As there are more and more tournaments in world football, more and more frequently, the grouping will become more and more similar in the direction. Take the 2022 World Cup as an example, were you disappointed when the group was drawn? It's just that the group of death didn't appear, why are there so many groups, so similar to the 2018 World Cup? Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, why meet again after four years? It's just that Costa Rica four years ago has been replaced by Cameroon this time. Another example is France, Denmark, Australia, four years later, there is another table, they are annoying, and the fans are even more annoying. This is like a TV series that has been called for a second time, but the audience found that the plot was just a change of soup without a change of medicine, and it was restarted, and even, in some places, the soup was not changed.
Do you also feel this way about the draw for the top 18 of the Asian World Preliminary Championships? It can be said that 5 teams in the top 18 have all received the same script as the last round of 12. Moreover, 4 of them are actually in the same group. They are like the aforementioned combination of Brazil, Switzerland, Serbia, or France, Denmark and Australia, and after just a few years, they come together again. However, the round of 18 has 6 teams in each group, and similar combinations are larger.
Obviously, these 4 teams are Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and China.
When watching the draw, did our fans look at it more and more wrong? It's not that the strength of the opponent is, whether it is the group of death, anyway, for the national football team, what kind of group is the group of death, drawn to Japan, and drawn to South Korea, Iran, there is not much difference, anyway, they can't be beaten. However, these opponents are really more and more familiar. In the last round of the twelve, isn't this the brother? Why is the group here again?
In fact, for Japan, Australia, and Saudi Arabia, why not? Why are you guys again? In addition, the national football team was added? Of course, Vietnam and Oman, who played in the last round of 12, were replaced by Indonesia and Bahrain this time, which are the only two changes in the two groups that are separated by three years. But on closer inspection, Bahrain, like Oman, is a second-tier team in West Asia, and its strength is similar; Indonesia and Vietnam are both Southeast Asian teams with similar styles. Therefore, although there are slight changes between this group and the group of the top 12 that year, the overall framework is basically the same. Therefore, Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and the national football team got the same script three years ago. As for the direction of the script, in fact, there is a high probability that there will not be much change. Japan can basically lock in a direct spot, while Saudi Arabia has regressed from three years ago and may be squeezed into third place by Australia. But whether it is Australia or Saudi Arabia, even if they finish third in the group, there is a high probability that they will be able to go straight through in the fourth stage. In other words, this brother can basically win the top three in this group.
For the national football team, they couldn't beat Oman three years ago, and it will be difficult to beat Bahrain this time, so fifth place may be the most likely outcome. However, Indonesia looks more difficult to deal with than Vietnam that year, so the difficulty of the national football team this time may be stronger than the top 12 matches that year.
So, who is the other one who gets the duplicate script? It can be said that their scripts are full of the color of fighting alone, and even have a sense of déjà vu of martial arts novels.
Korea.
Quite simply, in the last round of 12, South Korea was surrounded by 5 West Asian teams; This time, it is still the same configuration, and South Korea continues to be trapped in the encirclement and suppression of 5 West Asian wolves.
Of course, compared with the last round of 12, this time in the round of 18, South Korea's game is slightly less difficult, after all, Iran, the top player in West Asia, went to another group to be the boss, so South Korea suddenly relaxed a lot. Although Iraq and Jordan are also difficult to deal with, they are much better than Iran, right? Although Jordan embarrassed South Korea twice in the Asian Cup, South Korea in the World Preliminary Tournament is definitely different from South Korea in the Asian Cup.
In the last round of 12, South Korea finished second in the group, behind Iran. And in this round of 18, South Korea has a high probability of winning the first place in the group. The script is the same, but the copy inside has been secretly reduced in difficulty.
Of course, just because the minutes are the same as the opponent doesn't mean the game will be the same and the result will be the same. South Korea got a lower difficulty coefficient this time than last time; The national football team will strive to improve and strive to finish fourth. Let's wait and see.