According to an article posted on social platforms by Ma Dexing, a reporter from Sports Weekly, there will be an event called the International Youth Invitational Tournament in West Asia in March 2022, which was founded by the UAE Football Association in 2017. A total of 8 teams participated in the competition, namely Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Uae, Croatia, Iraq and China. Considering that the 99-year-old U23 team needs to be tested in real combat, this event is still very helpful for the improvement of the team. However, considering that after the Chinese men's football team lost to Vietnam, the public opinion direction was very unfavorable to it, and whether the Football Association would agree to play in this competition is still uncertain. It is estimated that it will make the Football Association somewhat "difficult".
In the previous U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, due to the needs of epidemic prevention and control, the U23 team composed of 99 age groups in China abandoned this event. In fact, because of the epidemic factor, this reason is still more far-fetched. Didn't the national football team also play in the round of 12 to play in West Asia? Why can't players in the 99 age group play because of the need for epidemic prevention and control? In fact, who are the players in the 99-year-old U23 team who can take the shots? If you participate in this competition, what kind of results can you achieve? Encountering the Vietnamese U23, which has been greatly improved in the past 10 years, if you are beaten by others to another 1-3, it is really self-contained. Therefore, this matter really needs to be careful.
It is understood that among the 8 teams that can participate in the invitational tournament this time, in addition to Croatia from Europe, only the national football team U23 does not play the final stage of the U23 Asian Cup because it did not participate in the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers, and the remaining 6 teams must play this tournament. Therefore, this invitational tournament is also the last large-scale warm-up before the final of the U23 Asian Cup, which is of great exercise value for the above 6 teams.
But all this seems to have little to do with the national football U23.
However, what we need to know is that the national football team U23 is currently preparing for the Hangzhou Asian Games, playing at its own doorstep, if the results are not ideal, it will also be difficult to escape a scolding. It is actually very necessary to train the team through this invitational tournament.
As early as 2017, Lippi's assistant De Rosso led the 95-year-old U23 team to play in this competition, when the national football team U23 also won the runner-up. But now it is not what it used to be, vietnam at that time is not the vietnam it is now, there are still some of the best players in the 95-year-old, and looking at the current 99 age group, it is really sad for us.
In fact, at present, for fans, the most concerned point is not whether the national football U23 can participate in this event, nor how much exercise can be obtained, but how the national football U23 will be played by others (especially the Vietnamese team). Will Chinese football in the silence be worse than the national football team's 1-3 loss to Vietnam?