China suffered a loss in the last match of the World Cup qualifiers as well. The picture is the scene of the loss before Oman. [AP=연합뉴스]
China, who had already failed to advance to the World Cup finals, lost their final match in the final qualifiers and shattered their pride.
China lost 0-2 to Oman in Group B of the Asian final qualifier for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which ended in Oman on the 30th (Korean time). With this, China finished fifth out of six teams with six points. It is a shabby record with only 1 win (3 draws and 6 losses) in 10 matches. During the final qualifying round, the command tower was replaced, but the atmosphere could not be reversed.
As a result, China postponed their qualification to the World Cup finals by four years. The last time China entered the World Cup finals was the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup. It was far from the World Cup for the next 20 years. In the meantime, China has spared no expense in investing in soccer to ‘play soccer’.
They also suffered a loss to Vietnam, which was the first Asian final stage in history. On the 1st of last month, he was embarrassed by losing 1-3 to Vietnam, which had been on a 7-game losing streak. Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo won the World Cup final qualifier for the first time in history by sacrificing China. At that time, Chinese fans also expressed their disappointment and anger at the performance of their national team. In the FIFA ranking, China (74th) is ahead of Vietnam (98th), and China has been undefeated in the Vietnam War for 66 years since 1956.
Meanwhile, in Group B, first-place Saudi Arabia (23 points) and second-placed Japan (22 points) secured qualification for the Qatar World Cup. Third-placed Australia (15 points) also had a chance to ride the last train to Qatar. Australia will advance to the play-offs (PO) with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), placed 3rd in Group A. Here is not the end. Australia will play a PO match between the 2nd and 3rd placed teams in the Asian final qualifier, and the winner will face the final competition for the World Cup with the 5th placed team in the South American qualifier in an intercontinental PO.
Reporter Pi Joo-young akapj@joongang.co.kr
