In the first game of the ninth, losing 0-3 to team
, continuing the curse of never winning the opening game of the East Asian Cup. However, the national soccer team, which plays with young players, still has no lack of bright spots.
The national soccer team, which plays with young players, is clearly at a disadvantage in terms of strength. The average age of the first 11 members of the national football team is only 23 years old, the value of only 3.5 million euros, while the average age of the South Korean team is 26 years old, the value of 11.25 million.
The huge gap in strength made Jankovic opt for conservative tactics, using a 541 formation to contain the opponent's offense. South Korea firmly dominated the game, with 11 shots on goal in the first half, while the Chinese soccer team even had 0 shots on goal.
However, the defense of the national football team was quite solid, and the Korean players could only get up for long shots frequently. It took an inadvertent oolong goal by Zhu Chenjie to give South Korea an unexpected lead. Famous finisher Han Qiaosheng commented, "This is the price of youth." Chen Yong, a reporter from the newspaper, commented, "The inevitable in the accident, ah, too passive."
The national soccer team was able to concede only one goal in the first half, with goalkeeper Han Jiaqi taking the lead. Han made three world-class saves against the bombardment of South Korea. In fact, this was only Han's first appearance in an A-level tournament.
As one of the most outstanding goalkeepers in the first stage, Han Jiaqi had a remarkable performance. Similarly, Liu Zhurun, Fang Hao, Huang Jiahui, Xu Haofeng and Jiang Shenglong, who were making their first appearances in the A-level tournament, also played well.
Famous reporter Fang Zhen commented, "The vast majority of South Korea's starting eleven have been on the World Cup roster, so the defense in the first half was like this, or at least it has exceeded my expectations."
In the second half, Kwon Chang-hoon and Cho Eu-min scored a goal each, and the national soccer team finally lost 0-3. Despite the hard work of the young players, the gap in strength and lack of luck saw them lose to South Korea and extend two embarrassing records.
First of all, the national soccer team has never opened the door in the East Asian Cup, with only 4 draws and 5 losses. Secondly, the national soccer team has not won in the last 4 matches against South Korea, and lost in the last 3 matches.
Before traveling to the East Asian Cup, the media considered the national football team acceptable as long as it did not lose by a large margin against, South Korea and the other two teams. Jankovic said before the match, "I hope to show Chinese fans a Chinese team that works hard, fights to the end and keeps on running." Facing South Korea, although the national soccer team played quite passive, but at least let people see their attitude.
