On the evening of February 6, a hotly anticipated Women's Asian Cup final was staged in Beijing, with the Chinese women's soccer team and the Korean women's soccer team engaged in a fierce duel. In the first half, Cui Yu-li scored the first goal for Korea in the 26th minute. Then, Yao Lingwei gave away a penalty kick on a handball, and Ji Xiaoran scored firmly. In the second half, the situation was reversed, Tang Jiali quickly hit the penalty kick, and substitute Zhang Linyan also seized the opportunity for our women's soccer team, and equalized the score with two consecutive goals in only four minutes. The game went into extra time, Xiao Yuyi with a single opportunity to complete the shutout, and finally China's women's football team 3-2 reversal of the victory over South Korea, 16 years after the Asian Cup Championship trophy again.
On social media, blogger "Women's Soccer News" revealed a pre-match hiccup. It turns out that South Korean women's soccer captain Ji Xiaoran tried to touch the trophy before the game, an act that is considered taboo in the soccer world. The blogger noted, "History has proven many times that touching the trophy before a match often brings misfortune. As a professional player, one should be familiar with this taboo."
The blogger cited several examples, such as the 2005 Istanbul Miracle, in which Kaka and Gattuso touched the trophy before the Champions League final, which was ultimately reversed by Liverpool; the 2012 Champions League final, in which Bayern's player, Timoschuk, touched the trophy before the match, only to be defeated by Chelsea on penalties; and the 2018 UEFA Cup final, in which Marseille star, Pierre Payet, touched the trophy before the match, which resulted in Atletico Madrid winning the game by a 3-0 margin.
It is worth mentioning that China's soccer has a similar previous experience. In the second round of the 2020 Chinese Super League final, when Guangzhou and Jiangsu were competing for the title, Guangzhou player Zhang Linpeng unintentionally touched the Vulcan Cup as he was passing by, and many media outlets were buzzing about the move at the time. Unfortunately, the move seemed to trigger a magic spell, and Guangzhou ended up losing 1-2 to Jiangsu. (DD)
