On April 16, Beijing time, the Chinese Olympic Games ushered in the first game of the group stage of the U23 Asian Cup with Japan U23, the first half of the game just opened 8 minutes before the National Olympics conceded the goal, but less than 20 minutes the team received unexpected surprises, Jia Feifei directly made the opponent a red card, Tao Qianglong missed two good opportunities, and the National Olympic Games fell behind 0-1 at halftime.
In this National Olympic game, Cheng Yaodong did not shrink in defense, but adopted a more balanced 4231 formation in attack and defense, and players such as Eiffelding, Tao Qianglong, Jin Shunkai, and Bai Helamu who have played in the Chinese Super League this season start.
Although six warm-up matches had been scheduled for the previous National Olympic Games, the players still showed obvious nervousness after the game officially began, and two long passes in five minutes directly passed the ball out of bounds. Japan's U23s, who had most of the players in the last U23 Asian Cup, performed very calmly, pressing the national Olympic Games after the opening.
In the 8th minute, there was a mistake in the defense of the National Olympic team. Japan U23 despite the development of the right side, Sekine Daiki passed the ball back to Yamada Kaede at the front of the penalty area, the National Olympic did not rush up in time to interfere, Yamada Kaede easily sent a precise cross with his left foot, Zhu Yue made an offside mistake on the defensive line, and Matsuki Jiusheng grabbed the point before and after the goal, and the National Olympic Games fell behind 0-1.
However, less than 10 minutes after conceding the goal, the national Olympic team received an unexpected surprise, and the Japanese U23 player was sent off for an elbow blow.
This was the 16th minute of the game, when Jia Feifei was scrambling near the top of the arc of the penalty area, Japanese U23 player Takaya Nishio directly elbowed Jia Feifei, and the game was only interrupted. VAR then immediately intervened, and the referee ran to the sidelines to watch the video replay in person, and judged that Takaya Nishio deliberately elbowed him, and sent him off with a red card.
In less than 20 minutes of the opening game, the opponent was sent off, and the defensive pressure of the National Olympic Games was instantly reduced a lot, and the team was finally able to organize some attacks. However, even if Japan U23 played one less, they did not appear very passive on the field, and it was not until the 38th minute that the national Olympic team played the most threatening attack of the game. Tao Qianglong received a pass from Baihelamu and shot directly, and the ball hit the crossbar and bounced.
Immediately after the 42nd minute, Yang Zihao crossed from the left side of the front, Baihelamu's header was saved, and Tao Qianglong followed up with a header but pushed the ball to the side netting. In stoppage time, the national Olympic team also formed a siege on the opponent for a while, but in the end, they failed to score after playing an extra man for more than 30 minutes in the first half, and fell behind 0-1.
Judging from the second half of the first half, the National Olympic Games have a great chance of equalizing or even overtaking the score, but the team also needs to be cautious in the second half, not blindly pursuing only attack, if the opponent steals one more, then the game will be difficult.