Looking back at the 2004 Asian Cup, if there had been VAR, the result might have been different.

In 2004, the Asian Cup first came to China and was held in Beijing, Jinan, Chongqing and Chengdu. The number of teams participating in the Asian Cup has also expanded from 12 to 16. 16 teams are divided into four grades, with China as the first seed team together with Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia, and the rest teams will be graded according to FIFA rankings.

China is in Group A, and its opponents are Bahrain, Indonesia and Qatar. The list of China's 23 players is as follows: goalkeeper: Liu, defender: Xu Yunlong, Li Weifeng, Zheng Zhi, Sun Xiang, Sun Jihai, Ji, Zhang Yaokun and Wei Xin; midfielder: Li Ming, Zhao Junzhe, Shao Jiayi, Yan Song, Li, Zhou Haibin and Zheng Bin.

There are several notable places in this list. Li Ming, a 34-year-old veteran, returned to the national team after failing to participate in the 2002 World Cup, winning the trust of Ali Han, the main striker on the right. Shao Jiayi, who lives in Europe, was called up to the national team shortly after being seriously injured. However, the number of strikers is scarce, and Ali Han only recruited four strikers. Surprisingly, the little-known Zhang Shuo can also be selected for the national team.

In the first round against Bahrain, the host team, China, actually fell behind twice, but in difficult circumstances, the team struggled to equalize the score to 2-2. After the game, the voice of insulting the national football resounded through the sky. In the second round, the national football team faced its favorite Southeast Asian opponent (now the Southeast Asian team can't handle it). The national football team beat the opponent cleanly 5-0, and Shao Jiayi scored twice, which established his position as a center in the midfield. In the third round, Qatar must win to qualify. Xu Yunlong, who started the Asian Cup for the first time, headed the goal and finally beat his opponent 0-0 with 65438+. China made it to the quarter-finals.

1/4 final, old rivals Iraq and China won the penalty twice in a row, and Zheng Zhi scored twice. Together with the first penalty from Bahrain, Zheng Zhi has scored three penalties in this Asian Cup. At that time, he was praised by the media as the king of penalty kicks. His skill and calmness on penalty kicks were invisible to China players, but in that year, 1 1.65438. In the end, China beat Qatar 3-0 and entered the semi-finals. Although the Iraqi team that played against the Olympic team only reached the quarterfinals in the Asian Cup, at the Sydney Olympic Games that year, the Iraqi team won the bronze medal, and the first card in the team was Eunice, the bitter national football player.

In the semi-final against the powerful Iranian team, Shao Jiayi took the lead in seizing the opportunity to score, and then the Iranian team equalized the score. The two teams fought 0-0 in 120 minutes, and the game entered a cruel penalty shootout. Zheng Zhi took the first penalty, and the penalty was steady. The opponent also made a penalty of 1 right 1. Zhao Junzhe's shot hit the post, and the opponent made another free throw, 1 2; Li Jing, who came off the bench, made a free throw, and the opponent continued to punish 2-3; Sun Xiang, a 22-year-old boy, is the fourth player of the national football team. Sun Xiang resisted the pressure and volley broke the door. The opponent's shot hit the post and the two teams fought 3-3. In the crucial fifth round, Shao Jiayi made a steady penalty. After the penalty, he was very excited and said hello to China fans. Under pressure, the last player of the Iranian team took the penalty with an extremely low-quality spoon and was bravely saved by Liu. China finally beat Iran 5-4 (penalty 4-3) and entered the final. This is 1984 Asian Cup.

In 2002, 22-year-old Zheng Zhi won the Chinese Footballer of the Year, and he still holds the record of the youngest Chinese Footballer of the Year. In the 2004 Asian Cup, Zheng Zhi is undoubtedly the core of the team. As the center of the front court in the club, he was placed in the central defender position by Ali Han, and partnered with Li Weifeng. They are quite complementary, one is marking people, the other is stealing, the other is steady defense and the other is frontal defense.

Unfortunately, Li Weifeng, who has been fighting with a broken rib, failed to participate in the final. After getting the news, the final opponent, Japan, screamed in the locker room.

I don't need to say more about the final. Japan scored the first goal, and then Li Ming equalized the score. But not long after, Nakazawa Tomohide scored a goal by handball, but it was awarded. China, which had to attack with all its might, was finally punished after Li Yi wasted an excellent opportunity, and was scored by his opponent before the last game. In the end, China/KLOC lost 0-3 and missed the Asian Cup.

At that time, the Japanese team had surpassed the China team. However, due to the start of the competition in July and August, many Japanese players in Europe did not come back, and the national football team also recalled all the players in order to win the local Asian Cup, so the strength of the two teams has changed, and the gap is not big. Unfortunately, Sun Jihai, who was still playing in the Premier League, was not appreciated by Ali Han and had to be a substitute. The main right-back is Wei Xin, who is not famous. Many years later, we are still thinking that if there had been VAR, the final result might have been different!