Before the JCH-2026 qualifiers. The UAE seems to have "whipped the horse"...
On March 5, our website reported that the match between the DPRK (North Korea) and the UAE, which is part of the JCH-2026 qualifying stage, will take place in Saudi Arabia.
The DPRK national team has been playing home games in Laos until now. Specifically, this team recorded a 2:2 draw against Qatar in home matches of the third round, and lost opportunities with a score of 2:3 to Iran and 0:1 to Uzbekistan.
Now, the North Korean national team will play against the UAE on March 25 in Saudi Arabia. The match will take place at the "Prince Faisal bin Fahd" stadium in Riyadh. Before that, North Korea will be a guest of Qatar in Doha on March 20.
For us, it is not interesting who the DPRK national team plays against, but it is strange that the next home match has been unexpectedly moved to Saudi Arabia. The DPRK, which has been playing home matches in Laos not only in the third but also in the second round, will now fly directly to Saudi Arabia after the match in Doha. Many are indicating that the UAE has a hand in this.
Considering that 2 teams from the group will qualify directly for the World Cup and that Iran is in first place while we are in second, we must be extremely careful not to lose this position. Because while we have collected 13 points, the UAE is chasing us with 10 points behind, and our main competitor in this position will be the UAE national team.
It’s fine if Iran doesn’t give up the lead; let everyone else win against us, let them defeat both the UAE and Qatar. However, our primary task remains not to let the UAE slip away. For this, we need to win our matches.
The relocation of the DPRK - UAE match from Laos to Saudi Arabia gives an advantage to the UAE. Before that, this team will be a guest of Iran in Tehran and then head to Riyadh. That is, the UAE national team will play both matches in March away.
Meanwhile, we will first play against Kyrgyzstan in Tashkent and then fly to Iran. We will have two very difficult matches within a span of five days. It is natural that these games will put pressure on the new head coach Timur Kapadze. What is concerning is the relocation of the DPRK - UAE match and whether the UAE has any influence in this.
Interestingly, on June 5, the DPRK is supposed to play at home against Kyrgyzstan, but the location of this match has not yet been announced. Perhaps the AFC will move the game back to Laos. Another piece of information is that last year, the OFA also applied to move the match against the DPRK to Saudi Arabia, but this request was rejected. Now, for some reason, there seems to be no problem with the DPRK - UAE match being held in Riyadh.
So, will this change cause concern? On one hand yes, on the other hand no. The reason we say "yes" is that every game from now on is equivalent to a championship, every point is valuable. As we approach the summit, many teams will try various options. Including, the UAE will not want to miss a favorable situation and will fight until the end as long as there is an opportunity.
To say "no," we need to win our matches. That's it, period. Then the location of our opponents' games will become irrelevant to us. As long as we can perform beautifully in these remaining four matches, we might find ourselves in the World Cup. That is, without getting distracted by other events, we need to focus solely on our game and think about achieving positive results. Most importantly, we must not falter. Let’s go to the World Cup without mixing in mathematics. Let the people enjoy.
X.Kholikov.
Source: championat.asia
