U23 national football team
The first draw
China's 99-year-old U23 national football team UAE held a warm-up match with the UAE Wahda team yesterday (20th) evening local time. As a result, a penalty was accidentally lost in the 15th minute of the first half, but in the second half, Chen Guokang made up for the success, and the U23 countries were enough to draw 1-1 with their opponents. However, the performance of the whole team is still good, after all, this is the first international competition in the two and a half years of the team, and the performance in the second half is more worthy of recognition.
1
Opponents stayed behind to start all foreign aides
The Chinese U23 national football team left the hotel early yesterday afternoon and took a bus to the Nahiyan Stadium, the main stadium of the Wahda Club. The last time a Chinese team played at this stadium was during the 2019 Asian Cup, when China played against South Korea in the group stage. The Wahda team still attaches great importance to this warm-up match, and the head coach of the first team, the Frenchman Gregory, personally came to direct the warm-up game. Although there are currently 6 players in the team who have been upgraded to prepare for the UAE national team to participate in the round of 12, and Syrian foreign aid Carbin has also returned to the Syrian national team to prepare for the round of 12, several foreign aides in the remaining team such as The No. 9 Brazilian striker Jorge Pedro, the No. 11 Portuguese midfielder Fabio Martins, the No. 19 Portuguese defender Ruben Canedo, etc. all put on the starting appearance, plus the remaining few main local players and some U21 players, forming the strongest lineup that can be formed among the existing personnel. Moreover, foreign aid is always on the field.
It should be pointed out that due to the registration and appearance regulations of U21 players in the UAE League, several U21 players who appeared in this warm-up match are players who often appear in professional leagues in the first team, rather than players temporarily drawn from the U21 team. Coupled with the fact that Wahda is currently in second place in the domestic league this season, this opponent still has considerable strength. For the U23 national football team, which has not participated in international competitions for two and a half years, this game is obviously very valuable and meaningful.
2
The strongest combination of U23 national football team played
The U23 national football team held a team preparation meeting before the departure, as the previous Catholic practice Jankovic said after the end of training, the outside world thought it was just a warm-up game, but the team did not think it was just a warm-up game, and the game of the national team has never been an insignificant game. Therefore, the whole team is carried out according to the standards of the official game.
In this game, head coach Jankovic also ranked the strongest lineup in the current U23 national football team and the best 11 who can be sent to play into the starting lineup, like three goalkeepers Han Jiaqi, center-back Wu Shaocong, Jiang Shenglong, etc. who have all entered the starting lineup. In addition to goalkeeper Han Jiaqi, the back line is from left to right: No. 16 Wen Jiabao, No. 5 Wu Shaocong, No. 6 Jiang Shenglong, No. 3 Ye Lijiang, two defensive midfielders are No. 15 Land and No. 13 Xu Yue; No. 20 Fang Haotu as a center forward, and the three players behind him are No. 14 Chen Guokang, No. 7 Tao Qianglong and No. 21 He Yupeng. This lineup due to the two high school forwards Shan Huanhuan injured and did not go out with the team, Guo Tianyu went to Portugal to play, so the characteristics of "head low tail high" are obvious, that is, the players in the back line are tall players, while several players on the front line are from the center Fang Hao to Tao Qianglong, Chen Guokang, etc. are all small dexterous players, so they have no advantage in competing for high-altitude balls.
Of course, the U23 national football team did not require the players to compete for the header in this game, but more to complete the attack with ground cooperation and team cooperation. Moreover, this has always been the practice during his previous period in Haikou, especially after Shan Huanhuan was injured, Yankovic changed the team's offensive strategy and routine drills.
3
The penalty area sent a goal behind at half-time
The match started on time at 17:45 local time. After the start of the game, the U23 national football team did not play conservatively and began to negotiate with the other side. Perhaps because of the long time of not playing international competitions, or perhaps it is somewhat affected by the journey and jet lag, so the Chinese U23 players are still somewhat restrained and somewhat uncomfortable. In the 15th minute, Wahda launched an attack from the right side, the opposing striker got the ball and forced an inward cut, the U23 national midfield defender failed to hold it, and the center-back behind him tried to break the siege, but unfortunately kicked down the opponent, and the referee blew a penalty. Wahda's No. 11 Portuguese foreign signing Martins took the lead in rewriting the score to 1-0.
However, this unexpected goal conceded did not discourage the young players of the U23 national football team, but to some extent further aroused the morale of the players. Shortly after losing the ball, Tao Qianglong got a good chance in the front court, but unfortunately failed to play right. After that, the two sides attacked and defended each other, and in the period before the end of the half, the U23 national football team gradually began to grasp the initiative on the field, especially around the 39th minute, several consecutive shots created a dangerous situation for the opponent's goal, but unfortunately the goal was not good, and failed to equalize the score. In the 45th minute of the first half, Tao Qianglong received a cross from his teammate on the right, but unfortunately failed to correct it.
In the first half, China's U23 countries were enough to fall behind 0-1. Despite being behind at half-time, the young players of the U23 national football team were able to show what was in training and also created a few good scoring opportunities. Therefore, the delegation that rushed to the scene to watch the game still fully affirmed the performance of the young players, generally saying that it was better than "imagined in advance", after all, "this team has not played this kind of international competition for two and a half years." ”
4
Fang Hao was brilliant and beautiful Chen Guokang
After the half-time break, the U23 national football team took the lead in adjusting the players, and Liu Zhurun appeared on the 22nd and replaced Tao Qianglong in the opposite position. In addition, Jankovic further encouraged the players at half-time, hoping that the players could believe in themselves, chase the score back and even overtake, so at the beginning of the second half of the game, the U23 national football team gradually began to occupy the initiative on the field. After all, in the second half of the first half, the U23 national football team understood the opponent's playing style and adapted to the rhythm of the opponent after adapting and adjusting the ball in the near half.
