Chinese U23 goalkeeper declares victory over Vietnam U23.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Goalkeeper Li Hao, while highly praising the Vietnamese U23 team, affirmed that the Chinese U23 team is confident of winning the upcoming semi-final match.

In the quarter-final match against Uzbekistan U23 on the evening of January 17th, China U23 ultimately won after a tense penalty shootout. This marks the first time in history that a Chinese U23 team has reached the semi-finals of the AFC U23 Asian Championship.

The player who contributed most to China's U23 team's victory was goalkeeper Li Hao. He made 8 saves, keeping his team standing firm throughout the nail-biting 120 minutes against Uzbekistan's U23 team. Particularly in the penalty shootout, Li Hao successfully saved Abdullaev's penalty, helping China win 4-2 and advance to the next round.

Li Hao frustrated the Uzbekistan U23 strikers.

"We were actually prepared for the penalty shootout. In fact, we prepare for a penalty shootout in every match; this time, I just did my best," Li Hao said.

Interestingly, the Chinese U23 goalkeeper also revealed that he told the opposing player that he guessed the direction of the shot, but the Uzbekistan U23 player still did not change his decision.

"The penalty I saved, I knew which direction the opponent was going to shoot before he even took it. I even told him, but he didn't believe me and still shot in that direction, so why couldn't I have saved it?", Li Hao shared with the media after the match.

China's U23 team has reached the semi-finals of the AFC U23 Asian Championship for the first time.

Regarding his health issues, as Li Hao received constant medical attention during the match, he said: “In extra time, I was a little exhausted from constantly taking long balls. But shooting penalties doesn't require as much strength, so it wasn't too tiring.”

In the semi-finals, the Chinese U23 team faced a major challenge against the Vietnamese U23 team. The hero of the Chinese U23 team confidently declared that he and his teammates would defeat the team from Southeast Asia.

"I'm very happy right now, I just want to enjoy this moment. In the next match, we also want to win. I believe we can do it," Li Hao affirmed.

The semi-final match between Vietnam U23 and China U23 will take place at 10:30 PM on January 20th in Saudi Arabia.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/thu-mon-u23-trung-quoc-tuyen-bo-thang-u23-viet-nam-20260118102605117.htm