With South Korea’s fourth-placed finish in 2002 now just a fond memory, Asia’s four soccer World Cup qualifiers have now turned their attention towards Germany.
The first match involving an Asian team takes place in Nuremberg on June 11 when Iran play Mexico, which is already causing considerable excitement for the followers of Team Melli.
However, for the fans across the world’s largest continent, the burning question is not "When do our teams play?" but "Can Iran, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia go one better and reach the FIFA World Cup final?."
The Asian Football Confederation general secretary, Peter Vellapan, is confident of a good showing from the continent’s contenders. He told FIFAworldcup.com: "I believe that our Asian teams will do well in Germany because they have more experience and therefore will be better prepared.
"With the exception of Saudi Arabia, the other three teams have a host of overseas-based players who are doing extremely well for their respective club sides."
Although Iran has participated in two FIFA World Cup finals, Argentina 1978 and France 1998, they have only recorded one win in their six games. That was a memorable 2-1 triumph over the United States in Lyon.
Now the Final Draw for Germany 2006 has pitted them with another team from the CONCACAF region, namely Mexico, and coach Branko Ivankovic is well aware of the threat they pose.
"If you saw them play in this year’s Confederations Cup, you will understand how hard the game is going to be for us, but we have six months ahead of us so I can prepare the team well enough," he said. The next match sees Iran play Portugal in Frankfurt, before Ivankovic’s men return to Leipzig for the final group game against Angola.
Japan’s 2-2 draw against Brazil at last summer’s FIFA Confederations Cup will give coach Zico great heart as he looks ahead to the sides’ next meeting in Dortmund on June 22. Zico, who starred for the Seleção in the 1978, 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups, believes that as in 2002 Japan can perform well on the biggest stage of all.
"It is going to be great for me to take charge of Japan against Brazil in the World Cup," he said. "It is better to face them in the group stage rather than in the knock-out stage."
If Zico is right, three points against either Australia or Croatia would give Japan a tremendous chance of progressing to the round of 16.
Given their success four years ago, all eyes will be on Korea when they play Togo in their opening group match in Frankfurt. Their most important fixture will be played in Leipzig when they play France, the team that defeated them 5-0 in the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Taeguk Warriors coach Dick Advocaat appears to be a little wary of meeting Les Bleus.
"The French players are definitely world-class - even their substitutes are great players," he said. "But despite their quality, they had so many draws in their qualifying campaign so we have to exploit their inability to win games."
Another European side, Switzerland, completes the quartet in Group G.
Saudi Arabia have played six European teams in the past three FIFA World Cup finals and only recorded one victory, a 1-0 win over Belgium at USA 94. All the other matches ended in defeat, including a crushing 8-0 loss to Germany last time round.
But he did add a twist with the bold inclusion of fringe striker Seiichiro Maki.
The Brazilian axed Yokohama’s Tatsuhiko Kubo in favour of Maki, hoping to solv
Seiichiro-Maki
e Japan’s recent goal drought.
The 25-year-old Maki’s selection drew gasps at a packed news conference, when Zico read his name out last in announcing the 23-man squad.
The coach kept faith with former Sampdoria striker Atsushi Yanagisawa, who is still recovering from a broken metatarsal, and German-based forward Naohiro Takahara.
Shunsuke Nakamura and Hidetoshi Nakata are among an experienced group of midfielders for the World Cup in Germany.
Nakamura was left out of Japan’s 2002 World Cup squad by former coach Philippe Troussier, while Takahara missed out after being struck down by a mystery lung infection.
"This is a team for the people of Japan - a team the country can be proud of," Zico told reporters. "We expect to be judged on our results. The buck stops with me."
Zico added that the surprise call-up Maki, who has scored three goals in nine appearances for Japan, could be the team’s X-factor in Germany.
He has been left frustrated by his strikers, after they scored just once in two games at the Kirin Cup against Scotland and Bulgaria.
He lamented: "You can’t simply create players whose job it is to score goals. It’s an instinct you’re born with."
Even Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi admitted to being shocked by Maki’s inclusion.
"I was as surprised as you," he smiled. "I had no idea of who was in or out either.
"But Maki has made an impact, and given Japan a lift in the run-up to the World Cup. I’m happy for him."
Eleven of the 23 were among the squad who reached the last 16 at the last World Cup, which Japan co-hosted with South Korea.
Japan faces a tough assignment to match that achievement this time round, having been drawn alongside holders Brazil, Australia and Croatia in Group F.
Japan coach Zico opted for experience in naming his World Cup squad.
But he did add a twist with the bold inclusion of fringe striker Seiichiro Maki.
The Brazilian axed Yokohama’s Tatsuhiko Kubo in favour of Maki, hoping to solve Japan’s recent goal drought.
The 25-year-old Maki’s selection drew gasps at a packed news conference, when Zico read his name out last in announcing the 23-man squad.
The coach kept faith with former Sampdoria striker Atsushi Yanagisawa, who is still recovering from a broken metatarsal, and German-based forward Naohiro Takahara.
Shunsuke Nakamura and Hidetoshi Nakata are among an experienced group of midfielders for the World Cup in Germany.
The Fifa trophy
Nakamura was left out of Japan’s 2002 World Cup squad by former coach Philippe Troussier, while Takahara missed out after being struck down by a mystery lung infection.
"This is a team for the people of Japan - a team the country can be proud of," Zico told reporters. "We expect to be judged on our results. The buck stops with me."
