At 23:00 Beijing time on March 24, in the 9th round of The World Preliminary Round of 12 in the Asian Zone, the national football team sat in Sharjah, UAE, facing Saudi Arabia. Due to early exit, the last 2 rounds of the national football team are honor battles, as long as the Saudi team is not allowed to take all 3 points on themselves, the suspense of whether the Saudi team can qualify for the World Cup is likely to drag to the final round. In the final stage of the Asian region of the World Preliminary Round, the national football team has never suffered 3 consecutive defeats, and Li Xiaopeng is also striving to lead the team to avoid creating a new historical low.
Watch point one: the national football team opened the honor war
After losing to Vietnam in the 8th round, the national football team decided not to qualify for the play-off in the Asian region. The last two rounds of the 12 rounds have become the honor battle of the national football team, and the competition with Saudi Arabia is also the first life-and-death contest of the national football team since the last two World Preliminary Tournaments. By the end of the 8th round, only 4 teams were confirmed to be out, of which 3 teams were in Group B, in addition to the national football team, Oman and Vietnam have also been out.
Watch point two: When will the first score of Li Xiaopeng lead the team come
After taking office, he faced a situation that could be out at any time, especially the defeat in the last round with Vietnam, which made Li Xiaopeng questioned by the outside world. The match with Saudi Arabia is a battle of honor for the national football team, but also a battle for Li Xiaopeng's name, as a manager who is in danger, Li Xiaopeng leads the team to lead the last 2 rounds of 12 rounds If you can't get points, the possibility of wanting to continue to stay in the team is very small.
Watch point three: Saudi Arabia wins the ball and qualifies, does not win or determines the fate of the final round
The Saudi team had won 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in the previous 8 rounds, and it was not until it was revenge by the Japanese team in the last round that it ate the first defeat in this World Preliminary Tournament. In the competition with the national football team, as long as the Saudi team wins, it will advance to the World Cup in the early round. If the national football team is not won, as long as Australia and Japan play, Australia can not win, Saudi Arabia can also lie down to qualify for the Qatar World Cup.
Watch point four: lack of naturalization + Wu Lei, the national football offensive end relies on young generals
Since the four naturalized players in Brazil refused to travel to West Asia for physical examination, the names of these naturalized players were crossed out in the list of final players who went to West Asia. Wu Lei, on the other hand, sat on the bench in Spain, and although he was the top scorer in the World Preliminary Tournament of the National Football Team, he was not called up. After these 5 attackers are missing, only Zhang Yuning, Tan Long, Dai Weijun, Liu Binbin and other international footballers are left at the offensive end of the national football team, of which Zhang Yuning and Dai Weijun are expected to be reused by Li Xiaopeng.
Watch point five: no pressure to lightly load, the national football team to create surprises?
It is no secret that the Chinese men's football national team does not resist pressure, often it is a matter of life and death, and the play of the national football team is a mess, but once it is determined, in the honor war, the performance of the national football team is often unexpected. In the history of the World Preliminary Round, the national football team has achieved excellent results after determining the exit, and after entering the new millennium, it has defeated Australia and Singapore after the 20th out of the top 20 in 2008 and 2011.
Watch point six: the national football team refused to set a new low in the history of the team
After Li Xiaopeng became the coach of the national football team, the first two games were lost to Japan and Vietnam, and the national football team not only suffered the second consecutive defeat in the round of 12, but also had 5 consecutive rounds without a win. In the final stage of the Asian region of the World Preliminary Tournament, the national football team has never tasted the taste of 3 consecutive defeats, if Li Xiaopeng cannot lead the team to get points on Saudi Arabia, it will be the first time in the history of the national football team to eat the 3 consecutive defeats in the final stage of the Asian region of the World Preliminary Round.
Watch point seven: Li Xiaopeng is embarrassed to refuse to copy Camacho
The last time a national football team was led by the same manager suffered three consecutive defeats, it was back in 2013, when Camacho was the national football manager. In the last 3 matches led by Camacho, the national football team has lost to Uzbekistan, the Netherlands and Thailand, among which the Thai Youth Army also created a "6-15 tragedy". The national football team also suffered a wave of 3 consecutive defeats in 2019, but the 2 losses of the China Cup were led by Cannavaro, and the Asian Cup at the beginning of the year was led by Lippi.
Watch point eight: conceded goals in 9 consecutive games, whether the national football defense can maintain its innocence
Since the 3-1 defeat over Syria in the final round of the round of 40, the national defense line has conceded nine consecutive goals, including 16 goals in 8 games in the top 12 matches, an average of 2 goals per game. Among the top 12 teams, only Vietnam conceded more goals than the national football team, and if it suffers another defeat in front of Saudi Arabia, the national football team is likely to become the worst defensive team in the round of 12. For the national football team, whether it can attack is the key, and whether it can be defended is also another key point of this game.
Watch point nine: The Saudi team is all elite
Since winning can be qualified early, the Saudi arabian team has done its best this time, including captain Faraj who missed the round of 12 in January, the main center-back Madhu, and the main center Sheikhri all returned, while Shahrani and Aldasari, who did not meet with the national football team in the first leg, also returned to the team. When the Saudi team traveled from Abu Dhabi to Sharjah, the center Braikan, who had been quarantined with fever, returned, and the national football team faced a stronger opponent this time than the first round in Jeddah.
Watch point 10: Sharjah is undefeated, can the blessed land shelter the national football team?
Although the national football team has been out of the game early, in Sharjah, the national football team has not yet tasted defeat in this World Preliminary Tournament. In the last 3 rounds of the Round of 40, the national football team sat in Sharjah and defeated the Philippines, Maldives and Syria successively, and during the round of 12, the national team was able to defeat Vietnam and draw Oman and Australia as a neutral position. The national football team lost 1-0 at home to Japan, and the match was played in Doha, Qatar. Therefore, it can be said that Sharjah is definitely a blessing for the national football team, can it save face in the face of Saudi Arabia?
in Zakumi