China News Service, Beijing, February 11th. In the Qatar Asian Cup final that ended in the early morning of the 11th, Beijing time, the host Qatar team defeated the "dark horse" Jordan team 3:1 and retained the cup championship.

  Image source: Asian Cup social media

　　As the defending champion, the Qatar team, which has the advantage of sitting at home, is one of the favorites to win the championship. The Jordanian team, ranked 87th in the world, suddenly emerged in this cup. In the semi-finals, they eliminated the South Korean team led by Asia's number one star Heung-min Son.

　　For Chinese fans, one of the highlights of this game is the referee. The main referee of this game is Ma Ning, the assistant referees are Zhou Fei and Zhang Cheng, and Fu Ming serves as the VAR referee. According to statistics, this is the first time that a Chinese referee has officiated in the Asian Cup final.

  Asian Cup final starting lineup picture source: Asian Cup social media

　　At the beginning of the game, the two teams attacked and defended very quickly. The Qatar team playing at home was more energetic, and the performance of the team's star player Afif was even more active.

　　In the 20th minute, Afif broke into the penalty area and fell down. Maning immediately awarded a penalty kick. Although Jordanian players stepped forward to protest, VAR replays showed that the defensive player did touch Afif's calf. Afif took the penalty kick and Qatar led 1:0.

　　After that, the pace of the game remained fast, with both sides daring to invest troops in the attack. As the first half entered stoppage time, Afif injured his knee. When he left the field for treatment, Jordan missed consecutive equalizer opportunities.

　　After entering the second half, the Jordan team, which was more integrated, gradually gained momentum, and the Qatar team was in turmoil in front of the goal. In the 67th minute, Yazan's powerful shot in the penalty area helped Jordan equalize the score.

　　However, immediately after, the Qatar team created a threat in the offense, and Ismail fell to the ground in the opponent's penalty area. After watching the VAR replay on the sidelines, Maning finally awarded a penalty kick. Afif scored in one stroke and once again changed the score on the field.

　　At the last moment of the game, Afif fell down after successfully breaking into the penalty area after countering offside. After VAR intervened, Maning was awarded a penalty kick for the third time in this game. Afif hit again to complete the "hat trick".

　　The score of 3:1 was maintained until the end, and the Qatar team defended the title as they wished.

  Son Heung-min in the game Picture source: Asian Cup social media

　　Looking at this Asian Cup, "balance" is a major feature, which also reflects that the current first-tier football teams in Asia are relatively close in strength.

　　For example, in the 14 knockout games before the final, except for Australia's 4:0 victory over Indonesia, Japan's 3:1 elimination of Bahrain, and Jordan's 2:0 victory over South Korea, the points difference in the other games during regular time was no more than One goal shows the close level of each team and the fierce competition.

　　Another example is that the Japanese team and the South Korean team are regarded as the favorites to win the championship. Both teams have a large number of well-known stars who have established a foothold in European clubs, and the value of the entire team is also far ahead of other opponents in Asia. However, in the end, neither of them won the group stage. The top two teams also failed to advance to the finals.

　　The Japanese team lost to the Iranian team 1:2 in the quarter-finals. Not only did the results fall far short of expectations, the Japanese team also encountered off-field troubles. Forward Jun Ito also quit the national team during the Asian Cup because of a sexual assault scandal. It can be described as a "lose-lose" on and off the field.

　　The South Korean team is further ahead than the Japanese team, but the road to promotion has been stumbling. The two knockout games before entering the semi-finals failed to end the battle within 90 minutes, and experienced two overtimes and a penalty shootout. In the semi-finals, the Korean team was defeated by the Jordan team 0:2 and was eliminated. After the game, there was a loud clamor in South Korea to replace coach Klinsmann. This also reflects that fans are not satisfied with the results and game content brought by his leadership of the team.

  National football team in the Asian Cup Picture source: Visual China

　　Among all 24 participating teams, the Chinese team finally ranked 18th, setting a new record for the worst Asian Cup record in team history. Although Asia has 8.5 places for the World Cup, it can be seen from this Asian Cup that it is difficult for the national football team to compete in the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

　　In March, the Chinese team will face the Singapore team at home and away in the World Cup preliminaries. If you want to enter the top 18, the national football team cannot afford to miss these two games. (over)