In the recently concluded U23 Asian Cup qualifier, China's U23 national team and the UAE U23 engaged in a fierce 90-minute match. Although China's U23 team had two brushes with goals, but finally ended up with a 0-0 draw. This failure to win the first match has undoubtedly cast a shadow on our U23 team's road to promotion. So, facing the next Indian U23s, will they be able to regain their confidence and clear the gloom?
It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the group stage, the Maldives U23 team suddenly announced their withdrawal from the tournament, which undoubtedly brought great uncertainty to the promotion situation of the group. If our U23 team wants to advance successfully, they must go all out to fight for the first place in the group. The first match of the UAE U23 team has become a crucial "battle of life and death".
At the beginning of the match, the UAE U23 team controlled the rhythm of the field for a while, but our U23 team created the first threatening attack in the 23rd minute. Liang Shaowen, Efirdin and Duan Dezhi attacked with free kicks in the penalty area, but three consecutive shots were deflected by the opponents, and our U23s missed the first great scoring opportunity.
In the 40th minute, our U23 team's defensive mistake was caught by the opponent, who finished a very threatening shot. Fortunately, the goalkeeper made a timely save, and with the timely remedies of his teammates, the crisis was resolved, and the two sides were locked at 0-0 at halftime.
At the end of the match, our U23s had another good opportunity. In the 58th minute, Tao Qianglong passed the ball in front of the field to the penalty area, Liu Zhurun got a chance to take a one-touch shot, but due to a low-level mistake, the opponent easily solved the threat.
The UAE U23s then created some threats, but failed to convert them into goals. In the 86th minute, our U23s created the second best chance of the match when Hu Huotao swept a low ball from the left side of the penalty area into the center of the field, Xie Wen could face the empty goal but kicked the ball away. In the end, both sides shook hands with 0-0.
The draw had a major impact on our U23s' progression situation, as they not only needed to win their next match against India U23s, but also strive for goal difference. Otherwise, they will have to watch the UAE and India battle it out in the final match.
However, many fans were afraid that after watching the match, they did not quite believe that our U23 team could beat the Indian U23 team. But after the game, the players did not look very frustrated. The head coach, Sung Yeo Tung, looked determined and perhaps this draw was part of his plan. Now, we have to see if he can follow the plan and lead his team to beat the Indian U23s.
