China's U23 national football team is about to travel to the United Arab Emirates to prepare for the Dubai Cup U23 Youth Championship at the end of this month. Recently, the organizers of the Dubai Cup event temporarily adjusted the schedule and changed the second round of the Chinese U23 national football team from Vietnam to Thailand. As for why the schedule suddenly changed, the Vietnamese media gave a surprising answer: it was because the Chinese Football Association did not want to face the Vietnamese team.
Vietnamese media "kenh14" revealed that they have learned from sources that the initiator of the confirmation of the Dubai Cup schedule is the Chinese Football Association. The media pointed out: "The change in the schedule of the Dubai Cup came from the influence of the Chinese Football Association, who demanded a change in the opponents of the Chinese team in the second round of matches, and was eventually accepted by the event organizers. According to the original schedule, Vietnam will play against China on March 26, and the two teams have just met in the World Preliminary Round, so it will be an interesting match, but this long-awaited match has been cancelled due to the schedule adjustment. ”
As for why the Chinese Football Association asked the Organizers of the Dubai Cup to change the schedule, the Vietnamese media bluntly said that this was because the Chinese team was afraid of meeting with the Vietnamese team: "In the last game, the Chinese team lost 1-3 in the face of the Vietnamese team, and they generally have no confidence in whether the U23 national football team can defeat Vietnam. For the Chinese team, it is a good thing to avoid the Vietnamese team at this time, because if it cannot defeat Vietnam, or even lose another game, then Chinese football will really be humiliated. ”
Previously, some domestic media said that the reason why the schedule was changed was because the organizers of the Dubai Cup were afraid that the Vietnamese team would temporarily withdraw, but the Vietnamese media ruthlessly refuted it: "This statement is groundless, the vietnamese team is currently very healthy, there is no reason to withdraw from the competition, the so-called adjustment of the schedule due to fear of 'withdrawal' is completely nonsense." ”
According to the format of the Dubai Cup, after two rounds of matches, the qualifying matches will be based on the team's record, so the opponents of the U23 national football team in qualifying depend on the performance of the first two games, and in theory, there is indeed a chance to completely avoid the Vietnamese team.