24 nations this time... prize money on offer, too!
Iran, Japan and South Korea — all have tasted Asian Cup glory earlier — are bound to give defending champion Australia a run for its money.
The brightest talents of Asian football will light up the United Arab Emirates when the 2019 AFC Asian Cup kicks-off at Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City Stadium on January 5. Despite being the world’s second oldest continental football championship after the Copa America, the Asian Cup doesn’t receive its due importance or attract as many eyeballs as the EURO Championships or the Copa America, for that matter.
This is largely due to the fact that the last two editions have been held in the month of January, which is exactly when the title-race heats up across the top European Leagues. This often leads to clubs being reluctant to release their players to participate in the Asian Cup, thereby rendering the competition bereft of the big stars.
Take the upcoming edition for example. Son-Heung Min, who captained South Korea to the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games, will join the national team only after the group stage owing to his commitments
with Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur.
The other factor that often robs the tournament of its importance is its noprize-money policy. Yes, you read that right! In the 16 editions that have been played so far, the champion has only received a trophy and zilch in prize money. The AFC had promised prize money for the 2015 edition in Australia, but the money never saw the light of day. However, the body has decided to address the situation this time around, having announced a mammoth total prize money of US$14.8 million, with the winner taking home a whopping US$5million.
The tournament has been expanded to 24 nations, which would ultimately result in the dilution of competition as was widely seen at the 2016 EURO Championships. “I almost think you have more quality in this Copa America than you have with a diluted kind of 24-team version of the European Championship,” United States coach Jurgen Klinsmann had said about the EUROs ahead of the 2016 Copa America. That would hold true for the Asian Cup too.
Contradictory to this is the argument that middle and lower-ranked teams —
which aren’t considered traditional footballing nations — such as Yemen, India, The Philippines, and Thailand are now provided an opportunity to rub shoulders with the best. If there’s one thing we learnt from the expansion of the EUROs, it is to expect the unexpected. Debutant Iceland took the tournament by storm when it advanced to the knockout stage and even inflicted a remarkable 2-1 win over England along the way, making the team an instant favourite across the globe. Who knows, we might have an underdog story at the Asian Cup too!
A little-known fact is that India had done well at the Asian Cup when it finished runner-up in 1964, a time when the tournament was a four-team affair. The side has failed to make an impact since, having lost all its matches in its next appearance in 2011.
India is now grouped alongside host United Arab Emirates, Thailand, and Bahrain in Group A. While the Indians boast of a superior ranking compared to Thailand and Bahrain, they are not the likely favourites to advance. The Blue Tigers have crossed hurdles aplenty to return to the tournament after eight long years — playing 16 matches over a span of three years — but