Silent Lonesome Man

Already we have seen how the situation played out, already two teams have booked places in Qatar, and there shall be a potential third, fourth and maybe a fifth to qualify. Group A Lebanon vs Syria Lebanon 's 1-1 draw to Iraq in Sidon had effectively crippled the Lebanese from dreaming further for the World Cup, as their distance with the UAE is now just a win. However, Lebanon can still think about it, in case the Lebanese can ever obtain wins in the next two games while the UAE fail against Iraq and South Korea. This is possible for the first task, as the upcoming opponent for Lebanon is Syria , a team that has been, alongside Iraq, winless after eight games. This is the chance for Lebanon to gain their first-ever home win, already been beaten painfully by Iran, South Korea, the UAE before only won a point after facing Iraq. While the H2H is not totally favourable, with just five wins out of 24 meetings, the Lebanese have been undefeated against Syria since 2013 (3W, 1D). With Vi...

Recent reports from various media outlets indicated that growing dissatisfaction toward the Joe Biden Administration among the Saudi government of the young Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has led the Crown Prince to shun the U.S. President. This is extremely relevant when Putin's Russia waged an invasion on Ukraine, when the Crown Prince, by a shock move, ghosted Biden but responded to a call by the Russian dictator. Riyadh has demonstrated clearly that it will not respond to any American attempt calling for help unless the United States realigned its policy to Saudi interests, and to further enhance the economic threat, Saudi Arabia has even extended its invitation to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to visit the country and moving toward using Chinese yuan in foreign trade exchange instead of U.S. dollar. President Biden could only make calls with the Crown Prince's father, King Salman . Yet the move of MBS could not come at the time when everything is not in favour of the Crown...

When Putin launched his brutal armed invasion of Ukraine, Putin's Russia has severely broken the old structure of security order. Putin has even warned to conquer and destroy Ukraine, as well as showing eagerness to rebuild the lost Tsarist/Soviet Empire. A number of nations have openly condemned Russia, imposing economic and political sanctions, including cutting off Russia's main source of survival - oil and gas ( which was done by President Joe Biden ). Still, Putin appears not being deterred by sanctions, as the Russian dictator has vowed to raze the whole Ukraine to dust to reconstitute his new empire, including his recent brutal bombarding tactics on civilian infrastructures. Yet despite widespread condemnation against Russia by many nations, so far, countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America have been reluctant to join the band. In here, we will talk about Asia, as the detail means for - and why standing against Putin's Russia is vital for their survival. A big cont...

The February stage of the qualification in Asia has already witnessed teams that qualified, and teams that won't. How would it play out, though, is still on the hand. Group A Iran vs United Arab Emirates The 1-0 win in Tehran over arch-rival Iraq means Iran has officially become the first team in Asia to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, a complete turn around from the earlier troubles of the second round. Such remarkable turn around ensures Iran as the most powerful national team in Asia and a signal for any opponent to not underestimate the Iranian resolute. This is best seen with Iran's ability to deliver goals in necessary moments, as well as having an extremely capable defence since the arrival of Croatian  Dragan Skočić, conceding just three goals in process. Although Iran's World Cup record is anything but rosy, having never progressed beyond the group stage, the Iranians would try to obliterate its opponents to celebrate the revival of its fortune. This makes the...

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FIFA had made a radical change, allowing nations to schedule games in January and February 2022, and this could be very necessary to speed up the upcoming World Cup qualification. Asia, in particular, has some benefits from such a schedule, but, how far will it go? Let's move by groups. Group A Iran vs Iraq Iran 's surprising resurgence in the third round, which Iran u-turned its second round misery, has really put the Group A into a closer conclusion that Iran will be able to achieve a place in Qatar. Although scepticism remains high throughout Iran's real quality when it comes to the World Cup, having never survived the group stage before, but right now, Iranians could focus to an early celebration. Contrast to Iran, its neighbouring rival Iraq has been unable to demonstrate the same form it used to be in the second round, being winless after six matches, including two heavy defeats to powerhouses Iran and South Korea earlier (both 0-3). To ...

Matchday 6 will mark the begin of the reserve fixtures, and there shall be no room for any mistakes. Several teams have begun to feel more and more wrath, while some are looking for a place in Qatar. Group A Lebanon vs United Arab Emirates A heart breaking late goal from Ahmad Nourollahi saw Lebanon fell from grace to a devastating home defeat, as Nourollahi was one of the two authors of Iran's injury time goals. Lebanon can still dream big though, as Lebanon has five points after five games, with a win and two draws as inspirations, something which is unthinkable given Lebanon's low status in Asian football stage. By contrast, the United Arab Emirates has left nothing but disappointments, with a loss to South Korea away extended its lacklustre in this stage with only three points from three draws. More worryingly, Bert van Marwijk's boys has failed to keep clean sheet in four consecutive games in this stage of the qualification. The UAE can still rally on the historical ...