Warm-up match: China U22 men's football team draws 1-1 with Croatia U23 national team Zhu Qiwen scored from the sky

In the early morning of June 2, Beijing time, China's 2001 U22 Olympic team drew 1-1 with the Croatian U23 national team in an international B-class match in Zagreb. Just one minute after coming off the bench in the second half, Chu Qiwen shot from a distance, taking the lead through the home team's goal. Unfortunately, in the second minute of injury time, the opponent used a wide cross to recover a goal, and finally had to accept the end of the draw.

The final touchstone of Crodiara's practice

After beating Croatian champions Ruders to end the match against 12 teams in Croatia, the Chinese Olympic team began to prepare for the last two warm-up matches against Croatia. THE NATIONAL Olympic team played a friendly match on may 27 AGAINST THE MATCH OF LIFE SELECTION, WHICH CONSISTED OF LOCAL FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD DIVISION PLAYERS WHOSE CONTRACTS EXPIRED, AND WON COMFORTABLY 2-0. During this period, the coaching staff of the National Olympic Team re-adjusted the lineup, and through the past nearly 3 months of training, the coaching staff has a good understanding of the team's main and substitute lineup. Therefore, the first leg on June 1 is prepared to start with a line-up of players who are more of the main players. Moreover, in order to play well, the team also watched the warm-up match between Croatia's U21 national youth team and England and Israel in March this year.

However, after getting the roster list officially transferred by the Croatian Football Association to the Chinese Olympic team, the coaching staff found that Croatia's participation in the Chinese team this time was actually the U23 national team, not the original U21 youth team, because 16 of the 33-man squad were players born in 2000, and there were many players who played overseas, and the overall strength was quite strong. It is precisely because of this that the two warm-up matches between the Olympic team and the Croatian U23 team will be used as the final test of the effect of Croatia's training, of course, it is also a "touchstone", to a large extent, it can have a clearer "positioning" for the national Olympic team. Because a year ago, Croatia's U21 team participated in the 2022 Dubai Cup, when it played against Japan's 2001 age team at the age of 2001, and Japan won 1-0. For example, No. 11 Saigo and No. 3 Yuryskin, who started for Croatia when playing for the Chinese Olympic team, and No. 18 Nico Galisic and No. 19 Gorikan, who came off the bench at the beginning of the second half, have all started matches against the Japanese Olympic team. Therefore, the match against the Croatian team can somewhat verify the current situation between the Olympic team and the top teams of the same age in Asia, although the football game is not a simple arithmetic problem.

It should be noted that Croatia submitted a roster of 24 players before yesterday's match with the Chinese Olympic team, of which there are still as many as 13 players born in 2000. Moreover, among the 11 who started the game, goalkeeper No. 23 Kovacevic was born in 2002, except for winger No. 7 Ante Srnak, center No. 9 Barisic and midfielder No. 10 Luka Stojkovic, who were born in 2003; In addition, captain No. 16 Soldo was born in 2001 and has already made several appearances for Bundesliga side Cologne last season. The other five players are all born in 2000. After the start of the second half, except for goalkeeper No. 23 Kovacevic and No. 7 Srnak, all nine people were replaced with new faces. After 70 minutes, the number 7 was replaced. In other words, throughout the match, all the players born in 2000 called by the Croatian team took turns. Although the running-in time is relatively short and the preparation is not as full as the Chinese Olympic team, because the players' personal ability, technical and tactical literacy, etc. are completely above the Chinese Olympic team, the overall strength of the team must exceed the Chinese team by one or two grades.

The National Olympic Games are cautious in the battle, based on defense against counterattacks

Since the opponents are older and the technical and tactical level is also behind the Chinese team, the National Olympic Team adopted a more cautious strategy in this game. The team played in a 4231 formation, the goalkeeper will be Wang Jinshuai, and the back line is Hu Haotao, Liang Shaowen, Jin Shunkai and Chen Yuhao; No. 21 Duan Dezhi and No. 15 Liang Weipeng played two defensive midfield positions, Jia Weiwei was in front, and Abra Khan did not participate in this game due to injury; No. 18 Liu Junxian plays as a center, No. 20 Liu Zhurun and No. 23 He Longhai have two wings.

After the start of the game, the Olympic team first based on the defensive counterattack, not like the previous game against the Croatian team from the beginning of the full line press, high pressure on the opponent, but first stand in formation, the front court according to the situation and then press, implement tight, more or near the midfield to carry out a comprehensive pressing. So, in the opening stages, the ball was more on the Croatian side. However, because the opponent may have been a temporary combination, the overall speed of advancement was not very fast, but the speed and frequency of handling the ball were relatively fast, and the first shot of the game was completed in the 4th minute, but the ball passed in front of the goal and went straight out of bounds.

After patiently maneuvering with the opponent for almost 15 minutes, the Chinese team launched a threatening attack from the right for the first time, No. 20 Liu Zhurun dribbled the ball and passed straight to Chen Yuhao, who broke through along the wing and crossed to Liu Zhurun who followed up into the box on the inside, but unfortunately Liu Zhurun could not get up in time to shoot, and the opponent's defender cleared the ball. But this effective attempt gave the Olympic team more confidence in fighting back. In the 19th minute, Liu Junxian pulled to the left and cooperated with his teammates, and then broke through the opponent's defense and crossed, but unfortunately the player who outflanked the center could not catch up and was cleared by the opposing defender.

