The night of the 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia (March 24) was also the 35th birthday of veteran Arthur Junmin, so head coach Li Xiaopeng specially arranged for him to start, but it became the biggest defeat on the field, and he had to make a substitution at half-time.
This game is very important for the national football team, although it has been out of the game early, but the soldiers must fight for honor, head coach Li Xiaopeng also shouted the slogan of "fighting for the face of Chinese football" before the game. However, because Wu Xi, a midfielder and captain, accumulated a yellow card suspension, Li Xiaopeng's platoon deployment was a bit stretched, so he had to line up the following slightly weak lineup.
Goalkeeper: Yan Junling; Defenders: Gao Zhunyi, Zhang Linpeng, Zhu Chenjie, Zheng Zheng, Liu Yang; Midfielders: Arthur Junmin, Liao Lisheng, Xu Xin, Liu Binbin; Forward: Zhang Yuning.
The average age of this starting lineup is about 28 years old, which is much younger than the average age of 30 years old before, so Li Xiaopeng is still very much looking forward to the power of this lineup, especially for Arthur Junmin.
As we all know, the "relationship" between Arthur Junmin and Li Xiaopeng is not ordinary, because during the period of Shandong Luneng (now Taishan, Shandong), the two have been working together for many years, a head coach and a captain; later Li Xiaopeng jumped to Wuhan Zhuoer (now Wuhan Team) as the head coach, and Arthur Junmin also transferred to continue to serve as the captain of the field, and the two still maintain a close relationship.
Just as the so-called "family has an old, if there is a treasure", Arthur Junmin, as the oldest player on the national football field, Li Xiaopeng and the fans watching the game hope that he can play something different. However, Arthur Junmin's performance finally disappointed us, and there was nothing to do in the whole 45 minutes, and Li Xiaopeng had to replace him at halftime.
Veterans don't die, they just fade away. I have to say that the years are really a "pig killing knife", the 35-year-old Arthur Junmin is no longer the wind-chasing teenager of the year, and it is impossible to expect him to kill a three-in and three-out in the other half.
Of course, we should not blame Arthur Junmin too much, because he is also very the field, as the oldest player, Arthur Junmin does not spare his physical strength at all, and he is always present when defending.
What Li Xiaopeng needs to do now is to find a replacement for Arthur Junmin, and the replacement of old and new is a key step in whether a team can continue to go. Personally, I think that the naturalized young player Dai Weijun is very good, and I hope that Li Xiaopeng can focus on training, in time, he is definitely a midfielder in the national football team.
At the end of the article, I also wish Arthur Junmin a happy birthday, although his performance is not very good, but the national football team finally got a valuable point, avoiding the embarrassment of the bottom of the group, which is also a good result.