Not long ago, the Asian Games men's soccer quarterfinals were all over, and four teams finally managed to break through and enter the quarterfinals of this year's Asian Games. They will also make every effort to sprint to the last gold medal. In these four teams, the most surprising is undoubtedly Hong Kong, China, this Asian soccer "fish" in the Asian Games to the whole of Asia a surprise!
Fans of Asian soccer must know that in Asia, Hong Kong, China has always played the role of the "boy who delivers points". In the FIFA rankings, they only ranked 148th, can be said to be a complete "fish belly" team. Many fans believe that Hong Kong, China can go so far in this Asian Games, and cheaper. Due to the early withdrawal of Syria and Afghanistan from Group C, Hong Kong, China was fortunate enough to get a ticket to the Round of 16 before the start of the Asian Games. 1/8 final against Palestine, Hong Kong, China won its first victory of the Asian Games and entered the Top 8!
However, in the quarterfinals, Hong Kong, China's opponent is Iran, a traditional Asian powerhouse. Iran is ranked 21st in the FIFA rankings and second in Asia behind Japan. Countless fans predicted before the match that Iran would easily beat Hong Kong, China and meet Japan in the semi-finals. However, the result of the match surprised everyone!
Although Hong Kong, China was in a passive state throughout the game, they managed to hold off the Iranian team's bombardment by virtue of their tenacious defense. In the 47th minute, Hong Kong, China, who had held out for half the game, started to show their fangs. They launched a counterattack through a long pass. Poon Pui Hin received a header from a teammate in the penalty area and helped Hong Kong, China break the deadlock and take a 1-0 lead! Not willing to fall behind, Iran launched a frantic counterattack after that, but faced with all the retirements of Hong Kong, China, the Persian Iron Knights could not find a good way to break through the goal, until the last minute of injury time, the Iranian team beat Hong Kong.
In the other three knockout matches, hosts China lost 0-2 to South Korea, but unfortunately they were stopped in the quarterfinals, failing to reach the goal of "winning a medal" set before the tournament. Japan, playing with their U22 team, played 90 minutes against North Korea and eventually beat them 2-1, with Yuta Matsumura scoring an 80th-minute penalty to clinch their ticket to the semifinals. The last quarterfinal spot belonged to Uzbekistan. They also beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 to report the hatred of last year's U23 Asian Cup final loss!
Wish Hong Kong, China, all the best, hope that this cold promotion of the "dark horse" can be a black to the end, the Asian Games gold medal in China!
