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Just as the Chinese men's national football team arrived in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, preparing for the last two matches of the World Preliminary Round of 12, there was another national team that arrived in Sharjah on the same plane as the men's national football team, who will usher in the first international event after the united Arab Emirates, this team is the Chinese U23 men's national football team.
At the national team level, although there are still two round of 12 matches not played, the Chinese men's national football team has been eliminated in advance. The national team with the average age will be replaced by a new and old replacement. The U23 national team is different, their mission is to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games in September this year. In the past three competitions, China's U23 national football team has not been able to break into the quarterfinals of the Asian Games, this time at the doorstep of the battle, the primary goal of this U23 national football team is to enter the quarterfinals of the Asian Games.
After head coach Jankovic officially led the team, the Chinese U23 national football team has not played an international match until this time to participate in the Dubai Cup Invitational Tournament. In addition to the U23 national football team, the Dubai Cup Invitational Tournament also includes the U23 national teams of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Croatia, Thailand, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Qatar. According to the original schedule, the U23 national football team faced the UAE U23 national team and the Vietnam U23 national team in the first two rounds. However, due to the new crown epidemic of the Vietnam U23 national team, there is a possibility of withdrawal, so the opponent of the U23 national football team in the second round is changed from the Vietnam U23 national team to the Thai U23 national team, and each team will determine the 1st to 10th place based on points, goal difference, number of goals scored, and the number of red and yellow cards after two rounds of matches. The next third round will be a qualifying round, with the first and second teams competing for the title of the tournament, the third and fourth teams competing for the third place, and if the two sides draw within 90 minutes, the winner will be decided directly with penalties.
Participating in the Dubai Cup Invitational Tournament is the first time that the U23 national football team has gone abroad to fight against foreign opponents. Just on March 20, Beijing time, the U23 national football team traveled to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where it played a warm-up match with Waheda, who is currently ranked second in the UAE Premier League. In the end, the U23 nations were enough to draw 1-1 with their opponents. The U23 national football team scored this goal for a player familiar to Tianjin fans, he is Chen Guokang, who has participated in a long trial in Tianjin, and he currently plays for Meizhou Hakka. There are also some familiar faces in this U23 national football team. For example, Jiang Shenglong, who joined Tianjin on loan, and Han Jiaqi and Tao Qianglong, who played the main force in the Chinese Super League, and other players.
Due to the epidemic, China's U23 national football team withdrew from the fifth U23 Asian Cup qualifiers last year. This group of 1999 age group players will also pass the Dubai Cup Invitational Tournament to play against Asia's outstanding youth national teams, test their own appearance, and position their own strength in Asia. Similarly, the Dubai Cup Invitational tournament is also a small test for U23 national football coach Jankovic. As for the Asian Games in September, it is presumably an important assessment basis for whether Jankovic can continue to coach the Chinese national team, in order to achieve the team's desired results, the Serbian coach first proposed to the players, is to reduce the body fat rate.
In Jankovic's team, all players must have breakfast before 8 o'clock, and players with a body fat rate of more than 10% are not allowed to play. Jankovic said that strict control of the body fat rate of players is one of the most basic requirements in the football world. Jankovic said: "My request is simple, not for a single person. If you want to win in high-intensity confrontations, you must have a strong body. If we don't even have the physical strength and strength to meet the requirements, we will definitely lose. A player with a fat percentage of 15% is unlikely to play at a high level. Jankovic also said he wasn't trying to change Chinese's eating habits, but his players had to be clear about what unhealthy food was. The players can eat a little, but it also means that the next day of training, the team members have to work harder. Jankovic's goal is that at the Hangzhou Asian Games, the team's body fat rate should not exceed 9%.
As we all know, with the Chinese team out of the round of 12, Chinese football is currently in a trough period, and the U23 national football team represents the future of Chinese football. The Chinese Super League has implemented the U23 policy for many years, but the results of the U23 national football team have not improved for a long time. Jankovic hopes that his team will bring some hope to Chinese football. Jankovic said: "I know chinese football has gone through a lot of disappointing moments and our team wants to bring about some changes. We want to defend the home stadium in Hangzhou, just like the Chinese delegation did at the Beijing Winter Olympics, and make all Chinese fans proud of their performances. ”