In the early morning of February 11, Beijing time, the 2023 Asian Cup came to an end at the Lusail Stadium in Doha, and the host Qatar team defeated the Jordan team 3-1 with three penalty kicks from Afif, defending the title at home as desired, becoming the fifth team in the history of the Asian Cup to win the championship in a row. In addition to the team winning the championship, Afif was elected the top scorer with 8 goals and was named the most valuable player in the tournament; Goalkeeper Basham was voted the best goalkeeper of the tournament. In addition, Qatar also won the Fair Play Award for this year's event. As a midway host, Qatar has been in the limelight this time. Aside from off-the-field factors such as the host country's host match, in terms of competition alone, this Asian Cup championship and runner-up final may not be the highest level of this tournament. Even to some extent, although Qatar defended their title, their championship may not be comparable to the gold content of their first victory at the last Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
The gold content of winning the championship is difficult to compare with the previous one.
As in the previous tournament, Qatar are not favourites. Traditional Asian powerhouses such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Iran are also "regulars" who represent Asia in the World Cup, and they are the favorites to win the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates. Until the start of this tournament, these teams, together with Saudi Arabia, who had a surprising move in the 2022 World Cup (i.e., a shock 2-1 defeat to Argentina), are the favourites to win the bid. However, Qatar defeated Saudi Arabia, Iraq and South Korea all the way in the 2019 Asian Cup, swept the host United Arab Emirates 4-0 in the semi-finals, and defeated Japan 3-1 in the final to reach the top of Asia for the first time in history. That time, the Qatar team won the championship can be said to be "convincing" from all walks of life, whether it is Afif or Moïse Ali, or Haydos, etc., the performance can be called the top in Asia. The pre-sale of the 884 885th issue of Football Weekly's "World Football Atlas" opened, but 5 years later, Qatar's opponents along the way were only Lebanon, Tajikistan, and China, and they barely eliminated Palestine by penalty kicks in the 1 8 finals; In the 1 4 finals, he fought fiercely with Uzbekistan, a second-rate Asian team, for 120 minutes without a win, and barely passed the test with penalty kicks from each other. Perhaps, only the semi-final opponent, Iran, can be regarded as a real quality opponent. In the final against the Jordan team, it was difficult to convince the losing Jordanian team by relying on three penalties.
Compared to the last 7 matches, Qatar won 5 opponents ranked above them, and this time they only defeated Iran, an opponent ranked above them. For such a champion, it is inevitable that the gold content will be discounted. Moreover, as the host, in terms of group arrangement, schedule design, etc., Qatar has to say that it has done its best to let many strong teams "merge" in advance before the game, so that the host can not touch or touch the strong teams as little as possible to ensure the best results. Of course, the performance of the Asian powerhouses in this tournament did not meet expectations, and to a certain extent, they also "fulfilled" the Qatar team. It must be acknowledged that as the host, Qatar has not only been successful in hosting the event, which is reflected in many aspects such as attendance; And in the arena, it is a full harvest. Therefore, as the host of Qatar, this Asian Cup is undoubtedly a successful event, and to a certain extent, it can be regarded as making up for the shortcomings left by the 2022 World Cup.
Successfully enter the "No Mode" state.
However, to say that the Qatar team's defense of the title this time is not high, it is not to deny the efforts of the Qatar team, after all, winning the championship is also a game by game. What the reporter really wants to say is that usually, in continental competitions like the Asian Cup, the team that wins the championship generally has a leading role, and there are many things behind its success that other teams can learn and learn from, whether it is the technical and tactical level on the field, or the development path off the field. However, the Qatar team won the championship this time, including the Jordan team that played the final with the Qatar team, and it seems that it is difficult for us to "set" with a certain model. For example, in 2011, when Qatar hosted the Asian Cup last time, the Japanese team and the Australian team participated in the championship and runner-up finals. The Australian team is made up of a number of players from Europe. The two teams presented a high-level matchup for the whole of Asia. The positive effect of this game on the development of football in other Asian countries and regions is to do a good job in the domestic league, do a good job in the training of young players, and encourage more players to "go out".
Until the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia, the host Australian team and the South Korean team participating in the final also presented a high-quality matchup for the fans. Not to mention South Korea, while focusing on its own league and young players, more and more players are going to Europe. This is also leading the development of football in other countries and regions in Asia.
