On Saturday (13th) of the Asian Cup final week, the Chinese national team had their first match against Tajiks. In the second half, Zhu Chenjie's goal was negated by the VAR system, resulting in a 0-0 draw between China and Tajiks, who were entering their first ever final week.
China's starting lineup featured Wu Lei and Tan Long as the double strikers, Liu Binbin launching attacks on either side, a backline manned by Jiang Guangtai and Zhu Chenjie, Yan Junling in goal, and Hong Kong-born Dai Weijun joining the six debutants. The Tajiks, who were also making their debut in the final week, were not nervous in the first half, leading in possession and attacking with aplomb. In the 25th minute, Dihalilov had a chance to show his threat with a shot that was parried by Yan Junling.
China relied on Dai Weijun's breakthroughs on the left and long passes to Wu Lei, but the attacking players generally played alone with limited threat. The Tajiks stepped up their pressing, causing China to miss passes, and a mainland photographer on the sidelines couldn't help but chortle, "How can a ball like that even make it into the national soccer team?" Data show that the Tajik team in the first half of the number of shots reached double digits, while the Chinese team not only did not score, and even the organization of the pass is difficult, can only rely on individual breakthroughs, the face of the opposing team clamped down quickly into a difficult situation.
In the second half, the Chinese offense did not have any improvement, and the Tajiks continued to have chances on goal. In the 56th minute, Kamolov's shot hit the post. Immediately after that, China made another mistake in the center of the field, Dihalilov, with the help of many teammates, shot outside the penalty area, but was off target. In the 72nd minute, Dai Weijun shot high into the penalty area, and then Wu Lei was also replaced, and China's situation improved. In the 79th minute, substitute Xu Xin's shot was parried out by the goalkeeper. In the 80th minute, Zhu Chenjie scored a header in front of the goal, but after a VAR review, the referee ruled that Jiang Guangtai was offside and the goal was invalid. In the end, the two teams had a goalless draw and shook hands.
The Tajiks, who had more shots on goal, had their chances to win, but Head Coach Shaggy still expressed his satisfaction with the match against China after the game: "I'm very happy to get the first point of the Tajiks in the final week of the Asian Cup. We lost probably because of inexperience, we had chances in the box but didn't capitalize on them and that's something we need to improve on. But today I don't think China played better than Tajiks."
