The strength of Asian football

Throughout the years in the Asian continent we are seeing some great football. Foreign coaches who can understand and sees good values in quick, passionate and quality players are being credited for football in this region be on a high and secure path.
On 16 April 2014, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has decided to merge 2018 World Cup qualifiers with its qualifiers for the 2019 Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates. With Indonesia suspended, in these joint qualifiers 45 member states compete over 4 rounds and AFC itself is giving 4 guaranteed spots for 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Meanwhile one lucky team from penultimate round will have to play intercontinental home-and-away play-off match from the winner of the CONCACAF zone. Usually these intercontinental games give us the very last teams which will feature in the final tournament in Russia. After first and the only knock-out round so far, we are heading into last 2 legs from round 2. Ninth and tenth leg continue in March over 2 dates with the following games:

24 March, leg 9 in group A: Saudi Arabia - Malaysia and United Arab Emirates - Palestine.
24 March, leg 9 in group B: Jordan - Bangladesh and Australia - Tajikistan.
24 March, leg 9 in group C: Qatar - Hong Kong and China - Maldives.
24 March, leg 9 in group D: Iran - India and Oman - Guam.
24 March, leg 9 in group E: Japan - Afghanistan and Syria - Cambodia.
24 March, leg 9 in group F: Iraq - Thailand and Vietnam - Chinese Taipei.
24 March, leg 9 in group G: South Korea - Lebanon and Kuwait - Laos.
24 March, leg 9 in group H: Uzbekistan - Philippines and Bahrain - Yemen.

29 March, leg 10 in group A: United Arab Emirates - Saudi Arabia and Palestine - Timor-Leste
29 March, leg 10 in group B: Australia - Jordan and Tajikistan - Kyrgyzstan.
29 March, leg 10 in group C: Maldives - Bhutan and China - Qatar.
29 March, leg 10 in group D: India - Turkmenistan and Iran - Oman.
29 March, leg 10 in group E: Afghanistan - Singapore and Japan - Syria.
29 March, leg 10 in group F: Iraq - Vietnam.
29 March, leg 10 in group G: Lebanon - Myanmar and South Korea - Kuwait.
29 March, leg 10 in group H: Philippines - North Korea and Uzbekistan - Bahrain.

Overview in 2015 and expectations in 2016: In 2015, from all 39 teams we watched some great, enthusiastic football and all favorites, more or less, lead their respective groups. I expect that to continue in 2016 and who knows, maybe we will get few surprises. This is the magic that decorates Asian teams.