On May 12, the Asian Cup group stage draw was finalized, and veteran sports commentator Ma Dexing threw out his own analysis in Sports Weekly, giving his insights into the national team's grouping. Ma Dexing bluntly said that the results of this draw can be called "on the sign", at least is quite favorable, and even in some aspects, can be called "heavenly good fortune".
Relatively weak group stage opponents
The hosts Qatar and Lebanon, who are in the same group with us, are at the lower end of their respective rankings; while Tajikistan, ranked fourth, although ranked lower among the Southeast Asian teams, with Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, China, above them, Tajikistan is playing its first-ever Asian Cup final, and is the only team to qualify for the final for the first time in this sector of the Asian Cup. This team is relatively weak in the fourth tier and can be considered as the weakest team in this tier.
Our national team is itself a "weak team" in the second tier.
Despite being ranked 81st in the FIFA rankings, higher than Jordan's 84th, the outcome of the confrontation with the Jordanian team is uncertain in real life. Against this backdrop, it is undoubtedly acceptable to be placed in the same group as the relatively lower ranked powerhouse teams in the other three divisions. One could even say that such a grouping could not be more ideal.
The 1/8th final opponent may not be a tough one.
Even if our team is unlucky enough to lose to Qatar in the group stage, as long as they can beat Lebanon and Tajikistan, the second place in the group will be in the bag. In addition, our team's group advantage is also reflected in the fact that if we can advance to the second group, then in the 1/8 finals, our team will face the second place in the third group. Considering the strengths of Iran, UAE, Palestine and Hong Kong, China, it is more likely that Iran will finish first in the group and UAE will finish second in the group. Thus, our team may meet UAE. However, UAE's current form is not optimistic either.
In view of the current overall situation of our soccer, it may not be realistic to make an impact on the top four, but the top eight should be the goal of all-out efforts. Only by entering the top eight can our soccer team regain confidence in front of the world. If we can meet a slightly weaker opponent in the 1/8 final, it will undoubtedly be conducive to our national team to achieve this goal.
