Asian Cup Matches 35 and 36: Asian Cup Final Group Sees Malaysia Draw Over Saudis and Iran On Top

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2020.

Asian Cup Matches 35 and 36: Malaysia v Saudi Arabia and Iran v Thailand

Asian Cup Final Group Sees Malaysia Draw Over Saudis and Iran On Top

January 14th, 2020

Malaysia 1 Saudi Arabia 1

 

Malaysia surprised Saudi Arabia with a one-all draw in their final Group F match, while Iran claimed first place after a three-nil win over Thailand.

 

Malaysia and Saudi Arabia kept their original starting eleven from their opening games, except for Baddrol Bakhtiar in at right wing, as Malaysia sought to defeat Saudi Arabia, whilst their opponents knew a win would guarantee first place.

 

Bakhtiar had the first shot of the match, showing Malaysia’s intent from the outset.

 

At the other end, Yahya Al-Shehri had a shot from a free kick close to the box, but it sailed overhead, as Saudi Arabia started to exert their dominance on the match.

 

Bakhtiar had another shot on goal, but it fell straight to Mohammed Al-Owais.

 

Mohamadou Sumareh then had a shot on goal parried by Al-Owais. Akhyar Rashid slid in first beyond the Saudi Arabia defence and scored, much to the shock of the fans in the stadium.

 

Saudi Arabia struggled to penetrate in the second half, with Malaysia giving them nothing. Firas Al-Buraikan had a shot blocked, before the ball fell to substitute Haroune Camara. His shot smacked the underside of the crossbar and came back to him. His header, though on target, was thwarted by Muhd Rasid on the line and cleared to safety.

 

Down the other end, Rasid had a great chance to grab a second for Malaysia only to miss by miles.

 

Al-Buraikan had a tough chance thwarted by the Malaysian goalkeeper. Camara also had a difficult header, only to miss to the left. As the match deepened, Saudi Arabia could sense their top spot getting further and further away. Al-Buraikan set up midfielder Salman Al-Faraj, only for the shot to be blocked. Finally, Al-Faraj scored, this time from a header.

 

The final five minutes were hair raising as the two sides both sought a victory. In the end, neither side could, and the game ended one-all.

 

Malaysia’s best afield: Rashid with his goal; Brendan Gan with the goal assist; Muhd Syahmi Safari at right back with the most passes for Malaysia and equal most dribbles for Malaysia.

Syamer Kutty Abba with equal most dribbles for Malaysia.

Sharul Saad with most tackles for Malaysia.

Muhd Rasid with three key clearances and an intercept.

Mohd Radzak with a clearance, intercept and block.

 

Saudi Arabia’s best afield: Al-Faraj with his goal and most passes/successful dribbles for the match, as well as seven choice tackles; Al-Buraikan up front with his corner assist; Mohammed Al-Khabrani in central defence with four key intercepts and a clearance.

Mohammed Al-Burayk with two key clearances and an intercept.

 

Iran 3 Thailand 0

 

Iran scored three goals in the other Group F match.

 

Thailand brought in Sasalak Haiprakhon into central defence, while Iran kept their starting eleven bar Mehdi Torabi for the injured Kaveh Rezaei.

 

Mehdi Taremi had the first ping on goal, only for his marking man to get enough head on the ball to send to a corner. From the corner, the ball was sent out to Milad Mohammadi, but his volley was the wildest shot ever.

 

Mohammad Mohebi had a real chance, letting the ball slip to the left of goal.

 

Moments later, Masoud Shojaei’s header produced a choice Thai goalkeeper save.

 

Taremi had a chance late, though under immense pressure he was unable to get the shot on target.

 

After, the break, Taremi and Mohebi both had attempts, only to produce a corner. In the next passage of play, Ahmad Nourollahi scored, giving Iran hope of coming in first play as reports were coming in from the Malaysia and Saudi Arabia match.

 

Soon after, Shojaei set up Taremi right in front of goal and the striker made no mistake.

 

Mahdi Torabi had a shot just after the hour mark, only for the Thai goalkeeper to save it.

 

Instead, Taremi chipped the goalkeeper after a long through ball from Torabi, making it three-nil.

 

Thailand thought they had one goal back, only for substitute Sivakorn Tiatrakul to be to be deemed offside.

 

Omid Ebrahimi came on late to have a shot, but his left footer flew wide to the right of goal.

 

In the end, coupled with the draw in the other match, Iran claimed first place in spite of losing their first match against Saudi Arabia.

 

Iran’s best afield: Taremi with his brace and equal most tackles for the match; Nourollahi with his goal; Ramin Rezaeian as right back with three key intercepts and three clearances, as well as two crosses; Morteza Pouraliganji in central defence with four key clearances and three intercepts.

