On this day: Beijing riot follows China’s loss to Japan in 2004 AFC Asian Cup final
- Supporters hurl abuse and bottles at riot police outside Workers’ Stadium after controversial 3-1 defeat to the title-holders
- Tensions build before the game with players and politicians calling for calm
It is fair to say tensions were running high at Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium on August 7, 2004, when the hosts met rivals Japan in the AFC Asian Cup Final.
The visitors were the title-holders and had beaten China in the semi-finals in Beirut four years earlier on the way to lifting the trophy. They then won the next two meetings before the showpiece in Beijing, winning in the EAFF Finals and at the Asian Games.
It is an understatement to say that China and Japan have a long-standing history and some of that was reflected in the patriotic home crowd in the Chinese capital, who were there to watch the country’s first AFC Asian Cup final in two decades.
'”’Kill! Kill! Kill!' the Chinese fans yelled. Or, echoing a patriotic song from another era, they shouted, roughly: ‘May a big sword chop off the Japanese heads!’” wrote The New York Times in its match report.
The tournament had not been an easy ride for the holders. Local media reported that fans had surrounded the Japanese team bus in Chongqing, the Republic of China’s wartime capital under Japanese occupation during the Second Sino-Japanese War.