On the 22nd, the Argentine Football Association announced through official channels that the Argentine team will play an international A warm-up match with the Australian team in Beijing on June 15. This means that the Chinese team will not be able to play at home against Messi's new World Cup champions Argentina at home. For Chinese fans who love Argentina and Messi, this is a pity, but from the perspective of the national football team preparing for the 2026 World Preliminary Round and the 2023 Asian Cup, it may be a more realistic choice for the team. In order to achieve good preparation results, the Chinese team will focus on me in training and warm-up arrangements, and will not be a sparring partner for the World Cup champion for the sake of "rubbing heat".
"Qatar World Cup champion Argentina will come to China this summer to play", this news has been spread through various channels more than one month ago. In fact, this is an international warm-up competition operated by relevant professional companies through brokerage means and with obvious commercial nature. Although the competition was determined to be an international A warm-up match because both participants were FIFA member association teams (national teams) and the schedule was scheduled for the June international break cycle, the event organizers must pay a huge appearance fee as a price to invite the new World Cup champion Argentina with stars such as Messi to participate in China.
Judging from the various information transmitted by the outside world before, the organizers of the event very much hope to promote the warm-up of the Chinese team and the Argentine team in June. However, just when the relevant hype is raging, the Chinese Football Association has determined that the national football team will warm up with the Myanmar team and the Palestinian team in Dalian on June 16 and 20, and even the Palestinian Football Association has made an official announcement of the China-Pakistan warm-up match as early as one month ago. Since the Chinese Football Association must sign an agreement with the relevant parties in Dalian on the issue of hosting the tournament, the Chinese team's warm-up plan for two games in June has been firmly established.
If from the perspective of the viewing and attention of the game, the Chinese team can warm up with the Argentine team, which naturally benefits a lot, but for the national football team that urgently needs to regroup, it is of little practical significance. It is understood that the reason why the Chinese team chose to warm up with the weak Myanmar team and the Palestinian team in June is mainly to restore confidence as soon as possible by winning, and then enter the competition in the new cycle with a good spirit. With the current strength of the Chinese team, warming up with an opponent like Argentina, in addition to pleasing fans, will only add a negative value to the national football team world ranking points. Since China's opponents in the next two competitions are AFC teams, the strategic value of warming up with Argentina is very limited.
On May 2 this year, the Australian FA sent a letter to all parties concerned, confirming that they agreed to send a team to China to play warm-up matches against Argentina. Although the Chinese Football Association did not respond publicly to this matter, through internal channels, the Football Association also expressed a layer of meaning, that is, the Chinese team's June warm-up plan has already been finalized. If the Argentine team confirms to play in China, it may have a certain impact on the attention of the two international warm-up matches of the national football team in the same period, and the implication of this attitude is actually very clear.
In fact, before and after the 2023 Asian Cup group draw ceremony was held on May 11, national football coach Jankovic had already designed a more detailed preparation plan for the warm-up matches between China and Myanmar and China and Pakistan in June. After returning to China from Qatar, he also went to the Chinese Super League Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and other divisions to inspect candidate international players, and his draft work actually revolved around these two warm-up games. In addition, in addition to the two warm-up matches in June, the two international A warm-up matches of the national football team in September are also scheduled to be held in Dalian, and if nothing else, the team will warm up with two relatively stronger Asian teams in September. It is not difficult to see that the national football team has always mastered the rhythm conducive to its own competitive interests in the arrangement of training and warm-up matches, and the selection of warm-up opponents is also targeted.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Zhao