The recently ended U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, in the last game, the Chinese men's football team drew 0-0 with the Australian men's football team and advanced to the main match. This seems to be impeccable good news, but it has caused widespread controversy among netizens. Some fans believe that the "negative defense" during the game makes people question it, and some even accused the two teams of deliberately playing fake football. What is the truth? What details are hidden behind this game that you haven't paid attention to?
From the beginning of the game, the Chinese team adopted a strategy of steady defense and counterattack. Faced with Australia's strong offense, the Chinese team did not dare to take risks easily and maintained a very solid defense line. The players use all their strength to prevent the opponent from scoring, but they have hardly launched a threatening offense. Seeing that the Australian team's ball possession rate is always above 60%, fans have said, is this game lacking highlights?
For example, many fans commented on social media: "This game is completely defense, and there is no desire to attack at all. Even if both sides do not lose, it feels like they are 'acting'." This has caused many fans to doubt: Has the two teams reached some kind of tacit understanding long ago? Did they deliberately let the game go to a draw and advance together?
Unlike the Chinese team's defense, although the Australian team has always maintained a high ball possession rate, it seems helpless in the face of the Chinese team's intensive defense. Although they had enough time and opportunity, they never found a breakthrough. When fans watched this game, they found that the Australian team did not seem to be in a hurry to attack. Some even speculated that the Australian team's players might not have a strong desire to attack at all.
There is a big reason here, based on the pre-match points situation, both sides know that they can advance together by tied. Therefore, the Australian team's goal may be more to ensure that they are first in the group, rather than to try their best to win. Netizen commented: "The ball possession is dominant, but I am never in a hurry to score. It feels like a 'tact understanding'." However, the Australian team's performance in the game does not mean that they are not playing seriously, but their strategy forms a certain "balance" with the Chinese team's defense.
The dissatisfaction of Indian fans: Is there really a "false ball"?
After the game, the voices of Indian fans attracted widespread attention. They accused the Chinese team and Australia of "joining to play fake football", especially the Australian team of performing downward and uproaring the ball at the last moment of the game. After the video was circulated online, many fans expressed dissatisfaction and asked the AFC to conduct an investigation and thoroughly investigate the truth of the game.
However, the AFC responded quickly to the complaint, with the official statement that there was no abnormality in the game and that all competition procedures were compliant. In order to advance, the Chinese team did adopt a very strict defensive strategy, but this does not mean that there were any misconduct in the game.
Despite the controversy, it cannot be ignored that the Chinese men's football team finally advanced to the U23 Asian Cup as the second in the group with its outstanding defense and game strategy. This is also the sixth time that the Chinese men's football team has advanced to the main stage of this event. Five of the competitions have stopped in the group stage in history. This breakthrough means they have the opportunity to reach the quarterfinals.
From another perspective, although the result of this game may cause some controversy, it also proves that the Chinese team can remain calm at critical moments and take the initiative in advance. And this is the key ability they need to improve in future games: how to remain calm in unfavorable situations and maintain the team's cohesion and tactical discipline.
The result of this game, no matter how you look at it, has a positive side. The Chinese team played steadily in such a critical game and maintained the opportunity to advance, which is an important improvement in itself. For the team, the next thing they have to do is to continuously improve themselves, strive to create history in next year's U23 Asian Cup, and even reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
For fans, although it is controversial, this does not affect our expectations for the future of the Chinese team. After all, the competition is not just for the results, but also for the demonstration of team spirit and unremitting efforts. The Chinese men's football team has obviously taken a more determined step.
