The cheering turned to anger. Boos and sighs came from all over the stadium.
China’s performance was far below expectations. Tajikistan, making its first appearance at the Asian Cup, had been soundly beaten.
Aleksandar Jankovic’s China faced Tajikistan in the first match of Group A of the Qatar Asian Cup at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 13 (local time).
On paper, China’s advantage was clear.
China is ranked 79th by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Tajikistan is ranked 106th.
China last played in the quarterfinals of the 2019 tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “
We are getting better,” said ‘Ace’ Wu Lei.
We did well in the last Asian Cup. We hope to do even better this time.”
China was expected to battle Qatar for the top spot in the group.
Tajikistan, on the other hand, was playing in the Asian Cup for the first time.
Expectations were high for China.
The stadium was filled with cheers from the Chinese crowd.
The crowd, carrying China’s five-star red flag, chanted “Go!” and cheered wildly.
There were Tajik fans scattered throughout the stadium, but they were no match for the Chinese. 카지노사이트777
As expected, Tajikistan led the attack.
They attempted three counterattacks in the first 10 minutes.
Tajikistan went on the attack with back-to-back shots from Amani Kamolov.
However, his shot was saved by the opposing goalkeeper. China also had a chance.
In the 35th minute, there was a controversial handball call on a corner kick.
However, the video assistant referee (VAR) deemed the play to be legitimate.
China finished the first half heavily out-shot, 1-11.
The only consolation was that the score was 0-0.
At the start of the second half, Tajikistan pushed forward again.
The frustrating performance led to anger among the Chinese fans.
In the 13th minute of the second half, China took off Tan Long and Wang Chuming and brought on Xu Xin and Zhang Yuning, but it didn’t solve the problem.
China made another change in the 27th minute, bringing on She Fengfei and Lim Liangming for Wu Lei and Dai Weichun.
After pounding away, China opened the scoring for Tajikistan in the 35th minute.
Zhu Tianjie’s surprise header from a corner kick gave China a 1-0 lead.
At that moment, a VAR signal appeared on the scoreboard.
