In the early morning of April 27, Beijing time, the Chinese 2001 U22 Olympic team, which was training in Belgium, had a rare scene in the warm-up game, and the national Olympic team missed three consecutive penalties, and finally lost 1-2 to Bierscheott B team, which was at the bottom of the fourth division of Belgium, and suffered two consecutive defeats in two days.
(1) The opponent attaches importance to the imagination
Belgium's fourth division (Belgian Division 2) is divided into groups according to language, with Flemish and Dutch occupying two groups, and French in a separate group of 18 teams each. Bierscheott B is in Group B of the Flemish and Dutch-speaking regions and is currently in bottom of the group. Before playing for the Olympic team, the team had 31 wins, 5 wins, 6 draws, 20 defeats, 21 points, scored 35 goals and conceded more than 2 goals per game, making it the least attacking team among the 18 teams.
Although Biershortt B may be the weakest of the six warm-up games during his time in Belgium, it is the most important, and the team's head coach personally rushed to Anderlecht's base the day before to watch the entire match between the Olympic team and Anderlecht B to detect the situation in advance. Not only that, but Bill Short B team also specially recalled a goalkeeper and a defender who were promoted to the first team to come back to help, of which the goalkeeper is an over-age player under the age of 99, and the defender is a player of the same age as the national Olympic team.
In contrast, on the one hand, the national Olympic team learned before the game that the opponent's strength was not very strong, and it was somewhat underestimated. On the other hand, because it is a three-day competition, the national Olympic team also needs to rotate personnel due to physical and injury considerations, after all, on the 28th, it will also play the last warm-up match with the strongest Brugge B team. At the same time, there have been injuries in the team recently, and Li Haoran has been resting for two consecutive days because of a sprained ankle in training; Defensive midfielder Jia Weiwei was tight because of his muscles, while Abdu Rousuli stayed at the hotel to rest because he was unwell. Chen Yuhao also suffered from an injury and was arranged by the coaching staff to rest, and although he went to the game site with the team, he did not even change his shoes for activities. The players had missed the warm-up match against Anderlecht B the day before.
In this case, the coaching staff of the Olympic team could only temporarily put together a lineup to play, and several players had to temporarily change positions. For example, Yang Zihao, who has always been a left-back, changed to central back in the match against Bill Short B team; Lee Sung-hyun, who has recently been assigned to play as a central defender, needs to return to the defensive midfielder he once played. With no one available at right-back, Chen Rong was placed in this position. This starting lineup has never been practiced together, and the effect can be imagined.
Because the base of the Bilchott club was being repaired, the first-team training had to be arranged in the home infield, so the venue was not ideal. Therefore, Bill Short did not put this warm-up game at home, but temporarily arranged it to be played at a nearby youth club called "KFC Nijlen". It is a club in Antwerp that specializes in the development of young players, starting from the U7 to the U23, with all age groups, but no senior team.
(2) Losing a penalty in the opening game affects confidence
The Olympic team took the initiative from the beginning of the game, and at 2 minutes and 45 seconds, striker No. 24 Wang Bowen received a pass from his teammate on the right and shot in the penalty area, the opposing defender blocked the ball with his hand, and the referee did not hesitate to blow a penalty! Wang Bowen took the initiative to ask for a penalty, he sent the ball to the right of the goal, but the opponent temporarily called back from the first team of the No. 13 goalkeeper judged correctly, a side save the ball, the Olympic team lost the opportunity to lead. And the penalty missed also affected the team's subsequent performance.
In the first 10 minutes, the Olympic team could still dominate the situation on the field, but after withstanding the three-board axe attack, the opponent gradually began to grasp the initiative on the field, firmly controlled the midfield, and constantly distributed the ball from both sides of the midfield and passed the ball to threaten the national Olympic team's defense line when the defense turned to attack. In the 20th minute, the national Olympic team originally turned from defense to attack and pressed on the whole line, but the frontcourt player was cut off under the pressure of the opponent, the opponent counterattacked and crossed from the left, and the No. 9 striker headed the top to score, 1-0! Bill Short B takes the lead.
After conceding the goal, the National Olympic Team continued to attack in the following period, and Zhao Jianbo, Wang Bowen, Ma Fuyu and others all shot high. The Bill Short B team played more methodically after the lead and created several shooting chances, but failed to change the scoreline. In the first half, the Olympic team trailed 1-0.
