Little known is that our soccer team in the Asian Cup initial battle ended in a 0-0 stalemate, failed to take all three points in this opening. The current situation for the national soccer team to advance in the group can be described as stormy. The next two opponents are better than Tajikistan, in order to ensure smooth progress into the round of 16, the national football team in these two games need to harvest at least three points.
Looking back at the match against Tajikistan, the Chinese men's soccer team performed sluggishly in the first half, facing an opponent ranked lower than us, and the scene was once passive. Had it not been for the poor shooting skills of the opponents, the national soccer team was afraid that it would have been difficult to secure even a draw.
On the eve of the start of the Asian Cup, the Shanghai media had predicted the starting lineup of the national football team, thinking that Yan Junling and Wu Lei's position is solid. As expected, Wu Lei, as the starting striker, was almost invisible throughout the game, which made people question the starting position. After all, as the best player in the Chinese Super League last season, this performance obviously does not match its honor.
Only a handful of people touched the ball throughout the game. Wu Lei did not have an advantage in speed and physical confrontation with his opponents. In addition, he had two excellent shooting opportunities in the penalty area. This shows the mediocre performance of the best players of the Chinese Super League in the Asian Cup, which seems to imply the lack of the level of the Chinese Super League.
It is worth mentioning that there was also a controversial penalty in the match. Zhu Chenjie's goal was ruled invalid, which was also explained by the AFC. In the match updates on the AFC website, the referee considered the goal offside, so it could not be ruled valid, and this could not change or reverse the decision.
For the Chinese men's soccer team, the goal being blown off is undoubtedly unexpected. However, if our overall strength is strong enough, even if the referee blows off a goal, the final result will not be affected too much. Unfortunately, our overall strength seems to be stuck at the third-rate level in Asia. Under the double pressure of mediocre performance and referee's attention, it is getting tougher and tougher for Chinese men's soccer team to win the game.
