Silent Lonesome Man

Matchday 4 for any Asian football lovers will be a matchday to get addict with. It's not hard to realise there will be a major festival for football watchers, where major games will place teams in a serious gamble for wins or the losers take all. Group A United Arab Emirates vs Iraq Gaining only two points out of three games, both the UAE and Iraq are under tremendous pressures to gain a win to restart their already struggling campaigns, hence the upcoming 12 October face up is going to be a square off in Dubai's Zabeel Stadium. The UAE and Iraq are no stranger as they share common culture, language and has also squeezed off several times in major competitions, not to say even common managerial philosophy. The UAE, led by Dutchman Bert van Marwijk, has been unable to produce the same performance it did in the second round comeback, getting with only a goal scored by none other than Ali Mabkhout. The UAE's resistance to Iran was a bright point, as the Emiratis succumbed to o...

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification has come to the crucial point when these teams have nothing but a must-win goal - qualify for the tournament in Qatar. I'll give this space to make a short preview about the first matchday within the Asian zone (AFC), to see if there are anything to hold for: Group A Iran vs Syria Iran and Syria met at the latest qualifiers back in 2018, when Syria successfully held Iran twice to book a playoff spot, before losing to eventual qualifier Australia. Unfortunately, this encounter would not be as similar as it used to be. Instead, this will be the two teams' first game in the current qualification space. Given the history of the Iran-Syria encounter, the edge belongs to Iran, when they lost only one and winning 16 games, which is a serious problem for the Syrians. Iran has lost much of its pace and discipline steeled under the former Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz, as seen with Iran's struggling second round, losing in shock to Bahrain and Iraq...