On March 5, news came from the United Arab Emirates. Later this week, the UAE Football Association officially finalized the "Dubai Cup" international football championship competition plan. Unlike the original plan, the Chinese U23 team's second round opponent on March 26 was changed from the Vietnamese U23 team to the Thai U23 team.
Although the reason for the adjustment is that the Vietnamese U23 team is affected by the epidemic and there is a possibility of withdrawal, because the "China-Vietnam Football Dialogue" is affected by the first defeat of the Vietnamese team in the top 12 of the national football team, it has been overly concerned by the outside world, so such an adjustment has also alleviated the pressure on the Chinese U23 team and even Chinese football to some extent.
The 2022 Dubai Cup International Football Championship will be held in Dubai, UAE, from 20 to 29 March. The UAE launched this event to promote the international exchange of U23 age group teams in member associations, and to create more practical training opportunities for teams participating in this year's U23 Asian Cup and Hangzhou Asian Games men's football competitions. Among the 10 teams registered for the competition, except for the Chinese U23 team that was forced to withdraw due to the epidemic and the Croatian U23 team from Europe, the remaining 8 teams were all participating in the U23 Asian Cup main tournament in May this year.
It is understood that after confirming the registration of the participating teams, the organizers of the event have initially set a schedule and the arrangement of the match situation. According to the preliminary plan, the Chinese team will face the host UAE U23 team and the Vietnam U23 team on March 23 and 26 respectively.
Affected by the national football team's historic first defeat to Vietnam on the first day of the first lunar month of the lunar calendar, thus failing to enter the Qatar World Cup finals two rounds in advance, the U23 men's football teams of China and Vietnam are bound to arouse the attention of the football circles of the two countries and even international football once they meet. However, as a person in the U23 national football team said: "If the Vietnamese team is so nervous, what else can we fight?" ”
However, information from the UAE later this week shows that the Dubai Cup schedule, format and specific matchmaking situation have been finalized. China's opponent in the first round on March 23 was still the UAE U23 team, but the second round opponent was adjusted from Vietnam to Thailand U23 team.
So, could it be that the Chinese Football Association or the Chinese U23 team has submitted an application to adjust the situation of the match? The answer is no. Beijing Youth Daily reporter learned on March 5 that the "Dubai Cup" organizing committee recently learned from the Vietnam Football Association that due to the impact of the epidemic, the Vietnam U23 team has also recently had cases of infection. If the recruited players have too many cases of infection to be able to make up the contestants, it is possible to withdraw from the invitational tournament early. In view of this, the organizers of the event had to take precautions to adjust the situation of the first two rounds of the match.
The first round of matches between China U23 and UAE U23 will be played at the Dubai Stadium on March 23 at 4 p.m. local time (8 p.m. Beijing time), the main stadium of Al Ahli Club. It is worth noting that the stadium hosted the first leg of the 2015 AFC Champions League final between Al Ahli and Guangzhou (Evergrande).
The second round of matches between China's U23 and Thailand's U23 will be played at the Seven Star Stadium at 4 p.m. local time on March 26. The Chinese U23 team in the 1993 age group and the 1995 age group have played in this stadium.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Zhao