China News Service, Beijing, January 24 (Xinhua) On the 23rd local time, Group C of the Qatar Asian Cup concluded its final two games.
The Iranian team defeated the UAE team 2:1, and the two ranked top two in the group and qualified together; the Palestinian team defeated the Hong Kong team of China 3:0 and advanced to the Asian Cup knockout rounds for the first time.
In the match between Iran and the United Arab Emirates, Azmoun successfully connected with Taremi twice and helped Taremi score twice.
In the 26th minute, Azmon kept passing the ball and provided assists. Taremi pushed forward and scored.
In the 65th minute, Azmoun broke into the penalty area after stealing the ball. Taremi followed up and scored again after receiving the pass from the former.
The UAE wasted a great scoring opportunity in the second half.
In the 64th minute, UAE player Gassani made a penalty kick, but his subsequent penalty kick was saved.
In the stoppage time of the second half, Gassani made up for it and scored from the far corner of the penalty area.
In the end, the Iranian team defeated the UAE team 2:1. The latter surpassed the Palestinian team in goal difference with Gassani's goal and retained the second position in the group.
The Hong Kong team played against the Palestinian team in the final round.
In the 13th minute of the game, Palestinian player Batat sent a high-quality cross from the right, and Dabagh scored a header in front of the goal, giving the Palestinian team the lead.
In the 49th minute, Kumbar scored with a header, helping the Palestinian team expand the score to 2:0.
In the 61st minute, the Palestinian team launched a quick counterattack. Tamer hit the crossbar with a long shot, and Dabagh rushed to score a supplementary shot.
The Hong Kong team received a penalty kick in the second half of stoppage time, but Everton hit the crossbar.
In the end, the Palestinian team defeated the Hong Kong team of China 3:0.
After this battle, the Palestinian team ranked third with 1 win, 1 draw, and 1 loss in the group stage, with 4 points. It scored 5 goals and lost 5 goals. The Palestinian team's points have surpassed the Chinese team, which is third in Group A.
In Group D, which has not yet played the final round of games, the third place in the group will be between the Japanese team and the Indonesian team.
If there is a winner between the two, the third place will get 3 points. If there is a draw, the Indonesian team will be ranked third due to a goal difference disadvantage (-1).
Compared with the third place in Group D, the Palestinian team will occupy the points or goal difference advantage, rank among the three best-performing groups, and lock in the qualifying seat.
This is also the first time that the Palestinian team has broken out of the Asian Cup group stage and entered the knockout rounds.
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