Beijing time on March 17, the national football team and U23 national football team, both flew to the United Arab Emirates, the destination of the national football team is Sharjah, the destination of the U23 national football team is Dubai, as the two most representative teams of the Chinese men's football team, the purpose of their trip to West Asia is almost the same, are to play a better spirit, only in this way can the Chinese men's football team see the hope of the future.
According to the schedule, the national football team ushered in the 9th round of the World Preliminary Round of the Asian Top 12 at 23:00 Beijing time on March 24, which is also the penultimate round of the match, the opponent is Saudi Arabia, which ranks 5th and 12th in Asia, although the national football team is the home team, but due to the impact of the epidemic, it chose to play with Saudi Arabia at the Sharjah Stadium, and chose to play empty.
Before the game, the Football Association continued to set the bottom line for the national football team, requiring that a fiasco was not allowed, Li Xiaopeng in order to defend this bottom line, has decided to significantly reduce the offensive configuration, decided to stick to the next two games, confirmed that 25 international players went out to West Asia, of which only 2 real shooters were brought, namely Tan Long and Zhang Yuning, other players can be said to be midfield players, 2 European players Wu Lei and Guo Tianyu, and 4 naturalized players are all absent, and only Jiang Guangtai is left with naturalized players.
The Saudis remain strong, and in the face of such a national football lineup configuration, they are looking forward to a big victory to ensure their top position and points advantage. Saudi Arabia is currently ranked 53rd in the world and 5th in Asia, as a counterattacker, it has become the first place in Group B, playing better than Japan, No. 2 in Asia, and Australia, playing better, starting from the first round of the round of 12 to defeat Vietnam 3-1, until the latest round of 0-2 loss to Japan, Saudi Arabia has achieved a total of 8 rounds of 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, leading the B group table with 19 points, although the latest 0-2 loss to Japan suffered the first defeat of this year's Round of 12, but still forced Japan to advance to the World Cup.
According to the pre-match dynamics, Saudi Arabia has officially confirmed the big list of the game, their squad system remains stable, continue to use the strongest lineup, 26 people went to the United Arab Emirates to prepare for the match with the Chinese men's football team, the lineup is led by Saleh Sheikhri, Sami Najib, Brikan and others, of which Najib is the big nemesis of the Chinese men's football team, the last game against the Chinese men's football team was twice. You know, Saudi Arabia quickly scored 3 goals against the Chinese men's football team in the first leg, and in this battle, as long as they maintain their offensive firepower, they have a relatively large chance of victory, on the one hand, the offensive threat of the Chinese men's football team has dropped sharply, on the other hand, Saudi Arabia's own defense will be stronger than the first leg, and the main center-back Maddu who missed the game before returned from injury.
It can be seen that Li Xiaopeng's pressure to guard the bottom line is very large, and even if there is no problem with his dead-end strategy, the mentality of the national football team members is still worrying. In such a situation, Li Xiaopeng's bold use of more newcomers may be the best, so that not only can we see the future, and even have the opportunity to receive miracle effects, but unfortunately, his employment is full of resistance, there are still few real national football newcomers, and the 25-man roster is basically an old face, which is very embarrassing.