AFC Round One Schedule

The current ELO ratings for each team are provided. TBD indicates that the site is not yet determined.

October 8, 2007
212 Macau at 105 Thailand
85 United Arab Emirates at 128 Vietnam
200 Afghanistan at 88 Syria
106 Tajikistan at 181 Bangladesh
203 Nepal at 67 Oman
131 Singapore at 141 Palestine (Jordan)
169 India at 127 Lebanon

October 11, 2007
114 Turkmenistan at 207 Cambodia

October 13, 2007
185 Taiwan at 60 Uzbekistan

October 18, 2007
77 Jordan at 165 Kyrgyzstan

October 19, 2007
179 Maldives at 147 Yemen

October 21, 2007
87 Qatar at 189 Sri Lanka
160 Myanmar at 65 China
167 Malaysia at 92 Bahrain
150 Hong Kong at 218 East Timor (Indonesia)
82 North Korea at 210 Mongolia

October 22, 2007
47 Iraq at 194 Pakistan

October 26, 2007
Syria at Afghanistan (Tajikistan)
Yemen at Maldives

October 28, 2007
Pakistan at Iraq (Syria)
Uzbekistan at Taiwan
Thailand at Macau
Sri Lanka at Qatar
China at Myanmar
Kyrgyzstan at Jordan
Vietnam at United Arab Emirates
Bahrain at Malaysia
East Timor at Hong Kong
Bangladesh at Tajikistan
Mongolia at North Korea
Oman at Nepal
Palestine at Singapore
Lebanon at India
Cambodia at Turkmenistan

The most compelling ties are UAE vs. Vietnam, Maldives vs. Yemen, Singapore vs. Palestine, and India vs. Lebanon. If any of the lower-ranked teams win in the other 13 ties, they would be monumental upsets. These three duels seem to offer the only opportunities for drama.

Vietnam defeated UAE in Vietnam 2-0 during the Asian Cup 2007 and would seem to be the pick here, with a recent win over Bahrain also on their record.

Yemen isn't exactly a powerhouse, but they have a favorable draw in Maldives, who haven't played an international since December 2005. Based on that alone, I'm siding with Yemen.

Palestine always face a tough test because they have no true home games. Most likely, these "home" games will be played in neighboring Jordan. Palestine's last victory came eight matches ago against Cambodia. Singapore boasts a recent victory over North Korea. I'm going with Singapore.

India have not played an international match since late in 2006, but will host a five-team all-Asian tournament at Delhi in order to prepare for the upcoming tie with Lebanon. This Nehru Cup will allow India to be well-prepared to pull off an upset of Lebanon. Lebanon has lost both of their matches this year, one to Syria and one to Jordan, but I believe that Lebanon will find a way to advance.