China's National Team Held To A Goalless Draw By Tajikistan In Qatar's 2023 Asian Cup First Match

Illustration - Football. (ANTARA PHOTO/Mohammad Ayudha/foc.)

JAKARTA - The Chinese national team was held to a draw by the debutant team Tajikistan without a goal in the first match of Group A of the 2023 Asian Cup Qatar. In the match which took place at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar, Saturday night WIB, Tajikistan picked up one point after holding China to a 0-0 draw. In the first half 15 minutes, Tajikistan immediately took the initiative to pressure the Chinese defense. The action of left-wing striker Alisher Dzhalilov almost endangered the Chinese goal guarded by Junling Yan. However, Dzhalilov's strike still hit a blockade from Jiang Guangtai. Seven minutes later, Dzhalilov stabbed into the Chinese defense but this time his shot was still caught by Junling Yan. Dzhalilov again spread terror in the defense of the team nicknamed The Dragon. In the 30th minute, Dzhalilov fired a left foot but Junling Yan was able to anticipate it well again. Until the first half whistle ended, Tajikistan had fired nine shots and two shots aimed at the net. While China was only able to open up two shots that had not yet targeted the net. Starting the second half, Tajikistan took the initiative to continue to penetrate the Chinese wall. Dzhalilov's shot still hit the defense from China and only resulted in a corner. In the 60th minute, China was now able to perform more out by controlling the rhythm of the game. Two substitutes Xu Xin and Zhang Yuning who replaced Wang Qiuming and Tan Long, seemed to take a new breath for China's attack line. In the 80th minute, through Zhue Chenjie's corner kick scheme, he was able to score a goal through a header after a chaos occurred in front of the Tajikistan goal. But the referee who checked the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) ruled out Chenjie's goal because Jiang Guang Tai had been in an offside position before.

Until the second half whistle ended, China and Tajikistan both failed to score and the 0-0 draw lasted. With this result, Qatar's hosts still lead the Group A standings with three points after winning 3-0 in the opener over Lebanon. Meanwhile, China and Tajikistan sequentially occupy 2nd and 3rd place in the standings by collecting one point. Line-up: China (3-5-2): 1-Yan Junling; 2-Jiang Guang Tai, 5-Zhang Linpeng, 19-Liu Yang; 3-Zhue Chenjie, 21-Liu Binbin, 26-Wang Qiuming, 18-Dai Wai-Tsun, 6-Wang Shangyuan; 11-Tan Long, 7-Wu Lei Coach: Aleksandar Jankovic Tajikistan (4-3-3): 1-Rustam Yatimov; 6-Vakhdat Khanonov, 19-Akhtam Nazarov, 2-Zoir Dzyahboev, 5-Manuchakir Safarov; 17-Ehson Panjshanbe, 14-Alisher Shukurov, 7-Parvizdhon Umarbayev; 10-Alisher Dzhalilov, 9-Rustam Soivov, 13-Amadoni Kamolov Coach: Petar Segrt