FW 28 Teil 1-2012.indd - VCAB

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FOCUS 34 FIFA WORLD I APRIL 2012
Perfect ten The Asian qualifying race to reach the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil is down to just ten teams after the latest round of regional qualifi ers reduced the fi eld to fi ve former World Cup participants and fi ve potential newcomers. By Michael Church, Kuala Lumpur An exciting mix of regional big guns and supposed underdogs made their way to the Asian Football Confederation’s Malaysian headquarters on 9 March for the draw to determine the two groups which will contest the continent’s decisive fourth qualifying round. With only four automatic qualifying places available (along with one play-off berth for the team that fi nish fi fth), the pitting together of last year’s AFC Asian Cup fi nalists Australia and Japan in Group B drew plenty of attention, as did the pairing of perennial World Cup participants Korea Republic and three-time qualifi ers Iran at the head of Group A. But while those were the clear “glamour ties”, none of the established teams’ representatives at AFC House seemed ready to write off the threat that will also be posed by surprise packages Qatar, Oman and Lebanon. With emerging regional powers Uzbekistan and Jordan also through to the fourth round, exactly half of the remaining ten-team fi eld will be chasing what would be their fi rst-ever appearance at a FIFA World Cup fi nals, underscoring the current unpredictability of Asian football and making it far from certain that the established sides will all make it to Brazil unscathed. The competitiveness of the continent’s leading sides could already be seen in the recently completed third round. No fewer than four teams had to wait until the last set of matches to secure their place in the fourth round draw. Although few would have predicted it when the round began last September, Group B turned out to be the tightest, with perennial World Cup qualifi ers Korea Republic eventually scraping through on that last day, alongside an unfancied Lebanon side which had been the lowest-ranked of all the 20 teams taking part in that third round. Positioned 146 th in the FIFA/Coca- Cola World Ranking back in September, Lebanon (opposite page) and Oman (right) have both booked surprise places in the last ten; Australia wrapped up a convincing third-round campaign with a fi nal-round 4-2 win over the United Arab Emirates (below). Lebanon exceeded everyone’s expectations – including their own – by progressing to the fourth round for the fi rst time. Their third-round campaign, which even included a shock 2-1 home win over the South Koreans, also saw them improve on their ranking, although their latest position of 124 th means that they will still head FIFA WORLD I FOCUS 35
Page 1: April 2012 Support for goal-line te
Page 4 and 5: Around the world Line call Football
Page 6 and 7: VIEW No way through Japan’s Shinj
Page 8 and 9: 8 FIFA WORLD I APRIL 2012
Page 10 and 11: Letters to FIFA A selection of comm
Page 12 and 13: NEWS Moving towards goal-line techn
Page 14 and 15: IFAB briefs No drop goals The numbe
Page 17 and 18: FIFA loads up on YouTube Fans can n
Page 19 and 20: tournament organisers have decided
Page 21 and 22: when they were named FIFA Women’s
Page 23 and 24: FIFA World: What persuaded you to t
Page 25: “My expectations have been exceed
Page 28 and 29: The lowdown on high-tech Football a
Page 30 and 31: © 2011 adidas AG. adidas, the 3-Ba
Page 32 and 33: ONE2ONE Kalusha Bwalya Zambian FA P
Page 36 and 37: into the next stage as the lowest-r
Page 39 and 40: national team player and coach Adna
Page 41 and 42: has also increased. There are curre
Page 43 and 44: depression, so tapping into the per
Page 45 and 46: FIFA World: Congratulations on beco
Page 47 and 48: of whether he is an Egyptian or an
Page 49 and 50: Healing hands German goalkeeper Lut
Page 51 and 52: Pfannenstiel and former Denmark mid
Page 53 and 54: Regulations 2014 FIFA World Cup Bra
Page 55 and 56: South America The South American Fo
Page 57 and 58: Rank Team +/- Ranks Feb.- March 12
Page 59 and 60: Rank Team +/- Ranks Jan.- March Ran
Page 61 and 62: FIFA WORLD I SUMMARY 61
Page 63 and 64: open happinessTM Bringing the world

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