Taiwanese netizens appeared for the first time: Wang Qiuming replaced Wu Xi, Wu Lei and Tan Long charged, and Hu Yi was the backhand
The 18th Asian Cup 2023 football tournament will kick off in Doha, Qatar on the evening of January 12 local time, and the Chinese team in Group A will face the first opponent of the group stage, Tajikistan, at 5:30 pm local time (10:30 pm Beijing time) on the 13th. Although Wu Xi, the first captain of the national football team, is currently affected by a leg injury and will most likely miss this game, the team is full of desire and confidence to get off to a good start to the game. As one team insider put it, "We have to play with the same momentum and level in the first game of the Asian Cup as we did in the first round of the round of 36 against Thailand." ”
After going to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to participate in about 3 weeks of training and 4 warm-up matches, the Chinese team arrived in Doha on the 7th of this month, that is, 6 days before the first match of the team's Asian Cup group stage. According to head coach Jankovic and the two captains of Wu Xi and Yan Junling, the team is ready to compete for this major tournament from both technical and tactical levels, physical condition and psychological level.
At 4:30 p.m. local time on the 12th, the Chinese team went to the No. 3 venue of Doha University in Qatar for the last outdoor training before the first match of the Asian Cup group stage against Tajikistan. In fact, since the 11th, the training intensity of the Chinese team has been weakened again. Jankovic hopes that his disciples can devote themselves to the opening battle of the Asian Cup in good physical condition and full mental state.
Before the start of the national football training on the morning of the 11th local time, the injured Wu Xi told the media that he was racing against time with all his might, striving to make a comeback in the first game or the second round of the group stage. However, judging from the current situation, he is affected by a leg strain and will most likely not be able to participate in the first fight on the 13th. How to "make up for the waist" is a difficult problem that coach Jankovic needs to focus on in terms of technical and tactical arrangements.
At the pre-match press conference on the 12th, Jankovic said that the players who can be selected for the 26-man Asian Cup player registration squad of the national football team are all the players with the highest quality ability at present. Xu Xin and Wang Qiuming, who are also good at playing in the back, can be qualified for the main position. Judging from the recent training situation, Jankovic is likely to arrange Wang Qiuming to replace Wu Xi and partner with Wang Shangyuan in the starting back in the game on the 13th.
At the press conference, Jankovic admitted that there are no secrets between different teams in the football world. After nearly one month of preparation, the national football team has tried various playing styles and corresponding personnel combinations, so Jankovic knows the team's starting lineup and main candidates for the first game of the group stage. Yan Junling attended a press conference with Jankovic on the 12th, which means that the "No. 1 goalkeeper" of the national football team in the past two World Preliminaries will continue to be the preferred goalkeeper in this tournament.
As for the selection of candidates for other positions in the team, there will be no surprises. For example, Wu Lei and Tan Long, who joined the front line in the early training and warm-up, are likely to start the game on the 13th and destroy the city for the national football team. Zhang Yuning, who only returned to the team in November last year, and Wei Shihao, a wide attacker who played a stunning role in the round of 36 win over Thailand, could be Jankovic's "back-hand" options to improve his attack.
Lin Liangming and Liu Binbin were the most trusted assaulters on both wings in Jankovic's main tactical system. If they can start both, it will meet the team's need to improve the transition rate. As for the defensive line, Jiang Guangtai and Zhu Chenjie's central defender partners are more reassuring. The assist attributes of left-back Liu Yang and the experience of right-back Zhang Linpeng are all valued by Jankovic. Among them, Zhang Linpeng is likely to serve as the captain of the national football team in this game.
The data shows that the Chinese team and the Tajikistan team have played each other a total of 5 times before. The most recent meeting between the two sides took place in an international warm-up match in Guangzhou in June 2019, when China won by one goal. Overall, the Chinese team has an absolute upper hand with an unbeaten record of 4 wins and 1 draw, so it has a relatively obvious psychological advantage. However, in recent years, Tajikistan's football has also made significant progress, and its national youth echelons at all levels have an overall advantage in the performance of Chinese teams of the same age. Therefore, for such an opponent, the Chinese team has no reason to take it lightly.
It is understood that Song Kai, chairman of the Chinese Football Association, will go to the Chinese team to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Cup on January 12 and watch the opening game, and will go to the Chinese team the next day, and then will accompany the team to play all the games of this tournament. Before the game on the 13th, he will also visit the whole team and give some encouragement to the whole team. According to the information delivered by the joint meeting before the game, the Chinese team will play as the home team in the game on the 13th, which means that they will face the opponent in the red home team uniform.
Expected starting lineup of the national football team: goalkeeper: Yan Junling, defenders: Liu Yang, Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Guangtai, Zhang Linpeng, midfielders: Lin Liangming, Wang Qiuming, Wang Shangyuan, Liu Binbin, forwards: Wu Lei, Tan Long.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Yun