U23 Asian Cup Journey Review
In the finale of the group stage of the U23 Asian Cup, the Chinese men's soccer team won 2-1 with goals from Xie Wenneng and Liu Zhurun, giving them their first taste of victory and their first goal. However, the joy of this victory did not extend to the end of the tournament, the team finally embarked on the road home.
This was no ordinary victory; it marked the second U23 Asian Cup win for the Chinese men's soccer team in the history of the Olympics. The last win came back six years ago, at the same Asian Cup we hosted in 2018. Wei Shihao, Yang Liyu and Li beat Oman 3-0 in the first round of the group stage, but missed out on qualification after falling to Uzbekistan and Qatar in the following two matches. Chinese fans were impressed by the controversial decisions made by the then "famous referee" Faghani. It was thought that it would be tough to compete in the Group of Death with Japan and South Korea. Nevertheless, we performed well against Japan in the face of the opponent's red card, and against South Korea, we capitalized on at least one scoring opportunity.
In an interview, Liu Zhuyun, the goal scorer, revealed that winning the game is undoubtedly gratifying, which not only brings goals for the team, but also doubles his confidence. Summarizing his trip to the Asian Cup, Liu Zhuyun said that although there are regrets and difficulties, the final victory is also a reflection of self-affirmation.
Coach Ching Yiu Tung gave a long speech in the post-match press conference, continuing his style from the group stage. Despite winning 2-1, there is no way to change the fact that we are out of the tournament two rounds early. After all, after losing two games in a row, we lost our qualification for the Olympics. Cheng Yaodong said that despite this, the team as a whole performed well, saw hope and became more positive on the field. We were not affected by the first two losses and adjusted positively, showing tenacity and creating scoring opportunities. Despite the exit, we would like to thank everyone for their hard work. The youngest players in our team are only 18 years old. We hope they will perform better in their future careers.
Cheng Yaodong still believes that the group stage is very competitive, mainly because Japan and South Korea are superb teams, which is the direct reason why we failed to qualify. There is a gap between us and the top Asian teams in terms of strength, ability and many other aspects, even at the 2019 U19 Asian Youth Championship, where we also failed to advance. Over the years, we have constantly tried to catch up with the Asian level, but the gap with Japan and South Korea still exists. From the long speech after the match, we can see that the coach did not lose confidence, but actively encouraged the young players.
