At 1:00 a.m. Beijing time on October 13, the men's soccer team played against Saudi Arabia in the fourth round of Group B of the Asian Qualifying Tournament for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In the 15th minute, Saudi Arabia's Naji broke the deadlock. In the 34th minute, China's Wu Lei got a good chance to score a one-touch goal, but the Saudi Arabia goalkeeper made a heroic save, and the referee timely blew a penalty for offside. Then in the 38th minute, Naji again showed amazing footwork, scored twice. At halftime, Saudi Arabia was leading our national team 2-0.
In this match, our national team adopted a 5-guard tactical setup, with Jiang Guangtai, Zhu Chenjie and Li Ang joining hands to defend the line, while Stanley Wang and Zhang Linpeng split the wings and Zhang Xizhe was placed on the bench. His clubmate Ji Zhongguo made his debut in the 12-team tournament, partnering with Wu Lei in the forward line. In the fifth minute of the match, Saudi right back Ghanam shot forward but the ball was off target. In the 9th minute, after a handball foul by Stanley Wang, Saudi Arabia was awarded a free kick on the right side of the field, captain Faraj punished the pass, Kano jumped up and scrambled for the ball, but Shehri's shot was off the post. In the 11th minute, Kano's precise direct pass, Shehri was ready to receive the ball and shoot, but was destroyed by Zhu Chenjie's decisive shovel.
In the 15th minute, Ji Zhongguo was cut off while holding the ball at the back, and Kano quickly crossed the ball to Naji, who was ready to play a wall game with Faraj, but was flicked on by Jin Jingdao's outstretched foot, and the ball came back to Naji's feet. Najib fired a shot from just outside the top of the penalty area, and Yan Junling made a great save but was unable to prevent the ball from going into the net, giving the Saudis a 1-0 lead over our team.
