The Asian World Cup Quailifiers draw took place today in Kuala Lumpur. The two groups are as follows:

Group A: South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait
Group B: Japan, Iran, Bahrain, North Korea

Well, I'm not really sure how to react to this draw. As I've said in an earlier post, this is probably not the best possible draw for us. We've lost to both Japan and Iran in the most recent Asian cup, and as to North Korea, well, I don't even know what's the colour of their team's jersey, let alone how they play. Voters in a recent poll on the site do not seem to disagree either, as 70% said group B is much tougher than group A. On the bright side, it does give us a good chance to exact revenge on those bloody Japanese and Iranians (particularly the Iranians, I have a personal grudge, since I was watching the last game in Iran, surrounded by Iranians, blasting at the top of their voice some weird songs).

The first game is against Iran on February 9 2005, in Bahrain. I'm sorry I'm going to miss it, but I'm sure the rest of Bahrain will not. All I hope is that they close off the borders on that day so that we don't get tons of hairy smelly guys chanting, "khaili khashangeh! khaili khashangeh!" (Yes, i'll admit it, when it comes to football I do stereotype and become rude. It's better to release grudges, I think, in football than in politics. That's what the Germans and Egnlish learned the hard way.)

So what do you guys think of the draw? Does anyone have any useful information on our opponents, particularly North Korea? However it spans out, I'm sure our team will put up a good fight. The only thing I'm worried about is fatigue, since these guys have just played a (pretty low-key) four aside tournament in Bahrain, have the Gulf Cup coming up, as well as their own domestic leagues. I really do hope the domestic leagues give these players a rest.

Ma taghleboonah! Ma taghleboonah!

¶ 7:32 PM