19 Dec 2012

13 teams to vie in Doha for World Cup ticket

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2013 ? Asian Qualifier to be held in Qatar next January breaks all previous participation records

In January, and for the first time, 13 teams will fight for one of the prized tickets to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2013. The Asian Qualifier to the global showcase of Tahiti will feature the highest number of contenders ever, all of them willing to achieve a historic landmark.  The official draw, to be held tomorrow in the Ritz Carlton hotel in Doha, will set the groups and let all them know which obstacles they will need to overcome?

Besides the hosts, Qatar, the three teams that made it to the last World Cup in the 2011 Asian Qualifier, Champions Japan, Runner-ups Oman and Iran will be in Katara Beach fighting to see themselves in Tahiti as of 26th January. Together with them, other big guns from the continent will try to build their way back to the World Cup, beginning with UAE, whose great job in the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup 2012 makes their expectations grow exponentially, or Bahrain.

China, silver medalists in the last edition of the Asian Beach Games boast serious options too, and other teams such as Uzbekistan or Iraq will try to make the most of a new opportunity.

In addition, there are four new teams getting into the competition, besides Qatar: the competitive Lebanon, Australia, who joins the AFC for this Qualifier, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia, all capable of causing one or two upsets?