Fang Hao (front R) of China shoots during the men's football round of 16 match against Qatar at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Sept. 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)
China has reached the Asiad men's football quarterfinals for the first time since the Doha Asian Games in 2006.
HANGZHOU, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tao Qianglong scored an early goal to help China beat Qatar 1-0 in the men's football round of 16 at the Hangzhou Asian Games here on Wednesday, marking the country's return to the Asiad quarterfinals after Doha 2006.
In front of over 38,000 supporters, the home team broke the deadlock just three minutes into the match, when Tao headed home a perfect right cross from Fang Hao.
China had a control of the match with nine shots, while the away team only had one. The Chinese side went close to double their lead in the 57th minute, but Fang missed an open goal opportunity.
In the 89th minute, Zhang Wei penetrated into the box in a counterattack and fired a powerful shot onto the post, before Gao Tianyi's follow-up goal attempt was cleared from the goal line.
Jiang Shenglong (R) of China heads during the match. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)
Chinese defender Jiang Shenglong and Jassem Abdulsallam of Qatar were both sent off with direct red cards due to physical confrontation in the stoppage time. China's key midfielder Gao will also be suspended for the next round for yellow card accumulation.
In the quarterfinals, China will face tournament favorite South Korea, who thrashed Kyrgyzstan 5-1.
Elsewhere, DPR Korea and Iran edged Bahrain and Thailand respectively with 2-0, while Palestine lost 1-0 to Hong Kong, China.
The women's football matches on Wednesday witnessed DPR Korea triumph 10-0 over Singapore and Chinese Taipei edge Thailand 1-0. ■
