Malek Moaaz, Saudi Arabia (Player):
"Some people might think we are the only
candidate in our group but we should never underestimate our
opponents. Uzbekistan are a good team but you have to admit that
Lebanon and Singapore should be no match for us. We are one of the
best sides in the continent and we should not worry about reaching
the second round of the qualifiers. Our fans expect us to reach the
World Cup finals as we did in the previous four editions and I hope
we will meet their ambitions."
Emile Rustom, Lebanon (Coach):
"In football these days there is nothing
impossible. All the teams look forward to the World Cup because
it's the biggest showcase in the game. All the teams would love
to play in the competition and we will give our best to play our
role. From the seedings, we expected that we would have to play
against a big team in the continent and we must prepare very well
for the qualifiers. If we make it to the next round then this will
be the best achievement for us in our history. We have already
asked the Lebanese FA to prepare friendly matches for us and they
have contacted nine countries in the region to prepare several
matches before the start of the qualifiers."
Alisher Nikimbaev, Uzbekistan (Head of National Team
Department):
"We can't say we are given a kind draw but if you
compare our group to other groups, at least it's not that bad.
It looks likely that we and Saudi Arabia will be the team to finish
top two, but we can't underestimate Singapore and Lebanon as we
have had a few experiences against them. Saudi Arabia are
unquestionably the most heavily favoured team in the group,
however, we are confident to play against them as we defeated them
in the quarter-finals of the 2004 Asian Cup. Although we lost to
them 2-0 in the recent Asian Cup, we played a balanced game and
created more chances."
Radojko Avramovic, Singapore(Coach)
''Before the draw, the only team I wanted to
avoid was Uzbekistan. In my view, other than Uzbekistan,
there's no one in Asia that I think this current Singapore team
should fear. In my mind, Uzbekistan are a really good team and will
be dangerous against anyone. I am a bit disappointed but you
can't change these things."

