Another set of friendlies announced

South Korea have been very busy looking for sparring partners. The 2002 World Cup hosts have set up a bunch of friendlies for next month. On 9 January they play Zambia in Johannesburg, South Africa, whilst also taking on some club sides from the country. They'll be without European based player until 18 January when they meet Finland in Malaga, Spain, while meeting Latvia on the 21st. Fellow Asians Japan have set up three matches with opposition from the same continent - Yemen, China and Hong Kong.

While for Korea it looks like it doesn't matter who's the opposition, as long as they can play, then New Zealand, like England, are looking opposition similar to their opponents in the World Cup finals. The All Whites will play Mexico on 3 March in Los Angeles as a preparation for their group F opponents Paraguay. Mexico itself also have a match with Netherlands on 26 May. The Netherlands will face another North American opposition on 3 March in USA. The US also have a match with Honduras in January.

Current European Champions Spain have so far announced three fixtures. The team, currently nr.1 on FIFA ranking, will play France in March, but won't take on any team until the final weeks before the World Cup tournament, with two home and on away fixture set up. The opposition has not been announced yet.

France have already have announced their opposition for the final weeks and they are Costa Rica and Tunisia, on 25 and 30 May respectively. France's group A opponents Uruguay so far have announced a match with Switzerland on 3 March.

From group B, Argentina will meet Germany in March. The Germans also have some weird fixtures in May with hosting Malta and visiting Hungary. Same goes for their group D companions Australia. Kuwait in January and Indonesia in March aren't exactly teams you'd expect to play before a World Cup finals tournament. In the same group, Serbia have a friendly with Algeria on 3 March.

Group E overview

Netherlands
Denmark
Japan
Cameroon

Fixtures:

14/06/2010, Johannesburg - JSC, Netherlands vs Denmark
14/06/2010, Mangaung/Bloemfontein, Japan vs Cameroon

19/06/2010, Durban, Netherlands vs Japan
19/06/2010, Tshwane/Pretoria, Cameroon vs Denmark

24/06/2010, Rustenburg, Denmark vs Japan
24/06,2010, Cape Town, Cameroon vs Netherlands

While the Netherlands are quite big favorites here, the fixtures list cause quite a nice intrigue. Cameroon will be backed by familiar surroundings, Denmark are always capable of a surprise versus bigger teams and Japan aren't no pushovers either. All could go down to the last round here.

The winner will get group F 2nd team in the next stage, while runner-up will meet the group F winner.

Asian teams as the whipping boys

Asia no doubt has big potential in sports in general. I mean, look how many World Championships and Olympic medals the Chinese have won in Athletic's and such. But someway they don't seem to perform in team sports and as we all know, football is all about team performance not individuals.

South Korea came close to glory in 2002. Being the host nation, they reached the semis and got into the 3rd place match. Even though they lost it in the end 3:3 to Turkey, thanks to World Cup histories fastest goal scored (10.8 seconds) by the legendary Turkish striker Hakan Sükür, it was looked as a turning point for Asia. But none of the teams that were involved in Germany 2006 (Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia & Japan) managed to get past the group stage, with South Korea coming the closest, even snatching a draw versus France. And it looks to be the same story again in South Africa. Even though the groups are yet to be drawn, I'm willing to bet my house on South Korea again being the best from Asia.

Australia will bring more competitiveness to the region, but I doubt the Aussies will repeat their success of Germany 2006, where they were knocked out by the eventual winner Italy in the first knock-out stage.

Japan are going through a generation change and while there are still some players, who've made a name for themselves in Europe (Shunsuke Nakamure being the most notable one), the squad is largely made up of players playing in the local J-league.

Korea DPR deservedly made it to South Africa, playing some very smart and tactical football under their manager Kim Jong-Hun, but with only a few players playing outside the local league, this will be more of a learning curve for them and they're there just to make up the numbers.

Africa is also the continent that hasn't yet tasted World Cup glory, but in terms of footballing quality they are light years ahead of Asia. Talent plays big part in football and while the Asian players might have physical skills, they are still learning the mental aspects of the game and being a team in general.

Endō voted the best

Japanese midfielder Yasuhito Endō has been voted as the best Asian footballer 2009. The 29 year old, who plays his club football at Gamba Osaka, fought off competition from Kengo Nakamura, also from Japan, Syrian forward Firas Al Khatib, Bahrein's Sayed Mohamed Adnan and Hadi Aghily from Iran. Last year's award was won by Server Djeparov of Uzbekistan.

In the ceremony that took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, also the award for the best Asian club side was handed out and that was won by Pohang Steelers, who won the Asian Champions League this year.


Endō is a key player for the Japanese international team and no doubt his good performances will be the key for Japan, if the three-times Asian Champions want to have a successful World Cup 2010 finals campaign.