Just 2 minutes into the second half, the Chinese team got a chance to equalize, when after the teammate crossed, the center Fang Hao let go and left Liu Zhurun, who had just come off the bench behind him, but unfortunately the latter failed to shoot right in the absence of anyone to defend, and he hit a high kick and missed a good opportunity. After that, the U23 national football team continued to launch a continuous attack.
In the 60th minute, Fang Hao retreated to the left side to receive the ball, and then he dribbled the ball in succession, beautifully swung past the opponent's three defenders, and then shot inside the penalty area, and the ball actually hit the upright and popped up! Fortunately, Chen Guokang followed up the supplement in time and finally chased the score to a 1-1 draw.
The goal greatly boosted the morale of China's young players. And head coach Jankovic also seized the opportunity, in the 62nd minute in a row to change five players, replaced by No. 8 Cai Mingmin, No. 18 Xu Xuchen, No. 17 Xu Haofeng, No. 30 Abdul Meat Su Li, No. 11 Sun Qinhan, all of which are opposite substitutions, the purpose is very clear, is to maintain the rhythm of the field, continue to put pressure on the opponent with fresh strength, and hope to be able to surpass the score. The players who came off the bench also continued to attack according to the requirements of the coach, and created continuous shooting opportunities in the 78th minute, but unfortunately, Yu Xuchen failed to seize the opportunity to help the U23 national football team to rebound.
In the 80th minute, the Chinese team made another substitution, no. 28 Zhang Jiansheng replaced the captain Wen Jiabao, replaced a full-back with a striker, and the message was very clear, that is, they wanted to continue to pressure the opponent to win the score. However, 2 minutes later, the defensive midfielder landed due to injury, and the Chinese team had to make another substitution, and no. 2 Wang Xianjun replaced him.
Before the end of the final game, the Chinese team broke through from the right side of the cross, once again created a good opportunity to rewrite the score, but unfortunately, Cai Mingmin, who was wrapped up in the middle, was saved by the opposing goalkeeper Shen, and the Chinese team only changed back to a corner kick opportunity, but the corner was also not grasped.
In the end, China's U23 countries were enough to draw 1-1 with Wahda, ending the warm-up match.
5
The team was satisfied with the second half and looked forward to the regular match
After the Chinese U23 national football team finished the warm-up match, it immediately boarded the bus and returned to Sharjah. Although the 1-1 result is somewhat regrettable, especially china in the second half of the game to get more opportunities than the opponent, and should win the game more, but after all, the most important thing to participate in this kind of competition is not the result, but the whole process of the game.
It is understood that the relevant people of the delegation who watched the game on the spot were still relatively satisfied with the performance of the team, of course, not the result, but that the players could "dare to fight" and "dare to win" in the game. Although the other side is a club team, and many main players have been promoted to the national team, at least our young players can "not be afraid of the field" in the game, which is worth affirming.
And head coach Jankovic is also very satisfied with the overall performance of the players, especially the performance of the 45 minutes in the second half, and can basically play what he requires and practices in his daily training. The players also felt some regrets after the game, the most important thing was that "I felt that I could take it, but in the end I couldn't win it as I wanted". And for failing to win, on the one hand, there is still some time difference and the reaction of the journey, after all, local time only arrived on the evening of the 17th, and immediately participated in the game after only more than 60 hours, "the legs feel that the back is still a little soft, or somewhat affected by the jet lag and the journey." A player told reporters.
However, the most important thing is to gain confidence through this warm-up game, because the other side is a professional team after all, "playing very mature, the cooperation is also very tacit, the overall rhythm is relatively fast, we are still young, like participating in such a game is still too few, so the opening stage is not very adaptable." This game is still very helpful for us to play a good game against the UAE team later. ”
According to the plan, the U23 national football team will carry out resuming training this morning local time to prepare for the next Dubai Cup. It is worth mentioning that yesterday (20th) was Wu Shaocong's birthday, and today (21st) was Sun Qinhan's birthday. Because it was too late to return to Sharjah after the end of yesterday's (20th) match, the U23 national football team did not give Wu Shaocong a separate birthday, and planned to celebrate the birthday of the two today (21st). It is a pity that the team failed to give the best birthday gifts to the two with the victory of the warm-up match yesterday.
#U23国足出场阵容 (4231): #
No. 1 Han Jiaqi; No. 16 Wen Jiabao (No. 28 Zhang Jiansheng, 80'), No. 5 Wu Shaocong, No. 6 Jiang Shenglong, No. 3 Ye Lijiang (No. 17 Xu Haofeng, 62'), No. 15 Land (No. 2 Wang Xianjun, 82'), No. 13 Xu Yue (No. 8 Cai Mingmin, 62'), No. 14 Chen Guokang (No. 11 Sun Qinhan, 62'), No. 7 Tao Qianglong (No. 22 Liu Zhurun, 46'), No. 21 He Yupeng (No. 30 Abdu Meat Suli, 62'); No. 20 Fang Hao (No. 18 Yuan Xuchen, 62').