Iraq's former coach Bernd Stange predicts the Middle Eastern squad will "create more surprises" in the knockout rounds of the Asian Cup, saying he's proud of the team's performance in the competition so far.
But Bora Milutinovic, who led China to its only World Cup finals in 2002, said his old team is on track to triumph in Asia's premier soccer tournament for the first time in history.
The two men were speaking ahead of Friday's quarterfinal match between China and Iraq.
Although China has always been considered one of the favorites to win the Cup, the Iraqi squad has impressed as one of the best sides in the 16-nation tournament, despite its lack of training difficulties caused by the country's disastrous security situation.
"My heart is still with the Iraqis. I am very proud of their performance in qualifying for the quarterfinals," Stange said in a telephone interview from his home in Jena, Germany. He also praised current coach Adnan Hamad as the best man to lead the team to victory.
"Why not? They now have the same chance to create more surprises as Greece in Euro2004," said Stange, who was forced to resign from his job in May after receiving death threats in Iraq.
But Milutinovic, who resigned as China's coach after the World Cup two years ago, but remains immensely popular in the nation, said he expected China to go through to the semifinals.
Milutinovic was replaced by Dutch-born Arie Haan at the helm of the Chinese team.
"It will be difficult against Iraq, but China will win," said Milutinovic who is visiting Beijing. "The standard of play in this championship has not been exceptional, and China has a good chance of winning the title."
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS