China criticized for 'relying' too much on goalkeepers.

The debate erupted on social media and in Chinese media as the country's football team achieved a historic feat at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.

Goalkeeper Li Hao made a huge contribution to the historic achievement of the Chinese U23 team - Photo: 163

China has participated in the AFC U23 Asian Cup five times before, but only this time have they managed to advance beyond the group stage.

This historic achievement was enthusiastically praised by many Chinese newspapers, but Chinese fans couldn't be so optimistic.

There was no shortage of praise, of course, but many Chinese fans also expressed disappointment when talking about their team's overall performance.

"Three unbeaten matches sounds great, but only one of them was a win. China only won, and only scored a meager one goal in three matches," commented a fan from Yunnan on the 163 news website.

Indeed, after 3 matches, China's goal difference is a mere 1-0, scoring 1 goal and conceding none. China's unbeaten record stems from their solid defense, largely thanks to "super goalkeeper" Li Hao.

In the match against Iraq, Li Hao made three spectacular saves, and in the match against Australia, he also had at least one outstanding save.

"Li Hao made three more saves in this match," Sina headlined, praising the 21-year-old goalkeeper currently playing for Qingdao West Coast.

After 3 matches, Li Hao has not conceded a single goal, with a total of 13 saves, including 6-7 clear-cut saves for his team.

Interestingly, if Li Hao had missed even one of those saves, China would have been eliminated immediately. Therefore, Chinese fans couldn't fully enjoy their victory.

"One goalkeeper led China through the group stage, but what would happen without him?", a fan from Hebei commented on QQ .

Another fan commented on Weibo: "China defended well, but I didn't see any bright spots in their gameplay. The goalkeeper's superb saves were all we had."

At the end of the group stage, China and Japan were the only two teams to keep a clean sheet in all three matches. However, Japan rested their starting goalkeeper Araki in the final match, while Li Hao played all three games.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trung-quoc-bi-che-dua-dam-qua-nhieu-vao-thu-mon-20260114213944636.htm