Abu Dhabi: Zayed Sports City in the UAE capital will be playing host to the opening match and final of the AFC Asian Cup 2019. Asia’s biggest football, comprising 24 teams, will take place between January 5 and February 1 at eight stadiums in the UAE.
In the second meeting of the Organising Committee for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 that took place on Monday, chaired by Deputy Chairman Chung Mong Gyu (KOR), the committee agreed to the match dates with the opening game and the final to be held on weekends.
Three stadiums in Abu Dhabi, two each in Dubai and Al Ain and one in Sharjah will host the tournament, which will feature 24 teams for the first time after expanding from 16 in the last edition in Australia in 2015. The two stadiums in Dubai agreed upon by the committee are Al Nasr Club’s Maktoum Stadium and Al Shabab Al Arabi club’s Maktoum Bin Rashid Stadium.
Defending champions Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and hosts United Arab Emirates have sealed their spots for the tournament.
The continent’s elite 12 will be joined by 12 others from the final round of qualifiers in which 24 teams will be divided into six groups of four. The winners and runners-up from each group will qualify for the finals.
Chung Mong Gyu, Deputy Chairman of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Organising Committee, said: “We know that the Local Organising Committee and the UAE Football Association will deliver a historic tournament in 2019 and we thank them for their continued hard work which will culminate in an event to remember here in the United Arab Emirates.”
In the draw held at the capital for the final round of the AFC Asia Cup UAE 2019, Jordan — the highest ranked team in the qualifiers — has been drawn in Group C along with Vietnam, Afghanistan and Cambodia. The qualifying round gets underway from March 28.
Emirati Dr Abdullah Al Misfir, who took over as the coach of the Jordan team just before Christmas last year, said after the draw: “There is no weak team in Asia and all teams are in the same level. We will fight to qualify for the main competition.”
Dr Misfir as also backed host UAE to deliver a world class tournament. “UAE have organised many good events and this is not the first time they will be hosting such a big event. They can succeed off the field but I’m not sure if they can be the champions,” he said.
India, who were eliminated in the group stages of Asian Cup 2011 in Doha last, has been pitted again first timer Kyrgyz Republic, Myanmar and Macau.
India’s English Coach Stephen Constantine said on paper everything looks ‘okay’ but you have to beat teams at home and away.
“We haven’t played for quite some time. Seven months to be precise so it will be difficult,” said Constantine, adding it could have been worse.
“There are teams in the group whom we can beat but we need good facilities and good training. We need to develop a national training centre exclusively for the national team and that hasn’t happened. But we will prepare the best possible way and try and get to the finals,” revealed Constantine.
GROUPINGS
Group A: Jordan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Afghanistan.
Group B: DPR Korea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Malaysia.
Group C: India, Macau, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan.
Group D: Oman, Palestine, Maldives, Bhutan.
Group E: Bahrain, Turkmenistan, Chinese Taipei, Singapore.
Group F: Yemen, Philippines, Tajikistan, Nepal.
