China team needs to recover from scandal, still has chance at Asian Cup

The Chinese team continued to disappoint in their opening match against Tajikistan on the evening of January 13 within the framework of the 2023 Asian Cup, when they were held to a 0-0 draw by their opponent.

Notably, Tajikistan is ranked 106th in the world, 27 places behind coach Aleksandr Jankovic and his team. However, Tajikistan was the team that played better with 20 shots in the whole match, overwhelming the Chinese team.

Although Xu Xin and his teammates rose up in the last 20 minutes with dangerous scoring situations, including Zhu Chenjie's goal that was denied by the referee in the 80th minute after consulting VAR, overall, this was still a performance below expectations for the Chinese team.

The Chinese team (orange shirt) is inferior to Tajikistan

In the situation where Zhu Chenjie put the ball into the Tajikistan net, this player scored in a legal position, without letting the ball touch his hand, without colliding with the opposing team's goalkeeper. However, the referee consulted the slow-motion video and determined that Jiang Guangtai, another Chinese player, had committed a foul when he prevented the Tajikistan defender from taking defensive action.

In this blocking situation, Jiang Guangtai was in an offside position (behind the Tajikistan goalkeeper, just above one opponent defender), which means the referee's decision to cancel the goal was correct.

The Chinese team's morale was down after the goal was not recognized, this is a dangerous sign for coach Jankovic and his team.

Chinese football is rocked by a bribery scandal involving former head coach Li Tie. In an anti-corruption documentary on CCTV (China’s state television), Li Tie said he paid nearly $421,000 in bribes to secure his position as head coach of the Chinese national team and helped fix matches while managing the club.

Tajikistan played impressively

According to the documentary, the 46-year-old former player asked Wuhan Zall Club - where Li Tie was the coach - to intervene on his behalf with the Chinese Football Association (CFA), promising to repay him. The club paid 2 million yuan (US$281,000) to bribe Chen Xuyuan, who was then the CFA President and is currently under investigation for corruption.

Li Tie also said that he personally bribed the CFA Secretary General with 1 million yuan. He then "returned the favor" to Wuhan FC by calling up 4 players to the national team, even though they were not qualified.

The scandal is a heavy blow to Chinese football, which has suffered from instability in recent years as the Chinese Super League (CSL) has declined, investment money has dried up, and a number of stars have left. The Chinese national team has also performed inconsistently, being eliminated from many major tournaments.

The 2023 Asian Cup is expected to be an event for Chinese football to "heal". Coach Jankovic and his team are in a group that is not too difficult, with only Qatar considered strong, while Tajikistan and Lebanon are both weaker. However, the draw with Tajikistan once again shows that the Chinese team still has too many loopholes.

Table A situation after the first round

In the next round, the Chinese team will face Lebanon, while Qatar will face Tajikistan. In the context that the host Qatar has a clear chance of winning, the Chinese team will have to defeat Lebanon. If they win all 3 points, Xu Xin and his teammates will be more relaxed, as they only need 1 point in the last round to continue, and even if they lose, they still have a chance because being in the group of the best third-placed teams will still have a ticket to continue. But if they do not win, the difficulties will pile up.

Therefore, the match with Lebanon will determine the direction of the Chinese team in this tournament, or even the fate of Chinese football in the near future. Coach Jankovic and his students need a boost to see the dawn after the dark night.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-tuyen-trung-quoc-can-guong-day-sau-be-boi-co-hoi-o-asian-cup-van-con-185240114100825499.htm