Asia’s quartet of World Cup representatives failed to deliver a single victory four years ago and hopes of a turnaround in Russia are low, with continental powerhouses Japan and South Korea struggling for form. Asian anguish: Saudi Arabia’s 5-0 thrashing by Russia got Asia’s World Cup off to a terrible start. (AFP/Patrik STOLLARZ) Five nations qualified from the Asian confederation for the 2018 World Cup but Saudi Arabia’s 5-0 thumping at the hands of the hosts in the tournament opener followed the pattern of miserable performances and results for Asian sides in Brazil. In the 16 years since Japan and South Korea hosted the tournament, with the latter reaching the semi-finals, they have each only made it beyond the group stages once, in 2010. Frenchman Philippe Troussier took Japan to the last 16 on home soil in 2002 but believes they have “no chance” of making the knockout phase this time despite avoiding the tournament favourites in their group. Japan sacked coach Vahid Halilhodzic in April but the decision to hire Akira Nishino has failed to inspire an immediate turnaround in fortunes, with warm-up friendly defeats against Ghana and Switzerland. “Even if they play with (Jose) Mourinho or Arsene Wenger,…