On the morning of April 20, Zhang Linpeng, Wu Xi and Zhang Yuning, three over-aged players, trained with the U23 national football team for the first time, which also means that the work of the U23 national football team sprinting to the Men's Football Tournament of the Hangzhou Asian Games has been fully launched. This will also be the second time that the Chinese team has used over-age players since the Asian Games men's football team has limited the age to U23 players. So, why did the Chinese U23 national football team select these three over-aged players?
On the morning of April 20, the Chinese men's 99-year-old U23 national football team continued to train in Haikou, and the attention was that three overage players Wu Xi, Zhang Linpeng and Zhang Yuning participated in joint training for the first time. This also means that the U23 national football team sprint to the Hangzhou Asian Games men's football match has been fully launched. This will also be the second time that the Chinese team has used over-age players since the Asian Games men's football team has limited the age to U23 players. So, why did the Chinese U23 national football team select these three over-aged players?
Beginning with the 2002 Men's Games at the Busan Asian Games, the Olympic Council of Asia, in consultation with the AFC, has limited the age of participating players to U23 and allowed teams to call in three overagers, as in the Olympic Men's Football Tournament. However, at that time, the Chinese Football Association always used the Asian Games men's football tournament as a training ground for Olympic age-appropriate teams, and each session was to appoint younger teams to the Asian Games to prepare for the subsequent Olympic Asian qualifiers. Take the 2002 Busan Asian Games men's football tournament as an example, when the players of the right age were born after January 1, 1979, but China sent players of the 2004 Athens Olympic Men's Football Tournament born after January 1, 1981, and did not call for overage players. After that, teams from the 2006 Doha Asian Games, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, and the 2014 Incheon Asian Games were all participated in the subsequent Olympic age-appropriate age groups, and in addition to the 2006 Doha Asian Games, the other two games did not recruit three over-aged players.
The reason why the Doha Asian Games recruited two overage players such as Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang is that the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games were held at the doorstep of their homes, and the Chinese team as the host will automatically get the right to participate, so as a simulation of the 08 Beijing Olympic Men's Football Tournament, the Chinese Olympic team recruited overage players. At that time, the head coach Duy did not use the three over-age places according to the actual situation of the team. The other Asian Games have not recruited over-aged players, because the Chinese Olympic team needs to participate in the Olympic Asian qualifiers, and the use of over-aged players is prohibited in the qualifiers. Therefore, in order to train the effect, the team did not use over-aged players in the Asian Games.
By the time of the 2018 Indonesia Asian Games men's football match, because the head coach of the Chinese men's national football team at that time was Lippi, the U23 national football team, as the reserve team of the national team, was also responsible for the members of lippi team. When sending what kind of team to participate, the opinion of the Lippi team is to use the 95 age group to participate, because this age group still has the U23 Asian Championship task at that time, and the age-appropriate team of the 97 age group, that is, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Men's Football Championship, is not the responsibility of the Lippi team, so the Chinese Football Association listened to Lippi's opinion and led the team by its designated manager. As a result, the Chinese team is the first time to participate in the Indonesia Asian Games with U23 players. Moreover, the over-aged players were not called up, and the opinions of Lippi's team were also listened to.
However, it is an indisputable fact that since the men's football match at the Busan Asian Games became a U23 event in 2002, the Performance of the Chinese team at the Asian Games has deteriorated, especially in the last three competitions, the Chinese team has never entered the top eight. The most recent time the Chinese team reached the quarterfinals at the Asian Games was the 85-year-old national Olympic team led by Zheng Zhi and Sun Xiang, who broke into the quarterfinals and fought with Iran for 120 minutes in the quarterfinals, with a 2-2 draw, but when they shot penalties, the Chinese team lost 7-8, failed to enter the final four, and finally ranked fifth. It was also the best result achieved by the Chinese team since the asian games men's football competition had an age limit, equaling the fifth place at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan. In the next three sessions, including the first use of top U23 players at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, the Chinese team could only stop at the round of 16.
In any case, the Chinese team should strive for the opportunity to host the game at the doorstep, hoping to change the results of the previous three missed eight finals to change the current downturn in Chinese football. Moreover, in comparison, over-aged players can play a more important role in the game, better helping the growth of young players. Therefore, when the Chinese Football Association consulted with head coach Jankovic, the latter also put forward a request for overage players to join. Therefore, after communication and consultation, the three over-aged players in the first batch finally participated in the joint training of the U23 national football team for the first time.
For the problem of the 99-age U23 national football team recruiting overage players, because the U23 national football team followed the national football team to the west, during which the Chinese Football Association had exchanges with coach Jankovic, and it was finally Yankovic who made the choice. Of course, the final decision was made after the Dubai Cup. Because the Dubai Cup is the first time that the U23 national football team has participated in an international competition in nearly three years, the purpose of the competition is to test the team and expose the problem. Therefore, it is easy to understand that people like Zhang Linpeng were finally selected.
