China News Service, Beijing, January 19th: Title: Asian Cup: Australia qualified early and Palestine had an upset draw
China News Service reporter
On the 18th local time, the second round of the Asian Cup in Qatar continued.
The Australian team in Group B qualified early with a 1:0 victory over Syria. The Uzbekistan team in the same group defeated the Indian team 3:0 and temporarily ranked second in the group; the Palestine team in Group C drew with the powerful UAE team 1:1. , an upset.
Syria 0:1 Australia
In this Asian Cup, the Australian team, which has completed the replacement of old and new players, aims to win the championship.
Under the leadership of head coach Arnold, the "Kangaroos" not only still have excellent physical advantages in Asia, but also strengthened their foot skills. They defeated the Indian team 2:0 in the first round of the group stage.
The Syrian team had a goalless draw with Uzbekistan in the first round and is eager to win its first victory in this campaign.
After the opening, the Australian team quickly launched a high-position press in the frontcourt, won many set-piece opportunities, and relied on high-altitude balls to compete for points, threatening the Syrian team's goal several times.
In the first half, the Australian team had an advantage with nearly 70% of the ball possession rate, but basically surrounded and failed to attack the opponent's goal.
The situation is still dull when the two sides fight again.
The Australian team took the lead in personnel rotation and made adjustments on the offensive end.
In the 59th minute, Australian player Owen broke the deadlock with a shot in the penalty area.
The score of 1:0 remained until the end.
After this campaign, the Australian team, which has won two consecutive victories, has qualified ahead of schedule and became the second team to advance to the top 16 after the host Qatar team.
India 0:3 Uzbekistan
The Uzbekistan team has also completed a refresh and will compete in the Asian Cup with a new lineup.
In the earlier World Cup Asian qualifiers, they drew with the powerful Iran team 2:2.
In the previous four Asian Cups, the Uzbekistan team qualified from the group.
After experiencing a draw in the first game, the Uzbek team is eager to strive for three points in this campaign.
In the 4th minute, the Uzbek team got off to a dream start. Faizulaev scored with a header to open the scoring for the team. In the 18th minute, Sergeyev extended the lead with a supplementary shot.
Before halftime, the Uzbek team made a pass from the right, and Nasrulayev hit the goal post. Then he scored with a supplementary shot to help the team take a 3:0 lead.
Both sides made no achievements in the second half. The Indian team always lacked shooting opportunities and failed to score the first goal of this cup. It suffered two consecutive losses and ranked at the bottom.
It is also worth mentioning that the Chinese international-level referee Fu Ming served as the chief referee and joined two Chinese international-level assistant referees Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng to officiate the game.
Palestine 1:1 UAE
As a powerful team in Asia, the UAE team has been stable in recent years and has reached the semi-finals in the past two Asian Cups.
The Palestinian team is mediocre and has not won a single victory in the previous two Asian Cup participations. Although they scored the first Asian Cup goal in team history against Iran in the first round, they still lost 1:4 in the end.
For the Palestinian team, if it suffers a losing streak in this campaign, it will be difficult to escape the fate of being eliminated. However, in such a "life and death battle", the Palestinian team unexpectedly drew an opponent who was far stronger than itself.
In the 23rd minute, the UAE team made a pass from the right and Sudan scored with a header.
In the 37th minute, the UAE defender was sent off and the referee awarded a penalty kick, but the Palestinian team failed to score.
However, shortly after the start of the second half, the Palestinian team made a pass from the left, and the UAE player accidentally scored an own goal with a header in the penalty area, and the Palestinian team equalized the score.
In the end, the two sides drew 1:1.
The UAE team went from taking the lead to being equalized and missed the opportunity to qualify early. It also caused a major upset since the start of the game.
For the Palestinian team, which has only accumulated 1 point after two rounds, it still retains the possibility of qualifying.
In the final round, they will face Hong Kong, the fourth team in the group. If they win, they are still expected to advance as third in the group.
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