In the game, the tactical arrangement of Bill Short B team is also very targeted, in addition to the two wings in the 352 formation mainly jamming the wing of the Olympic team's wing attack, the three players No. 6, No. 8 and No. 10 in the middle of the midfield are constantly rotated, so that the midfielders of the national Olympic team are completely "not on point". During the game, the National Olympic Team constantly shouted "who is staring at No. 6", "who is looking at No. 8", "who is defending No. 10" in the field, but the opponent's three midfielders always maintain a posture of one person retreating and two people inserting forward, so that the National Olympic team using the 442 formation always feels that there is one less person in the midfield and cannot effectively control the scene, and the Chinese Olympic team also has to withdraw a player on the forward line to assist the midfield.
(3) Both penalties were conceded in the second half
At halftime, the National Olympic Team made adjustments, changing the 442 formation (later changed to 4411) in the first half to 4141, except for Zhao Jianbo's central forward, Wang Bowen withdrew into a midfielder, while No. 19 Mu Talipu and No. 26 Ma Fuyu were swapped positions on the left and right, and No. 20 Li Chengxian further withdrew into a defensive single midfielder. In this way, against the three players No. 6, No. 8 and No. 10 in the opposing midfield, the Olympic team can form a counterposition defense in the midfield. The Bill Short B team changed the goalkeeper in the second half, and No. 1 goalkeeper Dukore, born in 2007, came off the bench. Dukore is the main goalkeeper of Belgium's Under-16 national team, having played in a series of matches against Italy, Denmark and England this month.
After changing the formation and playing style, the National Olympic Team wanted to fight hard in the midfield and strengthen the attack, but surprisingly, only 35 seconds after Yibian changed, the opponent kicked off to form an attack, and the goalkeeper of the National Olympic Team failed to be swung by the opponent's striker to push the empty goal, and the score on the field became 2-0!
Faced with a situation of 0-2 down, the Olympic team has some advantages in overall strength, and continues to organize attacks in the hope of recovering the score. In the 54th minute, the Olympic team organized a counterattack, and No. 9 Zhao Jianbo dribbled the ball along the left rib into the box and was tripped by the opposing defender, and the Belgian national referee did not hesitate to point to the penalty spot twice. Zhao Jianbo personally took the penalty and chose the opposite angle to Wang Bowen in the first half, but the opposing goalkeeper Du Kore bravely pressed the ball directly under him, and the national Olympic team missed the penalty scoring opportunity again!
Four minutes later, Ma Fuyu was fouled with the ball in the middle, the National Olympic Team won a free kick at the top of the arc of the penalty area, and No. 17 Yang Zihao bypassed the human wall and went directly into the net, 1-2, the National Olympic Team finally recovered a goal. This goal greatly boosted the morale of the Olympic team and gave the players hope of equalizing the score. The coaching staff also made a substitution decision in the 62nd minute, No. 11 Bai Lamu, No. 16 Cheng Ka Cheng and No. 23 He Longhai came on as substitutes, and 10 minutes later the National Olympic Team changed two more, and the tactical intention of continuing to strengthen the attack and strive for an equalizer was very clear.
In the 78th minute, the Olympic team once again had a good chance to equalize the score. He Longhai, who came off the bench, cut into the box from the left side of the front court along the ribs and tripped over the opponent, and the referee blew a penalty again! He Longhai himself took the lead and he once again sent the ball to the right, but Dukore once again saved the ball and the player who stepped forward to grab the ball to make up the shot also failed to score.
Seeing this scene, many local fans who came to watch the scene felt incredible, shaking their heads and putting up three fingers to reporters. In the nearly 30 years that the reporter has followed China's national brand teams at all levels, he has never witnessed such a scene at the scene. In the third place match of the 1988 Asian Cup, Gao Fengwen's Chinese national team failed to score three free throws in a penalty shootout after a 90-0 match with Iran, and finally lost 0-3 to Iran, but it was a penalty shootout. And three consecutive penalties were saved by the opponent's goalkeeper in 90 minutes of regular time, which is indeed unprecedented. The situation is quite similar to the 2019 Asian Cup 1/4 final against Iran, three central defenders like contagion in a series of inexplicable low-level mistakes, "sent" to Iran 3 goals to lose 0-3.
After He Longhai missed a penalty, the Olympic team almost attacked around the opponent's goal in the following games, and also created many chances, but either hit high or shot wide. In the end, the Olympic team lost this incredible game 1-2.
According to the arrangement, the Olympic team will play the last warm-up match of the Belgian trip on the evening of the 27th local time, against the Brugge B team, which is currently ranked fifth in the Belgian second division.