Al-Raya Newspaper – The President of AFC Expected

The decision to increase the number of teams participating in the 24-team Asian Cup has been a landmark decision of the federation, which has taken this important step to reach all regions of the continent, in integrating competition, football and Asian rapprochement.

"I am very excited to see Asia expand and overcome geography and distances to get closer, create friction and create a competitive mbad environment in a football carnival followed by football fans on the largest continent in the world, "said Sheikh Salman. "It was necessary to act quickly to exploit the wealth of the Asian continent, the highest goal of the football competition, the number of teams participating in the Asian Cup has therefore been increased, which has urged other federations outside of Asia to move forward to confirm that football is for all and that it is our duty to reach out and provide support in the light of football in all its dimensions. "Our continent" SO. "The language of the numbers confirms that the Asian continent is on the eve of a new revolution of change in the image of the table of technical performance and results, there are unions that have begun to take the right path to enter the arena of competition and development as you see on the green rectangle and who closely follow the movement of football in Asia will not follow It is surprising that the things are going according to the plans and studies and support factors of the Continental Union, which is participating today in the tournament, which saw the 51 games of 552 players, which are important and unprecedented will have an impact positive positive for the development and emergence of teams and players in Asia ". "The first round of the tournament proved the usefulness of the decision to increase the number of teams thanks to the impressive appearance of the emerging powers of football in Asia, such as the l 'de,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. India, the Philippines, Turkmenistan and Palestine, which is the beginning of a way to bridge the technical gap between the teams of the continent, "continued Sheikh Salman.

Sheikh Salman stressed the importance of friction and exchange of experiences and the development of relations in such forums, saying: "The AFC is the home of football on the continent and the championships are not the monopoly of matches. The atmosphere brings everyone to build relationships and make friendships and exchanges of experiences in each area of ​​the Asian unity and strengthens them from within.In this tournament, we see these things come true and they are a great source of happiness for us. "

Aussie beats three clean

A serious loss for the Palestinian

ALGIERS, Australia (Reuters) – Australia, who won the title in two minutes, beat the Palestinians 3-0 and quickly recovered from its first defeat. Jimmy McClaren scored the first goal with a header in the 18th minute and Auer Mabel added another goal with a close-range shot two minutes later. At the last minute of the original substitute, Abastolos Giano scored the third goal with a header. Australia suffered a surprise 1-0 loss to Jordan at the start of their defending championship, but looked better against Palestine and scored three points. Australia has three points in second place, two points behind Syria and Palestine, Jordan has six points and the first to qualify for the knockout stages.

In their second match of the tournament

Black Rafidain against Yemen

Abu Dhabi (dpa) – The dream of qualifying for the second round of the Iraqi national team is in the hands of his Yemeni brother at the Sharjah club stadium. The Iraqi team struggled to beat their Vietnamese counterpart 3-2, but the Vietnamese team made two draws and tied the Iraqi team twice before winning a goal in the last minute of the match.

Despite the difference in history between the Iraqi team that won the championship in 2007 and the Vietnamese, who have very few players in the tournament, the Rafidain Blacks suffered to get the three points of the match and the players have done a lot of the disadvantages that need treatment in the match today before facing Iran in the third round Among the group matches, which should be decisive at the top of the group.

For this reason, the Iraqi team plays the game with more caution and refuses to consider the face of a determined beginner despite the difference in level, where the fear of the Rafidain reaction of the Yemeni team injured.

Vietnamese looking for a surprise

A second task for the Iranian fort

Abu Dhabi (AFP): At the Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Iran, the reigning world champion, three times in 1968, 1972 and 1976, is safe from surprises in the face of an inexperienced Vietnam. The Islamic Republic ranks 29th in the world and the first Asian in the FIFA rankings. The victory over Yemen is in line with the solid performance of the 2018 World Cup and the pbadage to the 16th round of group B , which included Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

Iranians still feel bitter to step out of the quarterfinals of the 2015 edition of Australia against Iraq on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw and want to go further into the current tournament.

Vietnam is in second place in terms of surprise and second round after reaching the quarter-finals of their first participation in 2007 when they were among the four organizers alongside Thailand, Malaysia and Japan. # 39; Indonesia.

The Chinese sweep the Philippines

ABU DHABI: The Chinese team defeated its Philippine counterpart 3-0 in the second round of the Group B match on Tuesday.

Wu Li (40, 66) and Yu Dabao (80) scored the winning goals on the Chinese side.

The third and final round will be played on Wednesday, during which South Korea will meet China and Kyrgyzstan with the Philippines.

South Korea beats Kyrgyzstan

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – South Korea beat Kyrgyzstan 1-0 on Friday to reach the last 16 places in the tournament. Kim Min-jae scored the only goal in the 41st minute: the Korean team increased their score to six points, second on the goal difference behind the Chinese team, and Kyrgyzstan remained without points in third place.