Thursday, January 20, 2011

Quarter-Final Schedule of Asian Cup Football 2011

Eight teams from four groups have qualified for the quarter-final round of the AFC Asian Cup 2011. These eight teams are- Japan, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Australia, Iraq, Iran and South Korea.

Quarter-Final matches are scheduled to start from 21st January 2011 and it will continue till 22nd January 2011. Among these eight teams, only four will be able to compete for the Semi-final round. So, fans can see a tough competition among the teams in the knock out stage.

In a two-day Quarter-Final round, two matches will be played in each day. The first match will be played between Japan and Jordan. It will kick off at 16:25 at the Al-Gharafa Stadium in Doha.

Japan moved to the quarter-final round as a champion team from Group B. Playing three matches, they got 7 points with two victories and one draw. They defeated Syria by 2-1 and Saudi Arabia by 5-0 while their match against Jordan ended in a 1-1 draw.

Host team Qatar is going to face a tough challenge against Japan who is called the Barcelona of Asia. They will have to win the match against Japan if they want to play in the semi-final round. However, it seems impossible for the host team.

Their performance in the group round was not satisfactory as they started their AFC Asian Cup 2011 with a 0-2 defeat against Uzbekistan. However, they could make their strong come back winning the last two matches against China PR and Kuwait by 2-0 and 3-0.

Date

Teams

Time

Venue

21st January 2011

Japan vs Qatar

16:25 Local Time

13:25 GMT

Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha

21st January 2011

Uzbekistan vs Jordan

19:25 Local Time

16:25 GMT

Khalifa International Stadium, Doha

22nd January 2011

Australia vs Iraq

16:25 Local Time

13:25 GMT

Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha

22nd January 2011

Iran vs South Korea

19:25 Local Time

16:25 GMT

Qatar SC Stadium, Doha

On the same day, Uzbekistan will take on Jordan in the second match which will take place at 19:25 at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. Uzbekistan became the champion team from Group A. They got 7 points from three matches. They started the Asian Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory against Qatar. Then they defeated Kuwait by 2-1 in their second match and they finished the group competition with a 2-2 draw match.

Jordan might not be considered as a hot favorite team when they will take on Uzbekistan on the knock out stage. In their three group matches, they have scored four goals and conceded two. They will have to do their best if they want to make their place in the semi-final round.

On 22nd January 2011, the first match will be played between Australia and Iraq. They will face each other at 16:25 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha. Fans are expecting to see a tough competition between these two teams as both of them are strong enough to beat each other and be a third semi-finalist team.

Australia was the top team in Group C while Iraq became the first-runners up team in Group D. Australia looks much stronger compared to Iraq. Australia is one the strongest teams who has the possibility to win the sub-continent title this year.

The most exciting match is perhaps going to be played between Iran and South Korea in the last match of the quarter-final round. It will be played at 19:25. Both Iran and South Korea are strong team. They played well in their group stages. Iran won all three matches and got 9 points while South Korea got 7 matches from their three matches. Now, fans are eagerly waiting to see a stiff competition between them.

However, South Korea tried hard to avoid their clash with Iran but due to their goal difference with Australia they failed to end the group stage with holding first position.

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