The herd is starting to thin out. 16 of Asia’s best football clubs remain in the Asian Games.
Highly-ranked teams such as Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and China have dominated the tournament so far. While in the middle of the pack, teams like India, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia make their case to belong in the upper echelon of Asia’s football elites.
Defending champions smell fresh blood
South Korea are once again dominating the Asian Games men’s football tournament. Whether it’s the Asian Games or the AFC, South Korea seems like they’re in a league of their own. They brought home the gold in the last two Asian games, and with the form that they are showing, they’re poised to win their third straight.
They started their 2023 Asian Games campaign with an unworldly performance against Kuwait. The Kuwaiti side couldn’t do anything to stop the Asian giants, as they were clobbered with a flurry of goals from the opening minutes up until injury time.
The match ended in a humbling 9-0 score line, one of the loftiest Asian Games 2023 results so far. But even though the Korean side demonstrated such a masterful performance, they are still keen on the bigger picture, and remain hungry for the title.
“We’ll pretend this match never happened,” Korea manager Hwang Sun-hong said after the game. It’s nice to win big but it could come back to haunt us later.” He added “We should take some confidence from this match and forget about everything else,”
Korea then blazed through Thailand and Bahrain in their next two games. They’re coming into the round of 16 with an impressive 16 total goals scored and zero goals conceded. The SBOTOP Asian Games 2023 betting odds rightfully had them as favourites to top their group. Hwang and his team are set to face off against Kyrgyzstan next.
Kyrgyzstan barely held on in Group F. They tallied a total of three points, winning one of their three matches and losing two. North Korea dominated Group F and came out of the group stages with nine points, winning all their matches.
It would be interesting to see what a determined Kyrgyzstan squad can do against a formidable South Korean team.
Home field advantage
Host team China are looking like a force to be reckoned with, as they topped Group A with impressive wins over India and Myanmar. They look like they’re in for a deep run in the tournament to take their first gold in tournament history in front of their home patrons.
China started their campaign with a dominant 5-1 win over India. The two sides were neck and neck in the first half of play. Gao Tianyi opened up the match with a goal for China in the 17th minute, while India’s Haul KP equalised right before halftime.
The home squad looked like a different animal after halftime. Backed up by the roars of the partisan crowd, China stepped on the gas and cannonballed their way to four goals, thrashing the Indian side, who had no answer for the unrelenting Chinese offence.
China picked up where they left off as they dominated over Myanmar during their next game. The home team closed the door early with persistent attacks on the Myanmar defence. China found the back of the net three times in a span of seven minutes. Dai Wai Tsun capped it off with the team’s fourth goal right before half time.
Bangladesh, however, were able to fend off the Chinese in their last match in Group A. Bangladesh held their own and finished the match with a 0-0 draw against top-seeded China.
Qatar will be the nation that takes a crack at China in the round of 16. Qatar have been a shaky team all throughout the tournament. They have yet to win a match as they got thrashed by Japan 1-3 in their opening match in group D, then ended their fixture with Palestine in a 0-0 draw.
Unless an upset is in order, China are expected to triumph over Qatar in the round of 16 and continue their championship bid in the quarterfinals.
Japan seek revenge
Like Qatar, Japan is bunched up in Group D. Unlike Qatar, Japan dominated. The Japanese squad towered above the competition in the early stages of the tournament. They finished atop Group D by winning every match in spectacular fashion.
After their defeat against South Korea in the 2018 Asian Games final, Japan is seeking redemption.
The 2010 gold medallists were scorching off the gates as they started their campaign with a goal in the 2nd minute of their opening match against Qatar, courtesy of Japanese forward Teppei Yachida. Kotaro Uchino doubled down for Japan in the 25th minute of the first half. Both Japan and Qatar found the back of the net in the second half, bringing the score line to 1-3 at full time.
Japan went on to quietly put away Palestine in a surgical 1-0 victory in Xiaoshan Sports Centre Stadium on Monday.
Japan are set to face a steady Myanmar side in the round 16 of the tournament. While Japan had swept their group, Myanmar vigilantly battled in theirs. The Burmese squad wrestled with the likes of China and India in Group A.
Myanmar, in three matches in the group stages, tallied a total of four points. They opened their campaign with a cool 0-1 win over a struggling Bangladesh squad. But they quickly came back to earth as they got demolished by a surging China team, handing them a 0-4 defeat.
The last chance Myanmar had to separate themselves from the other teams in Group A was by defeating India, a well-matched team for the Burmese side. India drew first blood in the 24th minute with a goal from their captain, Sunil Chhetri. But even being down a goal, Myanmar kept up the pressure, allowing them to equalise with a goal from substitute Yan Kyaw Htwe.The match ended with a 1-1 draw. Both teams garnered four points in the group stages and clinched their spot in the elimination rounds, but India progressed as the runner-up in Group A as they scored more goals than Myanmar in the tournament.
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