After the round of 12
What to do?
The Chinese men's football team has finally ended the journey of the World Preliminary Round of 12, although the final result and process are dissatisfied, and it is still on the cusp of public opinion, but life will continue, and Chinese football will still "survive". At present, whether it is the national team or the U23 national football team, as well as the Chinese Football Association itself, what to do in the future is what they are more concerned about. Judging from the current situation, we will go all out to ensure that this year's Chinese Super League can be fully played in 34 rounds of competition, and as many national teams at all levels can participate in international competitions as much as possible, which has become the whole focus of the next work of the Football Association.
1
Strive for the full play of the league
"Plans can never keep up with change." Under the epidemic, Chinese football has been facing this problem. Due to the recent rebound of the domestic epidemic, it has once again disrupted The plan for Chinese football has been disrupted to a large extent. In the three professional leagues, the Chinese Super League and the Chinese First Division have fully resumed the home and away system, which has always been the direction and goal of the joint efforts of the Chinese Football Association, the Preparatory Group of the Chinese Professional Football Club Federation (CFA) and various professional clubs. Moreover, the Football Association and the Preparatory Group of the China Football Federation have also prepared a number of sets of plans in advance. However, in the current situation of the rebound of the epidemic, it is unlikely that the early stage of the Chinese Super League this year will be carried out in accordance with the home-and-away system. The two teams of the national football team and the U23 national football team could not return to China smoothly according to the original plan, which was not expected in advance. This makes it very unlikely that the new season will start on the weekend of April 22 and 23, and the start of the new season will be delayed.
As for which day is it postponed? This will probably depend on the time it takes for the Chinese delegation to leave the UAE and return home. Therefore, until now, the Football Association and the Preparatory Group of the China Football Federation have not officially announced the start time. Of course, so far, the preparation activities for the new season are still in an orderly manner. Moreover, in the face of the current complex situation, whether it is the Chinese Football Association or the Preparatory Group of the China Football Federation, a core goal and direction is: in any case, this year's professional leagues at all levels must strive to play a complete season, like the Chinese Super League this year has 18 teams participating, a total of 34 rounds of competition, no matter what, we must strive to finish all of them, and will not shrink the season like the past two seasons. Therefore, under this premise, if the start time is forced to be postponed, the Football Association can only coordinate internally to ensure that the league resumes normally.
In the case that the current home-and-away system is unlikely to be restored for the time being, the first stage of the new season of the league will be played in the first stage of the tournament system. But the first stage of the league rounds will not be arranged too much, it may be five or six rounds, it may be seven or eight rounds. After that, if the epidemic is effectively controlled, then the time will be right to reconsider the full restoration of the home-and-away system.
In June and September this year, there are two FIFA-designated national team match days, and the national team will also carry out training according to the normal plan to prepare for next year's Asian Cup. However, in view of the current reality, it is unlikely that the national team will participate in international competitions, and it is impossible to go out to participate in international warm-up matches, nor can it invite foreign opponents to Come to China. In this case, the national team can only organize training, if the initial plan of training for 10 days to half a month, I am afraid it is not very meaningful. As a result, the Football Association is negotiating with the national team whether the time for the training of the national football team can be appropriately shortened to five days to one week. In this way, the rest of the time can be arranged more in the Chinese Super League. After the end of the Chinese Super League, the national team can have more time and better preparation for training.
A more favorable point is that at present, the initiative of the professional league to fully restore the home-and-away system has received high-level support, and it is also clear that the current dilemma faced by the Chinese professional league is also clear. This is undoubtedly the "gospel" of Chinese football. Therefore, as long as the time is ripe and the conditions are in place, this year's Chinese Super League can transition from the conference system to the home and away system. For the preparation of the early competition system, the preparatory group of the Chinese Football Federation has also been making comprehensive preparations.
2
The national brand plays more international competitions
Although the Chinese men's football team did not perform well in this round of 12, the performance of the U23 national football team, which came to the Uae on the same plane as the national team to participate in the Dubai Cup, attracted the attention of all parties and was recognized.
The Chinese men's national football team did not perform well in the round of 12, and its own hard strength was the most important reason, but there was not even a formal international warm-up game before the game, which also affected the team's normal participation plan, which was increasingly recognized by all walks of life. Therefore, this time the men's national team went to West Asia to participate in the round of 12, and the U23 national football team went out to participate in the warm-up match on the same plane, and received support from relevant parties. Moreover, although the result of the U23 national football team in the Dubai Cup was not ideal, the team's positive desire to fight and mental outlook were recognized by all parties. In this case, all parties have formed a consensus and more support, that is, Chinese football must find a way to play more international games, and to play a strong team, not afraid of losing, the so-called chess can not be played with the stinky chess basket, only with the master to improve faster.
