On February 12, local time, the AFC announced the best team for the 18th Asian Cup through official channels, and the 11 best team players were from 7 teams, including the champion Qatar team. Among them, only South Korea's Lee Gang-in is from an East Asian team. Judging from the competition situation of this Asian Cup, the strength of West Asian football forces is very prominent. Since the 19th Asian Cup in 2027 has been confirmed to be held in Saudi Arabia, it will be very difficult for East Asian teams represented by Japan and South Korea to turn over on the stage of the Asian Cup.
Only one member of the East Asian team was selected.
According to the best team of this Asian Cup officially announced by the AFC, the 11 selected players are from Qatar, Jordan, Iran, South Korea, Iraq, Australia, and Saudi Arabia. Among them, the Qatar team became the biggest winner with 4 people selected. The four are goalkeeper Barsham, defender Lucas Mendis, midfielder Hassan Haydos, and striker Afif. Jordan had two players selected: left-back Nasib and winger Yazan Nimath.
As the champion and runner-up teams, Qatar and Jordan have 4 and 2 players selected for the best team respectively, which is understandable. But the results of the other five candidates are still somewhat controversial. These five are Iraq's striker Ayman Hussein, who is ranked second in the tournament's scorer list, South Korean wingback Lee Gang-in, Iran's Gayedi, Australia's Goodwin, and Saudi Arabia's central defender Al-Blahy.
Among the top 8 teams, Japan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan did not have any selection. Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae, who contributed to South Korea's semi-finals, and Jahan **, Iran's number one contributor to the semi-finals, were also not listed. These controversies can't help but make some industry insiders, fans and ** question the professionalism of this "official best team".
However, regardless of the result of the "best team", the strength shown by the West Asian region teams in this Asian Cup is obvious.
A number of Asian Cup popularity records have been set.
At the same time as announcing the best team for this Cup, the AFC also released the popularity data of this Asian Cup. In 51 matches, a total of 1509496 spectators poured into the stadium, with an average of 29,598 spectators per game, of which 86,492 spectators poured into the final at the Lusail Stadium in Doha. This year's Asian Cup has set new records for the total number of spectators, the average number of spectators per game, and the largest number of spectators in a single game. Hosts Qatar and Qatar won the tournament on and off the pitch.
Objectively speaking, there is a clear gap between the Qatar team and the Japanese team, the South Korean team, and even the Iranian team, the Australian team, and the Saudi Arabian team, which have already entered the top 16 of the World Cup, in terms of comprehensive strength. As the defending champions, Qatar made the most of the home advantage. From the perspective of the promotion path, the resistance they encountered in the process of winning the championship is also significantly less than that of the above strong teams. How to be a good host and then take advantage of home advantage? The Qatar team has provided a good model for Asian football to learn from.
In fact, the victory of the Qatar team is also a relatively ideal result for the AFC. After all, Qatar has temporarily decided to take over this Asian Cup, and has provided high-quality venue hardware conditions, excellent reception and service work, and considerable box office revenue for the successful holding of this event. In a sense, the championship is also the best reward for the country's active hosting of the competition.
The competition in Asian football is "strong in the west and weak in the east".
Qatar's success story is a cautionary tale for traditional East Asian powerhouses like Japan and South Korea, which aim to dominate Asian football. As we all know, Saudi Arabia has confirmed the right to host the 19th Asian Cup in 2027. Although the Saudi team unfortunately suffered one of the favorites in the 1 8 finals, the South Korean team, unfortunately went out, but combined with the successful experience of the Qatar team in defending the title, the Saudi side will naturally make a lot of work on "how to use the home advantage to play well in the next Asian Cup". In particular, Saudi Arabia, as the only bidding country for the right to host the 2034 World Cup, must fully warm up for hosting this football event. If the Saudi team can win the next Asian Cup in three years, it will undoubtedly give a strong boost to the World Cup that it is likely to host on its home soil.
The Asian Cup, and even the Asian football competition, "the West is strong and the East is weak" is likely to be further intensified. The Chinese team, which is already in a backward position in Asian football, is facing many more difficulties and challenges than in the past.
Reporter Xiao Yun (Beijing Youth Daily).