The final round of the Asian Cup qualifiers was played again recently after the group stage, and Hong Kong, China, failed to continue their winning streak, losing 4-0 to hosts India in the final round, and the ranking was reversed by the opponent and fell to the second place in the group. Although the Chinese Hong Kong team failed to score points in the final round, but because the Philippine team lost 0-4 to the Palestinian team, so before the start of the game, the Chinese Hong Kong team had actually locked up the qualifying seat, and the last time they entered the Asian Cup main competition was in 1968, 54 years ago, 54 years later, they finally returned to the stage of the Asian Cup!
In this Asian Cup qualifier, The Chinese Hong Kong team had good luck, they drew India, Afghanistan and Cambodia, as long as they played normally, it was not difficult to get the second place in the group. In the first two rounds of the group, Hong Kong China performed very well, and they won the opening game with a small 2-1 victory over Afghanistan in the opener. In the second round against Cambodia, the weakest team in the group, Hong Kong, China, won 3-0 without bloodshed, rarely ushering in two consecutive wins in the international A-division competition, and temporarily surpassed India and rose to the top of the table.
In the final round against India, Hong Kong, China, only needs to win a draw, it can lock in the first place in the group and successfully advance to the main asian cup. Even if they lose, they have the hope of finishing second in the group with the best 5 results and getting tickets to the Asian Cup. Before the game started, a piece of good news suddenly came, because the Philippine team in Group B lost 0-4 to palestine in the final round, so their points stop is no longer able to catch up with the Chinese Hong Kong team, which means that regardless of the outcome of the last game, the Chinese Hong Kong team is already determined to participate in next year's Asian Cup.
I don't know if the early promotion has made the players somewhat relaxed, and the performance of the Hong Kong team in China is not as eye-catching as the first two rounds. Just two minutes into the game, their goal was lost. Taking advantage of a scramble in the penalty area, Indian full-back Ali pushed a shot into the net in front of goal to make it 1-0! The Indian team took the lead in breaking the deadlock! After that, although the Hong Kong team organized some counterattacks, but failed to form a goal, before the end of the half, the Indian team took advantage of a free kick opportunity by striker Chetry to score, extending the score to 2-0!
Yibian fought again, and the Indian team still did not stop its own attack. In the 85th minute, substitute striker Singh received a kick from his teammate at the penalty spot and pushed it into the net of Hong Kong, China, for the third time. In the 3rd minute of injury time, another Indian striker, Pandita, also scored a goal, locking the score between the two teams to 4-0! In the end, India defeated Hong Kong 4-0, and the two teams advanced to next year's Asian Cup!
Seeing the promotion of the Hong Kong team, many Chinese fans have also left messages to send blessings. Some fans commented: "Congratulations on the promotion, I hope to be in the same group as the Chinese team in the Asian Cup, in the top 40 matches in 18 years, the Chinese team did not win two games in Hong Kong, China, and was almost eliminated in advance, this time we want to take revenge!" Some fans wrote: "Unfortunately, if the Asian Cup is still held in China, the Hong Kong team can also be regarded as half the host." Some fans also said: "Hong Kong, China still has a few main players to come this time, I hope they can create a miracle in next year's Asian Cup!" ”