With such consensus and support, it also makes the Chinese Football Association work relatively well in the construction of the next national brand team. Moreover, after experiencing the top 40 to the top 12 matches, and then to the simultaneous westward march of the two national teams, the Football Association has accumulated considerable experience in epidemic prevention, which also provides a reference for the next arrangement.
One reality that must be faced is that although the men's national football team has ended the round of 12, China's national team is not only this one. This year, the 99-age men's U23 team has the Task of the Hangzhou Asian Games, the 2003 Age-age U19 National Youth Team has the U20 Asian Cup Qualifier Task, the 2006 Age Group U16 National Junior Team has the U17 Asian Cup Qualifier Task, and the Women's National Team also has the Hangzhou Asian Games Task. If there is still an international warm-up match before the competition, it is almost impossible to expect the team to make a breakthrough. Moreover, regardless of the national brand of male or female teams, what we need to face is not the domestic team, but the opponents from Asia, which have now fully returned to normal and international exchanges have been fully normalized. In the Case of the Dubai Cup, nine of the 10 teams participating are from Asia and are all preparing for the fifth U23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan in June, while in Antalya, Turkey, people like Tajikistan U23, Kuwait U23 and Jordan U23 are participating in another international invitational tournament, and they are also preparing for the final stage of the U23 Asian Cup in June.
Not only the U23 level, like the U19 national youth team, the U16 national junior team, in this national team competition window, Asian teams are also conducting mutual visiting matches. For example, teams like the Indonesian 03 age group are currently training in South Korea and have played two warm-up matches with the South Korean U19 national youth team; like the Saudi U19 national youth team organized training camps in China and invited the Qatar U19 national youth team to play two warm-up matches; and so on. These Asian opponents will not stop because China's national team cannot play a warm-up match, and if the Chinese team itself does not seize the time to create as many opportunities as possible for international competitions, I am afraid that it will only be thrown farther and farther away by the opponent.
The same is true for women's football. For example, the Chinese women's football team has not been formed again after participating in the Asian Cup. However, in late February, during the FIFA-designated women's national team match window, the world's women's football teams are arranging warm-up matches; in early April, it is time for the FIFA-designated women's national team to play, and the Chinese women's football team is still unable to arrange matches, but the world women's football team, including Asian women's football teams such as South Korea, Japan and Australia, has also made arrangements. Moreover, when the Chinese women's football team plays in the 2023 World Cup in the future, the opponent it will face is no longer at the Asian level.
So, how to create more international competition opportunities for these national teams, so that these teams can compete with high-level opponents? This is already one of the priorities of the Chinese Football Association in the construction of the national team. In addition, the Football Association has not yet taken precautions to include the 2001 age group U21 national youth team, because this age group will be the 2024 Paris Olympic Men's Football Match adaptation team, which will participate in the group stage of the first stage of the Asian Qualifiers next year.
At present, whether it is the U23 national football team or the U21 national youth team, the U19 national youth team and the U16 national junior team, the teams at all levels have put forward their own ideas, and the Football Association is coordinating and contacting as much as possible to create opportunities for international competitions for these teams. In the case that it is temporarily impossible to invite foreign teams to play in China, the Football Association is considering whether to adopt a method similar to the national team and the U23 team to go to the UNITED Arab Emirates at the same time, that is, to contact the opponents of each team in advance, and then pull these teams to a certain place, participate separately, and then return to China safely after playing the game.
Of course, domestic youth competitions such as the full recovery within this year are also within the consideration of the Football Association. Moreover, according to the original plan, it will be fully launched at the end of April, and even leaders of relevant parties will be invited to attend the opening ceremony. It's just that the rebound of the domestic epidemic may cause the start-up time to have to be postponed.
In any case, the more difficult it is for Chinese football, the Chinese Football Association is still more pragmatic, trying to find ways to seek higher-level support, fully resume various domestic football activities, including youth events, and strive to do a good job in the construction of national teams at all levels, as far as possible to delay the decline of Chinese football; as far as possible to seek a smooth transition, so that people in the entire industry can tide over the difficulties together. This will be the top priority of Chinese football after the end of the World Preliminary Round of 12.