AFC General Secretary Alex Soosay displays Qatar’s draw in Group C during the AFC Asian Cup draw in Sydney yesterday.

By Sports Reporter/Sydney


Qatar coach Djamel Belmadi declared Qatar were no pushovers after the team were drawn in Group C along with the UAE, Bahrain and Iran for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia next year.
Although the UAE and Bahrain are relatively weaker opposition compared to many of the other teams in the competition, Qatar have struggled to beat them in recent times, while Iran have been always a formidable force not just in West Asia but also in the entire continent.
Algerian Belmadi, who was only recently appointed coach of the Qatar team, declared Qatar aim was to win the tournament and not just make up the numbers.
“We don’t have any limits; we are here to win the tournament simple as that,” said Belmadi.
“I hope we will be strong enough and good enough and believe in ourselves to go as far as possible.”
Iran Coach Carlos Queiroz said that the team handling pressure well will progress far in the tournament.
“Football is all about pressure, and pressure to win the next game,” he said.
I’m sure that after the World Cup the team can have a lift with the preparation and the experience, they will be more strong when they start the Asian competition.”
UAE Coach Mahdi Ali added: “I did not wish to have three [Gulf Cup] nations in the same group to give more chances for them to qualify.
“We have already announced we want to be in the best four teams in Asia and I hope we achieve our goal. We wish to qualify to the semi-final.
“I think that the UAE have spent a lot of planning for this generation, I think we have a good generation who have played many tournaments.”
Bahrain Coach Anthony Hudson said his team would be going about their business quietly.
“We’re going to quietly do what we’re doing. We’re building our team. We’re going to be optimistic and [try] to cause an upset and do something special.
“We’re not going to scream and shout too loud but we’re going to work hard and prepare. We’ve certainly come here to go very far.
I think it’s a good group and I think we’ve missed two or three of the big teams were familiar with. We’re happy.”Meanwhile, hosts Australia were handed a tricky opening round at the event when they were grouped with twice former champions South Korea, Oman and Kuwait.
The Socceroos open the tournament against Kuwait in Melbourne on Jan. 9 and will hope to be still in the reckoning when the final takes place 23 days later at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
Although two teams will qualify from Group A for the quarter-finals, the hosts could have hoped for easier first round opposition than South Korea, who they will play in their final group match in Brisbane on Jan. 17.
 “You want to avoid them but are you going to avoid them the whole tournament? At some point you have to play a team,” Australia coach Ange Postecoglou told reporters.
   “That first game against Kuwait in Melbourne becomes a real critical one. We need to get off to a really strong start and if we can get those three points that will put pressure on the other teams.”
  Champions Japan were drawn in Group D with Jordan, who they lost against for the first time in World Cup qualifying last year, 2007 Asian Cup winners Iraq and the champions of this year’s Asian Challenge Cup, which will be decided in May.
  “We played against both teams in the World Cup qualifiers and both matches were tough, so I can expect it is going to be tough again,” Japan Football Association general secretary Hara Hiromi said.
“We will do our best to play Australia in the final.”
OPEN GROUP
Uzbekistan face Saudi Arabia, China and North Korea in Group B and the French coach of the Chinese team, Alain Perrin, said he thought all four teams would fancy their chances of progressing.
“I know Uzbekistan very well and they are a strong team to play but I think in this group, everyone can lose points against anyone, so it’s open,” he said.
“It’s important to have a good start and to create a good spirit because the quality of the teams are very close and maybe the spirit of the team can make the difference.”
Australia progressing is the key to the success of the tournament and Oman coach Paul Le Guen, whose team embarrassed the Socceroos in a 2-2 draw in Sydney in World Cup qualifying last year, said he thought the hosts were favourites.
“They will host the competition, the crowd will be behind them, so we will be outsiders and they will be favourites but we will try to bother them like we did a few months ago,” he said.
“I think it is the toughest group of the competition, it will be very difficult for us. We are a little bit unlucky but I keep smiling.”
South Korea, like Japan, Australia and Iran, will be playing at the World Cup before the Asian Cup and Brazil was still the focus for their coach Hong Myung-bo.
“It’s not an easy group, we’ve been grouped with the home team and as Australia have home advantage, it’s going to be a very difficult match,” he said.
“First we have to play the World Cup in Brazil and then we can think about playing in Australia.”

The Groups

Group A: Australia, South Korea, Oman, Kuwait
Group B: Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea
Group C: Iran, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain
Group D: Japan, Jordan, Iraq Winners of 2014 AFC Challenge Cup (TBC)