In the early morning of March 9, Beijing time, the U20 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers and the U20 Men's Asian Cup Final Group Stage ended a number of key battles, the Chinese women's U20 national youth team defeated the Philippines U20 team 6-0 in the first round of the Asian Preliminary Round group, South Korea U20 men's football team drew 0-0 with Tajikistan U20 to advance to the last 8, Jordan U20 men's football team drew 0-0 with Oman U20 to advance to the top 8, and if the Chinese men's U20 can successfully advance, it may meet South Korea U20 in the 1/4 final.
The Chinese women's football team shines in the Asian Preliminary Round
After Australia's 13-0 victory over Guam on the first matchday of the U20 Asian Cup qualifiers, India's 7-0 victory over Singapore on matchday 20 also created a seven-goal "tragedy". On the third matchday, Chinese Taipei's 14-0 victory over Tajikistan created the biggest "tragedy" since the start of the season, and He Jiaxuan scored 10 goals alone, eclipsing China's 6-0 and Iran's 7-1. It's not surprising that the big score against the fishbelly team shows that these women's youth teams have adjusted to their best, are playing seriously and positively, and show the sportsmanship of always striving for the first place.
The Chinese women's U20 team is no exception, playing with momentum and national prestige in the first round against the Philippines, showing the team's toughness, speed, physical strength and willpower, resilience and team spirit. From the beginning of the game, China continued to attack the opponent's two wings, with successive wing crosses and flank breakthroughs that exhausted the Philippine backline. The main goalscorer Huo Yuexin was active, breaking through the left flank and volleying in the 9th minute. Thirteen minutes later, Huo Yuexin broke through the left side again and crossed, and Zou Mengyao shrewdly pushed the goal. In the 35th minute, Ouyang Yuhuan selflessly assisted with a single knife goal, and Huo Yuexin pushed the ball into the empty goal to complete the double sound.
In the second half, the Chinese team was judged offside behind consecutive pick-and-shoot attacks on the defensive line, but the women's team continued to rush forward and did not miss every opportunity. In the middle of the half, the Chinese team picked out a pass behind him, and substitute Lu Jiayu single-handedly pushed and scored. Later, he directly assisted Ouyang Yuhuan to push and score the goal from a small angle. The Chinese team with 5 goals in hand continued to attack, Li Weiyinge broke through on the flank, Qiao Ruiqi scored the ball, and in the end, the Chinese team won 6-0 to open the Asian Preliminary Round, ranking first in the group with 3 points.
Six places have been decided in the last eight of the U20 Men's Asian Cup
The third round of Group C of the U20 Asian Cup finals began, South Korea and Tajikistan met, although the stronger South Korea had an early advantage on the field, but they "surrounded but not attacked", the intention is obvious, will want to use the ball advantage to kill time with opponents to reduce physical consumption for the knockout stage. The post-match statistics clearly showed this, with South Korea having 70% possession in the whole game, but sending 10 shots on goal, one less than their opponents. Tajikistan showed a strong desire to win in this game, after all, the points situation is not good, only to go all out to win, but the team's strength is limited, it is difficult to compete for more possession time, coupled with the excellent defensive performance of the South Korean team, it is difficult for them to create better chances to score, most of the shooting attempts are completed outside the box, the only time in the box to create a better chance, but also deflected. In the end, the two teams drew 0-0, which was a small upset.
In contrast, Jordan played a more intense match against Oman, with Jordan in 2nd place before the match, and the points situation was more favorable and they could take it in stride. Oman did not finish bottom of the group with one point in the first two rounds, and although the team lost the initiative and had little hope of qualifying, they did not want to give up just like that. The possession of the two sides was similar, Jordan created more shooting opportunities, but the lack of ability to take advantage of opportunities on the offensive end, combined with the Omani goalkeeper's excellent performance on multiple occasions, Jordan failed to score. Oman also had good chances, but Sakry deflected a shot that broke through the box and Albarusz's long-range shot was saved by the goalkeeper, leading to a 0-0 draw.
Group C matches are over, with South Korea, Jordan, Tajikistan and Oman in 1st-4th place respectively, and South Korea and Jordan successfully qualifying, and the top 8 opponents of the two teams will be the 2nd and 1st teams in Group D respectively. Together with the four teams that advanced to the last eight on the previous matchday: Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq and Australia, six places have been decided in the last eight of this year's U20 Asian Cup.
The situation of the Chinese men's football team
After the first two rounds, Japan ranked 1st with 6 points, China and Saudi Arabia ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively, and Kyrgyzstan ranked 4th. In the final round, Japan played Saudi Arabia and China played Kyrgyzstan. A win or draw in the final round earns Japan to place first in the group. The Chinese team's draw and loss in the final round may also be promoted, depending on the outcome of the battle between Japan and Saudi Arabia; However, as long as you win the final round, you will qualify from the group.
There is also a possibility that the Chinese team will finish first in the group, that is, the Chinese team will win in the final round, and the Japanese team will lose to the Saudi team, resulting in a situation where China, Saudi Arabia and Japan have 6 points together. This requires comparing the relationship between the three teams to win and draw, achieve goal difference, and score each other to determine the final ranking. At present, two games have been completed between the three teams, Japan 2-1 China, China 2-0 Saudi Arabia, China and Japan each have 1 goal difference, and Saudi Arabia -2. The following results can occur:
If Saudi Arabia outperforms Japan by 1 goal, all three teams are 1-1, and the goal difference between each other is: China 1, Japan 0, Saudi Arabia -1, and finally ranked 1st in the Chinese group and 2nd in the Japanese group.
If Saudi Arabia outperforms Japan by 2 goals, the goal difference is: China 1, Japan -1, Saudi Arabia 0, and finally ranked 1st in the Chinese group and 2nd in the Saudi group.
If Saudi Arabia outperforms Japan by 3 goals, the goal difference is: China 1, Japan -2, Saudi Arabia 1, Saudi Arabia scored more goals than China, and finally ranked 1st in the Saudi group and 2nd in the Chinese group.
It seems that the chances of China winning the top spot in the group are still not small, and if they can advance to the first place in the group, they will compete with Jordan for a place in the round of eight (the last four can directly advance to the U20 World Youth Championship), thus avoiding the favorites South Korea. If they finish second in the group, China will compete with South Korea for a place in the semifinals.