Torabi with an assist and most passes for the match.

Shojaei with most dribble attempts for the match.

 

 

Thailand had no shots.

Thailand’s best afield: Tristan Do when he came on at right back; Kawin Thamsatchanan with five saves; Haiprakhon in central defence with equal most tackles for the match, two key intercepts and two clearances.

Narubadin Weerawatnodom and Sarach Yooyen with equal most passes for Thailand.

Weerawatnodom with most successful dribbles for the match.

Manuel Bihr with three key clearances and two intercepts.

 

Group F

Thailand will progress through to the Round of 16 and will play South Korea/Uzbekistan. Iran will play Afghanistan since they came top of the group, and Saudi Arabia will play against Kuwait. Some may argue that Saudi Arabia deliberately came second so they could face Kuwait, though there is no evidence to support this.

 

	Group F	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
1	Iran	3	2	0	1	6	+5
2	Saudi Arabia	3	1	2	0	5	+1
3	Thailand	3	1	1	1	4	-1
4	Malaysia	3	0	1	2	1	-5

 

 

 

	Third-Place Rankings	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
E	Iraq - Q	3	1	1	1	4	0
F	Thailand - Q	3	1	1	1	4	-1
B	Philippines - Q	3	1	0	2	3	-1
D	Palestine - Q	3	1	0	2	3	-2
A	Kyrgyzstan	3	1	0	2	3	-4
C	India	3	0	2	1	2	-2

Kyrgyzstan miss out by a goal difference of two, leaving Palestine, the Philippines, Thailand and Iraq to qualify for the Round of 16.

 

Round of 16 Matches

January 17:

-              Japan v Indonesia

-              South Korea v Thailand

-              Australia v Palestine

January 18:

-              Iran v Afghanistan

-              UAE v Iraq

-              Kuwait v Saudi Arabia

January 19:

-              Uzbekistan v Philippines

-              Bahrain v Oman

 

Japan, having dominated their last two matches, should dispatch Indonesia easily. Another hat trick may be on the cards if they can play well.

 

South Korea have momentum from their last match and should defeat Thailand who have come off a match with no shots on target. It will not be easy, but South Korea and Son Heung-Min should gain the right of passage to the Quarter Finals.

 

Australia are yet to concede a goal and will look to repeat the same against Palestine. However, Palestine did defeat China, so they will not be easy walkovers.

 

Iran’s last two matches have been stellar and should easily slip beyond Afghanistan into the Quarter Finals. Afghanistan will look to keep their same line up as their win over Iraq and cause the biggest upset so far in the Asian Cup.

 

Iraq faces the might of the hosts in the UAE. They have to be at their best to have any chance of dispatching a home side full of momentum.

 

Saudi Arabia, after having won their first match, drew their final two games, leaving them to face Kuwait in the Round of 16. This match is going to be tight, though the Saudis should scrape through.

 

Uzbekistan have not faltered so far in the tournament and they see no reason for this to change in their match against the Philippines.

 

The toughest match in the Round of 16 will be Bahrain against Oman. Bahrain are the favourites, though Oman are not a side to mess about with and will be a great way to finish off the Round of 16 with the game deciding the eighth Quarter Finalist.

 

Eliminated sides

Kyrgyzstan was one of two sides to miss out on a third-place progression to the knockout stages. Their 4-1 loss to Japan was the difference, as was their 2-0 loss to the UAE.

 

India only managed two draws in their campaign and will rue the opportunities given to them, as well as the need to come from a goal down in two of their matches. Their draw against Indonesia was perhaps the catalyst that led to their downfall. With Indonesia only losing by a goal to Uzbekistan, they were able to progress in place of India and Bangladesh.

 

Bangladesh only scored one goal in their two draws and a loss. Ending up in last place in a tight group, they will dust off and look to the Nations League later in the year, where they first face Palestine.

 

Syria also gained two draws for their campaign against Afghanistan and Iraq. However, they hardly showed up for their final match against Bahrain and never looked like a side craving to reach the knockout stages.

 

China also had two draws against South Korea and Oman, the latter which they could have won. However, their loss to Palestine is the most cutting, and China will need to revisit their tactics when they begin their 2022 World Cup campaign in March.

 

Malaysia gained a draw in their final match and can take pride in this result, even though they came last in their group. They lost to their rivals Thailand 2-0 and to Iran by three goals.

 

Tajikistan did not win a single match, remaining scoreless for the entire three games and giving away seven goals.

 

Brunei also did the same, except they managed to score a goal against Kyrgyzstan, though conceding eleven goals.