In the early morning of February 3, with the end of the match between South Korea and Australia, the first two matches of the Asian Cup 1 4 finals have passed. Jordan beat Tajikistan 1-0 and South Korea beat Australia 2-1 to face each other in the semi-finals.
Jordan has become the number one dark horse in this Asian Cup, thanks to some luck and strong strength. In the group stage, they played a drama with South Korea, and in the final round, they failed to win the group and lost to Bahrain, which caused them to drop to third in the group.
However, they managed to avoid Japan in the round of 16, then knocked out Iraq in the 1 8 finals, and now eliminated first-time Tajikistan in the 1 4 finals to reach the last four of the Asian Cup for the first time in their history. This kind of counterattack performance is remarkable.
And such a performance also embarrassed the national football team. First of all, Jordan is eight places lower than the national football team in the world rankings, ranking 87th. However, Jordan were able to make it all the way to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup, while the national football team was eliminated in the group stage. Secondly, the team that is also third in the group, Jordan has locked up the qualification early, and even has the opportunity to choose an opponent. Now, for the first time, they advanced to the semi-finals, while the national football team ended the game early with the worst performance in team history.
Next, Jordan will compete with South Korea for a place in the final. The two teams met in the group stage when they drew 2-2, and now Jordan have a chance to make history again.
There are still two 1 4 finals to go on the next matchday. The two sides include Japan against Iran and Qatar against Uzbekistan. Among them, the high-profile matchup between Japan and Iran is highly regarded by the AFC and is officiated by Chinese referee Ma Ning.
It's no secret that Manin is known to be good at giving cards. Considering the strength of both Japan and Iran, the physical confrontation will be fierce, so the players will inevitably be sanctioned by Main.
Although Japan are considered the top favourites, their overall performance does not live up to that status. South Korea look the better side of the pack for now, having fallen behind in two knockout games in a row but eventually equalised and came back from behind to qualify, and they also faced the likes of Saudi Arabia and Australia.
As long as Japan loses a 0-1 match, it is equivalent to saying goodbye to this Asian Cup in advance. This will put coach Mori's position in jeopardy, and he may end his campaign early, as the national football team, which is what many fans in the country want to see.