The quarterfinals of the Asian Cup are released, and the biggest dark horse is the team that has beaten the national football team
Chao News client reporter Ying Luyang
In the early hours of this morning, Beijing time, with Iran's 5-3 victory over Syria in a penalty shootout, the one-eighth match of the Asian Cup came to an end. The top eight spots in this Asian Cup have been decided: Tajikistan, Jordan, Australia, South Korea, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Japan and Iran. These eight teams will also compete for the semi-finals of the Asian Cup from tomorrow.
The picture comes from the Internet
In the final quarter-finals, there were climactic strong conversations, thrilling penalty shootouts, and miraculous reversals. Looking back at the last eight games, quite a few teams have been impressive.
The biggest dark horse: Tajikistan
Tajikistan coach Shegert was lifted in celebration by the players. Source: Visual China
Before the Asian Cup began, few people could have imagined that a team making its debut in the Asian Cup would be able to reach the quarter-finals in one go, and Tajikistan did just that.
In the early morning of January 29, Beijing time, Tajikistan and the United Arab Emirates, which had fought for 120 minutes, finally dragged the game into a penalty shootout with a score of 1-1. This time, Lady Luck favored the "new army", and Tajikistan had the last laugh when they beat their opponents 5-3 on penalties.
As the opponent of the national football team in the same group, in the first group game with the national football team, this team showed a positive desire to attack. In the first half, Tajikistan besieged the national football team almost in the half, and if it weren't for the slight lack of ability of several forwards to seize opportunities, the game would have lost its suspense.
Before the do-or-die clash with Lebanon in the group stage, Tajikistan's national leader Momali Rahmonti, who was on a state visit to Qatar, went to comfort and encourage his team, and they won in a hard-fought battle that bordered on tragedy. In stoppage time, Tajikistan led 2-1 and both teams were almost at the limit of their fitness. In the eighth minute of stoppage time, Tajikistan captain Akhtam Nazarov suffered a calf cramp, and in order not to delay the game, he propped himself up and moved to the sideline.
Tajikistan's Asian Cup journey continues, and it remains to be seen how far this tenacious dark horse can go.
The team with the most regrets: Saudi Arabia
South Korea's head coach Jurgen Klinsmann celebrates the victory with his players. Source: Xinhua News Agency
The showdown between Saudi Arabia and South Korea is undoubtedly the highlight of the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup. Not only are both teams in the top five teams in Asia, but both have star managers.
In this game, the strength of the two teams can be said to be basically equal, and the South Korean team is facing a lot of additional external pressure. South Korea drew 3-3 with Malaysia, the weakest team in the group, in the final round of the Asian Cup, which led to suspicions that they were deliberately trying to avoid favourites Japan in the round of 16. If you pick an opponent and overturn, then the ridicule that greets the Korean team will come like a tide.
According to statistics, the coaches of the two teams, Jurgen Klinsmann and Mancini, have played each other 8 times in their playing days, and Mancini has the upper hand with 5 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, and this time they met in the coaching era, and in the end, the German, who was more lucky, led the team to a thrilling penalty shootout to achieve the final victory.
It is worth mentioning that when Saudi Arabia was 3-4 down from a penalty kick, Saudi coach Mancini turned around and left the pitch and returned to the dressing room before South Korea striker Hwang Hee-chan scored the last penalty, which also sparked fierce criticism from the Saudi media and fans.
After reaching the final in 2007, the West Asian Green Falcon has missed the top eight in four consecutive Asian Cups.
The most dramatic matchup: Iraq vs Jordan
Iraqi striker Hussein imitates Jordanian players "eating" to celebrate. Source: Visual China
Before this game, the Iraqi team was in quite hot form. In the group stage, they beat the favourites Japan to win three consecutive victories and advance to the knockout stage as the group winners. Ayman Hussain leads the scorers with five goals in three games.
Looking back at the game, the gears of fate seemed to start spinning from Hussein, the team's leading scorer, who was sent off the field for accumulating two yellows and one red.
In the 76th minute of the game, Hussein scored a goal to help the Iraqi team overtake the score 2-1. After the goal, the emotional Iraqi striker ran off the pitch to celebrate with the fans, and continued to celebrate after returning to the pitch imitating the Jordanian team's "eating" action. However, the team experienced joy and sorrow before they could recover from the joy of scoring.
The referee showed the Iraqi striker his second yellow card of the game for allegedly "over-celebrating". After Hussein was sent off, Iraq could only fight with ten men.
In stoppage time in the second half, the Jordan team, which was behind the score, blew the horn of counterattack, scored two goals in two minutes, miraculously completed a desperate comeback, and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Jordan's best result in the Asian Cup is the quarter-finals, and their opponent in the quarter-finals will be Tajikistan, who are reaching the Asian Cup for the first time. Whoever has the last laugh will set a new record for the best result in team history.
Asian Cup 1/4 Finals Schedule (Beijing Time):
February 2 19:30 Jordan VS Tajikistan
2 February 2 23:30 South Korea VS Australia
February 3, 19:30 Iran VS Japan
February 3 23:30 Qatar VS Uzbekistan
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