In the 23rd minute, Croatia broke through from the left and crossed underneath, but the outflanked No.9 Barisic failed to catch the spot, and the ball crossed in front of the goal. Three minutes later, the Chinese team also used color, No. 21 Duan Dezhi launched a counterattack on the spot after successfully breaking the ball in midfield, and after continuous cooperation, the ball reached the feet of No. 18 Liu Junxian, who got up and shot after swinging past the opposing defender near the left rib in front of the penalty area, and the ball went straight to the upper corner of the far corner of the opponent's goal, but unfortunately grazed the crossbar out of bounds. This is arguably the closest the Olympic team has come to scoring a goal in the first half.

However, due to the overall passing speed of the Olympic team, and there are many crosses, the overall conversion of the Olympic team is somewhat slow. In the 35th minute, the Croatian team took advantage of the successful pass of the national Olympic team, launched a quick counterattack, and formed a shot, but the shot was not successful because the shot was not crosshair. In the 37th minute, it was Duan Dezhi who successfully snatched the ball in the midfield, and then directly handed it to Liu Zhurun who inserted forward, but unfortunately Liu Zhurun could not get up and shoot in time, and was relieved by the opponent before Liu Zhurun got up.

Throughout the first half, both sides created a couple of chances back and forth, but neither could take advantage of them and could only go into the halftime 0-0.

Zhu Qiwen came off the bench to make a contribution

After the change, the Croatian team changed 9 players at once, while the Olympic team did not change. As in the first half, the Olympic team is still based on defensive counterattacks and dealing with opponents. Perhaps due to the change of players in the Croatian team, or perhaps according to the situation in the first half, the Croatian team adjusted its tactical deployment, that is, resolutely playing on the wing, using the breakthroughs on both sides to find opportunities. However, due to its defensive success, the Olympic team never allowed the opponent to create good chances. In the 15 minutes after the restart, the Croatian team only completed two threatening shots from the perimeter, while the Olympic team continued to attack the opponent with a quick counterattack.

In the 61st minute, the Olympic team made its first substitution, replacing Hu Hetao, Liang Weipeng and He Longhai with Yang Zihao, Jia Boyan and Zhu Qiwen. In addition to Yang Zihao and Jia Boyan's counterparting substitutions, Zhu Qiwen replaced Jia Extraordinary in the position and played as an attacking midfielder, while Jia Extraordinary withdrew and changed to play the defensive midfield position played by Liang Waipeng. Just over 1 minute, Zhu Qiwen also touched the ball for the second time, after taking the ball because there was no one around, Zhu Qiwen adjusted himself and shot from a distance, the opposing goalkeeper although he struggled to save and also touched the ball, but because of the strength, the ball went directly into the net in the upper right corner, 1-0! This kick obviously surprised the Croatian team, because the Olympic team had never used a long-range shot before, but Zhu Qiwen's kick stunned everyone, whether it was on or off the field.

After the lead, the National Olympic team obviously played more and more confidently, only 2 minutes later on the counterattack to create opportunities to extend the score, Chen Yuhao and Jia Boyan on the right side after cooperation, Jia Boyan a straight plug, Chen Yuhao set the side and cut inside, rushed in front of the opponent's chasing defender to get the ball, but unfortunately Chen Yuhao lost his center of gravity, fell to the ground while forcing his foot to shoot, but failed to kick the right part, the opposing goalkeeper easily held the ball. After that, the Olympic team had another chance in the 71st minute, No. 18 Liu Junxian hoisted the ball into the box, but the forward Zhu Qiwen failed to grab the point and was caught by the opposing goalkeeper.

The Croatian team, which was behind, was clearly unable to sit still. Coach Skosic, who had been sitting in the stands to watch the game, also ran down directly and used the rehydration time to make emergency deployments to the players. After the resumption of the kick-off, Croatia began to launch a strong campaign, constantly starting from both sides. The Olympic team retreated completely, constantly disrupting the opponent's crosses and kick-offs. However, in the second minute of injury time, the Olympic team made a mistake to cross from the right side, failed to push the ball far away, and substitute No. 22 Sevili volleyed from outside the box in the second half to string through the gap into the net to tie the score 1-1.

In this way, the Olympic team regrettably missed the victory and failed to achieve the desired result. However, although the Olympic team failed to win, they were more confident in playing the next game, after all, they could have a chance to win their opponents, only to be drawn by their opponents at the last minute, which was unimaginable before the game. According to the arrangement, the Olympic team will adjust for one day today (2nd) and will play Croatia again tomorrow (3rd).

Olympic Team Lineup (4231)

No. 1 Wang Jinshuai; No. 28 Hu Hetao (No. 17 Yang Zihao, 61'), No. 4 Liang Weipeng, No. 30 Jin Shunkai, No. 6 Chen Yuhao; No. 21 Duan Dezhi (No. 33 He Xiaoke, 87'), No. 15 Liang Weipeng (No. 29 Zhu Qiwen, 61'); No. 23 He Longhai (No. 26 Jia Boyan, 61'), No. 10 Jia Fanfan, No. 20 Liu Zhurun (No. 19 Mu Talipu, 72'); No. 18 Liu Junxian (No. 11 Baihlamu, 72').