Kazakhstan, ranked dozens of places below the Chinese men's team in the world, beat Denmark, who are ranked in the top 20.
Meanwhile, the 80th-ranked Chinese men's team drew with the 105th-ranked New Zealand national team in two warm-up matches. First a 0-0 draw, then a 1-2 defeat.
The second round of Euro 2023 qualifiers Group H was overturned. FIFA's 115th-ranked Kazakhstan scored three goals in 20 minutes to beat world number 18 Denmark in 20 minutes. Moreover, in the World Cup final, Qatar and Morocco beat Brazil 2-1 in the warm-up match, their first victory under the Samba team.
Some fans joked that if the Kazakhstan team went to play in Asia, the probability of the Chinese team entering the World Cup would be reduced. In fact, in the previous matches, the national football team had a certain advantage: in the 1997 warm-up game beat Kazakhstan 3-0, in 2007 the warm-up game 2-1 defeated the opponent, the national football team beat the opponent 2-1 in the 2007 warm-up match, and the 2007 national football warm-up game beat Kazakhstan 2-1. In the 2007 warm-up match, the team won 2-1. In 2007, he played a 60-minute home training match with top-ranked Kazakhstan. In the 2016 warm-up match, Kazakhstan won 0-0 and lost 0-1.
Kazakhstan was originally a member of the AFC. Their grades during this time were very poor. In the 1996 and 2000 Asian Cups, they missed the main match. Since then, conflict has erupted between Kazakhstan and the AFC. The Kazakh Football Federation believes that the level of Asian football is low, the technology has not improved, and it has been treated unfairly many times, so it decided to "leave Asia and join Europe". In 2002, Kazakhstan withdrew from the AFC and officially joined UEFA. Although Kazakhstan's "Asia-Europe" football program has ended, its other sports continue to compete in Asia.
Kazakhstan has been a "big team" in Europe when it first joined UEFA. Against other teams, he basically played the role of "the guy who sent points". At Euro 2006 in Germany, Kazakhstan was grouped with Greece, Ukraine, Turkey, Denmark, Albania and Georgia. In the end, they lost with 1 draw, 11 losses and 1 point. However, in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers in the Asian zone, the national football team was eliminated due to the goal difference in the second round and did not qualify for the first place in the group.
Since then, Kazakhstan has not reached the main draw due to the presence of strong European rivals, but this does not mean that it did not qualify. Over the past decade, they have actively developed the league, encouraging talented young people to train in the best leagues in Europe. In 2018, the first UEFA Nations League kicked off, and Kazakhstan could only participate in the D class. In the second edition of the Europa League, Kazakhstan competed in the C-level competition. In the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, Kazakhstan in the C Division will be grouped with Azerbaijan, Slovakia and Belarus and eventually promoted to the B Division as the top of the group.
In the Euro 2024 qualifiers in Germany, Kazakhstan is in Group H with Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, San Marino and Northern Ireland. At the moment they have 1 win, 1 loss and 3 points. It is worth mentioning that in the 2022-23 season, the three places in the main stage of this European Championship will be allocated through the UEFA Nations League play-offs, so Kazakhstan still has a chance to enter the main stage. European Cup.
In recent years, in order to develop their own strength, the AFC Champions League teams have constantly tried to face strong opponents in Europe and the United States. For example, Japan was invited to participate in the America's Cup. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Japan is not worried about being grouped with world champions Spain, Germany and American powerhouse Costa Rica. In the end, Nick beat Spain to finish first in the group. It was previously reported that Japan hopes to participate in the UEFA Nations League and compete with European powerhouses to further improve the level. In addition, teams such as South Korea and Iran are also trying to compete with European and American teams during the international break.
As the Asian powerhouses, which are already stronger than the Chinese team, are still working hard to develop, the national football team seems to be "building behind closed doors". The soccer team had reportedly been previously invited to participate in the America's Cup but was rejected. Recently, the Russian Football Association announced that the Russian national team invited the Chinese team to play a friendly match, but it was rejected on the grounds that the team had just changed coaches and was not ready. However, on this day, the national football team decided to travel to New Zealand for a warm-up match, against a team that is below their own world ranking. Embarrassingly, after two warm-up games, the team won 1 draw and 1 defeat, without tasting a single win.
It is worth mentioning that in the post-match press conference after Italy's 2-1 victory over Malta, Azzurri manager Mancini was asked about the naturalization of players. Both scored. Mancini said that while other European powerhouses naturalized players, Italy insisted on doing so and increased naturalization efforts. In fact, for Italy, which currently lacks good players, "naturalization" seems to be the best solution. Similarly, this stadium is also suitable for the Chinese men's national team. Past mistakes cannot be completely negated.
There is a Chinese saying: "Play chess with a smelly chess basket, the more you go, the more it stinks". Defeating a weak team can boost a team's confidence to some extent, but it will not do much to improve the player's skills and team skills and tactics. Only by playing against strong teams can you truly realize your backwardness and constantly improve your level. By the way, the fiasco of the national football team in Vietnam and New Zealand is certainly not the lowest point, and Laos and Brunei can also ...