Reporter Chen Yong, Han Bing reported that recently, around chinese football and caused controversy topics, The Chinese football circle has also been under great pressure, in this context, the last two final games of the 12 rounds have arrived: At 11 o'clock Beijing time tonight, the round of 12 to the penultimate game, the national football team will meet Saudi Arabia at the Sharjah Stadium in the United Arab Emirates - under heavy pressure, can the national football team deliver an answer sheet that satisfies the fans?
Before this game, the national football team has long been out of the line, but in the context of the "big debate" of Chinese football, the "attention" and "topicality" of the game have been further improved.
At present, in the Group B table, Saudi Arabia leads by 19 points, and only 4 points ahead of 3rd place Australia, they have not yet qualified for the World Cup. However, because Japan will take the lead with Australia in the second round of competition, if the Japanese team can beat Australia, then Saudi Arabia will qualify for the World Cup in advance, if the Japanese team draws with Australia, Saudi Arabia must get 1 point to ensure world cup qualification, if the Japanese team loses to Australia, Saudi Arabia must ensure that it wins China to ensure world cup qualification.
For the Saudi team, it is possible for them to qualify before the match, but for the national football team, there is no reason to hope for the relaxation of the opponent after the early qualification - because this is not only a battle of honor for the national football team, it can even be called the "battle of the honor", so in the previous preparation process, the national football team has also been emphasizing the spirit of hard work. "Against Saudi Arabia, who are at the top of the group, the game will be tough. Recently, the players have gone all out in training, very dedicated, and their status has also improved a lot, and I hope that tomorrow's game can have a good result. Coach Li Xiaopeng made a statement before the game.
Li Xiaopeng also particularly emphasized that the team hopes to show fighting spirit and hard work, "Tomorrow's game, I think it will be a hanging. The opponent definitely wants to win, and of course we want to win. At least use some players who are more tough, want to fight, dare to fight, and can fight to the end. I think tomorrow I will at least show that this team is strong and has the quality of will. ”
As far as the current lineup structure of the national football team is concerned, the choice of the national football team in the backfield is relatively rich, the difficulty lies in the back and the front, the back position captain Wu Xi is suspended, Li Xiaopeng needs to choose a new combination, Liao Lisheng, Xu Xin and Jin Jingdao have a high probability of choosing two out of three, while the front court national football team only has 6 offensive players, Li Xiaopeng has fewer choices, but Zhang Yuning and Dai Weijun will play if there is no accident. For the lack of front-line players in the team, Li Xiaopeng said: "In football games, the balance between attack and defense is very important, not that we bring fewer forwards means giving up attack, and I also attach importance to attack and defense. ”
On the opponent side, in order to reduce the risk of injury, the Saudi team last night in the Sharjah Stadium adaptation field training, only basic practice, did not play in the previous 3 days of group team matches. In addition, substitute striker Breikkan, who has recovered from illness, also participated in the joint training, but considering that he was missing training for 4 days, it was decided that tonight's match against the Chinese team would not start. Saudi boss Heineh said Brikan would be reserved for the match against Australia.
The Saudi media also predicted the possible main list of the Saudi team, the goalkeeper is still Owas, the 4 defenders are Madu and Umari who have returned to the national team after half a year to partner the center-back, Shahlani and Blake are separated by two wings, Sheikhri is still the center forward, the two wings are S. Dausari and Muwalid, and Faraji continues to be in the center. Main defender Maleki was absent and Partnered with Kanu was Ali Hassan, who replaced Maleki in the 6th minute of stoppage time in the first leg.
The starting 11 changed players by 5 players compared to the first leg against China. Only Madu is still in the entire defense, but Maddu has not played for almost 5 months before, and he just played the whole game last weekend, and the state is still unknown. However, compared with the Saudi side attack in the first leg, the Heinech era golden boot S. Dausari and Muwalid formed a double wing, which will pose a great threat to the Chinese team's side defense. At the same time, midfielder Faraj, who scored twice in the first game, continued to start, but missed the ace Brikan who came off the bench.
Like Chen Shuyuan, the president of the Saudi Football Association, Mishaal, also came to Sharjah with the team, and he stressed that the high standard of the Saudi players and the wisdom of the top coach Hainakh should have no problem defeating the Chinese team: "Hainah is characterized by calm, just right on-the-spot response, and passion passed on to the players, which gives the players the motivation to play their best. Michal specifically named Faraj, believing him to be the key to the battle between China and Saudi Arabia: "Faraji is the only one who can control the rhythm of the game, he scored twice in the first leg, I hope he can score tonight too." As for the shortcomings of the Saudi team, he also pointed out that Maleki's absence has made the Saudi team lack a more defensive back: "Maleki's absence has a great impact on the midfield defense, so the game must be treated calmly and smartly, and cannot be rushed. ”
The Saudi media also mentioned the historical results of the two teams in the World Cup qualifiers, after the two teams met 6 times, and the Chinese team was in the advantage of 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss. Before the round of 12, the five Saudi coaches led the team against China in the World Cup qualifiers without winning. However, the last victory of the Chinese team was traced back to the 1998 World Cup qualifier, the Chinese team won 1-0 at home, but this time the Chinese team wanted to play in Sharjah, which was more suitable for the Saudi team in the climate environment, and it was also an empty field, which was more favorable to the Saudi team.
Heinah said the Saudi team would reward enthusiastic fans: "So far we have done a good job in the qualifiers, but we have not finished qualifying. We have the motivation to win tomorrow, the initiative is still in our hands, and we must respect the Chinese team. Speaking about the other focus of the same group, Japan and Australia, Heinech stressed that it will not pay too much attention, "The Saudi team can only focus on itself, and victory depends on our desire and determination to achieve it." ”