The Asian Cup has once again ignited football frenzy, and this tournament can be called a feast of plot reversal. In the final round of the group stage, Iraq relied on their tenacious fighting spirit to beat defending champions Saudi Arabia 2-1 to win the group top. Such a dramatic result once again confirms that football can never be separated from the surprise and passion of the underdog.
The war is raging, and there will be gains under determination. Soon after the game, Iraq scored under the siege of the opponent's iron bucket formation, which made the whole audience into excitement. As the defending champions, Saudi Arabia have been in good form in the previous two rounds, but who would have expected them to be embarrassed in the decisive game?
Just when people thought that the Saudis would seal the victory, the Iraqis launched another frantic counter-attack, gritting their teeth and fighting tenaciously to finally win a penalty in the second half to make it 1-0. The fans raised their arms and cheered, and the Saudis were dumbfounded. However, the turmoil was not over, as Saudi Arabia were awarded a penalty and Abdullah levelled the score to a 1-1 draw.
Once upon a time, it was expected that the two sides would once again be at a stalemate, but the Iraqis ruthlessly poked a hornet's nest. Later in the second half, they launched another powerful attack and finally found the ball through the opponent's goal in front of the court to make it 2-1.
In the final sprint, the Saudis launched a frantic offensive, but unfortunately their luck was too gloomy, and they missed many chances to win. When the horn of the last charge sounded, Saudi Arabia could only do their best in the dilemma of ten men, but in the end it was unable to recover and unfortunately lost 2-1.
Outside the arena, the jubilation of the Iraqi legion ignited the fire of pride across the country, and people took to the streets to sing their praises and celebrate the hard-won victory. For Saudi Arabia, this is undoubtedly a heavy blow, but fortunately, they still successfully entered the quarterfinals and continued their hopes of winning the championship.
In another highlight battle, Thailand and Tajikistan staged a defensive battle. Although Thailand was stronger than their opponents, they were unable to make it to their best in this life-and-death battle, and finally lost 0-1 and left the game in disgrace.
As the saying goes, only perseverance can achieve the ultimate victory. Although Tajikistan is slightly inferior, with their tenacious and unyielding fighting spirit, they completely opened the cold box, and finally in a cruel kick, Sarovmanu stabbed the fatal blow with a single knife to help the team achieve the first victory of this Asian Cup.
These dramatic results once again detonated the heat of the field. At the end of the group stage, the quarter-finals were finally decided, with Qatar, South Korea, Iraq, Indonesia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Vietnam being the lucky winners. Among them, the battle between South Korea and Japan and the battle between Qatar and Indonesia are already certain and exciting. As for the remaining two matchups, they will need to wait until the final round of Group D to be decided.
Although the Chinese Olympic Games ended in the group stage, their 2-1 victory over the United Arab Emirates in the final round at least drew a strong end for themselves. But then again, the overall performance of the National Olympic Games is really too unsatisfactory.
As the hope for the future of Chinese football, their clumsy performances on the field are really sighing. In the five years that Cheng Yaodong has been coaching, the National Olympic Games have not only missed the Olympic Games, but even the Asian Cup has stopped in the group stage, which really makes the future prospects of Chinese football stretched.
However, the road is long and the line is coming. We still have confidence in the future of Chinese football, and we also look forward to the great progress of this group of young people in the coming days.
Overall, this Asian Cup has allowed us to witness too many magical moments, with the Iraqis defending their dignity with tenacity and Tajikistani creating miracles with tenacity. Although Chinese football has stopped for the time being, we have reason to believe that as long as we persevere and work hard, one day, Chinese football will also take off again, and the day when the Chinese sons and daughters sing praises will not be too far away. Let's wait and see!