On the evening of March 29, local time, at 0:00 a.m. Beijing time on March 30, the Chinese team will face Oman in the 10th round of the Qatar World Preliminary Round of 12 in Muscat, Oman, which is the final round. Although both teams have not been able to qualify, the match is still of great significance to the Chinese team. If they lose to their opponents, the Chinese team will be surpassed by the opponent in the international ranking list, thus falling to 10th place in Asia. Such a result for the national football team is tantamount to setting up "roadblocks" for the subsequent reconstruction and preparation for the new cycle. For veterans such as Arthur Junmin, the game may also be the "curtain call" for them to chase their World Cup dreams. Therefore, it is reasonable to end the trip of this year's top 12 competition with a victory, which is the common wish of the national football delegation and an unshirkable responsibility.
After drawing with the Saudi Arabian team that has already qualified in the last round, the Chinese team has accumulated 6 points in this round of 12. This will largely help the team avoid the embarrassment of being at the bottom of the group in this round of 12, after all, Vietnam still finishes at the bottom of the B table with 3 points after losing the same round, and lags behind China in other statistics.
Is the Chinese team only satisfied with rejecting the goal of "bottom points"? The answer is no. In fact, the current points ranking of Group B of the Top 12 competition objectively reflects the current situation of the strength of each team, except for the third gear team Saudi Arabia and the first gear team Japan to advance to the Qatar World Cup main match, the second gear Australia team was "squeezed" into the qualifier play-off, the other competition results of this group are generally consistent with the filing of each team. If the Chinese team wants to retain the position and dignity of the fourth gear team, it cannot lose in the final round of the away match against Oman. Otherwise, their seat in Asian football will fall from 9th to 10th, and it is Oman who will transpose them.
As the host team of the 2023 Asian Cup, although the Chinese team has automatically obtained the seeded team status, if the international ranking further declines, then the team will be adversely affected in the next World Preliminary Tournament gear division process. From the perspective of safeguarding the competitive interests of the competition, the Chinese team should go all out to fight for the Omani team.
The away game against Oman is also of great significance to the veterans and young players of the national football team. On March 24, the day of the 9th round of the round of 12, the national football team home match against Saudi Arabia, veteran Arthur Junmin ushered in his 35th birthday. A draw was not a decent gift for him, but the result of trying to keep him undefeated did not add to his birthday.
Whether it was a coincidence or the coaching staff's intention, Arthur Junmin appeared in the starting lineup of the Zhongsha match under the suspension of another captain, Wu Xi, and was replaced after half-time. As the last sticker of the "85 Golden Generation", Arthur Junmin failed to break out of the World Cup as he wished, which is a pity for him personally.
For such regrets, this World Preliminary Round of 40 went out with the team as a player, and Zheng Zhi, who has now become a member of the coaching team, can be described as empathetic. Examples like Zheng Zhi, who have entered the age of confusion but can still stick to the front line of professional football as a player, are rare in domestic football and are difficult to be copied. For example, the other two representatives of the "85 Golden Generation", who were the main force and joined hands with the "three brothers" to impact the last World Cup in Russia, Gao Lin and Feng Xiaoting, have completely faded out of the national team, so it is not realistic to hope that veterans such as Arthur Junmin, Zhang Linpeng and Wu Xi will impact the national football team in 2026. Judging from the situation of the national football team in this World Preliminary Tournament and the U23 national football team competing in the Dubai Cup, it is urgent for the national football team to be replaced. Then, arthur Junmin naturally needs to end the personal world preliminary tournament impact process with a victory.
The game is equally important to the younger generation of the team, and as of the 9 rounds of the round of 12, the Chinese team has not won any victory except for the difficult victory over Vietnam at home. And how much the victory in the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers has a stimulating effect on young players is actually self-evident. If the Chinese team can end this World Preliminary Tournament with victory, it will undoubtedly play a huge role in spurring the rapid growth of young players in the future, and will also add more confidence to the reconstruction of the national football team in the future.
According to the data, the Chinese team has previously played with Oman 6 times in international official competitions, with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. Among them, they played 3 times in the final stage of the World Preliminary Round, winning 2 wins and 1 draw, and remaining unbeaten. In the Asian Top 10 of the World Cup Qualifiers for South Korea and Japan in the second half of 2001, the Chinese team has won 2-0 away and 1-0 at home. On October 7, 2001, the Chinese team advanced to the final round of the World Cup in South Korea and Japan after winning the Home Game of Oman in Shenyang.
The first meeting between the Chinese team and the opponent took place on December 10, 1998, when the Group Stage 2 of the 13th Asian Games was held, when the Chinese team won 6-1. However, in the last two meetings between the two teams, the Chinese team has lost. The most recent meeting between the two sides took place on January 30, 2013. At that time, the Chinese team visited Muscat and lost to the opponent 0-1. Another defeat came in the semi-finals of the Invitational International In Oman in Muscat on 17 December 2008, when China lost 3–1. In addition, the 1989 chinese Olympic team once lost 1-3 to oman in the second leg of the second round of the London Olympic Games, and was eliminated by an aggregate score of 1-4. Wu Xi, Wang Dalei and Zheng Zheng, who participated in the competition at that time, are currently in the national football team.
The only draw between the two teams came in the fifth round of the Round of 12 last November, when the two teams drew 1-1 in Sharjah, UAE. During the group stage of the 2018 U23 Asian Cup, China's U23 team won 3-0 against Oman's U23 team, and zhang Yuning, the main striker of the current national football team, is one of the main players of the current U23 national football team. Judging from the record of the two countries over the years, although the Chinese team occupies a certain advantage in the overall record, it does not have the absolute strength to win the opponent. Therefore, the team still needs to strive for excellence in the preparation process.
In fact, at this moment, the Chinese team has no so-called "tactical secrets". Captain Wu Xi, who was suspended in the last round, will unsurprisingly appear as a starter in this round, and he is likely to be replaced by Liao Lisheng, a defender who is also no longer young. As for the technical and tactical playing style and specific personnel arrangements for this round. Judging from the recent training and competition, head coach Li Xiaopeng will still use the 3-guard tactic with a high probability. The specific formation choice of 343 or 541 requires the coaching staff to flexibly adjust according to the situation of the scene.
Before the start of training on the evening of the 27th local time, the Chinese team specially arranged for the young midfielder Gao Tianyi to be interviewed by the media. Prior to this, the members of the coaching staff had given high praise to Gao Providence's ability and performance as a substitute during the match against Saudi Arabia. Therefore, regardless of whether he can start in this round of competition, Gao Tianyi has become the focus of the national football team in the midfield, especially the back position.
It is understood that the law enforcement national football team away to Oman is a whole group of Korean international level referees. Among them, referee Gao Hyung-jin, fourth official Kim Hee-kun, video assistant referee Kim Jong-hyuk, etc. have all come to China many times to enforce the law and have enforced many major international matches of the Chinese team, including the top 40 matches.
Expected starting lineup of the national football team: Yan Junling; Zheng Zheng, Zhu Chenjie, Zhang Linpeng; Liu Yang, Gao Zhunyi; Wu Xi, Xu Xin; Liu Binbin, Zhang Yuning, Dai Weijun.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Zhao