Asian Games: China footballers suffer ‘glorious humiliation’ after 4-3 defeat by Saudi Arabia
The mainland under 23 side were ‘smashed to a billion pieces’ by going 4-0 down in their last 16 match before scoring three times in the final 10 minutes
China’s men bowed out of the Asian Games football competition in “glorious humiliation” after losing 4-3 to Saudi Arabia in the round of 16.
The Saudis went 4-0 up after one hour but produced a stunning comeback, scoring three goals in the final 10 minutes. But their urgency came too late as they ran out of time and out of the tournament.
Beijing-based Titan Sports called it a “glorious humiliation” after they were “smashed to a billion pieces” by the Saudis’ earlier onslaught.
Haroune Camara scored a hat-trick with goals in the 16th, 33rd and 60th minutes at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium with Saad Al-Selouli hitting Saudi Arabia’s second goal.
Yao Junsheng sparked an unlikely China comeback in the 80th minute with Huang Zhichang making it 4-2 with two minutes left and Wei Shihao scoring their third five minutes into time added on
“They play high balls into our defence and it is difficult for our players to adjust,” said China coach Massimiliano Maddaloni, who is likely to make way for a big-name coach as China target the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. “We had many opportunities to score but we couldn’t get a goal when we needed it.”
In another last 16 match, United Arab Emirates beat hosts Indonesia 4-3 on penalties after their match finished 2-2 after regulation and extra time, while North Korea beat Bangladesh 3-1.
In the women’s competition, Hong Kong were beaten 5-0 by South Korea in the quarter-finals while Japan overcame Malaysia 1-0. China play Thailand on Saturday.
