On March 23, the Chinese men's national football team started training in the outfield of Shuidi to prepare for the home match against Singapore in the World Preliminaries.
For the national football players, it is necessary to leave behind the negative emotions of the away game against Singapore that failed to bring back three points, re-energize their morale, look forward and work hard for the next game.
After the national football team arrived in Tianjin, in addition to normal preparations, it also participated in fan meetings, "Hope Star" public welfare activities and other activities.
At the fan meeting, head coach Ivankovic led three international players, Barton, Li Yuanyi and Gao Tianyi, to interact with fans.
At the meeting, a young fan asked Ivankovic a question that Tianjin fans are very concerned about.
The young fans' direct questions and Ivankovic's witty responses livened up the atmosphere at the meeting.
The "Tianjin Dialect Classroom" session set up at the meeting allowed the national football players to learn the Tianjin dialect of "thunder and thunder", and inspired them to play their spirit at the home of the water drop, go all out and strive to win.
In fact, the three internationals who participated in the fan meeting with Ivankovic were also quite particular.
Among the three, Barton is one of the captains of the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers this season, Li Yuanyi is a player who grew up in the Tianjin youth academy and has also contributed his own strength to Tianjin football, and Gao Tianyi has participated in the "Tianjin-Beijing Derby" as a Guoan player and is deeply touched by the enthusiasm of Tianjin fans.
Two of the three international players are closely related to Tianjin football, which shows that the national team still put a lot of thought into contacting fans.
But in the end, the most effective way to win back the hearts of fans is to speak with their records.
Before the rematch with the Singapore team, the national football team must first complete a round of psychological construction as soon as possible. After the last game, Zhang Linpeng, captain of the Chinese men's national football team, said that "it's time to end his national team career" sparked heated public opinion.
Zhang Linpeng, who was in the center of the whirlpool, still came to Tianjin with the team, and in the past two days, the national football coaching staff led by Ivankovic had many in-depth communications with Zhang Linpeng.
Ivan said that in a team, any player can make mistakes, but everyone should not dwell on the mistakes themselves, but make up for them through the efforts of the whole team.
Zhang Linpeng also re-examined the way she expressed her views and her role in the national team.
He said that what he said after the game was indeed out of the most genuine thoughts, but the expression was not considered and brought unnecessary pressure to the team and teammates.
For this reason, Zhang Linpeng has apologized to the whole team. Zhang Linpeng said that after two days of careful thinking, he realized that quitting was not the only option.
Next, whether he stays as a main player or a substitute, even if he can't play, as long as he can contribute to the national team, as long as the country still needs him, he will go all out and persevere.
Considering Zhang Linpeng is in turmoil, coupled with his knee injury, Ivankovic needs to plan for possible changes at the backline.
In the current 26-man roster of the national football team, Ivan also has three players Gao Zhunyi, Wang Zhenao and Deng Hanwen who can be added to the right-back position, while Wang Zhenao and Deng Hanwen, who is injured, are not selected for the 23-man list for the away game against Singapore.
Judging from the performance of the new season, although Gao Zhunyi missed the first two rounds of the Chinese Super League due to cross-season disciplinary punishment, he played in 4 AFC Champions League knockout matches against Kawasaki Frontale and Yokohama Mariner, and contributed 1 goal and 1 assist.
However, Gao Zhunyi used to play more as a centre-back or left-back, and playing right-back was a "new skill" discovered by head coach Cui Kangxi after moving to Shandong this season.
In fact, it is not accurate to say that playing on the right side is Gao Zhunyi's "new skill", because he played on the right side during his time playing for Hebei Huaxia Happiness in 2016, and he also played on the right side in the two world preliminary matches for the national football team in 2022, and one of them was the game against Oman. Therefore, Ivankovic should be clear about Gao Zhunyi's ability to play right wing-back.
Wang Zhenao, who switched to Shanghai Port this season, played in the Super Cup and two Chinese Super League games, both of which were league starts, averaging 3.5 tackles, 1.5 interceptions and 0.5 clearances per game.
Deng Hanwen, who plays for Wuhan Three Towns, only played in the first round of the Chinese Super League against Shanghai Port, and in the space of 69 minutes, contributed one interception, five clearances, and committed five fouls.
Regardless of Deng Hanwen's injury recovery, Gao Zhunyi and Wang Zhenao are in better form, and they may be a better choice for Ivankovic to replace Zhang Linpeng at right wing-back.
Another problem that needs to be solved urgently in the national football team is how to maintain the team's offensive and defensive balance on the basis of replacing players and maintaining the ability to run and cover after the physical strength of the starters declines, so as to avoid the phenomenon of too many attackers and fewer defenders like in the last game.
On the premise that there is only one defensive midfielder, the ability of other midfielders to defend is particularly important.
In this regard, the balance of the offensive and defensive ends is precisely Barton's greatest characteristic.
In the new season of the Chinese Super League, Barton delivered 2 assists on the offensive end, tied for first place in the assist list. At the same time, he has made 12 attempts, ranking fourth in the Super League and the only homegrown player in the top 10. In terms of passing, Barton completed 15 crosses in two games, six of which were successful, and finished third in the Chinese Super League and top of the league respectively.
Defensively, Barton averages 2.5 steals and 2.0 interceptions per game, both of which are significantly better than his 26-man roster.
In this way, Barton actually has a certain competitiveness at both offensive and defensive ends, and I hope that he can represent the national football team in front of Tianjin fans.
Barton
He is a member of the Chinese men's national football team
It's a special home game for me and I'm looking forward to playing and maybe my friends and family are coming. We still have to be better than the opponent as a whole, and we still have to build our self-confidence and try to win the game with a beautiful scoreline.
Just when Barton was looking forward to playing for his country at the Water Drop Stadium, the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers played a warm-up match against the Cangzhou Lions at the TEDA Football Stadium on the afternoon of the 23rd.
With Wang Qiuming's brace and Škorić's goal, the Jinmen Tigers won 3-1. For the Jinmen Tigers, who will play Changchun Yatai away next Sunday, the main players showed excellent form in the warm-up match, which is obviously good news.
The topic returns to the national football team. In the training session of the national football team on the evening of the 23rd, Zhang Yuning, who was injured in the away game with Singapore, has been jogging and relaxing accompanied by an assistant coach, and his injury has obviously not fully recovered.
As for the goalkeeper position, Yan Junling's performance in the last game was obvious to all, so Wang Dalei's state is also a topic of concern for everyone.
Wang Dalei
He is a member of the Chinese men's national football team
Coincidentally, the first time I entered the national team was in the Asian Cup qualifiers in Tianjin, and I remember that Shao Jia scored a little goal and won against Singapore. I feel very cordial to come to Tianjin with the national team again, and I hope to have a wonderful game in Tianjin and give back to the fans. Regardless of the results, so many people come to the hotel to cheer us on and support, which is really what motivates us. It's not just for the country, it's for the fans, and we're prepared.