National football coach Ivankovic failed to take on the "new" role with a victory. On the evening of March 21, the away team drew 2-2 with Singapore and scored one point in the third round of the group stage of the Asian round of 36 in the World Preliminary Championships. With a two-goal lead in the first half, the national football team conceded two goals in a row in the second half and lost a good game. Such a result is undoubtedly difficult for fans to accept.
In the other match in this group that ended earlier in the day, Thailand drew 1-1 with South Korea and caused a big upset. As a result, the qualifying situation of the national football team's group has become more and more complicated.
Two goals ahead, a good game lost'For me, it's my first game, I'm more excited, we do have to play more spectators, passion, aggression and it can be a bit risky, but we're willing to take it and I'm sure it's going to bring a good game. Ivankovic said this in an interview after arriving at the Singapore National Stadium before the game. In the first half of the game, the national football team did exactly that.
In the starting lineup arrangement of his debut in charge of the national football team, Ivankovic boldly used the "newcomers" - Fernando and Li Yuanyi, two Taishan team players, ushered in the debut of the national football team at the same time. They also repaid Ivankovic's trust with an excellent on-field performance. In the first half of the game, Wu Lei scored twice to help the national football team take a two-goal lead. The performance of the "Little Motorcycle" was also eye-catching. Operating on the right side, he has truly become the "breaking point" of the national football team's offensive end, creating great pressure on the Singapore team's defense.
But in the second half of the game, the situation on the field changed abruptly. Singapore's head coach Tsutomu Ogura's substitutions and tactical adjustments have had an immediate effect. Singapore's two goals came from substitutes – in the 52nd minute, Ramley struck a clever shot past Gan Chun Ling, and in the 81st minute, Jacob Mahler scored to equalise the scores. The national football team seems to have changed teams, and the offensive and defensive ends are not performing well. Ivankovic's on-the-spot adjustment is incomprehensible - the continuous substitution of offensive players has objectively damaged the defensive hardness of the team's midfield. As far as on-the-spot response is concerned, Ivankovic fell behind in the competition with Tsutomu Ogura.
In an interview after the game, Wu Lei commented on the team's overall performance in the game: "The game that should be won was not won, and the process and result were not good, especially in the second half. At halftime, the coach also emphasized that the 2-0 score was not safe, and emphasized that there should be another one. After half-time, the opponent's attack was much better......"
Judging from the statistics after the game, the national football team was unjust - in the whole game, the national football team fell behind in the number of shots 11 to 15 and the number of shots on target was 4 to 6. I have to say that the Singapore team created a lot of pressure on the national football team in the second half of the game. Perhaps, getting 1 point in the first game of the "back-to-back" schedule is already a good result for the national football team.
According to the schedule, on March 26, the two sides will "fight again", and the national football team will sit at the Tianjin Olympic Sports Center Stadium to face the Singapore team. From this point of view, the time left for the national football team to adjust is quite limited. At the post-match press conference, Ivankovic also said that there is a lot of work to be done next: "Back to the home game, you need to make a lot of adjustments, such as improving the team's offensive efficiency, but the most important thing is to get back to physical condition as soon as possible. ”
Judging from the first leg of the contest between the two sides, Ivankovic solved some of the previous problems of the national football team, such as the lack of offensive power. However, many questions remain, such as how to make the team's on-field performance consistent. How did the performance of the two teams appear in the first and second halves of the national football team? This question requires a comprehensive analysis by Ivankovic and his coaching team.
How to adjust the team's mentality is another difficult problem for Ivankovic. After this game, some national football players were very disappointed. In an interview after the game, Zhang Linpeng said: "After thinking about it for a long time after the game, I think it's time to end my national team career. We can't even beat Singapore now, so I'm sorry for the fans......"
After this round of games, the Thai team, which drew with the South Korean team, scored 4 points with the national football team. However, Thailand finished second in the group on goal difference. The national football team is ranked third. In order to achieve the goal of qualifying from the group, the national football team needs to ensure that every step taken in the next step does not deviate like this. Can Ivankovic, who shouted the slogan of attacking the World Cup, lead the team to do this?
Reporter: Yao Zheng Editor: Zhao Chen Proofreader: Faye Wong