On the evening of January 13, Beijing time, the national football team will usher in the first match of the Asian Cup with the Tajikistan team. Against the backdrop of poor performance in the warm-up matches, it will be interesting to see if Jankovic and his team can regain their confidence and get out of the doldrums as soon as possible.
A positive sign is that the mentality of the whole team is adjusting well at the moment. On January 10, local time, on the occasion of Wang Dalei's 35th birthday, after training, the national football team gathered to prepare a big cake and send sincere birthday wishes to Wang Dalei.
"Today is the birthday of our good friend Wang Dalei, I wish him all the best and good health from the bottom of my heart, all the good wishes are sent to him, and all of us come to wish him a happy birthday. At the beginning of Wang Dalei's birthday ceremony, Jankovic said. For everyone's blessings, Wang Dalei also expressed his gratitude, "Thank you to the head coach and brothers, my birthday is special, I can be with the team every year, I am also used to celebrating birthdays with everyone, everyone is the same as my family, I don't have any too grand wishes, I hope our team can go further in the Asian Cup." He said. Subsequently, accompanied by the happy birthday song of his teammates, Wang Dalei blew out the birthday candles.
In the Chinese Super League last season, Wang Dalei played a total of 28 games for the Taishan team, including 10 clean sheets, helping the Taishan team establish the strongest defense in the Chinese Super League. With his outstanding performance, Wang Dalei was also named the best goalkeeper of the Chinese Super League last season, and entered the best team of the Chinese Super League with his teammate Cressan. Although he is 35 years old, Wang Dalei's competitive condition is still quite ideal, and from the current situation, he is still the first choice for the first goalkeeper of the Taishan team next season. However, in the national team, because Yan Junling is currently more trusted by the coaching staff, Wang Dalei still needs to wait for the opportunity to get playing time in this Asian Cup.
Previously, the national football team has clarified the current five captains, the first captain is Wu Xi from Shanghai Shenhua, and the remaining four are Zhang Linpeng, Wu Lei, Jiang Guangtai, and Yan Junling from Shanghai Port, which also hints at the team's current main framework. However, as the game approaches, the national football team is still facing some problems in the selection of the lineup: Wu Xi's injury has not healed, and it is still unknown whether he can catch up with the first game.
Wu Xi suffered a strain in the warm-up match against Hong Kong, China, and has been recovering since then, and has not participated in the team's confrontational training recently. As the pivot of the national football team's offensive and defensive transition, Wu Xi's injury will have a direct impact on the skills and tactics of the national football team. In the team squad, Gao Tianyi, Wang Qiuming, Xu Xin, Wang Shangyuan can be qualified for the back position, according to Jankovic's tactical style, the starting lineup will generally be arranged with two backs, if Wu Xi can not play, then the competition of the midfield organizer will become a "4 choose 2" choice question. In addition, Zhu Chenjie also has some minor injuries that need to be dealt with, but the problem is not too big.
Looking ahead to the opening match against Tajikistan, Jankovic said: "We are fully ready for the game. I've never liked to talk about the starting line-up and other technical and tactical stuff before a game because I respect football and know that you can never be sure what will happen in a game. If everything goes well, hopefully everyone will be healthy at the start of the game, and not only have we confirmed the starting 11 against Tajikistan, but we also know what kind of play we want to play this game. ”
From this point of view, Jankovic seems to have made thorough preparations. At that time, I hope that the national football team will not disappoint fans in the first official match in 2024.
Reporter: Hou Chao Editor: Yao Zheng Proofreader: Gao Xin