level.

 

[grazorblade]

Is the poll the wrong way around?

 

[patjennings]

With 3 of the top 4 I think East Asia is doing ok

 

[grazorblade]

With 3 of the top 4 I think East Asia is doing ok

i think the op meant the other way around?

 

[Pub League Champion]

Yeah sorry if it’s not that clear. In the recent topic about whether east and west Asia should split, the consensus seemed to be that Australia benefits from playing difficult games against West Asian opposition and in an East Asian Confed we would only be challenged by SK and Japan.

I.e. Western teams Iraq, Iran, Saudi, Uzbek, UAE, Jordan, Qatar outweigh Eastern teams like Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Indo etc.

I was asking if anyone thinks Eastern teams (other than SK, Japan) would catch up to Western teams, using the recent AFC u23 results as an example.