China won the trophy at the Women’s Asian Cup after a dramatic final and turned over South Korea with 3-2. Yuyi Xiao scored in the last minute of the match to give the record ninth-titles for the Chinese football team.
Despite that South Korea was making its first-ever appearance in a Women’s Asian Cup final, the team had a great chance for winning the trophy after having an advantage of 0-2 in the half-time. Despite being two goals behind South Korea in the first half, the Chinese women’s national football team scored three in the second half with two goals scored in just five minutes.
While the Chinese dominated possession in the first half, South Korea found the back of the net first. Choe Yu-ri was on the receiving end of a flying cross from Lee Geum-Min and made it 0-1 in the 27th minute. At the very and of the first half, So-Yun Ji scored for 0-2.
The second half started again with a dominance of the Chinese women, but they were not accurate enough in the final shot. However, in the 68th minute China was awarded with a penalty, which was converted by Jiali Tang into a goal and the result came to 1-2. Four minutes later, Jiali Tang provided an assist for Zhang Linyan, after having passed two Korean defenders, with Linyan’s header equalizing things to 2-2. However, neither of both teams was accurate in the final shot and the time was ticking to the end of the regular time. However, in the added-time the captain Shanshan Wang gave a pass behind the defenders to Yuyi Xiao who was alone in front of the South Korean goalkeeper Jung-Mi Kim, shooting perfectly in the right angle for the post and hit the net for 3-2.
“If faith has a color, it must be China red!”, said the Chinese Football Association as it congratulated the soccer girls over their epic game, nicknaming them “steel roses, the pride of China”, as countless soccer fans shed tears behind the scenes for the incredible feat that the Chinese women’s soccer team delivered on the night.
Thus, China won the trophy and the gold medals from the Women’s Asian Cup 2022, which is the ninth title for the team. Having won it in 1986, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2006 and 2022, they now have six more titles than any other nation. The win also reintroduces China to the top of women’s Asian football after 16 years.
