At 23:00 Beijing time on March 24, the Chinese men's football team will usher in a contest with saudi Arabia in the ninth round of Group B of the group stage of the Round of 12. Before the game, head coach Li Xiaopeng said bluntly: "I think it will be a hanging, the opponent definitely wants to win, we also want to win." Although the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup was lost, all the players had to fight for the face of Chinese football. ”
From the top 40 to the top 12, the Chinese people were originally full of expectations for this national football team. Unfortunately, the former head coach of the national football team, Li Tie, led the team to only win one victory in the first 6 games of the round of 12, and there was little hope of promotion. Subsequently, Li Tie was questioned by all walks of life because of his words and deeds and teaching ability, and finally resigned. His successor, Li Xiaopeng, has lost two consecutive games in charge and lost to Vietnam for the first time in a major match, adding to the blockage for the Chinese during the Spring Festival.
After experiencing such a situation, the attitude of the national football team to the last two matches of the World Preliminary Round is very clear, that is, no matter what, it must save face for Chinese football, which is why Li Xiaopeng said before the game against Saudi Arabia. "It will be very hard for the first Saudi Arabia in the group, the players will train very hard, the status should be greatly improved, will go all out, I hope there will be a good result tomorrow." Will use some tough players who want to fight and dare to fight, and tomorrow at least show that the team is strong and has the quality of will, which is the minimum requirement. In terms of tactics, Li Xiaopeng will take the way of attack and defense balance, "In football games, the balance between attack and defense is very important, and it cannot be abandoned because the forwards (only Tan Long and Zhang Yuning are only two in the squad) are less, attack and defense are equally important, and the biggest expectation is that the players will show the level of training in the game." ”
In the just announced 23-man roster, except for Wu Xi, who was suspended from the tournament and Li Lei, who retired from injury, all the players in the previously announced big list were selected.
Rivals Saudi Arabia hope to get tickets to the World Cup in Qatar in the early round of this match. Saudi Football Association President Yasir Al Meishar constantly reminds the Saudi team members to concentrate and not always think that the Chinese team has no hope of qualifying, because no game in the World Preliminary Tournament will be easy.
In addition, the Chinese U23 national team, which also participated in the Dubai Cup in the United Arab Emirates, lost 0-1 to the host UAE U23 team in the first match. From the scene point of view, the Chinese U23 national team is fully passive, if it were not for goalkeeper Han Jiaqi's high and low block to provide a lot of wonderful saves, I am afraid the score will not be 0-1. As can be seen from this game, this team has not formed a synergy, and there is a lack of effective tacit understanding between the players, especially between the players in the back line, and the defense line is basically useless. In the future, if the Chinese U23 national team wants to make a difference at the Hangzhou Asian Games held locally, it will need to work harder.
Text/Guo Rui
Photo/ Weibo, Xinhua News Agency