On the evening of April 16, in the first round of Group B of the U23 Asian Cup group stage, the national Olympic team ushered in the first opponent of the group of death, Japan U23. The game was not one-sided as expected, but became a twist and turn because of a red card from the Japanese team. The national Olympic team, which conceded an early goal, wasted several good chances and finally lost 0-1 to Japan U23, which played one less.
The track record is dismal, and Cheng Yaodong frankly admits that he focuses on learning
Historically, the Chinese team has participated in a total of four U23 Asian Cups, without exception were eliminated after three games in the group stage, statistics show that the Chinese team has participated in 12 U23 Asian Cup games before, with a dismal record of 1 win and 11 losses. The only win came at the 2018 Under-23 Asian Cup, when China played on home soil, beating Oman 3-0 in their opening game, with Wei Shihao scoring three goals. Originally, the qualification situation was relatively optimistic, but the 1995 team has since lost to Uzbekistan and Qatar in a row, and finally exited the group stage.
Perhaps it is this dismal record, head coach Cheng Yaodong admitted that the team's main focus is on learning, "The opponents in our group are all strong Asian teams, especially South Korea and Japan, which have participated in the Olympics consecutively, proving their dominance at this age." Of course, we want to use this opportunity to play against strong teams, and it is also an opportunity for young players to get training, mainly to gain some valuable experience. ”
Defender Jia Feifei was annoyed and lost the ball.
As a result of the draw, the Chinese team will face Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, which is an absolute group of death, "Our requirements for the players are actually very simple, we hope that they will calm down and play at their normal level and mental outlook. In the process of normal play, I also hope to achieve more ideal results. ”
Cheng Yaodong also talked about the first game in a relatively low-key manner, "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, hoping that 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. ”
Tao Qianglong broke through with the ball.
Playing more and playing less, unable to break the goal
Against Japan U23, Cheng Yaodong continued the team's usual 4-2-3-1 system, goalkeeper Huang Zihao, four defenders Zhu Yue, Jin Shunkai, Liang Shaowen, Yang Zihao, double back Duan Dezhi partner Jia Feifei, Ai Fielding and Bai Helamu are separated, Tao Qianglong plays organizational midfielder behind single striker Liu Junxian.
Statistics show that the average age of the Chinese Olympic starters is 21.9 years old, with a total value of 1.325 million euros, and the most valuable player in the starting line is Tao Qianglong's 275,000 euros, while the average age of the Japanese Olympic starters is 21.7 years old, with a total value of 7 million euros, and the highest value player in the starting line is 1.6 million euros for Shindai Hosoya. In addition, the Chinese National Olympic Games did not send foreign players to start this game, while the Japanese National Olympic Games started with 4 foreign players.
The national Olympic team made an offside mistake and conceded the ball early.
In all six warm-up matches before the U23 Asian Cup, the Olympic team had a record of 3 wins and 3 losses, scoring 5 goals and conceding 6 goals, but 4 penalties were scored and one was a goal after a corner kick caused chaos. This also exposes the weakness of the team's athletic goalscoring ability and flaws in defense.
The problems in the warm-up matches were also replicated in the group stage debut of the National Olympic Games.
With the overall advantage, the Japanese team took the initiative at the beginning, and in the 8th minute, Yamada Kaede made a diagonal pass, Zhu Yuezao made an offside error, and Matsuki Jiusheng easily pushed the ball into the goal.
Takaya Nishio is sent off with a red card.
But then there was an accident on the field, in the 16th minute, Takashi Nishio elbowed Jia Feifei, and the referee finally gave a red card after VAR intervention and expelled him directly from the game.
The Chinese team, which had one more person, began to attack, and in the 38th minute, Tao Qianglong blasted out a world wave on the periphery, and the ball hit the crossbar and popped up. In the 42nd minute, Yang Zihao rubbed a pass, Baihelamu shook his head and was barely saved by Kokubo Reiyang, and Tao Qiang's header shot missed the goal.
陶强龙精彩远射却遗憾击中横梁。
Half-time statistics show that the national Olympic team has a 7-3 lead in shots on goal and a possession rate of 56%-44%, which is not a big advantage.
Xie Wen could miss a good chance to equalise.
At the beginning of the second half, Tao Qianglong sent a straight plug at the back, Du Yuezheng got the ball and sent a wonderful pass, Xie Wen could get a good chance, and his low shot was blocked by Japanese U23 goalkeeper Reio Kokubo, missing the opportunity to equalize.
As fitness declined, the Olympic team gradually lost their numerical advantage, while Japan Under-23s were able to use counter-attacks and set-pieces to create pressure.
In the final stage of the game, Cheng Yaodong replaced the 2-meter-tall goalkeeper Jin Yong as a center forward, hoping to use his height advantage to create a threat in front of the goal. However, the national Olympic team was never able to create enough threat, and finally lost 0-1 to Japan U23 and lost the first game of the group.
The Olympic team will next face the second opponent in the group, South Korea U23, at 9 p.m. Beijing time on April 19.