Zico added that the surprise call-up Maki, who has scored three goals in nine appearances for Japan, could be the team’s X-factor in Germany.
He has been left frustrated by his strikers, after they scored just once in two games at the Kirin Cup against Scotland and Bulgaria.
He lamented: "You can’t simply create players whose job it is to score goals. It’s an instinct you’re born with."
Even Japan Football Association president Saburo Kawabuchi admitted to being shocked by Maki’s inclusion.
"I was as surprised as you," he smiled. "I had no idea of who was in or out either.
"But Maki has made an impact, and given Japan a lift in the run-up to the World Cup. I’m happy for him."
Eleven of the 23 were among the squad who reached the last 16 at the last World Cup, which Japan co-hosted with South Korea.
Japan faces a tough assignment to match that achievement this time round, having been drawn alongside holders Brazil, Australia and Croatia in Group F.
Iran will prepare for the "Mexican Voodoo" during the World Cup in Germany, an official of the Iranian Football Federation (FFI) told the news agency ISNA.
"The Mexicans are masters of psychological wars and might use magicians (for voodooing)," said Ali Pour, the cultural deputy of the Iranian Football Federation.
"This issue (Voodoo) has to some extent affected our players and some of them link it to the injuries of (Ali) Karimi (Bayern Munich) and (Vahid) Hashemian and (Mehdi) Mahdavikia in the Bundesliga," said Ali.
Many Iranians are superstitious and for example believe in the "evil eye" or "salty eye," meaning that if someone deeply wished something bad for somebody, then the bad thing would eventually happen.
Therefore many keep a small and usually blue stone with an eye on it - some even hang it inside their cars - to confront ill-wishers.
Despite the injuries, Iranian national football team star players, Vahid Hashemian and Ali Karimi, will be fit for Iran’s opening World Cup game against.
"Based on the latest consultations which head coach Branko Ivankovic had with Hashemian and Karimi as well as their respective team doctors, they will have no problems whatsoever to accompany the Iranian national squad during the World Cup," team technical director Homayoun Shahrokhi told ISNA.
He added the Iranian national team will hold another training camp in Tehran before traveling to their German World Cup base in Friedrichshafen on June 4.
Iran is to play test matches against Croatia and Bosnia on May 28 and 31.
Off the field, Iran has another dilemma.
German politicians are divided on policy that could darken the World Cup soccer play if Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shows up.
The soccer-loving Iranian president -- who has called for Israel’s destruction -- appears keen to attend Iran’s match in Nuremberg, where Adolph Hitler staged his rallies.
Ahmadinejad has repeatedly denied the Holocaust occurred, and the premier of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber, has appealed for the national government to bar him, The Times of London reported.
"Such a man is not welcome," Stoiber said.
However, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble said the Iranian leader "can naturally come to the matches."
Iranian expatriate Hassan Nayeb-Agha, who played as a midfielder for Iran in the 1978 World Cup, deplored Germany’s stance.
"Goleo," the official mascot of the 2006 World Cup, has proved the undoing of German toymaker Nici. The company has filed for insolvency because of weak demand for stuffed toy versions of the football-crazy lion.
"The loveable lion", as football’s world governing body FIFA describes it, has had a mixed response since he was introduced in late 2004. Designed by the
Goleo the mascot with Pele
makers of Sesame Street characters, Goleo has more than a fleeting resemblance to Big Bird.
His debut on a German game show backfired when the show host wondered out loud whether Goleo’s grandmother was a llama.
Nici reportedly paid €28 million (C$40 million) for the exclusive European rights to make a variety of Goleo toys.
World Cup mascots have had a chequered history since the tradition began in 1966 with "World Cup Willy," a lion introduced for the tournament in England.
"Tip und Tap," two cartoon character boys, were well received during the 1974 World Cup in Germany, as was "Naranjito" the talking Spanish orange in the 1982 games.
There are at least 3,000 websites focused on the World Cup in German language alone, says the German Association for Digital Economy (BVDW) in Dusseldorf.
One starting point is the official World Cup Website run by the world soccer association FIFA. Visitors to http://www.fifaworldcup.com can throw their name in the hat for the last round of tickets to the matches.
The German government has set up a multilingual website at http://www.wm2006.deutschland.de to introduce the host nation the visitors.
Apart from information on the venues, there are also language courses for beginners with important soccer vocabulary, as well as online soccer games to pass the time.
The "Fan Fare" section offers amateur filmmakers space to display their mini-home videos, provided they have something to do with soccer.
Another site, http://www.dfb-kulturstiftung.de, provides a listing of theatre performances, festivals and exhibitions being staged in Germany during the World Cup.
The passion for soccer is certainly sweeping the Internet.
"The spectrum is broad. Alongside professional sponsor websites and informational and entertainment offerings, there are also many private views in the form of online diaries and forums," explains BVDW spokesperson Christoph Salzig.
Fans can find all sorts of information about the championship, including multimedia content such as an extensive gallery of brief video clips of stars and highlights from classic games from earlier world championships.
The page also offers a free live ticker for all 64 World Cup matches.
The FIFA site is not the only such service, though: experience dictates that a variety of media will be reporting online during the matches about every goal, foul, booking or other event out on the pitch.
In 2002, the Internet proved a beloved information source about the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, not least because of the time difference and delayed TV broadcasts.
"The hype this time will be of an entirely different order," says Alexander Wagner, director of the online editorial staff for the popular German soccer magazine "Kicker".
Beyond the classical media, online soccer portals offer breaking news and background information about the World Cup.
