World Cup qualifiers shifting in Asia
The Chinese soccer team has basically locked the set target in the fierce battle of the Asian qualifying round of the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. They beat Thailand 2-1 on the road and managed to hold the initiative to qualify from the group.
Although only two rounds of the group stage, the performance of the national football team has already delighted the fans. A team originally inferior to the national football team, but in the preliminaries burst out of the amazing strength, become the choice of the dark horse - that is, Malaysia.
In the past few years, the Malaysian team, once regarded as Asia's underdogs, has improved dramatically in recent years. From 178th in the world rankings five years ago, the team has risen to 130th and 23rd in the Asian rankings.
Malaysia have won two consecutive matches in the last two rounds of the group stage of the World Qualifiers. In the first round of group matches, despite being 1-3 down to Tajikistan at one stage, they did not give up and mounted an onslaught of attacks to bring the score to 3-3. In the final moments of injury time, Fassel Harin scored the killer goal to seal the come-from-behind win.
In the second round of group matches, Malaysia defeated Chinese Taipei 1-0 away from home to continue their unbeaten run. Currently sitting at the top of Group D with six points, they are expected to be the first to qualify for the Asian Round of 18 in the World Qualifiers.
The rise of the Malaysian team has surprised many fans. They were once the bitter rivals of the national soccer team. However, in a friendly match in September this year, the national soccer team drew 1-1 with Malaysia at home. Now, it was not a fluke score for Malaysia, but their overall strength has been equal to ours.
Malaysia has overtaken China just from the results of the group stage. Currently, Malaysia leads the group with 6 points from 2 wins and 2 draws, while China is in third place with 4 points from 1 win and 1 loss. The key to advancing will be the results of the next two matches against Singapore and whether South Korea can beat Thailand on the road.
Of course, Malaysia has done well in the group stage thanks to the strength of the group. Oman is the strongest player in the group and has yet to play Malaysia. The other two teams, Kyrgyzstan and Chinese Taipei, are weaker.
Despite the luck of the grouping, we must recognize that today's Malaysia is no longer the Asian fishbowl of yesteryear. In the future, the Chinese team will have a lot of opportunities to talk directly with Malaysia in the Asian tournament. If the Chinese football team successfully advanced to the World Cup Asia 18, the two teams are likely to be divided into the same group. At that time, the two teams will play two matches at home and away, the strength of the high and low will be clear...
