SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA // The UAE have been placed in the second group of seeds for next week’s draw for the 2015 Asian Cup, meaning they will go into a group with either Australia, Japan, Iran or Uzbekistan.
Mahdi Ali’s men will avoid South Korea, who have reached eight consecutive World Cups. They were left out of the group of four top seeds due to their current Fifa ranking.
Jordan and triple champions Saudi Arabia are also in the UAE’s group for the draw at Sydney Opera House on March 26.
Oman, China, Qatar and 2007 winners Iraq are the teams in the third tranche with Bahrain, Kuwait, North Korea and the winners of this year’s AFC Challenge Cup in pot four.
Australia will hope to use the home advantage to win their maiden Asian Cup, while the seedings complicate South Korea’s campaign to lift the trophy for the first time since 1960.
The seedings:
Pot 1 (teams ranked 1-4): Australia, Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan
Pot 2 (teams ranked 5-8): South Korea, UAE, Jordan, Saudi Arabia
Pot 3 (teams ranked 9-12): Oman, China, Qatar, Iraq
Pot 4 (teams ranked 13-16): Bahrain, Kuwait, North Korea and Challenge Cup 2014 winners.
