Nandu News reporter Tao Xinlei Until the last moment of the game, Wu Lei was the icing on the cake, which really overturned the mountain that pressed on the chest of the national football team. On the evening of October 10, Beijing time, the Chinese team won 2-0 against Vietnam in a friendly match held in Dalian. Wang Qiuming broke the deadlock in the second half and Wu Lei sealed the victory in stoppage time. This goal was the 31st goal scored by Wu Lei for the national football team, and he equalled Liu Haiguang and tied for the all-time goalscorer of the national football team.
On October 10, Chinese team players during the game. Xinhua News Agency
"Revenge" is the only theme
On February 1, 2022, the first day of the first lunar new month, Li Xiaopeng's Chinese team lost 1-3 away to Vietnam in the eighth round of the World Preliminary Round of 12. This is the first time in the history of the Chinese men's football team that the Vietnamese team has lost in 11 meetings, which is also a humiliating battle for the national football team to brush the bottom line of fans.
Compared with more than a year ago, although the manager of the Chinese team has been replaced by the Serbian Jankovic, the burden on him is not light. In the two warm-up matches in September, China first struggled to draw with Malaysia and then to Syria, and it was difficult to win a single victory. What made fans even more dissatisfied was that in addition to the outstanding performance of individual players, the whole team played lifeless, unorganized, and made a series of mistakes, and Jankovic was under great pressure after the game.
In this training camp, Jankovic summoned a number of members of the national football Asian Games team who completed the tasks of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Jankovic said before the game: "Tomorrow's game is clear, it is to go all out to win the opponent. ”
The Chinese team starters pose for a group photo before the game. Xinhua News Agency
In the formation, although there were 7 players over 30 years old in the starting lineup, 23-year-old Fang Hao and Wu Shaocong also started. Wu Shaocong, who currently plays in the Turkish First League, is also the only player in this national team to stay in the ocean.
The average age of the visiting Vietnamese team is more than three years younger than that of the Chinese team. And their manager, Trusier, may be more familiar with Chinese football than Jankovic. The Frenchman has worked as a manager at Shenzu and Greentown, and as a sporting director at Chongqing Contemporary Lifan. Since June, Trusier has led Vietnam to three consecutive victories, beating Hong Kong, Syria and Palestine, all with clean sheets.
Before the match, Trusier confidently said: "We want to give the best performance, I know I have a lot of fans in China, not just because I have been there for many years. ”
Losing the scene wins the game
After the opening game, the national football team may be too eager to eat the opponent and complete the snow shame, but it seems too hasty, mistakes and even some embarrassment. The best chance for the Chinese team in the first half came in the 33rd minute, when the national football team drove a free kick from the right side to the penalty area, and Tan Long, Wu Shaocong and Jiang Guangtai shot the goal in the middle, and Tan Long's header hit the upright.
After Yibian, Jankovic made a substitution adjustment, Wang Qiuming and Dai Weijun appeared, and Wu Xi and Xie Pengfei were replaced. This adjustment had an immediate effect. In the 55th minute, Liu Yang's cross from the side was given to the penalty area, and Wang Qiuming kicked the goal directly in the air without stopping, scoring his first goal for the national team.
Tan Long (right) scrambles during the match. Xinhua News Agency
After that, Jankovic continued to deploy troops. Fang Hao, Li Ke, and Liu Yang were replaced successively, and He Yupeng, Gao Tianyi, and Li Lei came off the bench.
In the 85th minute, Vietnam's Nguyen Tan Linh was sent off by the referee with a red card after VAR intervention for maliciously elbowing Jiang Quang Tai, and the Vietnamese team could only play with 10 men.
In the 95th minute, Wu Lei scored in front of the goal, but then the referee blew an offside penalty to void the first goal. One minute later, the Vietnamese midfielder made a passing error, and Vu Lei broke the ball and entered the box to push the goal with a single knife, thus killing the game. Jankovic celebrated by shaking his fists on the sidelines.
Wu Lei shot in the game. Xinhua News Agency
Although regardless of statistics or scenes, the national football team did not dominate the whole game, but after all, it won the game.
Wang Tyuminh, the goal-scoring hero, was very sober after the game: "First of all, we must see the reality, the Vietnamese team is a very good team. The Vietnamese team is playing a little more proactively, and I think we need to see our problems clearly and solve our problems on the field. ”
Jankovic (left) before the game. Xinhua News Agency
Jankovic said: "In the first half we were a little out of control, Vietnam actively controlled the ball, we gave the opponent too much confidence, the defense line couldn't help but retreat, which is unsatisfactory. The good thing is that after the midfield adjustment, the players are more focused, and there is a certain adjustment in the second half. Before scoring the first goal in the second half, we had already proven that the first half was mentality, scoring in the second half and winning the game. ”
On October 16, the national football team will also play against Uzbekistan in Dalian. In November, the Chinese team will open the round of 36 of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers. Although Jankovic's national football team does not give the outside world hope of going further, it is still important to build confidence in this team that is deeply at a low point by ending the warm-up game with a victory and starting the journey to the US-Canada-Mexico World Cup.