On the evening of January 14, Beijing time, the men's Asian Cup was fiercely fought all night, and teams including the Japanese men's football team, the Vietnamese men's football team, the United Arab Emirates men's football team, and the Hong Kong men's football team completed their appearance. In the end, Japan beat Vietnam 4-2 to get off to a good start, and Hong Kong, China lost 1-3 to the United Arab Emirates, becoming the first Chinese team to lose in this tournament, and staged a crazy night.
Japan defeated Vietnam 4-2 to make it 11 wins in a row
As the top favourites to win the tournament, Japan played Southeast Asian side Vietnam for the first time, which was also the first time in 17 years that the two teams met in the Asian Cup, when Japan defeated Vietnam 4-1.
Now the strength of both teams has improved, of course, Japan has jumped to the strongest level in Asia with the help of many European internationals, and has completed a comprehensive suppression in the face of Vietnam.
In the 11th minute of the opening game, Takumi Minamino took the lead for Japan, and then Vietnam counterattacked, Nguyen Dinh North and Fan Junhai scored one goal each to complete the 2-1 comeback and put Japan in a desperate situation.
Before the end of the first half, Takumi Minamino and Keito Nakamura scored together to help Japan overtake from 1-2 to 3-2. In the second half, Kenei Kubo assisted Ueda Kiyo to score a goal to help Japan seal a 4-2 victory.
After the victory, Japan continued to maintain an unbeaten record against Vietnam in history, with 5 wins and 1 draw, while maintaining a winning record in the last 5 games against Asian teams, scoring a total of 25 goals and averaging a minimum of 5 goals per game.
According to the schedule, Japan will win their next game against Iraq and advance to the knockout round one round early, of course, the team's minimum goal is to win the championship for the fifth time in team history.
Hong Kong, China lost 1-3 to the United Arab Emirates and missed the opportunity
The UAE hosted the last Asian Cup, which ended in fourth place, but now the overall strength has declined, giving Hong Kong a chance to cause an upset. This is Hong Kong's return to the Asian Cup for the first time in 56 years, and the team hopes to make a new breakthrough.
In the 31st minute, Zhou Yuande handball in the penalty area, and then was awarded a yellow point package, Alamiri took the penalty kick to help the UAE lead 1-0.
In the 49th minute, Chan Siu-kwan scored a goal to help Hong Kong, China equalize 1-1, and the team scored in the Asian Cup again after 56 years. In the 52nd minute, Sultan scored from the bottom of the line to give the UAE a 2-1 lead again, and scored another penalty in the final minute. After that, Hong Kong, China fought back frantically, but finally failed to equalize.
Previously, Hong Kong, China lost all 2 times against the United Arab Emirates, both of which were 0-4 defeats, and now they have fallen for the third time in a row. At the same time, Hong Kong, China also continued a big curse, that is, it participated in 11 games in the Asian Cup four times, and won 3 draws and 8 defeats.