Time: 21:00, April 16
Location: Halifa Stadium, Doha
Matchup: China Olympic Team VS Japan Olympic Team
Live: CCTV5
On April 15, the final stage of the 6th U23 Asian Cup and the men's Asian qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opened in Doha, Qatar. On the evening of April 16, Beijing time, the Chinese Olympic team will usher in the first group stage of the "Group of Death", and the opponent is the powerful Japanese Olympic team. At the pre-match press conference, Cheng Yaodong, head coach of the Chinese Olympic team, believed that this game is to play against strong teams, and hopes to achieve more ideal results under the condition that the players play normally. Looking forward to the match with the Japanese Olympic team, Cheng Yaodong said that the first game was still as planned, "The overall level of the Japanese team is better than ours, whether it is technology or tactics, we are making targeted preparations according to their situation, and I hope we can play a good game." This group is very strong, we have both difficulties and hopes, and of course the difficulties are even greater. ”
For Cheng Yaodong and his national Olympic soldiers, although they are full of confidence in this trip to Qatar, everyone knows the difficulties: the opponents in the same group, Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates, all have an advantage in strength, and the journey to compete for Olympic tickets is equivalent to a ramp start. Fortunately, in the recent warm-up games, the national Olympic team showed a good competitive state. In this context, facing the strong Japanese team in the first game, the national Olympic team needs to fully display the recent training content, only in this way, the gap between the two teams in terms of strength can be reduced to a certain extent.
According to news from the AFC, the first group match of the Chinese Olympic team against the Japanese Olympic team on the 16th will be refereed by Australian female referee Casey Reibelt, which will be the first time that the Chinese men's national football team will be enforced by a female referee in an intercontinental competition.
【Chinese Olympic Team】 Stick to the defensive counterattack The most important thing is the mentalityAfter losing 0:2 to the Uzbekistan team, the national Olympic team drew an end to the previous series of warm-up matches. After that, the whole team arrived at the event site to prepare for the game, and the specific content changed from training to polishing details. In the recent training, Cheng Yaodong's coaching staff combined with the different playing styles of opponents such as Japan and South Korea put forward clear requirements for the players, from this point of view, the team's preparation is quite sufficient, and the rest depends on how well the players transform in the game.
What is certain is that in the journey of this event, defensive counterattack will be the main tactical choice of the national Olympic team. After all, the opponent has an advantage in both overall strength and individual combat ability, and only by ensuring the quality of defense can the National Olympic team have the opportunity to organize an attack and seek opportunities to score.
From the perspective of squad composition, Cheng Yaodong's player selection this time is mainly concentrated at both ends of the court, and in the 23-man squad of the National Olympic team, there are only a few players from pure midfielders, such as Abrahan, Jia Feifei, Xu Bin, and Mutalifu. Therefore, there is a certain "lack of inventory" in the protection and reception of the midfield of the national Olympic team, and in connection with the previous warm-up match with the Uzbekistan team, Cheng Yaodong's arrangement in the midfield may pay more attention to defense. At the same time, Xie Wenneng and other forward players will also take on certain defensive tasks. As for the transition between attack and defence, it depends on the individual ability and speed of the wide players.
It doesn't matter whether the tactical choice is good or bad, the best arrangement is the one that can achieve the effect. But for such a less mature team, in addition to the technical and tactical targeting, what is more important is the mentality of the players.
In recent public interviews, the National Olympic soldiers have expressed their intention to fight for a ticket to the Paris Olympics, and as for the actual situation of the "group of death", everyone's reaction is also positive and optimistic.
However, confident statements and confident play cannot be equated, although the previous 3-3 warm-up record is not satisfactory, but the gold content of 3 wins is not high. In addition, in terms of the rhythm of the game and the intensity of the confrontation, Japan and South Korea and other teams already have an innate advantage, if the national Olympic team wants to complete the established tactical arrangement, the first thing to do is to be more positive at the psychological level, especially in the opening stage to play momentum and fighting spirit, only in this way, the psychological burden of the players can be reduced.
【Japan Olympic Team】 The lineup is not complete though Still have to hit the championship"The players of the Chinese Olympic team have good physical fitness, and I feel that the intensity of the game with them will be great. Earlier, when looking forward to the first match of the U23 Asian Cup, the coach of the Japanese Olympic team, Tsuyoshi Oiwa, said that Tsuyoshi Oiwa became the coach of this team in 2021, and his goal is to lead the team to win medals in the Paris Olympics. In this tournament, the Japanese Olympic team's goal is to first compete for a ticket to the Paris Olympics, and the second is to win the championship.
However, this is not the most complete Japanese Olympic team. Although there are 5 overseas players in the 23-man squad, due to the club's refusal to release them, players who play for European teams such as Kenei Kubo and Ayaka Suzuki are not eligible for this competition. Against this backdrop, university player Kotaro Uchino was able to be called up by the team.
'I think everybody in the squad has what it takes to captain the team and hopefully all the players can lead the team and I think a lot of the players who have been called up have the quality to captain in their positions. Regarding the composition of the team's lineup, Oiwa said.
Compared with the Chinese Olympic team, the Japanese Olympic team did not arrange too many warm-up games in the past preparation cycle, and mainly focused on internal adjustments within the team. Although a large number of overseas players did not make the cut, the threat of the Japanese Olympic team has not diminished, after all, there is uncertainty about the desire to play and the physical condition of overseas players due to the intensity of the competition. Therefore, the "civilian" lineup will inspire more players to fight, and the team as a whole will be more disciplined.
The overall value of the Japanese Olympic team is 12.6 million euros, and the Chinese Olympic team is 3.05 million euros, which is the truest reflection of the difference in strength between the two teams. Cheng Yaodong and his players have no way back, only tougher and more fierce than their opponents, and they can have a chance to prove themselves. Hopefully, they will be able to make touching memories on their journey to the Paris Olympics.
Reporter: Hou Chao Editor: Li Fujie Proofreader: Gao Xin Photography: Xinhua News Agency