China's women's football team has won the Japanese women's football team to return to the final of the Asian Cup after 14 years

In the early morning of February 4, Beijing time, in a semi-final of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup, the Chinese women's football team fought with the defending champion Japan women's football team for 120 minutes, fell behind twice and equalized twice, and finally through the penalty shootout, defeated the opponent with a total score of 6:5, and reached the final of the Asian Cup again after 14 years.

In the semi-finals of the Asian Cup, the Chinese women's football team defeated the Japanese women's football team with an aggregate score of 6:5. Image source: Chinese women's football official Micro

The Japanese women's soccer team is an Asian powerhouse that has won the first two consecutive Asian Cups. In this competition, they defeated the Thai women's football team 7-0 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semi-finals, and their performance was remarkable.

The Chinese women's football team has only played 3 games in this tournament before, all of which have won, and the core of the team, Wang Shuang, has played quite well, she scored 5 goals and contributed 3 assists. However, in this match against the Japanese women's football team, Wang Shuang did not appear because of a foot injury.

Without Wang Shuang, Chinese women's football coach Shui Qingxia can only make a big adjustment to the lineup on the field, the offensive end has been suppressed, and the number of times it can threaten the opponent's goal is not much, fortunately, although the defensive end is also bumpy, but the performance is always stable.

In the 25th minute of the match, the Japanese women's soccer team used a header to attack the top spot through a cross from the side. Since then, the Japanese women's football team has many good opportunities to attack, but the girls of the Chinese women's football team have shown quite tenacious, and through mutual replacement, they have tried to save the goal. At the end of the half, the Chinese women's football team fell behind 0:1.

In the second half, Shui Qingxia quickly made a substitution adjustment, Zhang Rui and Xiao Yuyi came on as substitutes, and Ma Jun and Zhang Lingyan were replaced. The substitution had an immediate effect, and in the 46th minute, the Chinese women's soccer team lightning equalized, Xiao Yuyi broke through the cross from the side, and Wu Chengshu wrapped up the goal in front of the goal. The score was rewritten to 1:1. The score was held until the end of regular game time.

The match then went into extra time, and in the 102nd minute, Riko Ueki of the Japanese women's football team scored twice through a header from inside the penalty area to surpass the score again.

Just when many fans felt that the Chinese women's football team might lose, Wang Shanshan, another core of the team, stood up! In the 119th minute, Zhang Xin crossed the ball from the left side, and Wang Shanshan grabbed the pad in the middle of the road and scored the goal. The score was rewritten to 2:2, and the Chinese women's football team completed a draw, dragging the game into the final penalty shootout!

In the penalty shootout, goalkeeper Zhu Yu saved twice, and the Chinese women's football team was 4:3 Japanese women's football team. In the end, the Chinese women's football team eliminated the opponent 6:5 on aggregate and reached the final of the Asian Cup, and will compete with the South Korean women's football team for the asian cup title.

Shui Qingxia said at the post-match press conference that it was very difficult to win this game, "Before the game, I said that we need the courage to fight, the tenacious fighting spirit, and the need for the team members to be more confident. ”

Wang Shanshan said that it is an honor to lead everyone to victory as the captain of the Chinese women's football team, "The Japanese team is a great challenge for us, but our own mentality is well set and fully prepared." It's a more exciting time for us now, but fortunately we didn't give up at the last minute according to the coach's arrangement. ”