The first team to appear in the knockout stage was Japan, who faced Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals.

Shinji Kagawa performed quite well in this match, scoring twice and helping Japan beat Uzbekistan 3-2.

This was also his first goal in the Asian Cup.

Not long after the Japanese game had just ended, the Chinese team took to the field.

Their opponent was Jordan.

The final score was 2:1, China defeated Jordan and entered the semi-finals!

The scorer for China was Gao Lin, who also scored twice in the match, and the person who assisted him twice was Zhou Yi.

After the game, there was jubilation on the Chinese internet, celebrating China's return to the Asian Cup semi-finals after seven years. Some netizens joked that with Zhou Yi, Gao Lin, the Klinsmann, had really become Gao Lin, the Klinsmann, instead of Gao, the Airplane.

Zhou Yi's two assists to Gao Lin could almost be called "nanny assists," where the forward receiving the ball did not need any technical skill to score...

In four games, Gao Lin scored four goals, already the top scorer in the Chinese team.

Before Zhou Yi came, Gao Lin was more often burdened with tactical tasks rather than scoring ones. He was a fulcrum of China's attack in the frontcourt, with physique and skill, able to hold the ball and also create opportunities. Although he was a center forward, his range of movement in the frontcourt was also very large, he could be seen on the left, center, and right, and his attitude on the field was also very hardworking, running actively, somewhat like a model worker.

His characteristics were very consistent with Gao Hongbo's tactics that required the national team to play more ground coordination, so although Gao Lin had always been criticized for his poor shooting skills, in the national team, he was still a player favored by Gao Hongbo, who would always give him priority to start.

No one expected that after Zhou Yi came, Gao Lin suddenly became the top scorer!

Moreover, not only in the team, but also in this Asian Cup, Gao Lin is now tied for first place in the scorer list with South Korean player Koo Ja-cheol, with four goals.

On the assist chart, Zhou Yi is at the top with five assists, and no one can threaten his position... This performance at least shows that Zhou Yi is now a top Asian midfielder, even though he is only nineteen years old...

He will not be twenty until February of this year.

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The Chinese team, having reached the semi-finals, is only one step away from the finals.

As long as they can defeat their semi-final opponent... Australia.

Although Chinese fans and the media are as happy as if it were the New Year, Klopp certainly doesn't want to hear the news.

In addition to Zhou Yi, Shinji Kagawa's Japanese team also reached the semi-finals.

This means that two of his key players will have to play the entire Asian Cup before they can return to the team...

Even if China and Japan both lose in the semi-finals, they still have to play a third-place play-off!

The only thing that might make Klopp feel a little relieved is that... the third-place play-off is played one day earlier than the final, so if the two players' teams participate in the third-place play-off, they can return one day earlier...

But by that time it will be January 28th, and the whole month of January will be over.

While the Asian Cup was in full swing, the second half of the Bundesliga season also began, and Dortmund was still the first to play. In the eighteenth round of the league, Dortmund, missing Zhou Yi and Shinji Kagawa, were defeated 3:1 by Bayer Leverkusen on the road.

The impact of the absence of Zhou Yi and Shinji Kagawa was evident.

From the perspective of the field, Dortmund without Zhou Yi and Shinji Kagawa did not operate as smoothly as in the first half of the season.

Zhou Yi is the core of Dortmund, and his absence has a very big impact on Dortmund, not just a little. Shinji Kagawa is like a lubricant in the frontcourt, and a machine cannot work without lubricant, so Shinji Kagawa is also very important to Dortmund.

The absence of these two important figures made them a little flustered when facing the aggressive third-placed Bayer Leverkusen on the road.

After the midfield control declined, Leverkusen easily took the initiative. In the end, they lost 1:3.

The failure of this game shortened Dortmund's lead in the standings from ten points to seven points at once.

This was not the end. In the next nineteenth round of the league, Dortmund was tied 1:1 by Stuttgart at home.

Counting the last round before the winter break, when Dortmund lost to Frankfurt, this was Dortmund's third consecutive league game without a win, which had never happened to Dortmund with a full squad in the first half of the season.

No wonder Klopp hoped that the Chinese team and the Japanese team would all return home after the group stage...

Originally, the Chinese team had a chance to be eliminated in the group stage, but unfortunately they had Zhou Yi, so the situation was different.

