The 2001 Chinese Olympic team will leave Doha, Qatar on the evening of April 9, local time, and fly to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to prepare for the last warm-up match before the start of the Olympic preliminaries, and the match with the Uzbekistan Olympic team on the evening of the 10th local time. It is understood that with the completion of all 6 warm-up games, the coaching staff of the National Olympic team with Cheng Yaodong as the head coach will come up with a clearer answer to the arrangement of the main lineup of the team's Olympic preliminaries.
In an international warm-up match in Doha on the evening of the 7th local time, the Chinese Olympic team defeated the Jordanian Olympic team 1-0 with Tao Qianglong's penalty shot, thus achieving three consecutive victories in Siala practice at this stage. In addition to the results, the coaching staff is also satisfied that the players have adapted well to the climate and environment of Doha, the venue of the final stage of the Olympic preliminaries, through more than two weeks of training and five warm-up matches. The good turf conditions on the local field also allowed the players to give full play to their technical characteristics. Tao Qianglong commented in an interview with the media: "It should be said that from the first game (warm-up game) to this game (warm-up match between China and Rio), we played better than one game. The players gradually adapted to the climate, including the field conditions. Winning streak has allowed us to build confidence and in short, the whole team is getting better and better. I was able to find my place as soon as possible. ”
On the evening of April 8, local time, the Chinese Olympic team went to the No. 5 venue of Qatar University for regular outdoor training. The main players who participated in the warm-up matches of China and Japan underwent adaptation training, while the rest of the players participated in high-intensity training with the ball. It is worth noting that during the training session, the coaching staff arranged a game of net football. It can be seen that the Chinese Olympic team at this moment is not heavy in thought because of the heavy task of preparing for the Olympic preliminaries. After winning back-to-back warm-up games, the players were significantly more relaxed, which was actually the result the coaching staff wanted.
Of course, the consecutive victories in the warm-up match did not numb the nerves of the Chinese Olympic team generals. During their daily training and life, coaches will also remind themselves and their players from time to time that they should always maintain an objective positioning of the team and recognize the gap between their own team and the strong teams, especially the two first-class teams in the same group, Japan and South Korea. As the goalkeeper Li Hao, who came from the supplementary recruitment, said, the team is fearless about the grouping situation of the Olympic preliminaries, but the game must be fought one by one.
According to the plan, the Chinese Olympic team will train on the 9th local time, but the training time will be adjusted from the evening to 11 a.m. local time. This is because the team will leave Doha on the evening of the 9th local time and fly to Dubai to prepare for the warm-up match against the Uzbekistan Olympic team on the evening of the 10th local time. This is also the last warm-up match of the national Olympic team's training in the west.
The main reason for the team's "flight" warm-up is that the opponent has recently set up their base camp for the Olympic preliminaries in Dubai, and the flight time between the two places is no more than one hour. Prior to this, the two teams had played two warm-up matches at the Xianghe base, and the results of the Chinese Olympic team were not satisfactory. However, like the two teams in the same group of opponents Japan and South Korea in the Olympic preliminary round, the Uzbekistan Olympic team is one of the seeded teams in this tournament.
After the warm-up match with the Uzbekistan Olympic team on the evening of the 10th, the Chinese Olympic team will return to Doha the next day, and then enter the preparation sprint before the Olympic preliminaries. The coaching staff will finalize the main battle formation for the Olympic preliminaries based on the situation reflected in the team leadership in the past 3 weeks and the 6 warm-up games, and use the training camp in the last few days to polish it.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Yun