On the afternoon of January 24, the AFC officially announced that the host Indian women's football team withdrew from the Asian Cup due to the epidemic, and at the same time, the final group match of The Group A of the Chinese women's football team against the Indian women's football team to be held on January 26 was also cancelled. This also means that the Chinese women's football team, which won two games, ended its group stage journey early and advanced to the quarterfinals with the top spot in the group.
Before the start of the Asian Cup, two members of the Indian women's football team were confirmed to be infected with the new crown. Although their group's first round of matches went on normally and exchanged white papers with Iran 0-0, as the epidemic spread within the team, many players tested positive for covid-19, the team could not get enough 13 people to participate, and the second round of Group A match between India and Chinese Taipei, which was scheduled for January 23, was cancelled. According to Article 4.1 of the AFC Special Rules during the Pandemic, whether or not it is related to the COVID-19 pandemic, teams that fail to meet the minimum standard of 13 players are liable and are considered to be withdrawn.
After the withdrawal storm, the AFC side made it clear that the previous matches of the Indian women's football team were regarded as invalid, and their points and goals would not be included in the calculation, in order to avoid the difference between the third team in the group in the final ranking, the results of the top three and the fourth place in the group B and C would not be included in the calculation.
In fact, the indian women's football team's withdrawal from the competition does not have much impact on the Chinese women's football team, after all, the women's football girls have won the Chinese Taipei and Iranian women's football teams with 4-0 and 7-0 scores in the first two rounds, and have qualified ahead of schedule. After India withdrew, the Chinese women's football team locked up the top spot in the group in the final round of the group stage, and will play against the third place in Group B or Group C in the quarterfinals.
In the face of the risk of the epidemic, it is not a good thing for the Chinese women's football team to avoid head-on confrontation with the host of the outbreak of the epidemic in the team. But at the same time, Shui Qingxia has said that she is ready to make a big rotation in the final round of the group stage, but now with India withdrawing, the Chinese women's football team will directly enter the preparation for the knockout round. In addition, the Chinese women's football team plays one less group game and can only play again after a week, and how to maintain a hot competitive state may be something for the coaching team to worry about.
Text/Hubei Daily reporter Hu Yuwei
Photo/ Weibo, Xinhua News Agency