At 18:00 Beijing time on January 27, the World Preliminary Round of 12, the Chinese men's football team challenged the Japanese team at the Saitama 2002 Stadium. Although the strength of the Chinese men's football team is far below the Japanese team, the Japanese team has no slack and light enemies. Before the start of the war, the Japanese Football Association wrote an article on its official website introducing information about the Chinese men's football team.
In the Round of 12 Group A standings, Saudi Arabia led with 16 points, Japan ranked second with 12 points, Australia with 11 points, and the Chinese men's football team only scored 5 points. The Japanese Football Association pointed out that this is a match in which the Chinese men's football team "will never allow defeat":
Li Xiaopeng
"If the Chinese men's football team loses, then 7 games and 5 points, with 3 rounds left, they will not be able to catch up with Japan in any case (7 games and 15 points), and they will not be able to qualify for the top 2 in the group, losing the possibility of directly qualifying for the World Cup in theory." At the same time, if Australia defeats Vietnam, then Australia, which has 14 points, is almost certain to rank ahead of the Chinese men's football team, and the Chinese team will not qualify for the top 3 (play-off qualification), completely losing hope of the World Cup. ”
Therefore, the Japanese Football Association pointed out that this is the most important match for the Chinese men's football team in the round of 12.
The Japanese Football Association also introduced the change of coach of the Chinese men's football team: in December last year, the Chinese men's football team fired Li Tie and hired Li Xiaopeng, also a player who played in the 2002 World Cup. Li Xiaopeng's first national team training camp recruited 52 players, the new coach of the Chinese men's football team, hoping to comprehensively examine the players.
Regarding the personnel situation of the Chinese men's football team, the Japanese Football Association specifically mentioned 2 players:
One of them, of course, is Wu Lei. In this year's Round of 12, Wu Lei has scored 4 goals, "he is highly expected by the Chinese men's football team.". The Japanese Football Association pointed out that Wu Lei's speed is extremely fast, his attack talent is outstanding, and he also won the Golden Boot of the Chinese Super League in 2018.
Wu Xi
Wu Xi, the captain of the national football team, was also praised by the Japanese Football Association, "his left foot shooting ability is extremely strong.". The Chinese men's football team lost 2-3 to Saudi Arabia, and Wu Xi knocked on the Saudi arabian door with a left-footed long-range shot. In the 6 games of the round of 12, Wu Xi, as the captain, all started. After Li Xiaopeng became the manager of the national football team, Wu Xi will also be the main force of the national football team.
It has to be said that the "detective work" of the Japanese Football Association is quite meticulous: the analysis of the situation of the Chinese men's football team, the change of coach, the key players, there is no description of the light enemy. In terms of absolute strength, the Japanese team is far better than the Chinese men's football team, after all, 7 of their 23-man roster play for the 5 major leagues in Europe. Liverpool's Takushi Minamino and Mallorca's Jiujianying have both made a name for themselves in Europe.