China News Service, Beijing, November 18 (Reporter Bian Liqun) The story of the "dark horse" has never been absent in the football world, especially on the stage of the World Cup, which often brings many surprises and touches. For example, the Croatian team in the last World Cup, Costa Rica in the Brazil World Cup, Ghana in the South Africa World Cup... When the World Cup came to the Gulf region for the first time, it was the first time that it was held during the northern hemisphere winter and the world's mainstream leagues. Will be low, who will play the role of "dark horse" by then?

Can Serbia copy Croatia?

To a certain extent, it may be more difficult for the "dark horse" team than to predict the favorite to win the championship. After all, if a team is generally favored, it may not be completely called a "dark horse". To become a "dark horse" team, it must greatly exceed people's expectations.

For example, the Croatian team, the runner-up of the last World Cup, gathered stars such as Modric, Perisic, Mandzukic, and Rakitic at that time, and their strength was not impressive. But in the final meeting with the French team in the final, it still exceeded many people's expectations, so it can be regarded as the biggest dark horse team in the World Cup in Russia.

The Serbian team in this World Cup has some similarities. Players such as Mitrovic, Jovic, and Milinkovic all have certain strengths. Especially Mitrovic, who played 12 times in the Premier League this season and scored 9 goals, has a super high scoring efficiency.

In the previous European preliminaries, the Serbian team played steadily under the leadership of former Chinese Super League coach Stojkovic. They beat Portugal with 6 wins and 2 draws and directly advanced to the main match, showing a certain ability to fight tough battles.

But objectively speaking, Serbia's overall level is still a bit behind that of Croatia in the previous session, and it is relatively difficult to be placed in the lower half of the World Cup group. It is unlikely to completely replicate Croatia, and it would be a pleasant surprise if they could break into the top 8.

Not to be underestimated host Qatar

In the World Cup, the hosts have unique advantages, and most of them will perform beyond expectations. For example, Russia, the host of the last World Cup, broke into the quarter-finals and lost to Croatia, which later won the runner-up, in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals.

The host country that is more similar to Qatar is South Africa. Although the South African team participated in the World Cup for the first time at that time, although they failed to qualify for the group stage, they achieved 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss. From the perspective of overall team strength, it can be regarded as a relatively decent World Cup trip. In the Korea-Japan World Cup 20 years ago, the host South Korea team even broke into the semi-finals.

In the 2019 Asian Cup, Qatar won the championship, so it still has a certain strength. Sitting at home and waiting for work, if they can make a breakthrough against European teams, there is a high probability that they will create some surprises.

Can Iran maximize its defense?

As the "ceiling" of Asian football, the Iranian team is currently ranked 20th in the world and is known for its solid defense. In the top 12 stage of the previous World Preliminaries in Asia, the Iranian team only conceded 4 goals in 10 games, and 2 of them conceded in the second round with the South Korean team. At that time, the Iranian team had already qualified ahead of schedule.

In the last World Cup, the Iranian team had demonstrated their defense to the fullest, leaving Portugal, led by Ronaldo, helpless. It's a pity that they fell into the "death group" where Spain and Portugal were. In the end, they had 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss with 4 points and regretted being out of the group.

Now that the World Cup is back in Asia, the England team in the same group as Iran was not in good shape before, and the absolute strength of the United States and Wales is not high. The Iranian team in Asia may create some surprises and become a big "dark horse" of this World Cup ". (Finish)