Saudi Arabia suffer shock defeat by China at 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup

Saudi Arabia’s hopes of successfully defending their AFC U-20 Asian Cup title hang in the balance after a shock 2-0 defeat at the hands of China in the second round of games in Group D on Monday.

Despite dominating possession and creating plenty of chances, two sucker-punch second-half goals left the young Green Falcons with much to do if they are to reach the quarter-finals.

They sit in third place in the group after two games, level with China on three points but with an inferior goal difference. Now everything depends on what happens on Thursday when Saudi Arabia take on Japan, who top the group with six points after defeating Kyrgyzstan earlier on Monday.

A combination of clinical Chinese finishing and some excellent goalkeeping from Li Hao denied Saleh Al-Mohammadi’s team in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.

In their opening group game, China scored early against Japan but ended up losing 2-1. They were unable to replicate that good start on Monday, although Liu Haofan’s early snapshot from the left of the six-yard box did look to be heading into the top corner before Osama Al-Mermesh pulled off the save.

After 16 minutes, Abdullah Radif, who scored the goal that secured the Kingdom’s 1-0 win over Kyrgyzstan in their opening game, managed to get past the goalkeeper but the striker was so far out on the left, and the angle so tight, his attempt was always unlikely to end up in the net.

Saudi Arabia were starting to dominate, however, and just after the half-hour mark, Musab Al-Juwayr’s free-kick had the Chinese goalkeeper scrambling but the ball went just over. Seconds later, Yaseen Al-Zubaidi’s low shot from inside the area was blocked by defender Zhang Yixuan.

The deadlock was very nearly broken six minutes