Japan see Chongqing's humidity in their favor against Iran

Home>>Sports

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 16, 2004

Japan see Chongqing's humidity in their favor against Iran

Defending champions Japan, who had to face Iran in the group stage of the 13th Asian Cup soccer tournament in China this summer, see Chongqing's humidity as favorite to beat their opponents.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

Defending champions Japan, who had to face Iran in the group stage of the 13th Asian Cup soccer tournament in China this summer, see Chongqing's humidity as favorite to beat their opponents.

Kozo Tashima, a Japanese football association official, said here on Thursday after the draw that the group D games are set to be held in Chongqing where the humidity is quite similar with that of Japan.

"I believe that the Japanese players will get well familiar with the climate here and show their best form in the hard fights," he added.

Chongqing, the biggest city in southwest China, is well known as one of the three "hot pots" in summer in China. As the Asian Cup finals will run on July 17-August 7, the high temperature and humidity will have impact on the teams from west Asia.

Tashima said that Iran have claimed the title three times, so Japan-Iran clash will be very a very tough game.

"But we don't feel any more pressure. We will play all out to win the game." he added.

Japan have won the Asian Cup trophy twice and survived the group stage in the 2002 World Cup finals.

Also in the Asian Cup group D are Thailand and Oman. Officials from both countries said they felt really great pressure from the draw.

Following are the results of the draw on Thursday night:

Group A: China, Qatar, Indonesia, Bahrain

Group B: South Korea, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Jordan

Group C: Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan

Group D: Japan, Iran, Thailand, Oman

Note: China, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Japan are seeds. Top two teams of each group will qualify for the quarterfinals.

Teams in the group A will play each other in Beijing, the capital of China, while the group B in Jinan, the group C in Chengdu and the group D in Chongqing.

In quarterfinals, the top team of the group A will face the second-placed side of the group C, while the runner-up of the group A against the winner of the group C, thus B1 vs D2, and B2 vs D1.

Questions?Comments? Click here

China provides best condition for Asian Cup: AFC president

Don't smile too early: Velapan warns China

China may win Asian Cup but must work hard: AFC president

Exploration rover "Spirit" lands safely on Mars ( 9 Messages)

Two major state banks to pilot joint-stock system ( 3 Messages)

China pondering its own "green card" system ( 16 Messages)

Roaring BMW: Was it "road rage" or an accident? ( 2 Messages)

Beijing's traffic no longer a headache by year 2008 ( 5 Messages)