As the U23 Asian Cup is about to start, the Chinese Olympic team lost 0-2 to Uzbekistan, which is currently ranked 9th in Asia, in the last warm-up match. They then lost 4-5 on penalties. This defeat undoubtedly cast a shadow on the Chinese Olympic team, which is about to go to the U23 Asian Cup.
The Chinese Olympic team chose Uzbekistan as the warm-up opponent in order to simulate the upcoming match against Japan in the upcoming U23 Asian Cup. Despite winning three consecutive matches in the previous warm-up matches, the Chinese Olympic team played very badly against Uzbekistan, with no shots on goal and only 30% possession. Such performances have raised concerns about the performance of the Chinese Olympic team in the U23 Asian Cup.
According to the agreement, the Chinese Olympic team and the Uzbekistan team will play a penalty shootout after the regular 90 minutes of play. In the first three rounds, the Chinese Olympic team led 2-1 with excellent performances. However, in the crucial fourth round, Abrahan Khalik missed a penalty and his opponent successfully hit it to equalise. In the next two rounds, both sides scored penalties, and the score came to 4-4. In this round, the Chinese team Xu Bin's shot was too positive and was directly blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper, while the Uzbekistan team successfully scored, and the score was fixed at 4-5.
Wang Yudong is one of the best players in the National Olympic warm-up series, but in this game, Wang Yudong did not play his due role at the critical moment, but missed a penalty, which undoubtedly brought a heavy blow to the team. At the same time, the Chinese Olympic team did not create a threatening shot in the positional battle in regular time throughout the game, which exposed their problems in tactical arrangement and player condition.
For the upcoming U23 Asian Cup, fans are worried about the prospects of the Chinese Olympic team. Considering their poor performance in this warm-up match and the upcoming challenges from Japan, South Korea and other strong teams, the Chinese Olympic team's hopes of breaking through the group and qualifying for the Paris Olympics are indeed slim. This is not only an objective evaluation of the team's strength, but also a reminder of the direction the team needs to work towards in the future.
Judging from the loss to the Uzbekistan team, the Chinese Olympic team has obvious deficiencies in technology, tactics and psychological quality. In order to achieve good results in the U23 Asian Cup, the Chinese Olympic team needs to make targeted improvements in these aspects.
First of all, at the technical level, players need to strengthen the training of basic skills and improve their technical level. Secondly, at the tactical level, the coaching staff needs to develop a suitable tactical system according to the characteristics of the players and flexibly adjust them during the game. Finally, in terms of mental quality, players need to remain calm in key moments and enhance their ability to withstand pressure.
The successive defeats to the Uzbekistan team exposed the various problems that currently exist in the Chinese Olympic team. Although the result of the warm-up match is not everything, it is undoubtedly a wake-up call for the Chinese Olympic team. In the face of the upcoming U23 Asian Cup, the Chinese Olympic team needs to seriously sum up the lessons learned from this game and adjust their tactics and player condition. I believe that as long as the national Olympic team can seriously summarize and improve the existing problems, then they still have a chance to create good results in the U23 Asian Cup and strive to get a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games.