Forbes predicts Vietnam is the 'dark horse' of Asian Cup 2019

In the Asian Cup 2019 review article in the magazineForbes, Price believes that Syria, Lebanon and Vietnam are all capable of creating miracles. "With Iraq's championship at the 2007 Asian Cup, we can expect similar shocks at the continent's number one tournament - taking place in the UAE from January 5. Syria missed out on a ticket to the 2018 World Cup finals after a one-goal loss to Australia. They will have a chance to get revenge when the two teams are in the same group. Lebanon is not in good form, but they have just had a two-year unbeaten streak. Meanwhile, Vietnam entered the tournament with an impressive 18-match unbeaten streak, even though most of their previous opponents were weaker," Price assessed.

The most recent defeat of the Vietnamese team was in 2016, against Indonesia in the first leg of the AFF Cup semi-finals. Since then, the team has not lost another match despite going through many tournaments and different opponents across the continent such as Taiwan, Afghanistan, Jordan, North Korea, Malaysia or the Philippines... Currently, Coach Park and his team are holding the longest unbeaten streak in the world. The record for the unbeaten streak belongs to Spain (35 matches, from February 7, 2007 to June 20, 2009) and Brazil (35 matches, from February 16, 1993 to January 18, 1996).

Vietnam (in white) is expected to extend its 18-match unbeaten streak. Photo:VFF.

In the championship race,ForbesIran, South Korea, Japan and Australia are considered the strongest candidates.

"Iran have dominated Asian football for the past four years, even losing just one match recently to Spain at the 2018 World Cup. Forwards Sardar Azmoun (Rubin Kazan Club) and Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Brighton) are the top attacking weapons for coach Carlos Queiroz. But Iran's real strength lies in their defense. They went 12 games without a clean sheet in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers," Price wrote. "If Iran defends tightly, South Korea can be considered strong in attack with striker Son Heung-min (Tottenham) in form. Coach Paulo Bento also built an attacking style of play with a talented squad of young players, helping South Korea remain unbeaten in the last seven friendlies."

The British journalist working in Korea added: "Japan and Australia will use young squads, in a period of generational transition. Mile Jedinak and Tim Cahill have retired from international football, while Aaron Mooy is absent due to injury. Australia will have to rely on Tom Rogic or Massimo Luongo. Japan also did not call up Keisuke Honda, Shinji Kagawa and Shinji Okazaki, but gave the stage to Yoshinori Muto and Yuya Osako. Ritsu Doan is also a young talent expected to shine for Japan at the 2020 Olympics on home soil."

The 2019 Asian Cup takes place from January 5 to February 1 in the UAE. The 24 teams are divided into six groups of four teams each, playing a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16.

At the Asian Cup, Vietnam is in Group D, facing Iraq (January 8), Iran (January 12) and Yemen (January 16).