Qatar China lost 0-1 to host Qatar on the evening of January 22, thereby ranking third in Group A and at high risk of being eliminated from the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup.
China enters the next match with the mindset of having to win to gain the right to self-determination in Group A. Meanwhile, Qatar, who are sure to be the group leader, changed nine positions compared to their most recent 1-0 win over Tajikistan, only retaining defender Bassam Al Rawi and midfielder Mostafa Tarek.
China's attack was refreshed when Wei Shihao started in place of Wu Lei and was the name that owned the most dangerous chances in the first half. Among them was a one-touch tap-in that went hard but missed the post in the 7th minute, and Wei Shihao's connecting shot from 5m50 was saved by goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb in the 36th minute.
In the last two minutes of injury time, Wei Shihao continued to be unlucky with Qatar's net. First, he launched a diagonal shot from the left wing in the penalty area that was inaccurate, the ball drifted across the goal but Zhang Yuning could not reach it in time at close range. Immediately after, the ball was crossed from the right wing for Wei Shihao to head but it went over the bar.
Wei Shihao (No. 20) missed many scoring opportunities for China in the 0-1 loss to Qatar, in the final round of Group A of the 2023 Asian Cup. Photo: Lam Thoa
Qatar tried to attack but could not create a highlight due to the absence of two stars Almoez Ali and Akram Afif, along with the central defender Jiang Guangtai playing focused to neutralize.
In the 64th minute, Coach Marquez sent Akram Afif and Hasan Al Haydos onto the field to increase the strength of the attack, and it only took two minutes to show its effectiveness. From a left corner kick, Akram Afif passed straight to the second line near the penalty area for Al Haydos to volley beautifully into the left corner to open the score.
China was forced to put all their strength into attacking. Coach Aleksandar Jankovic sent all his attacking players, including Wu Lei, onto the field. He even pushed center back Jiang Shenglong up to play as a striker to take advantage of his 1.93 m height.
In the 87th minute, Jiang Shenglong scored a goal but the referee did not recognize it because the ball had gone out of bounds. The 10 minutes of extra time was not enough for China to create a surprise, thus losing 0-1.
Hassan Al Haydos (left) scored a masterpiece to help Qatar beat China 1-0. Photo: Lam Thoa
In the same match, Lebanon took the lead in the 48th minute thanks to Bassel Jradi but Kassem Al-Zein's red card turned the game around. Tajikistan took advantage of their man advantage to let Parvizdzhon Umarbaev equalize in the 81st minute before Nuriddin Khamrokulov sealed the score 2-1 in the second minute of injury time.
The win puts Tajikistan second in Group A with four points to qualify for the knockout stages in their first Asian Cup appearance, while Qatar leads with three wins from three games, scoring five goals and conceding none. China is third with two points, facing elimination from the group stage after reaching the quarter-finals in the last two editions.
In the third-place group, China is in third place with two points, one point behind Bahrain and Indonesia. The chance of finishing in the four best third-placed teams is slim as the teams in the remaining three groups are all capable of surpassing China.
Starting lineup
Qatar: Saad Al Sheeb, Youssef Abdel-Razzaq, Bassam Hisham Al Rawi, Boualem Khoukhi, Almahdi Ali, Sultan Al-Brake, Ali Asad, Abdel Aziz Hatem, Mostafa Tarek, Khalid Muneer Mazeed, Ahmed Alaaeldin
China: Yan Junling, Liu Yang, Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Guangtai, Zhang Linpeng, Liu Binbin, Lin Liangming, Wang Shangyuan, Wu Xi, Wei Shihao, Zhang Yuning.
Hieu Luong
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