On February 4, Beijing time, the men's Asian Cup entered a tense stage, and two of the high-profile semi-finals were particularly eye-catching. In both matches, the mighty Japanese team surprisingly lost 1-2 to Iran, which themselves are the second-best team in Asia. The leaks shown by the Japanese team in this game are worrying, especially the performance of the goalkeeper has been criticized. He made eight mistakes in the game, allowing his opponent to easily penetrate the goal.
In the previous game, he also had problems such as butter hands and misjudgments, which made him have heated discussions among the best people from all walks of life. At just 21 years old, Suzuki was under tremendous psychological pressure during the match, and although his performance was not the worst, the match set a record of shame and became the most goals conceded by Japan in the history of the Asian Cup. Previously, the most goals conceded by Japan in the history of the Asian Cup was 7 goals.
On the stage of the Asian Cup, the match between Qatar and Uzbekistan is undoubtedly a key battle. After a tense and fierce penalty shootout, the host Qatar successfully advanced to the top 4 with a 4-3 advantage. The match, played at the last minute, was somewhat bleak due to Japan's early exit. Despite this, Qatar's performance as the defending champions is still in the spotlight.
In the 27th minute of the first half, Haydos crossed from the right side, and after the ball was deflected, Uzbekistan's goalkeeper Yusupov missed the near corner, and Qatar opened the scoring. In the 58th minute, after Hamrobekov and his teammates completed a wonderful 2-by-2 cooperation, he stepped into the penalty area and fell to the ground to score a goal to equalize the score.
In this close game, the two sides played out a 1-1 draw at the end of 90 minutes. As the defending champions and hosts, Qatar has shown great strength and fighting spirit. Although Japan's exit affected the heat of the match, Qatar's performance was still commendable.
In the penalty shootout, Uzbekistan was at one point behind. Perhaps due to the decline in physical fitness, their mistakes began to increase. It is a well-known fact that when a person's physical fitness decreases, the brain's reaction speed and judgment are also affected. It is for this reason that gives Qatar the opportunity to turn around. In the end, Qatar succeeded in turning the tide of the war.
With the end of this game, the list of opponents for the semifinals of the Asian Cup has also been officially released. Qatar will face Iran, while South Korea will take on Jordan. It is worth noting that Jordan only finished third in the group stage, but they still have a chance to challenge for the title. In contrast, the favourites Japan have already played the first game of the previous match, and Australia have also been eliminated from the group. The situation in this Asian Cup is very chaotic, and any team could win the championship.
Japan were eliminated after five matches in the Asian Cup, with two of those defeats coming to the two Iraqs. The two Irans were able to beat Japan mainly because they have European-level physical conditions, combined with a style of play that is suitable for physical strengths. Therefore, this is not an accident, but the most feared opponent characteristic of Japanese football at the moment.
Japan will need more naturalized players like Ayaka Suzuki in the future, especially in positions such as central defender, midfielder and center forward. These players have excellent physical conditions that can enhance the overall strength of the team. Of course, this is not to say that they are free of mistakes in every game, but the advantage of physical condition is one of the important directions for the future development of Japanese football.
Some netizens observed that the strength of the Japanese team in Asia is the undisputed leader. However, in this competition, the performance of the Japanese team was not satisfactory. Some fans believe that this may be due to the fact that most of the players in the Japanese team are from European clubs, and they may have been hampered by various factors in the game. In addition, there are also those who believe that the Japanese team may be overconfident and do not pay enough attention to other teams in Asia, resulting in a problem with mentality. Ma Ning, a Chinese international referee, served as the referee in this game, and his law enforcement performance was highly praised. As an experienced referee, Ma Ning has officiated many major international football tournaments.
His decisions were accurate in this game, including the crucial penalty before the end. It is worth mentioning that the four Chinese referees of this Asian Cup have performed well in the two 1 4 finals. They went through rigorous selection and training, and finally successfully officiated the matches of this Asian Cup. Their performance was widely recognized and praised. Perhaps they have taken the most important step to reach the stage of the Asian Cup final.
To sum up, in the fierce matchup of the Asian Cup on February 4, the Japanese team unexpectedly lost to Iran, and its goalkeeper Suzuki Saiyan made a series of mistakes, setting a record of shame. At the same time, the defending champion Qatar defeated Uzbekistan in a penalty shootout and successfully advanced to the semi-finals, showing tenacious fighting spirit and strength.
Although Japan's exit has made the game less heated, the Asian Cup is chaotic and any team can make a splash and lift the trophy. Referee Ma Ning and other Chinese referee teams performed well and are expected to go further and become the focus of the final law enforcement stage. In the future, Japanese football needs to reflect on and learn from the successful experience of the two countries, especially in terms of physical confrontation and naturalized players, in order to continue to maintain its leading position in global football.