Sports Chosun = Reporter Kim Ga-eul
Photo = Capture from the official website of the Chinese Football Association
China surprisingly received a positive report card at the Asian Cup.
Photo = Capture from the official website of the Chinese Football Association
China, led by coach Aleksandar Jankovic, will play the first match of Group A of the Qatar Asian Cup against Tajikistan at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on the 13th (Korean time).
Photo provided by Korea Football Association
In terms of objective power, China is ahead. China is ranked 79th in the FIFA rankings. Tajikistan remains in 106th place. Additionally, China has experienced positive results in the Asian Cup. When he first participated in the 1976 Iran tournament, he reached the semifinals. Since then, they have reached the final stage 12 times in a row until 2019. They also advanced to the quarterfinals in the 2019 tournament. So far, they have consistently shown good performances in the Asian Cup, including runners-up twice (1984, 2004), semifinals four times, and quarterfinals four times. Tajikistan, against them, advanced to the Asian Cup for the first time. It was not possible to participate in competitions until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since then, he has experienced the pain of failing to participate twice and being eliminated from the preliminary round six times.
However, the recent situation in China is not very good. China was defeated 0-3 in the 2026 North, Central America World Cup Asia 2nd qualifier against South Korea at home in November last year. We also lost all friendly matches prior to this tournament. They bowed 0-2 to Oman and 1-2 to Hong Kong. In particular, China suffered a shocking defeat in the match against Hong Kong despite scoring the first goal. On this day, China had two players and one coaching staff member sent off. China bowed its head to Hong Kong for the first time in 39 years in a chaotic atmosphere. China lost 1-2 to Hong Kong in the 1985 World Cup qualifiers held in Beijing. In the 1995 Dynasty Cup third place match, they lost in a penalty shootout, but the penalty shootout is officially recorded as a draw.
China, which has suffered three consecutive losses ahead of the Asian Cup, is looking for a turnaround. But it doesn’t seem easy. Opta, a statistics media outlet, predicted that China’s probability of winning this tournament was only 2.2%.
According to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), coach Jankovic said: “We have been waiting for this tournament for a very long time. After a month of preparation, we came to Doha with the highest level of excitement and motivation. We cannot afford to lose the first match. If we lose, we are eliminated. Stable. “We have to keep the game going. It’s also important not to have too many emotional ups and downs. I can’t help but think about the first game,” he said.
‘Veteran’ Wu Lei (Shanghai SIPG) said, “We are getting better. We achieved good results in the last Asian Cup. I hope we can achieve even better results this time.”
Doha (Qatar) = Reporter Kim Ga-eul epi17@sportschosun.com
2024-01-13 13:01:42
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