In the last Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the Qatar team defeated the Japanese team 3-1 to win the championship for the first time, and the biggest encouragement and leading role for Asian countries and regions is: "Aspire Elite Academy" has achieved "positive results", and focusing on the cultivation of young elite players is the only way to develop football. From winning the Asian Youth Championship in Myanmar in 2014 to winning the Asian Cup in 2019, it is clear that Asian football backward countries and regions can further clearly see that paying attention to the training of young players can definitely "gain". As for Japanese football, it goes without saying. However, when Qatar teamed up with Jordan for the championship and runner-up finals and won the Asian Cup for the second time, it seems that we could not find a similar success experience to learn from.
The last of an aging Qatar?
Let's take a look at the Qatar team first. At the 2019 Asian Cup, the average age of the Qatar team was 24At 87 years old, it was the fourth youngest team with an average age of 24 teams at that time. In this Asian Cup, the average age of the Qatar team is 28At 30 years old, the average age of the 24 participating teams ranked sixth in the positive number. Among the 26 players in the team, 18 have played in the 2022 World Cup and 12 have participated in the last Asian Cup. In other words, it is an indisputable fact that the average age of the Qatari team tends to age. Moreover, Spaniard López even recalled a number of veteran players who had been away from the national team for several years in order to cope with the Asian Cup after taking over. Why? There is no successor! We can take a look at the past 10 years at all levels of the youth team in Qatar. Please see the table below
Qatar's 95-96 age group won the 2014 Asian Youth Championship in Myanmar, and the squad went on to compete in the 2016 U23 Asian Cup, where they reached the semi-finals, just one step away from the Rio Olympics. In the U23 Asian Cup held in Jiangsu, China in 2018, the Chinese team was eliminated in the group stage and finally won the third place. It was not until this group of players that Qatar won the 2019 Asian Cup. After that, the 99 00 age group reached the semi-finals once at the 2018 Asian Youth Championship in Indonesia, and participated in the 2019 U20 World Youth Championship in Poland again, but lost three games and failed to score a goal at the World Youth Championship. In addition, Qatar's youth teams at all levels have never made a difference in the Asian arena. I believe that fans who have an impression will not forget that in the U20 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan in March last year, Qatar's 2003 national youth team lost 1-9 to the Australian national youth team, setting a record for the largest loss score in the history of the U20 Asian Cup in recent years, and it is probably not surprising that it finally ranked at the bottom of the 16 participating teams.
Qatar's 2006 U17 national junior team, after missing the U17 Asian Cup in a row, went to Thailand in June last year to participate in the final stage for the first time, and lost 1-6 to South Korea, and even lost 1-2 to Afghanistan! Out of the 16 participating teams, Qatar is ranked just ahead of Laos. And further along, I'm afraid fans won't notice: Qatar's 2002 national junior team lost 1-6 to Yemen and Bangladesh 0-2 in the qualifiers, missing the final stage; The 2000 national junior team was also eliminated by Tajikistan in the qualifiers. In other words, the Qatar Elite Academy actually cultivated players in the 95 96 age group plus some 97 98 age groups who skipped the grade at that time, and there have been no top Asian youth players since then. So, why is the current Qatari national team "aging" and "not green"? I'm afraid it's very clear.
On the other hand, when we are more and more advocating "going out" and breaking into Europe, the Qatar team is the only team in the quarterfinals of this Asian Cup that is all from the local league, and only 5 of the 24 teams in the entire Asian Cup are composed of players from the local league, and the other 4 teams will go as far as the top 16. If the Qatari league is really strong, in the 2023-24 AFC Champions League, none of the Qatari clubs entered the round of 16; In the 2022 season, only the first team in Qatar entered the quarterfinals, but was swept 7-0 by Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal; In the 2021 season, none of Qatar's teams could enter the knockout round of 16; In the 2020 season, only THAAD reached the round of 16, but were eliminated by Iran's Persepolis in the 1 8 finals. Although the elite academy still exists, it has not been able to cultivate excellent seedlings; The domestic league situation is not at all like Saudi Arabia, which is also in West Asia, or South Korea and Japan in East Asia, and there is no foreign player. This is completely different from what we had in mind about the rise and development of football. So, what kind of guidance does such an Asian championship have for Asian football?