When the Chinese team defeated the United Arab Emirates 2:1, won the only victory in the U23 Asian Cup, won the third place in the group, and returned home, new news came from Qatar: Indonesia and Vietnam have reached the quarterfinals of the U23 Asian Cup!
Indonesia and Vietnam have both reached the quarterfinals? Especially Indonesia, the deepest memory in my memory is the last three kills of Vietnam, allowing Trussier to go home.
Not only did Indonesia beat Vietnam's face, but why do I think Chinese football is also hot?
In 1992, China easily defeated Indonesia 2-0 in the Asian Cup qualifiers with Guangdong United, and in 2000 the Chinese team won 4-0 in the Asian Cup in Lebanon. Perhaps the most impressive thing for Chinese fans is the scene that happened in Kunming Tuodong Stadium in 2001, when the Indonesian team led 1-0 in the first half and caused a "Milu dismissal" sound on the sidelines, but in the second half, the Chinese team was like a breakthrough after Yang Chen scored a goal desperately, and after winning 5-1, the group stage qualification was almost a foregone conclusion.
In recent years, it is no longer news that the Chinese youth football team has drawn or even been defeated in the match with Indonesia, and the Southeast Asian fish belly team in the past has unknowingly become a Southeast Asian football power.
This time, Indonesia and Vietnam have reached the quarterfinals, and our national Olympic team can only leave Qatar early, will everyone think that the national football team is in the group of death, while Indonesia and Vietnam are relatively well grouped?
Indonesia lost 0:2 to the host Qatar in the first game of the group stage, but in the second game, with only 36% of the ball possession, it defeated Australia 1:0, defeated Jordan 4:1 in the final game, and qualified with the host.
Vietnam defeated Kuwait 3-1 in the first game and Malaysia 2-0 in the second round, and Uzbekistan, the seeded team in the group, both locked their places in the top 8 one round in advance.
Vietnam have qualified for the last eight of the U23 Asian Cup three times in a row, with their best result being a runner-up finish in 2018.
Indonesia's continuous improvement has a lot to do with the use of naturalized players, both for the national team and for the U23s. This time, there are 4 naturalized players in the Indonesian team, and they form the central axis of the lineup, and the reuse of naturalized players by South Korean head coach Shin Tae-ryong has brought earth-shaking changes to this former fish belly team.
Whether it's the massive use of naturalized players, or other factors, what is visible to the naked eye is the improvement of the level of football, and they are still working hard and improving!
If one day the Chinese men's football team can't beat Indonesia (Vietnam doesn't talk about it, we have already lost), we should understand that in fact, we have lost a long time ago, not by accident in that game!