Group A
Iraq vs Thailand 1-1
Australia vs Oman 1-1
Oman vs Thailand 0-2
Iraq vs Australia 3-1
Thailand vs Australia 0-4
Oman vs Iraq 0-0
Group B
Vietnam vs UAE 2-0
Japan vs Qatar 1-1
Qatar vs Vietnam 1-1
UAE vs Japan 1-3
Vietnam vs Japan 1-4
Qatar vs UAE 1-2
Group C
Malaysia vs China 1-5
Iran vs Uzbekistan 2-1
Uzbekistan vs Malaysia 5-0
China vs Iran 2-2
Malaysia vs Iran 0-2
Uzbekistan vs China 3-0
Group D
Indonesia vs Bahrain 2-1
Korea vs Saudi Arabia 1-1
Saudi Arabia vs Indonesia 2-1
Bahrain vs Korea 2-1
Indonesia vs Korea 0-1
Saudi Arabia vs Bahrain 4-0
Quarter Finals
Iraq vs Vietnam 2-0
Iran vs Korea
Japan vs Australia 1-1 (4-3 penalties)
Saudi Arabia vs Uzbekistan 2-1
Semi Finals
Iraq vs Korea 0-0 (4-3 penalties)
Japan vs Saudi Arabia 2-3
3rd and 4th placing
Japan vs Korea 0-0 (5-6 penalties)
Finals
Iraq vs Saudi 1-0
And after watching the whole competition, I was like... WOW!! Maybe not as good as FIFA World Cup or EURO, but then there was a showcase of amazing talent. Especially Iraq. After what they have gone through, they deserved to win the cup. And not only because of that, Iraq won also because they portrayed amazing talent. In the final match, they used lots of overhead kicks in their defense and that saved them a lot from facing deep throw-ins and corner kicks. They could run past a lot of players. Their attitude is like "Do or Die!" and that has given them a big advantage.
However, there were some controversial decisions though and those often happen in penalty boxes. In the Malaysia vs Iran match, the Malaysian defender was running towards the Iranian striker. The Malaysian touched the striker on the shoulder and I am not sure if that would already be a foul, but I do not think so. Anyway, he just touched the striker's shoulder lightly and he fell to the ground rolling. I mean please... I had been in the same situation. I was running and someone pushed me hard from behind, but I did not fall because the push from behind accelerated my running movements and I ran faster instead. But in that Malaysia vs Iran situation, the guy was just touched on the shoulder and he tumbled down like he was run over by a car. Sure enough the referee gave Iran a penalty and therefore, a goal. Perhaps the referee was too far away to see what happened but then it cost a team a goal, damn it.
And then another instance. Japan vs Saudi Arabia, Semi Finals. Still, in the penalty box, the ball hit a Saudi Arabian player's arm and a lot of other players saw it. 3 Japanese players were at close range, about a foot away, and they raised their hands. Handball in the penalty area would result in a penalty but the referee was... too far away again? No foul. If he had done so, maybe we would have seen 3-3 and a penalty shootout?
I cannot blame the referees. They are only human, and calling soccer matches straight down the middle is often tough, but sometimes whatever decisions or negligence by the referees would often cost a team a victory.
Overall it has been a great Asian Cup competition and Iraq takes the cup and the golden ball for Younis Mahmood(is there a golden ball?), Younis Mahmoud (Iraq), Naohiro Takahara (Japan), Yasser Al-Qahtani(Saudi Arabia) take the golden shoes for most goals. Saudi Arabia is second. South Korea is 3rd. Japan is 4th.