Before you know it, the Qatar Asian Cup has reached its final stage, and after the next three games, a new Asian champion will be born. In this Asian Cup, fans have also witnessed the replacement of the old and the new in Asian football, some dark horses have been upset, and the traditional powerhouses Japan and Australia have been blocked out of the quarterfinals!
In this Asian Cup, a total of two dark horses were born, one is the Tajikistan team that reached the quarterfinals in the Asian Cup for the first time, and the other is the Jordanian team that overcame strong opponents and broke through in an upset. The direct dialogue between the two teams has also produced the biggest dark horse of this Asian Cup. In front of the veteran Jordan team, the "newcomer" Tajikistan team of the Asian Cup failed to go further, and they lost 0-1 to their opponents and unfortunately stopped in the top 8. The Jordanian team that won also refreshed the history of Jordanian football, they entered the semi-finals of the Asian Cup for the first time, and the name of the Jordanian team may be added to the ranks of Asian football powerhouses in the future.
And some people rejoice, and naturally some people are worried. As the number one favorite to win this Asian Cup, many Japanese fans have regarded the trophy as their team's bag before the Asian Cup starts. However, it turned out that the Japanese team was not invincible in Asian football, they first lost to Iraq in the group stage, and then were blocked by Iran in the knockout round. Before the Japanese team fantasizes about conquering the World Cup, perhaps they should first think about how to conquer the Asian Cup!
Along with Japan, there is another championship team, Australia. Facing another East Asian powerhouse, South Korea, Goodwin's goal once gave the Australian team hope of qualifying, but unfortunately they no striker can send the ball into the opponent's goal except Goodwin. After squandering a succession of good chances, they were reversed by the South Korean team 2-1, and fell to the top 8 in two consecutive Asian Cups!
Defending champions Qatar took advantage of the hosts' advantage and made it to the quarter-finals with ease. But in the 1 4 finals, they had a tough match against the Uzbek team from Central Asia. Although the Qatar team took the lead with an own gift from their opponents, in the second half, their goal was breached early, and the score returned to parity. Uzbekistan controlled the tempo for the rest of the game, and Qatar could only rely on the occasional flashes of their number one star Afif to threaten the opposition's goal. Fortunately, their defense was relatively tight, and they did not let the opponent score again, and in the end, with goalkeeper Basham's excellent performance in the penalty shootout, the Qatar team won the opponent with an aggregate score of 4-3 and once again entered the top four.
In the semi-finals, Jordan will face South Korea, while Iran will face Qatar for another ticket to the final. I wonder which team will have the last laugh this time?