In the 2022 Asian Cup, 10 teams have successfully qualified, but unfortunately, the Chinese national men's football team is not among them. So far, there have been 5 upset matches and 3 match-fixing incidents, which have left a deep impression on us.
One of the most striking upsets of this Asian Cup was Japan's defeat to Iraq. In the second round of the group stage, Japan unexpectedly lost 1-2 to Iraq. The unexpected defeat set off a chain reaction, with South Korea drawing 2-2 with Jordan afterwards, with both teams unwilling to win against each other lest they face a strong Japanese side. Tajikistan also became a dark horse, beating Lebanon in Group A to qualify for the round of 16 of the Asian Cup.
Another surprise upset was Palestine, who showed their quality with a 3-0 win over Hong Kong. Although the two sides did not have such a big difference in strength, the Palestinian team won a three-goal advantage with an excellent performance. Hong Kong, China, also lost 0-1 against Iran, which was also a surprise.
However, there has been no shortage of match-fixing incidents in the Asian Cup. The first match-fixing was between Palestine and the UAE, who apparently let go and not only gave the opponent a penalty, but also an own goal, which is incomprehensible. The second match was between South Korea and Jordan, and it was unbelievable that both teams did not dare to go all out to win for fear of encountering a strong Japanese team. The third match-fixing was between Iran and the UAE, the referee completely manipulated the game, Iran actually scored five goals, but three of them were blown away, and the UAE scored a late goal just in time to avoid finishing second in the group, which left people speechless.
For the Chinese national men's football team, no miracle happened. After losing to the Qatar team, the national football team did not return to China immediately, but waited one more day, but in the end the Syrian team scored a goal, and the Hong Kong, China team also failed to achieve a draw, and the national football team was helplessly eliminated, drawing an end to the journey of this Asian Cup. The performance of the national football team was disappointing, and Fan Zhiyi was angry about the positioning of the national football team in Asian football, saying: "The fourth gear is higher than us. He explained that he believes the national football team is likely to lose when they meet group opponents Lebanon and Tajikistan again.
All in all, we were deeply impressed by the upsets and match-fixing incidents in this Asian Cup. It is unfortunate that the national football team did not qualify, but it also reminds us that football needs to be further developed and improved to improve its strength and competitiveness. We look forward to a more impressive performance of the national football team in the next Asian Cup.