A Group C match in the first round of the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup in Qatar, Hong Kong, China vs. the United Arab Emirates at 22:30 p.m. Beijing time on January 14th. Currently, Hong Kong, China is ranked 150th in FIFA, while the UAE is ranked 64th, with a clear strength gap.
After the opening, Hong Kong, China's performance is not conservative, Ewarton head kicks continuously create shooting opportunities, but unfortunately the threat is not great.
In the 30th minute, it was again Ewarton who took the ball from the right side and cut inside to suddenly drive a shot, UAE goalkeeper Khalid Issa dared not be slow and punched the ball out with both fists.
In the 34th minute, Hong Kong, China player Huang Yuan De handballed the ball in the penalty area. Verified by VAR, the referee penalized the yellow penalty package. Adil took a 1-0 lead on the penalty kick.
In the 37th minute, An Yongjia, who plays for Guangxi Pingguo Ha Rang in the Central League, met the ball outside the penalty area with a direct grounding chop, and the ball grazed the post and deflected off the bottom line.
Lima, the heart of the UAE's attack, fired a long-range shot directly from outside the penalty area on 39 minutes that hit a defender before bouncing off the crossbar.
At the end of halftime, Hong Kong, China was temporarily trailing 0-1 to the UAE. To be fair, despite the scoreline, Hong Kong, China played a very good first half, especially in the first 20 minutes of the opening half.
The match was resumed. In the 49th minute, Hong Kong, China had a chance to counterattack. Ewarton took the ball from the right side and sent a cross from an angle. Chan Shiu-kwan was not in an advantageous position in front of the goal, but he tried his best to stab the ball into the goal in front of the defenders. Hong Kong, China, who were gradually losing ground on the field, were resilient and equalized the score. Off the field head coach Jon Anderson also vibrated his arms excitedly and shouted.
Unfortunately, just three minutes later, the UAE launched a beautiful attack. Although Hong Kong, China goalkeeper Yip Hung Fai took two shots in a row, he unfortunately managed to add to his tally after Zayed Sultan to help the UAE go over the top again.
In the 60th minute, Hong Kong, China also crossed the ball from the right side. Unfortunately, Li Yikai, who was in front of the ball, did not touch the ball. However, the slow-motion replay showed that Li Yikai's attack should have been offside first.
Hong Kong, China made a change of personnel in the 66th minute, with Michael and Stephen replacing Poon Pui Hsuan and Ru Zi Nan.
The UAE player fell in the box in the 72nd minute and the referee determined that there was no penalty after VAR verification.
In the 88th minute, Hong Kong, China threw a powerful line ball from the left side of the field to the penalty area, and An Yongjia scuffed his header back to attack the goal, and the ball was confiscated by the UAE goalkeeper.
In extra time, the UAE player again fell in the penalty area. After verifying VAR, the referee awarded a penalty and Yahya Ghassani hit the spot kick to seal the UAE's win.
Hong Kong, China men's soccer team had a point equalized by Michael in the last minute of extra time. The referee verified the VAR again and ruled that the handball was invalid in the advanced goal.
In the end, Hong Kong, China lost 1-3 to the UAE in their first match of this year's Asian Cup. Despite the loss, Hong Kong, China played quite well throughout the match, but made mistakes in some defensive details and were awarded two penalty kicks. Facing the UAE, which is 86 places above them, the Hong Kong China men's soccer team did not play conservatively, and the fighting spirit of chasing points with all their might definitely gave a look to the national soccer team, which had a boring draw with Tajikistan before.
