Japan, Korea and Iran are in a different class than Saudi Arabia. This Saudi team is one of the worst I've seen in world cup. I've seen similiar situation with other middle east teams like UAE, Iraq and Kuwait who do great in qualifiers against weak teams but are total let downs in the finals.
Japan has psychological issues, breakdown in last 10 mins on both games. Zico, or the next Brazilian coach, should improve their mental toughness. But their style (based on Brazil) is better than Korea, Iran and other asian countries. Iran is decent at world cup level and if they keep it up they will be a good team in 4-5 yrs. Korea has the determination and speed of many European teams. The way they hung in there for over an hour with a goal down against France and came back was amazing, more so for doing it in Europe. There biggest asset is deceptive speed. They don't show the style of Japan or Agressiveness of Ghana, but they have the sudden burst of speed and are dangerous in the air. The quality of Asian soccer should improve with Australia included in the mix.
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There is no darkside of the moon really ..
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