At 21 o'clock on April 19, Beijing time, in the second round of the group stage of the 2024 U23 Asian Cup, the U23 national football team will usher in a key battle to qualify, against the old rival South Korea. In the first round of the game, the U23 national football team lost 0-1 to the 10-man Japanese team, and is currently at the bottom of the points. South Korea, on the other hand, beat the UAE 1-0 before the final game and are currently at the top of the table. In this round, the Japanese team will play against the United Arab Emirates team, once the Japanese team wins and wins 2 consecutive victories, and the U23 national football team cannot win against the South Korean team, it is very likely to be out of the group early.
Historically, the U23 national football team has played 13 Asian Cup group stage games, with only one win and 12 losses. The only victory was in the first round of the U23 Asian Cup group stage on home soil in 2018, when the U23 national football team played against Oman, and defeated Oman 3-0 with Wei Shihao's 1 pass and 1 shot and goals from Yang Liyu and Li Xiaoming, which is also the only victory of the national football team in the U23 Asian Cup so far. However, in the subsequent game, the national football team lost 0-1 to Uzbekistan, and the only bright spot was that Wei Shihao's long-distance run before the end finally hit the goal frame, which was regrettable. In the last round, the national football team lost to Qatar 1-2, and missed the promotion with 1 win and 2 losses in the group stage.
Judging from all aspects, the national football team has a very small chance of winning against the South Korean team, and there is a high probability of early exit. In the 2019 Asian Youth Championship qualifiers, the national youth team led by Tao Qianglong, the current captain of the U23 national football team, lost 1-4 to the South Korean team and missed the Asian Youth Championship. Now that China and South Korea are playing each other again, the prospects of the U23 national football team are not optimistic.
In the first two games of this round, the favorite Australian team lost 0-1 to the Indonesian team, which caused a big upset in this round. Before the Asian Cup, Australia defeated Iraq 2-1, drew 1-1 with Egypt and drew 2-2 with South Korea.
The Indonesian team, which has naturalized many players, is undoubtedly the dark horse of this tournament. In the 45th minute of the game, Zhou Yaan assisted Tegu to score the only goal of the game, and finally the Indonesian team defeated the Australian team 1-0, and is currently beating the Australian team, ranking second in the group, and the Australian team is at the bottom of the group.
In the other match in the same group, hosts Qatar took on Jordan. In the 40th minute of the game, Yazidi scored a goal, and the Qatar team led 1-0. In the 52nd minute, Haji scored a penalty and Jordan equalized. In the 103rd minute, Manay scored the winning goal. In the end, the Qatar team defeated the Jordan team 2-1 to win two consecutive victories and advance to the qualification.
Judging from this year's U23 Asia, Southeast Asian teams have improved rapidly, especially the Thai team defeated the Iraqi team, the Vietnamese team defeated the Kuwait team 3-1, and even the Indonesian team was able to beat the Australian team, and the performance of the national football team was indeed emotional. (Xiong Yixuan)