In just three days, the Chinese men's soccer team 1-2 defeat against Hong Kong, China's gloom has not yet dissipated, it has suffered a new blow. Hong Kong, China seems to have added fuel to the Chinese men's soccer team's trauma. However, the real test may be in the Asian Cup group stage, Tajikistan in the latest friendly 2-1 victory over Hong Kong, China, the result of the Chinese men's football for countless fans worried about the future: the Asian Cup group stage, the Chinese men's soccer team may face a battle of life and death.
On the night of January 4, Hong Kong, China and Tajikistan played a closed friendly match to protect the tactics and tactics of both sides. There was no live webcast from either side. Tajikistan opened the scoring in the 25th minute of the first half. Hong Kong, China equalized in the 33rd minute. The game was tied at 1-1 at halftime. Tajikistan scored again in the 51st minute of the second half to seal the 2-1 win. Tajikistan in the Asian Cup before this victory, for the Chinese men's soccer team, is undoubtedly a loud alarm.
What is the significance of Tajikistan's victory? Because in the previous match, the Chinese men's soccer team had two players and an assistant coach sent off in a warm-up match against Hong Kong, China. In the end, they lost 1-2. Now, Tajikistan beat Hong Kong, China 2-1, and no comparison hurts. Although it cannot be asserted that the Chinese men's soccer team will lose to Tajikistan, the possibility of back-to-back defeats at least exposes the shortcomings of the Chinese men's soccer team.
We can't rule out the possibility that the Chinese men's soccer team will beat Tajikistan 2-1 in the first round of the group stage of the Asian Cup, which was preceded by a 2-1 defeat of Hong Kong, China, and a 2-1 defeat of the Chinese men's soccer team by Hong Kong, China, forming a closed loop chain of consecutive defeats. While this is just what we expect, the situation for the Chinese soccer team is really not optimistic. The reality is that the Chinese men's soccer team doesn't have much of a chance of winning against a third-rate Asian team.
The Chinese men's soccer team will be grouped with Tajikistan, Lebanon and hosts Qatar in the group stage of the Asian Cup. The first round of matches will start at 22:30 on January 13th. The match is a make-or-break battle for both sides. Based on the top two in the group plus the third place in the group with the best record, whoever wins this do-or-die game will basically get the right to advance. The losing side, on the other hand, could face the fate of going out at the bottom of the group. Now that all opponents see the Chinese men's soccer team as a soft target, I wonder if the Chinese men's soccer team will also be afraid of Tajikistan.
I can't imagine how the Chinese men's soccer team felt when they saw Tajikistan beat Hong Kong, China. Simply put, as a Chinese fan, I feel incredibly sad and disappointed. Now, the Chinese men's soccer team has almost no chance to win against the third-rate teams in Asia, in fact, they have been reduced to the third-rate teams in Asia. If there is no improvement in coaching ability, players' physical fitness, technique and tactical execution, the risk of the Chinese men's soccer team making a round trip in the group stage is extremely high.
