The World Preliminary Round is about to begin the ninth round of contention, when the fate of multiple teams will be conclusive. Especially for Saudi Arabia and Japan, which are aiming to qualify for the World Cup, neither of them wants to be reduced to the terrible third place in the group. Since Saudi Arabia will challenge the national football team in this round, and Japan and Australia will play directly, this will make Li Xiapeng play the role of a spoiler, and the performance of the national football team will also affect the fate of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is currently ranked sixth in Asia, and in the previous matches, this West Asian powerhouse played very steadily, with a record of 6 wins and 1 draw, allowing them to get 19 points, ranking first in the group and becoming the biggest favorite to qualify. However, in the eighth round against Japan, the Saudi team's undefeated golden body was broken, facing Japan, which had just won the national football team, the Saudi team lost 0-2 away, and the Saudi team had a 62% possession rate, but there were only 3 shots on goal, and the number of shots was only 1, which can be said to be the same as the national football team, and it was beaten without any counterforce.
In this way, the score of the Saudi team is still at 19 points, Japan won after winning the game to get a 5-game winning streak, the points rose to 18 points, Australia in the away difficult 2-2 draw with Oman, the points also came to 15 points, so the gap between the three teams will be only 4 points, this round of matches, if the Saudi team in the game against the national football team light enemy, then Li Xiaopeng is likely to make the Saudi team pay the price, after all, the national football team bears the burden of washing away the shame, Chen Shuyuan is also very concerned about the team's mental outlook and game attitude , so against Saudi Arabia, it is impossible to release water.
Australia's home match against Japan is arguably the most critical game for this group. In the first leg of the Japanese team, Australia lost 1-2, and the Japanese team relied on a oolong ball to laugh to the end. But at home in Australia, Japan failed to win three World Cups against the Kangaroo Army, losing 1-2 in 2009 and drawing 1-1 in 2012 and 2016, so Australia has a big advantage at home. Once the Kangaroo Army finally wins, then their points will be equal to that of Japan.
Therefore, for Saudi Arabia, it should have been the best time for sandpipers to compete for profit, but the Saudi Football Association has announced that the team will only train for five days against China, which may be too hasty. You should know that although Saudi Arabia's strength is stronger than the national football team, the first leg is only a small victory of 3-2 goals, and the advantage is not large. Now it is only five days of training, the degree of tacit understanding of the players can be guaranteed, whether the state and physical reserves can keep up, are all question marks, if they really lose to the national football team, then their lead will be reduced to 1 point.
Therefore, the most dramatic result of the 9th round of the round of 12 is that the Saudi team lost to the national football team, Australia defeated Japan, and Vietnam, which won the national football team and had a high morale in the last round, defeated Oman, so that the national football team will at least ensure that it will not be at the bottom, and even surpass Oman to rise to the fourth place. And saudi arabia, Japan and Australia will only have 1 point left in the difference between the three teams, the qualifying situation is complicated, no one can guarantee that they can qualify for the World Cup, the Saudi team that has been ranked first in the group will have the possibility of going out, and Australia, which has been ranked third, may be able to complete the reversal.