Two matches from Group A in the second round of the Asian Cup group stage began. The Chinese men's soccer team welcomed key opponents Lebanon and Qatar against Tajikistan. The national soccer team disappointed once again with an overall sluggish performance. They escaped 0-2 by luck. thanks to a goal frame that twice denied Lebanon a long range world shot, the national soccer team beat Lebanon 0-0 and squeaked out a point. Qatar showed the strength of the hosts by beating Tajikistan 1-0.
According to the Group A standings, Qatar won their second consecutive game to advance to the knockout round, while the Chinese men's soccer team drew their second consecutive game to surprisingly remain in second place in the group. The Chinese men's soccer team is the second-tier team in Group A of the Asian Cup. Based on their strengths, they should have crushed Tajikistan and Lebanon like Qatar. However, the Jankovic-led national soccer team does not deserve the status of a second-tier team and is difficult to play against.
The national soccer team is ranked 79th in the world, Lebanon is ranked 107th in the world, and Tajikistan is ranked 106th in the world. In the first round of the national soccer team, Tajikistan bombed 20 feet and he only had a 10-foot shot on goal. In the second round, Jankovic changed his lineup in hopes of beating Lebanon with more firepower. The starting lineup was led by Wu Lei and Zhang Yuning. Dai Weijun, Wang Shangyuan, Xu Xin, Liu Yang, Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Guangtai, Zhang Linzhen, Liu Binbin and Yan Junling also started.
In the match, the national soccer team took the initiative on the pitch with 60% possession but the advantage was not clear. Shots on goal were 15-12 compared to Lebanon's shots on goal, which were 7-5 and ended up at 0-0. Lebanon came infinitely closer to breaking through twice in the match. In the 45+5th minute of the game, Mathouk shot the crossbar from distance; in the 52nd minute of the game, Suroor shot the crossbar from distance and the national soccer team escaped the nightmare of 0-2 in no time.
Of course, the national soccer team also had the opportunity to score. In the 45th minute of the game, Zhang Yuning grabbed a shot in the penalty area is quite a threat, but unfortunately, it was pounced by the goalkeeper; in the 64th minute of the game, Wu Lei parried the empty goal, shot softly and was cleared by the defender's goal line; in the 82nd minute of the game, Xie Pengfei passed the ball and Lin Liangming missed the chance from close range. Just like that, the national soccer team ended with 0-0.
In two rounds of matches, Yang Shuai led the team to birth three major disgraces. First, the Asian Cup beat the world's 100th ranked team in two consecutive rounds; second, scored 0 goals in two consecutive matches, shooting a total of 25 feet; third, Wu Lei became a laughing stock, missing two consecutive matches and getting the lowest score in two consecutive matches. 6.4 points in the first round, the lowest score, and 6.2 points in this round, the lowest score. Zhang Yuning did his best in this game, but he was unlucky. He got all three of his shots right, but didn't score. Zhang Yuning was the best offensive performer of the National Football Team this round. He scored 6.9 points in the match and had the highest score in the midfield and the front court. According to this situation, Jankovic must
