Preview of the Round of 12: Playing against Vietnam, the national football team seeks to win the Spring Festival

Xinhua News Agency, Hanoi, January 31 Title: Prospect: National Football Team Seeks to Win the Spring Festival

Xinhua News Agency reporters Xiao Shiyao and Tao Jun

At 8:00 p.m. Beijing time on February 1, which is also the first day of the Lunar New Year, the Chinese men's football team will face Vietnam away in the eighth round of the World Cup Asian Qualifier Round of 12.

Although it is no longer related to qualifying, this game is not to be lost for both teams. On the one hand, as Li Xiaopeng, the head coach of the Chinese team, said, there are no "small games" for the national team, and the results of each game are related to national honors and must go all out. On the other hand, the special timing of the race also brings pressures that cannot be ignored. The Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in China and Vietnam, and both sides hope to celebrate the Spring Festival with victory.

After losing 0:2 to Japan, the Chinese team now urgently needs a victory to boost morale and unite people's hearts. Li Xiaopeng said: "I hope that all the players will concentrate on going all out and use a victory to add a festive atmosphere to fans across the country during the Spring Festival." In recent interviews, Players such as Luo Guofu and Dai Weijun have expressed their position that they must defeat the Vietnamese team on the first day of the New Year.

The Vietnamese team, which plays at home, hopes to win the first victory in the team's history of the round of 12 in this game, changing the decline of seven consecutive defeats. Vietnam coach Park Heong-suk said: "Everyone is looking forward to our victory, our whole team knows this and will do our best to win and bring joy to vietnamese fans. Vietnamese midfielder Liang Chunchang shouted to "defeat China at all costs."

Facing the weakest opponent in the group, the Chinese team will definitely line up a more aggressive lineup. At the press conference, Li Xiaopeng confirmed that Luo Guofu, who was suspended for accumulating yellow cards in the last game, will start his game. In addition, Wu Lei, Zhang Yuning and another naturalized striker Alan are also likely to enter the starting list. These four strikers represent the strongest offensive firepower of the Chinese team at present, and their appearance also shows the team's determination to take the initiative in the game. The midfield national football lineup will be mainly stable, Wu Xi, Zhang Linpeng, Jiang Guangtai, Yan Junling and other players will still occupy the main position, and Dai Weijun, who played well in his debut, is also expected to get more playing time.

The Vietnamese team has recently been hit by the new crown epidemic and injuries, and the strikers Nguyen Jin Ling and Nguyen Van Quan, who were quarantined for testing positive for the new crown, have just recovered and been allowed to return to the team, and the captain Gui Ngoc Hai and the center-back Liu Guangrong have not been able to play against the Chinese team due to the confirmed new crown. Chen Feishan, who was temporarily recruited to fill the vacancy, suffered a ligament injury during training and will also miss this game.

As the core of vietnam's attack, Nguyen Thanh Ling scored a key goal in the first leg of the match against the Chinese team, and he only recently rejoined training, and his status is still unknown. Gui Yuhai is in charge of the center command in the Vietnamese team's three-center-back system, and his absence has a great impact on the Vietnamese team.

Although the lineup is not in order, the Vietnamese team, which is bent on winning, will certainly not be conservative, and their front-line interspersed cooperation and long-range shots from outside the box have brought no small threat to the Chinese team in the first leg of the two sides. The 20,000 Vietnamese fans on the scene will also bring extra impetus to the home team, and it will not be easy for the Chinese team to win.

In the same "can't afford to lose" situation, whoever can maintain a more stable mentality of the two teams has a better chance of taking advantage in the game. As a stronger side, as long as the Chinese team can relax its mentality and play at a normal level, it will not be too far from victory.