São Paulo – The Iraqi national football team lost a match 1-0 to Japan and is now in a bad position in its struggle for a slot in the 2014 Brazilian World Cup. The Iraqi team, coached by Brazil’s Zico, won three points in three matches, and ranks fourth in group B in the second phase of the Asian qualifiers. The fifth team in the group is Oman, which also has two points. Japan is alone in the lead: the team won 10 points in four games.
Zico’s team needed a win in the match, played in Japan, in order finish second in the group, but couldn’t resist the strongest team in the Asian qualifiers. The forward Ryioshi Maeda scored a header, the only goal in the game, at 25 minutes of the first half.
Iraq needs to win its next matches to score. Next up are Australia, in October, and Jordan, in November. In 2013, other rounds of the tournament will be played. In another match for the B group, played this Tuesday (11th), Jordan beat Australia 2-1 and is now ranks second in group B.
In the group A of the Qualifiers, Lebanon beat Iran 1-0 and Uzbekistan and South Korea had a 2-2 draw. South Korea leads the group with seven points, followed by Iran, Qatar and Lebanon, with four points each. Uzbekistan is last in group A, with two points. Lebanon has played four matches, one more than the others. The first two teams in each group will qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