During the Dubai Cup, I believe that people who have watched the U23 national football warm-up match have the impression that this U23 national football team has obvious shortcomings in the right-back position, whether it is Xu Haofeng or Ye Lijiang, it always feels "not right", and even becomes the key breakthrough of the opponent. Therefore, the choice of Zhang Linpeng is also to effectively make up for the "short board" of the U23 national football team in the right-back position. Of course, whether the U23 national football team will adhere to the four-back tactical play in the future, or resolutely change to the "three-back" play, which needs to be determined according to the actual situation of the future game, but Zhang Linpeng, whether in the club team or the national team, whether it is a four-back or a three-back, can switch freely, and can also be competent as a central defender. Therefore, there is such an experienced veteran player pressing the line, which is obviously conducive to the construction of the U23 national football team.
People who are familiar with the 99 age group are actually very clear, whether it is the previous U19 national youth team period, or become the U23 national football team, the 99 age players have a good center-back in comparison, there are also good forward players, but the midfield is the weakest link of the three lines. Previously, when the U19 national youth team competed in the 2018 Indonesia U19 Asian Youth Championship, the reason why the national youth team failed to qualify in the group was that the midfielders made serious mistakes and were seized by the opponent, which directly led to the team's consecutive losses to Tajik and Saudi Arabia. After Jankovic took over, although the midfielders of this team have changed a lot, the current midfielders in the team, although they have their own characteristics, have not been able to find the ideal candidate, especially a midfielder like Zheng Zhi, who can effectively connect the team's front and backcourts. Therefore, when using over-aged players, only players like Wu Xi in the national team are in line with the needs of the team, assuming that Arthur Junmin is four or five years younger, perhaps Arthur Junmin is more competent, and now Arthur Junmin is old after all, and his physical condition will play half the game at most. Therefore, it is easy to understand that Wu Xi eventually became one of the over-age candidates.
As for Zhang Yuning's selection, in fact, it has a lot to do with the current injury of Shan Huanhuan and Guo Tianyu going overseas to play. In coach Jankovic's tactical system, Shan Huanhuan is the kind of pivot center player who best fits Jankovic's tactical system. At the beginning of the 97-age national youth team or the national Olympic team, Shan Huanhuan, as a player in the 99 age group, was able to skip the grade and become one of the main players, which is very telling. It's just that after Shan Huanhuan was injured in the 2019 Toulon Cup, the injury has never been broken. During the training camp in Haikou before this western expedition, Shan Huanhuan was injured again, resulting in his inability to follow the team.
Unlike Shan Huanhuan as a pivot center, Guo Tianyu is the kind of impact center with a certain breakthrough and a certain speed. At present, Guo Tianyu himself is on loan in the Portuguese Premier League, but after the end of the season, will Guo Tianyu continue to stay in Portugal or return to Shandong Taishan? So far, there is no clear statement. Once you continue to stay in Portugal, the real problem is that the Asian Games will not be held during the FIFA-designated national team competition window, and European clubs have the right not to release people. Therefore, it is necessary to consult with the other party at that time. To prevent problems before they happened, It is easy to understand that Jankovic recruited Zhang Yuning into the team. Regardless of whether Shan Huanhuan can heal and recover his condition, and regardless of whether Guo Tianyu can play in the Asian Games at that time, the U23 national football team can have more choices on the front line, which is of course conducive to the construction of the team and preparation. Moreover, even if all three of them can participate, they can be adjusted at any time according to the situation on the field at that time in the actual competition, and even in extreme cases, all three people will be dispatched to the scene and the simplest and most primitive way will be used to carry out the hanging.
From the perspective of normal construction, the most critical thing for a team is the "central axis", Zhang Linpeng, Wu Xi, Zhang Yuning is actually the "central axis" in the future U23 national football team to some extent, with the old leading the new, which is more conducive to the construction of the team. Of course, in actual combat, Zhang Linpeng will still appear more in the position of the right side of the road.
At this stage, the three overaged wu xi, Zhang Linpeng and Zhang Yuning have begun to train with the U23 national football team, but this does not mean that these three over-aged players have completely locked up the overage quota of the Asian Games. On the one hand, since I have just begun to train with the U23 national football team, what is the final effect? Time to test.
On the other hand, I am afraid it is more important, because the U23 national football team has been forming a team under the leadership of Jankovic for more than three years, in comparison, the team's technical and tactical style and style of play have been formed. What the three overagers are now facing is whether they can adapt to the technical and tactical style and style of play of the current U23 team? The possibility of having the entire team adapt to overage players in turn is almost non-existent. Therefore, after the overage players join the U23 national football team, such as the U23 national football team in the previous Dubai Cup match to show the high pressure of the front court, after losing the ball and other basic requirements, can the three over-aged players also resolutely implement on the field? This is even more noteworthy.
At this stage, head coach Jankovic is also comprehensively examining the actual performance and integration of these three overage players after joining the team, and may even test the effect for the first time in the East Asian Cup through international competitions. Once its tactical requirements are not carried out, there is still a possibility of changing over-aged players after the East Asian Cup. And, on the list of overage players prepared by Jankovic, it's not just these three. In fact, this is also an invisible pressure for overage players, promoting them to better integrate into the U23 team, after all, if they are replaced in the middle, the "face" may not be very good.
Wen | Ma Dexing
Edit | Fat Cat