Reaching the quarterfinals of the Asian Youth Championship for the first time in nine years, it was so close to returning to the World Youth Championship stage for the first time in 18 years. Lectra won the previous Asian Youth Championship Saudi Arabia, and the last World Youth Championship runner-up South Korea drew in 90 minutes.
If this is the weakest national youth team in 9 years, will anyone want to believe it? But a good coach and a magical goalkeeper have brought a ray of hope to countless Chinese fans.
01. Antonio's coaching philosophy: speed, power and overall discipline
a. 4 first-half goals conceded: tactical discipline is the basis of everything
When it comes to this national youth team playing well, there is a very important basis, that is, in the first half of the four games, the team did not concede a goal.
In the case of physical fitness, Antonio's strategic deployment is extremely targeted and will not give the other party too many opportunities. Entering the second half, the backhand arranged for Mutalip to come out to strengthen the attack, which was also a highlight.
The team's regular formation is 451, and the low defense becomes 541. When the opposing possessor has not yet passed the center circle, the full-backs on either side will be relatively inward.
The purpose of this is to ensure that many people in the middle suddenly grab and strangle, and Eiffelding suddenly rushes forward to wait for the opportunity to counterattack. He pulled up to the wing to get the ball and brought in the back row to insert the likes of Bai Helamu, Xu Bin and Hu Hetao.
Antonio still attaches great importance to athleticism, and Baihlamu is his key player, with a certain strength and confrontational advantage.
This time Eiffelding took the ball on the counter-attack and sent a wonderful pass to the back-inserted Baihlamu. The latter, despite being a center striker, has good dribbling skills and a certain amount of speed, and this time he shot directly into the heart of his opponent.
Let's take a look at this wave of counterattacks, the passing in the middle is very beautiful, and Eiffelding on the flank is the basic idea of the national youth counterattack.
The key point is the high-speed forward insertion of the far flank Baihelamu, wanting to outflank the rear point space. Unfortunately, Eiffelding's transfer ball was of insufficient quality and could not complete the cooperation.
b. Eiffelding's pass: Blocking him to the next level
Antonio's national youth team, defensive counterattack is the main routine. The team stood on the defensive and waited for the occasional chance to start.
Eiffelding is the forward arrow and the wing advance point on the counter-attack. If he can pass the ball a little better, the team's offensive quality can be improved a lot.
In this Asian Youth Tournament, the most important goal of the national youth team was the first goal against Saudi Arabia, which also directly determined the promotion of the team.
It was a long pass from the goalkeeper, and Bai Lamu countered the header to land, and after winning the ball, he was able to change direction in the dribble, and then cut the ball forward into the box, allowing Mutalif to use his cover to receive a high-quality cross from Eiffelding and score the goal.
However, Eiffeldin still has too few good passes, especially against Kyrgyzstan, and he has had several excellent counter-attacking chances that are a bit difficult to handle.
This time it was obviously a three-on-one golden opportunity, and Eiffelding's final pass landed on the opponent's counterattack.
It was the 87th minute of the game, and Eiffelding had too many opportunities to send passes, only to give a cross with the worst landing point at the worst possible time.
The opponent took advantage of this opportunity to counterattack and score the equalizer, which also allowed the national youth team to experience the subsequent fearful 10 minutes.
Even in the final game of the group stage, Eiffelding made an opponent's own goal, which made people laugh and cry a little.
Eiffelding's pass still landed a little badly. It was clear that two teammates took over, but they finally achieved the "world wave" of the opposing defender.
02. Kiba Mutalip! The team's bad tone is because the central defender is too poor
a. One breath away! The team has a poor central defender
Some people say that this national youth team is too poor in fitness and has too many cramps in the second half. This is related to the defensive requirements of manager Antonio, and the players are very consuming.
At the same time, the team's time to hold the ball in front of the court is too short, and the average possession rate per game is about 30%, even against Kyrgyzstan, only 32.5% of the possession.
Some people praised the national youth team for reaching the knockout stage of the Asian Youth Championship for the first time in nine years, while others said that it was the weakest national youth team in nine years.
