The Japanese head coach took the initiative to shake hands, and Ma Ning's Asian Cup performance conquered the fans and is expected to officiate the final

I never expected that the Chinese would participate in the knockout round of the Asian Cup in such a way. In this Asian Cup, the performance of the Chinese team can be said to be very bad, but the Chinese referees have played well in this series, in the words of the "Beijing Youth Daily", the four Chinese referees are now away from the final of the Asian Cup, may only be the last step, which is a bit surprising.

Among them, Ma Ning, the referee, is the most impressive, in fact, due to many complex reasons, Ma Ning's reputation among domestic fans is not good, but Ma Ning's law enforcement in continental competitions such as the Asian Cup is very satisfying. He had officiated two games in the group stage, and then in the just-concluded quarter-finals between Iran and Japan, he was the referee and delivered a satisfactory answer.

Especially in the last moments of the game, the foul of Japanese player Akira Itakura made Ma Ning award a penalty without hesitation. This penalty is indeed not controversial, but generally speaking, in such an important game and such a critical final moment, as a referee dares to blow a penalty directly, which really reflects the decisiveness of a referee and a clear judgment of the actual situation of the game. The elimination of Japan was a bit of a surprise, there were a lot of factors, but there was no miscalculation. Even, Ma Ning also let go of the handball in the penalty area of Japanese player Hidemasa Morita in the game, so even if Japan is wronged, they should not have any dissatisfaction.

In addition to Ma Ning, several other Chinese referees Fu Ming, Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng also did a very good job in the enforcement of the Asian Cup.

However, Ma Ning is not necessarily sure to be the referee of the Asian Cup final, which is not to say that he is a problem of ability, but the law enforcement candidates for the final depend more on the geographical location of the final team. In the last Asian Cup final, Qatar and Japan faced off against each other, but the referee was from Central Asia, because the two finalists were West Asia and East Asia. According to the current situation, the South Korean team has a high probability of entering the final, and there will definitely be a West Asian team in the final, so it is unlikely that Ma Ning will officiate the final, and if South Korea falls in the semi-finals, then this is a "good" for Ma Ning.

It is worth mentioning that after Japan was eliminated by Iran, the head coach of the Japanese team, Mori Hoichi, took the initiative to shake hands with the referee Ma Ning and other members of the referee team. On the other hand, the South Korean team, in the previous group stage, Ma Ning gave the South Korean team a number of yellow cards, and the South Korean media and fans ridiculed Ma Ning after the game, but in fact, there was no problem with Ma Ning's blowing penalty in that game, and the South Korean team also suffered a fine from the AFC.

In fact, Ma Ning, as the top referee in China, although he is questioned by fans in China, the AFC and FIFA still recognize him very much, and Ma Ning also participated in the World Cup in 2022, according to his performance, he may also enforce the law in the next 2026 World Cup. The fan jokingly said: "Ma Ning has fulfilled the dream of participating in the World Cup for China." ”