At 18:00 Beijing time on the 27th, the 7th round of Group B of the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian Zone Round of 12, the national football team will play away to Japan. Only by winning can the national football team maintain the hope of theoretically qualifying for the World Cup, but how easy is it for the national football team, which is in turmoil and lacks major generals, to defeat the "king of Asia" Japan on the road?
Victory or defeat is a common thing for soldiers! On the battlefield, so is the stadium, Portugal, Italy, the two major football powers, at least one will be the same as the national football team, will not qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Portugal won only one major competition in Euro 2016, but produced top stars such as Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Italy has won the World Cup four times, on par with Germany, behind Brazil five times. At Euro 2020, Italy reached the final to beat England on penalties to win the title.
Ronaldo's desire to participate in another World Cup in the twilight of his career may be disappointed. After missing the World Cup for the first time in 60 years, "Four-star Italy" is more likely to miss the World Cup for two consecutive times. The reality is so cruel.
In the group stage of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in the European zone, Portugal and Italy, originally the first group directly advanced to the stage, but in the end they played themselves to death.
Portugal and Serbia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan in the same group, Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, the level of football in Europe belongs to the last or not, Serbia is a strong team, but the overall strength is certainly not as good as Portugal. In the final round of the group stage, Portugal played at home to Serbia, and a draw could qualify, but in the end Portugal was reversed by Serbia 2:1, and Cristiano Ronaldo did not score, and could only play the play-offs.
Italy is in the same group as Switzerland, Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania, and only Switzerland is a fierce rival, but Italy's overall strength is definitely above Switzerland. In the penultimate round, Italy played at home against Switzerland, and the victory could advance early, but in the end, it was a 1-1 draw, and Jorginho lost the penalty and missed the promotion initiative.
The rules of this play-off have been adjusted, 12 teams are divided into 3 groups, each group of 4 teams, first two or two duels, two winners and then duel, the final three winners to advance to the Qatar World Cup. Portugal and Italy are divided into the same group, which is doomed to miss the 2022 World Cup.
The play-offs are still early, with the first one not starting until 3:45 a.m. on March 25. Italy announced the latest national team roster, and the much-publicized thing is that the 31-year-old Balotelli returned to the Italian national team after a gap of three years.
In the last World Preliminary Round, Ventura recruited many forwards, but none of them could be decisively decided, and the two-legged total score of the play-offs was 0:1 to Sweden. At that time, the public opinion of conscripting Ba Shen was very loud, but Ventura just did not move, if there was Ba Shen, Italy was entirely likely to eliminate Sweden.
After the end of the 2018 World Cup, Mancini officially took charge of the Italian national team, recruiting The love of the past in inter and Manchester City to recruit Balotelli back to the Italian national team, but Ba Shen was unable to gain a foothold in the mainstream league and soon left the national team. Mancini's Italy set a new record of consecutive wins, consecutive unbeaten, and won the European Championship, but it is still difficult to hide the status quo of "weak edge". This time to recruit Ba Shen back, on the one hand, mancini and Ba Shen's old love, on the other hand, it may also be that there is no one on the front line.
For returning to the national team, Balotelli said in an interview: "I am only 31 years old now, and it should be normal to play for the national team. I want Italy to qualify for the World Cup, and that's what we deserve. I don't know why Italy made it to the playoffs, but it could happen. ”
If the 31-year-old Ba Shen is brave, it means that the 37-year-old C Ronaldo cannot enter the World Cup.