Not to the surprise of the majority of Chinese fans, the Chinese Olympic team led by Cheng Yaodong performed very badly in the U23 Asian Cup, following the loss to the Japanese Olympic team in the first round, and also ended in defeat in the competition with the South Korean Olympic team, suffering two consecutive defeats, and currently accumulating 0 points at the bottom of the group. This is not only a heavy blow to the team, but also a ruthless destruction of fans' expectations, the national Olympic team's qualifying situation is in jeopardy, and it is almost destined to bid farewell to this tournament in advance.
Looking back at the history of the Chinese team and the South Korean team in the U23 Asian Cup, history always seems to repeat itself again and again, and the South Korean Olympic team has shown their good strength as the last champion. In contrast, the national Olympic team has failed to break through from the group stage without exception in four consecutive competitions, and the difference in strength between the two sides is self-evident. This time, the matchup is still a familiar script, and the national Olympic team still can't rewrite history and swallow the bitter fruit of the 0-2 defeat again.
Although the Chinese Olympic team created some good chances in this game, they were all squandered due to the poor shooting skills of the players. South Korea, on the other hand, took advantage of the opportunity to score, with two goals from high school striker Lee Young-jun helping them win 2-0. The defeat not only made the team winless in seven consecutive games in the U23 Asian Cup, but even worse, it has failed to score in five consecutive games, a performance that has left Chinese fans despair about the future of the national football team.
It is also worth mentioning that in the final stage of this game, Cheng Yaodong once again repeated his old tricks and sent a 2-meter-tall goalkeeper Jin Yong as a cameo striker, which is a tactical arrangement that violates the traditional concept of football and has caused widespread discussion among fans. Many are skeptical about the actual effect of this decision. And the facts have proved that this unconventional attempt has not brought a turnaround for the national Olympic team, and the team still failed to break the opponent's goal.
Although the Chinese Olympic team suffered two consecutive defeats, theoretically speaking, the national Olympic team still has a chance to advance, but this requires a series of extreme conditions to be met. First of all, South Korea must win in the final round, Japan needs to lose two games in a row, and China Olympic team has to beat the United Arab Emirates in the final round of the group stage.
Of course, the probability of achieving these conditions is almost zero. So, while mathematically speaking, the national Olympic team is not out of the competition, in reality, they are faced with an almost impossible task.
It can be said that the performance of the Chinese Olympic team in this U23 Asian Cup is indeed unsatisfactory. And head coach Cheng Yaodong's substitution operation is also puzzling and disappointing. In the two key games against Japan and South Korea, he allowed a goalkeeper to play as a striker in a row, which is undoubtedly irresponsible for the team's strength and tactical arrangement.
In the face of the early exit of the U23 Asian Cup, the Chinese Olympic team needs to seriously summarize and reflect on the lessons of the failure of this competition, strengthen technical and tactical training and player selection, otherwise, there will really be no hope for Chinese football in the future......