On Tuesday (10), Group C of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) saw China host Saudi Arabia. In the first match, China suffered a heavy blow, despite once taking a 1-0 lead thanks to an opponent's udon goal, but eventually swallowed the bitter fruit of losing two consecutive group matches with a score of 1-2, while Saudi Arabia got off to a winning start.
China showed a fantastic start in the early stages of the match, averaging a corner kick attack every 14 minutes. Jiang Shenglong forced Saudi goalkeeper Arochami to commit a mistake from a corner kick, and VAR technology ruled out an oopsie to give China a 1-0 lead.
However, just four minutes later, the drama of the match took a dramatic turn. A collision between Jiang Shenglong and Mohammed Kanu resulted in the latter being shown a red card and ejected from the game. With the aid of VAR, the referee ruled that Kanu had deliberately kicked the player, leaving China one man short on the field, but Saudi Arabia did not gain an advantage as a result.
As the game progressed, China did not capitalize on the numerical advantage, but was surrounded by Saudi Arabia. In the 39th minute, Saudi Arabia attacked through a corner kick and Qadi's header broke the goal, equalizing the score at 1:1. China also had Wu Lei's header hit the goal post, and the game was tied at halftime.
At the break, China launched another corner kick attack and Wang Shangyuan sent the ball into the goal, but it was ruled offside. Saudi Arabia's Ada Shani then hit the bar again. As the match came to an end, both sides engaged in a fierce struggle. From a Saudi Arabian corner kick, Kadish was able to strike again, helping his team beat China 2-1.
