By David Gold
February 16 – Regional powers Australia and Japan have been pitted together in the qualifying round of the inaugural Under-22 Asian Cup following the draw at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur.
The two nations played each other in the final of last year’s Asian Cup, when Japan won, and they are in Group E of the Under-22 qualifiers with Indonesia, Singapore, Macau and Timor Leste.
It is the first time the event will be held and will help Asian sides to improve their youth teams.
At last year’s FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea reached the last 16, while Australia went out at the group stage.
Uzbekistan could be another team to watch after their Under-17 side reached the quarter-finals of the 2011 World Cup in Mexico before losing to Uruguay.
They face Jordan, Yemen, Bangladesh and Nepal in Group D, while 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar are in Group C with Bahrain, Iran, Tajikistan, Kuwait and the Maldives.
Regular World Cup qualifiers South Korea are in Group G with Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Chinese Taipei and the Philippines.
A total of 41 nations are involved, and qualifiers will take place between June 23 and July 3.
The tournament proper will be in 2013, though the venue yet to be decided.
AFC already has under-16 and Under-19 competitions and they confirmed that the next edition of the tournament, in 2015, will be a qualifying event for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
Windsor John, the AFC executive director of competitions, said: “This draw in itself is an historic event.
“The AFC views this competition as the second biggest national team competition, giving prominence and importance to the development of competitions for both the AFC and member associations.
“With the introduction of this competition we have now laid the foundation for a very structured development path for footballers in Asia.”
The top two teams in each group will qualify for the finals, as will the host nation and the best third placed team.
Full draw:
Group A: United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Oman, India, Turkmenistan, Lebanon
Group B: Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka
Group C: Bahrain, Iran, Tajikistan, Qatar, Kuwait, Maldives
Group D: Uzbekistan, Jordan, Yemen, Bangladesh, Nepal.
Group E: Australia, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Macau, Timor-Leste
Group F: North Korea, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Laos, Cambodia
Group G: South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
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