At 23:00 Beijing time on March 24, the 9th round of Group B of the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian Zone Final 12: National Football VS Saudi Arabia. Due to special reasons, the national football team does not have its own home field.
After the current 8 rounds of Group B, Saudi Arabia ranks first with 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss with 19 points, Japan ranks second with 6 wins, 2 losses and 18 points, Australia ranks third with 15 points, Oman ranks fourth with 8 points, the national football team ranks fifth with 5 points, and Vietnam ranks at the bottom with 3 points.
The two places directly promoted will be contested by Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia, and Oman, national football and Vietnam have been eliminated.
In this round, Australia will be at home with Japan, and if Australia does not win, it will have to play the play-offs.
Saudi Arabia has little suspense in qualifying, but in theory it is possible to eventually fall to the third place in the group to play the play-offs, and if it defeats the national football team in this round, it will advance to advance.
And the national football team that has long been out, this round and the last round, are "honor battles". But the national football team must also strive to win. If the round of 12 is finished and finally bottom, the ranking is not as good as Vietnam, and the face cannot be hung. If he loses 4 consecutive games in office, how can Li Xiaopeng he de replace Li Tie, who has not yet taken the national football team out of the game with 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses?
The first leg of the national football team in the round of 12 away to Saudi Arabia, look at the result, is 2:3 defeat, look at the process, Li Tiedang coach and the kicking period as cowering, bold, tactical proper, let go, that game the national football team can completely beat Saudi Arabia, no matter how bad can also get a draw.
This time to fight again, the national football team should win again, there are three reasons.
First, play Saudi Arabia, the national football team has a psychological advantage
Looking at Asia, in the history of national football, the only strong team that is not afraid and does not have a disadvantage in the confrontation record is Saudi Arabia. Whether it is the 1984 Asian Cup when the national football team is in the first class in Asia, or the 2022 World Cup qualifiers where the national football team is close to the third-rate.
The 97 national football team is known as the "strongest in history", when I was in college, the 97 national football team just competed in the top 10 matches, and the national football team won 1:0 at home against Saudi Arabia in the first leg. Away to Saudi Arabia, the national football team wins, can be qualified for the 1998 World Cup, if not winless, the national football team is also out. The strange thing is that the goal set by the national football team before the game is actually "to win the draw", and if you draw, you are out, what draw do you want? In the end, the national football team really drew 1:1 with Saudi Arabia, and Ou Chuliang saved a penalty from Saudi Arabia, but the penalty of the national football team was lost by Fan Zhiyi.
The 2015 Asian Cup was the latest time the national football team played saudi arabia in the main game before the round of 12, when the national football team defeated Saudi Arabia 1:0.
This time, we play Saudi Arabia "at home", as long as we have the will to win, we can completely defeat Saudi Arabia.
Second, the battle of honor, the national football team without pressure, often has a stunning play
Turning over the history of the national football team's participation in the World Preliminary Round, the Olympic Preliminary Round, the Asian Cup and other regular competitions, except for the 2002 World Cup Qualifiers and the 1984 Asian Cup, most of the results are unbearable. But there are also some games, and the national football team has achieved good results. The first is the "battle of honor", such as the last round of the 1998 World Cup Asian Top 10, the outgoing national football team defeated Kuwait 1:0 at home. The second is "informal" competitions, such as the East Asian Cup, although the level of the event is also the international A level, but it has nothing to do with the promotion of the competition, in this arena, the national football team can beat South Korea, Japan and other Asian football powers from time to time.
This time to play Saudi Arabia, it is the "battle of honor", the national football team is likely to achieve better results than The Li Tie period against Saudi Arabia.
Third, if Li Xiaopeng reuses new people, he may have unexpected gains
Before this World Preliminary Tournament, the national football team had high hopes, for no other reason than two reasons: First, the World Cup champion Coach Lippi began to lead the team to prepare from before the Top 40, and only took over in the middle of the last Round of 12, and finally almost advanced. Second, there are unprecedented naturalized foreign players in the history of national football, and most of the foreign aid introduced in the "burning money" era of the Chinese Super League are top-level players in Asia, who represent the national football team to participate, do not they fight all over Asia?
But both of these reasons are far-fetched. First, the game ultimately depends on the players to play on the field, the national football team this group of players, the overall strength in Asia is not first-class, a bunch of "old oilers", technical and tactical level of the improvement of the room is almost no. Lippi resigned twice during the Asian Cup and during the Round of 40, and it was for this reason. Second, several naturalized strikers have long passed the peak period, Axon is older, his body is obviously blessed, Alain has not been able to play in Evergrande, Luo Guofu has long been reduced to a player of the middle league level, is their level really stronger than Wu Lei and Zhang Yuning? The real naturalization is Gaulat, Kaldek or Teixeira, but the first two can not be completed, teixeira naturalization is more difficult.
Yes, during the away game against Japan, it was 176cm tall Junya Ito who scored a header, next to the two national football teams with a height of 185cm, who was as tall as a wooden chicken; Vietnam, who had never lost in the history of the New Year's Games, the old oilers did not work the field, losing 1:3.
This time against Saudi Arabia, Li Xiaopeng's national football team 25-man list, veterans still account for half, such as Arthur Junmin, Zhang Xizhe, Wu Xi, Yu Dabao, Zhang Linpeng and so on. Compared with the Li Tie period, Dai Weijun, Wu Shaocong, Deng Hanwen, Liu Yang, Gao Zhunyi, Gao Tianyi, Liao Lisheng, Jin Jingdao, Tan Long, etc. are all newcomers.
After playing two World Preliminary Tournaments and an Asian Cup, the post-80s veterans have reached the twilight of their careers, and the post-90s newcomers will gain a firm foothold in the national team in the future, and if the two "battle of honor" gives them the opportunity, they will inevitably play more actively and hard than the "old oilers". This may also be the key consideration that Li Xiaopeng needs to consider to avoid losing 4 consecutive defeats in office.