{"id":39650,"date":"2026-06-19T07:54:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T07:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/39650\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T07:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T07:54:09","slug":"fandi-abbas-back-germany-for-deep-world-cup-run-hail-japan-as-asias-best-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/39650\/","title":{"rendered":"Fandi, Abbas back Germany for deep World Cup run, hail Japan as Asia\u2019s best hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 \u2014 Former football stars Abbas Saad and Fandi Ahmad have tipped Germany as the dark horse of the World Cup, while warning that refereeing controversies and political distractions risk overshadowing the tournament itself.<\/p>\n

Former Australian international turned pundit Abbas Saad, said the expanded tournament makes it harder than ever to predict a winner, but he believes only a handful of teams are genuine contenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult, honestly,\u201d he told Malay Mail when met.<\/p>\n

\u201cI broke it down into five teams \u2014 Spain, France, Germany, England and Argentina. Anybody from those five can win it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While France and Spain remain among the favourites, Abbas said Germany have quietly emerged as a serious threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Germany is my dark horse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngland is one of the favourites. You\u2019ve got Spain, France, England and Argentina as the top four favourites but nobody is talking about Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fandi agreed, saying Germany looked different from previous tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cGermany this year are different,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Singaporean football legend noted that modern football had evolved significantly, with teams becoming fitter, pressing higher and transitioning faster than before.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost teams are high pressing now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trend is tactical defensive football \u2014 absorb pressure and attack.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fandi also singled out Japan as one of Asia\u2019s strongest hopes, praising their ability to break quickly from deep positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey make runs from deep and they are all sprinters,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very good counter-attacking teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbas said Japan appeared the most likely Asian side to make a deep run, while South-east Asia still had some way to go before matching the continent\u2019s elite.<\/p>\n

\"Abbas<\/p>\n

Abbas Saad speaks to Malay Mail during the live telecast of the Fifa World Cup 2026 match between Mexico and Korea Republic at The Met Corporate Towers in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2026. \u2014 Picture by Sayuti Zainudin<\/p>\n

Abbas Saad speaks to Malay Mail during the live telecast of the Fifa World Cup 2026 match between Mexico and Korea Republic at The Met Corporate Towers in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2026. \u2014 Picture by Sayuti Zainudin<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping Japan will go far,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cThey\u2019re probably capable of going the furthest from Asia.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair also discussed a series of controversies that have surfaced during the tournament, ranging from refereeing decisions to allegations involving political symbolism by match officials and the much\u2011maligned hydration breaks.<\/p>\n

Hydration breaks have been described as a deceptive way for advertisements to play during these pauses, and at some matches, despite the cool weather, match officials have been seen delaying the restart to allow the ads to fully play out on television.<\/p>\n

The former stars questioned the widespread use of hydration breaks, arguing that stoppages can disrupt momentum and alter the flow of matches.<\/p>\n

Abbas said it disrupts momentum, especially for teams on an attacking flow, while Fandi said it allows the opponents to recover, so it\u2019s a double-edged sword.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be an advantage for teams who are under pressure because they get a chance to recover and reorganise,\u201d Abbas said.<\/p>\n

Fandi agreed that such breaks should only be used when weather conditions genuinely warrant them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re in Mexico and it\u2019s 40 degrees, we can understand that but it was raining in Canada and they still took a drink break. It doesn\u2019t make sense for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abbas said officiating remained one of football\u2019s biggest variables.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne bad officiating decision, a red card or a mistake can change the dynamics of the game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Fandi<\/p>\n

Fandi Ahmad speaks to Malay Mail during the live telecast of the Fifa World Cup 2026 match between Mexico and Korea Republic at The Met Corporate Towers in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2026. \u2014 Picture by Sayuti Zainudin<\/p>\n

Fandi Ahmad speaks to Malay Mail during the live telecast of the Fifa World Cup 2026 match between Mexico and Korea Republic at The Met Corporate Towers in Kuala Lumpur June 19, 2026. \u2014 Picture by Sayuti Zainudin<\/p>\n

As for Fandi, he lamented the growing presence of politics around the sport, citing incidents such as Iranian players being whisked straight back to their hotel after matches and the alleged white\u2011supremacist hand gesture made by video assistant referee Shaun Evans during one of the games.<\/p>\n

Fifa have cleared Evans of any wrongdoing following an investigation, stating it found \u201cno evidence\u201d that one of the referees at the World Cup breached its code of conduct<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it a shame that politics is involved in our sport?\u201d said Fandi.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the world game. This is supposed to bring the whole world together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever is happening outside football should stay outside football. Everybody should be treated with respect and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2026 Fifa World Cup will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.<\/p>\n

For the first time, the World Cup will include 48 teams \u2015 up from 32.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 \u2014 Former football stars Abbas Saad and Fandi Ahmad have tipped Germany as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39651,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[34806,303,2042,501,34804,34807,34808,60,5,237,34809,26394,34805,2041,156,284],"class_list":["post-39650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-abbas-saad","tag-argentina","tag-canada","tag-england","tag-fandi-ahmad","tag-football-legend","tag-football-stars","tag-france","tag-germany","tag-japan","tag-korea-republic","tag-kuala-lumpur","tag-malay-mail","tag-mexico","tag-spain","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}