Because this national youth team lacks real sustained counterattack ability, opponents can also dare to press forward. Both Japan and South Korea switched to high school strikers when they were trailing in the score, and the results were remarkable.
Because the two central defenders of the national youth are weak, especially Zhang Yixuan, it should be the weakest link of the team. It is no accident that Japanese center Naoki Kumada suppressed consecutive full-back goals by the national youth league.
Our two centre-backs had some problems with both targeting and positioning, so when the overall formation was consistently suppressed, they were prone to mistakes.
Although the goals and penalties with the Japanese team are reflected in Xiang Rongjun's head, the root of the problem may have more to do with the weak ability of the central defender.
The full-back is constantly retracting and filling in the position, and it is easy to have problems after the physical decline in the second half, which is the same reason as the goal conceded by the South Korean team.
b. One breath away! The team has a poor central defender
Antonio also knows that this team does not have the ability to die, so in the group stage, Mutalif, who is stronger in attack than defense, will play after the break, bringing more offensive elements.
In the round of 8 match with the South Korean team, if Bai Lamu is not suspended, he can continue Mutalifu's strategy of backhand, and maybe the national youth really has a chance to break out of the big upset.
This goal against the South Korean team can show the characteristics of Mutalife's extremely high ball quotient. He has good passing skills and knows how to move without the ball to catch opportunities.
Observing that opposing goalkeeper Toda left a near corner space, Mutalip shot directly at a very small angle instead of crossing, which once gave the national youth hope of entering the World Youth Championship.
The second goal of the match against Saudi Arabia, Mutalif's movement on the counter-attack was all too clear. Eiffelding doesn't make many good passes, but is it by chance that they all found Mutalif?
His movement allows his teammates to handle the ball more clearly. The last cross to find Xu Bin, whether it is the strength of the pass or the timing, it is very good.
However, Mutalif's athleticism and fitness are average, and he came on as a substitute late in the second half against Kyrgyzstan, this time lacking speed and endurance after the score.
Such a smart and characteristic player, it is the credit of the coach to be able to use it well. Just like this obviously not strong national youth team can come this far, coach Antonio is a great contribution.
03. The number one star is Li Hao: the weak team really went out
a. Quick speed and response to landing
In the crucial match against Saudi Arabia, it was not Mutalip, who came off the bench to shoot Jiangong, but goalkeeper Li Hao.
It can be said that he has always been the best player of the team in the four matches of this Asian Youth Championship.
In the first match against Japan, Li Hao saved a crucial penalty. Although it could not prevent the team from losing 1-2, it allowed the national youth team to gain the goal difference advantage in the small cycle of the three teams of China, Japan and Saudi Arabia before the final round, forcing the Japanese team to dare not release the Saudi Arabia team in the final round.
In the final match of the group stage with Kyrgyzstan, the opponent attacked the national youth penalty area, and central defender Zhang Yixuan almost swung his own goal, but fortunately Li Hao made two consecutive saves to resolve the team's crisis.
b. The door god did his best! Li Hao will be the future country
In 4 games, the disadvantage of the national youth team on the field is too great. Facing South Korea's round of eight, possession rate was only 23.6%, and the number of shots on goal was 6-19 behind, which was another test for Lee Hao.
The central defender ability of this national youth team is not good, and it is also evident in this round. The wing is actually a situation of two defenses and one, and the middle is also two to one, and as a result, Zhang Yixuan's position choice is very bad.
It can neither effectively jam the passing line nor interfere with the South Korean forward.
Fortunately, it was Li Hao's calm performance and the completion of key saves to preserve the innocence of the national youth team in the first half of this Asian Youth Championship.
In the first half of overtime, the South Korean team once again had a great scoring opportunity, and it was still Lee Hao's miraculous save, which once again continued hope for the team.
Unfortunately, in the end, it fell short and failed to create a miracle.
Conclusion:
The 03-year-old national youth team, who grew up during the desolate period of Chinese football youth training, is obviously not a team that has high hopes. Behind them, there will be a small junior brother who catches up with the good times, and it will also be a batch of new seedlings that are more worthy of being expected in Chinese football.
Can you play better than this Asian Youth Championship? The first thing to do is to find them a good coach.