In the early morning of March 25, Beijing time, in the 9th round of Group B of the Round of 12, the national football team drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia, ending the previous losing streak, but suffered 6 rounds of winlessness. At the post-match press conference, coach Li Xiaopeng said that it was lucky to be able to draw with opponents, and then Li Xiaopeng said that Chinese football, including the national football team, will get better step by step.
In the match with Saudi Arabia, the national football team only had 2 shots on goal, and the only shot was from the penalty taken by Zhu Chenjie, and it was with this penalty that the national football team was lucky enough to draw with the opponent.
For the performance of the team in the whole game, Li Xiaopeng said, "First congratulations to the Saudi team to qualify for the World Cup, the gap between our strength and the Saudi team is obvious, and we are lucky to get 1 point." ”
For the pre-match statement that he hopes the team can fight for the face of Chinese football, Li Xiaopeng said that the fighting spirit of everyone in this game is worthy of praise, "I think in the spirit of hard work, every player deserves praise." But football is played after all, and when we have the ball, we are still not very confident. ”
Talking about the performance of young players, Li Xiaopeng said that because of the lack of competition, it is still more risky to directly use them in the round of 12, "We have a lot of excellent young players, but due to the influence of the environment, there are very few international competitions in these 2 years, and it is still very risky to directly use them in this kind of competition, after all, they lack experience." ”
As for whether the draw with Saudi Arabia can rebuild the confidence of the team, Li Xiaopeng said, "Now, the team just needs to let go and play, and it can perform on the field." ”
Li Xiaopeng revealed that the reason why Zhu Chenjie was allowed to take the penalty was because he had training before the game, "We practiced on the field before the game, including Dai Weijun and Zhang Yuning, and I personally think that Zhu Chenjie's penalty is relatively stable." ”
Subsequently, Li Xiaopeng was asked whether the team would still make progress in next year's Asian Cup, saying, "I am not sure about this, but we take it slowly, and step by step will get better." ”