In the Asian Games men's football quarter-finals at the end of the occasion, four brave division stood out, successfully among the ranks of the top four of the Asian Games, the full sprint to the final gold medal to launch an onslaught. Among them, Hong Kong, China's breakthrough is particularly noteworthy, this team in the Asian soccer world known as the "soft persimmon" of the team, in the Asian Games for the whole of Asia has brought unprecedented surprise!
Anyone who knows a little bit about Asian soccer will be impressed by Hong Kong's image as a "prize-winning team". In the FIFA ranking, they are only located in the 148th place, undoubtedly is the real "fish belly" division. Many fans originally thought that the Hong Kong team's performance in the Asian Games was already the limit, however, the early withdrawal of Syria and Afghanistan from Group C made the Hong Kong team accidentally lock up a place in the round of 16 in advance. In the 1/8 final, Hong Kong won their first victory in the Asian Games against Palestine, and successfully advanced to the last 8!
However, in the quarter-finals, Hong Kong's opponent is Iran, a traditional Asian powerhouse. Iran is ranked 21st in the FIFA rankings and second in Asia, just behind Japan. Before the match, many fans predicted that Iran would easily beat Hong Kong and advance to the semi-finals. However, the result was unexpected!
Despite the fact that Hong Kong was the underdog throughout the match, they managed to withstand the fierce Iranian attack with their tenacious defense. In the 47th minute, after Hong Kong held out for half a game, they finally found a breakthrough. Through a long counter-attack, Poon Pui Hin received a header from a teammate inside the penalty area and took an overhead kick to break the deadlock and take a 1-0 lead for Hong Kong! Although Iran then launched a frantic counter-attack, the Persian Iron Knights were unable to find a good chance to break through the goal in the face of Hong Kong's tight defense, until the last minute of injury time, when the Iranian team struggled to turn the game around.
In the remaining three knockout matches, China, who had the home advantage, failed to achieve their pre-tournament goal of winning a medal as they went down 0-2 to South Korea. Japan, who played with an U22 squad, won 2-1 after 90 minutes of intense fighting against North Korea, with Yuta Matsumura's 80th minute penalty kick putting Japan through to the semifinals. The final quarter-final spot was claimed by Uzbekistan, who avenged last year's U23 Asian Cup final loss with a 2-1 win against Saudi Arabia!
I wish Hong Kong, China good luck and hope that this cold dark horse can go all the way through the Asian Games and bring the gold medal back to the motherland!
