On September 27, 2023, Beijing time, in the 1/8 final of the football event of the Hangzhou Asian Games, the national football team faced the Qatar team, with Tao Qianglong's goal in the first three minutes, the national football team finally defeated the Qatar team 1-0 and successfully advanced to the final four of the Asian Games, and the team will compete for a semifinal ticket in South Korea. Because they all want to be exempted from military service, the South Korean team also sent the strongest U23 to play in the Asian Games this time, including Li Gangren, Jung Youying and other main players, the team's strength should not be underestimated.
And the national football side of the central defender Jiang Shenglong and midfielder Gao Tianyi did not have the opportunity to play against South Korea, it is really a bit worth the loss! However, it is already very good to be able to reach the quarterfinals, after all, after entering the 21st century, the national football team has not won a knockout match at the Asian Games, this time it is a breakthrough, and the opponent is Qatar.
The results of the Asian Games national football team in this Asian Games are eye-catching, and the pressure comes to the national team, because in less than two months, the team will usher in the World Preliminary Round, and its debut will be against Southeast Asian powerhouse Thailand. Don't look at Thailand, which is only ranked 112th in the world, but its strength is not at all inferior to the 80th national football team in the world, plus we are playing away, it is also relatively difficult to play.
In addition, the match against Thailand is also the first World Preliminary Tournament game played by Jankovic, it is worth mentioning that in the last Qatar World Cup Asian qualifiers, the national football team changed a total of three managers, namely Lippi, Li Tie and Li Xiaopeng. This World Cup qualifier at the beginning of the team Jankovic, but this does not mean that the next entire World Preliminary Tournament is led by him, the most important thing is to see the team's results, if played well, Jankovic coach position must be restless, once the play is not good, even after playing the first two games with Thailand and South Korea, Jankovic is likely to be dismissed, after all, as long as these two games are lost, then the national football team will probably miss the round of 18.