There is also the twentieth round of the league, Dortmund will challenge Wolfsburg away from home, this game will be played on the afternoon of January 29, Zhou Yi and Shinji Kagawa will definitely not be able to make it.

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At 9:15 p.m. Beijing time on January 25, the semi-final between Japan and South Korea began.

After ninety minutes of fierce battle, Japan and South Korea tied 1:1. In extra time, both sides scored one goal each, and in the end, the score was 2:2 after one hundred and twenty minutes. The two sides could only enter a penalty shootout.

In the penalty shootout, the first three players of the South Korean team all missed, while only Yuto Nagatomo of the Japanese team missed. In the end, the Japanese team eliminated South Korea with a score of 3:0 in the penalty shootout and took the lead in entering the final.

Later, the Chinese team made their debut. Their opponent in the semi-finals was Australia.

Since joining the AFC in 2006, although Australia is geographically an Oceanian country, its football association is affiliated to the AFC and can participate in the Asian Cup.

For Australia, joining the AFC naturally has its own interests. That is to increase their chances of participating in the World Cup. Because before, the Oceania Football Confederation only had two professional teams, Australia and New Zealand, and the others were island nations in the Pacific, whose football level was very backward. FIFA allocated only half a spot to the Oceania Football Confederation for the World Cup.

In this way, if Australia wants to participate in the World Cup, they must first get the first place in the Oceania qualifiers, and then compete with the fifth place in South America for that half spot. Sometimes they also have to compete with Asia.

It's still easy to compete with Asia, but it's too difficult for Australia to compete with South America for a spot in the finals.

After all, the level of South American football is much higher than that of Australia.

Therefore, Australia has always hoped to break away from the Oceania Football Confederation and join the AFC.

The AFC, which accepts Australia, also has its own interests to consider.

All along, the level of Asian football has not been very high, but it has a large number of members. Therefore, it can be allocated four to four and a half places in the World Cup. However, since Asian teams generally do not perform well in the World Cup, if the AFC wants to win more places in the World Cup, it needs to improve its own strength. If Australia, which is not weak, can join the AFC, it will help to improve the overall strength of the AFC and win more resources.

So this is a win-win situation for both sides, and it is natural to hit it off.

The effect of Australia's joining the AFC is significant. Before joining the AFC, Australia had only participated in two World Cups in so many years, the 1974 and 2006 editions.

After joining the AFC, they immediately qualified for the 2010 South Africa World Cup finals.

Now, the qualifiers for the 2014 Brazil World Cup are about to begin, and Australia is very likely to enter the World Cup finals again...

As for the AFC's interests... the benefits of Australia's joining have not yet been fully seen.

Instead, other Asian teams have become victims.

For Asian teams, Australia is like a tiger breaking into a flock of sheep.

Although their technique is rough, they can rely on their strong physique to deal with those technically delicate Asian teams.

This is probably one of the important reasons why they were able to emerge from the 2010 South Africa World Cup Asian qualifiers.

Although the physical fitness of Chinese players is considered excellent compared to Japanese and Southeast Asian teams, it is still slightly inferior to teams like Iran and Uzbekistan. Not to mention compared to Australia.

When playing against Uzbekistan, the Chinese team was suppressed very badly physically, and they completely relied on Zhou Yi to lead the whole team to play passing and cutting coordination to compete with the opponent.

And this game will definitely provide a reference for Australia.

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In an interview before the game, Zhou Yi said that although Australia is a strong team, since they have reached the semi-finals, how could they easily admit defeat?

"We Chinese have a saying, 'Since we're here.'" Zhou Yi said with a smile to the AFC official website reporter who interviewed him. "Since we're here, and we're only one step away from the final, how can we be satisfied with stopping in the semi-finals? So we will definitely make it to the final."

The reporter from the AFC official website was a little surprised. She asked back: "Definitely?"

"Definitely." Zhou Yi nodded and confirmed again.

And Zhou Yi's opponent in this game, Australia's star Cahill, also expressed his confidence in reaching the final in an interview.

"Zhou Yi is an excellent player, but football is a team sport, not an individual sport." Cahill shrugged. What he meant was that the overall level of the Chinese team was too poor, and it was useless for Zhou Yi to perform well alone. "We will enter the final because we are stronger!"