Know-it-all! 国奥惨淡结束U23亚洲杯,U19国青该引以为鉴

成耀东的排兵布阵饱受争议。 IC photo

The National Olympic Games, which ended the U23 Asian Cup journey with 1 win and 2 losses, arrived in Beijing on the afternoon of April 23 and disbanded on the spot. The 2001 National Olympic Team, which had high hopes, scribbled its mission. In addition to the gap between Chinese football and Japanese and South Korean football reflected in the game, the progress of Southeast Asian football is also enough to bring a sense of urgency to national teams at all levels.

What caused the dismal exit of the National Olympic Games, and how can the next National Olympic Games avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?

It still needs to catch up with the Asian level

After the 2:1 victory over the United Arab Emirates, the post-match speech of the head coach of the National Olympic Games, Cheng Yaodong, caused a lot of controversy. He said that the National Olympic Games have caught up with the Asian level in recent years, only a little worse than the "super-first-class" level of South Korea and Japan.

Is the Olympic Games really catching up with the level of Asia? At least three group stage games did not reflect this.

In the first game against Japan, the national Olympic team was unable to find a way to break the goal after playing one more person for a long time. In the second game against South Korea, the opponent has rotated half of the main forces, and the national Olympic team still lost 0:2. In the final round of the game, although the National Olympic Games won 2:1, they only played a good half of the game, and the second half can be described as "difficult".

It is worth mentioning that the U23 Asian Cup squad is not the upper limit of Japan and South Korea in this age group.

Including the main player of the Japanese national team, Kenei Kubo, there are as many as 10 players of appropriate age in Europe who have not been called up by the Japanese Olympic Games. In terms of South Korea's Olympic Games, a number of elite players of school age represented by Paris star Lee Gang-in are also not in the U23 Asian Cup squad.

It is conceivable that if Japan and South Korea do their best, the score between the National Olympic Games and the "super first-class" teams may be even more ugly.

Even if it is not compared with Japan and South Korea, the National Olympics are just as embarrassing. In this year's U23 Asian Cup, the counterattack of Indonesia and Vietnam to qualify was surprising, and it further confirmed the progress of Southeast Asian football.

Compared with benchmarking Japanese and South Korean teams, perhaps the National Olympic Games should think more about how not to be opened up by the former "weak team".

To a certain extent, the results of the National Olympic Games can reflect the future level of the national team. Today's Chinese football has to face not only traditional Asian teams such as Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, but also Southeast Asian football, which is making rapid progress.

In fact, Southeast Asian teams such as Vietnam and Thailand have already defeated the national football team, or can bring enough pressure to the national football team. In the next four-year cycle, when the members of the Olympic Games of various countries grow into the main force of their respective national teams, the national football team will face greater challenges.

The extra-long training camp has sparked controversy

The 2001 National Olympic team has experienced ups and downs since its inception, and it is not surprising that it did not make it to the Olympics. After the fiasco of the "Panda Cup" in May 2019, Cheng Yaodong took over the 2001 age group national team. At the end of 2019, the team failed to qualify for the U19 Asian Youth Championship, proving that their foundation is not very solid.

From U19 all the way to U23, in the five years that Cheng Yaodong coached, the national Olympic team trained and participated in various competitions for a total of 794 days, most of which was spent in the training camp. Whether the "ultra-long training camp" is necessary and reasonable has become the focus of debate in the outside world.

Due to the constraints of conditions, the 2001 age group players lack the opportunity to compete with high-level teams, and the team prepares for the game by participating in the Chinese Second League or long-term overseas training, which is a last resort.

It is undeniable that the long-term training camp can ensure the integrity of the team, and the cooperation between the players will be more tacit. However, the long-term training camp of the National Olympic Games has also led to the players leaving their respective clubs for a long time and fading out of the head coach's selection vision, which is actually not conducive to the development of players.

This year's National Olympic team gives people the feeling of "either training or on the way to training". Since 2023 alone, the National Olympic Games has organized 10 training camps, and more than 50 players have been inspected.

However, in the final sprint, the team suddenly changed its mind. In the squad for the U23 Asian Cup, there are as many as 10 players in the 2003 and below age group. Those players who had been training with the team for a long time but finally failed to be selected, ended up empty. At the same time, the frequent training camps of the National Olympic Games seem to have lost their meaning and tossed the players in vain.

What is even more puzzling to the outside world is that after training camps and the reorganization of the lineup, Cheng Yaodong, who has led the team for 5 years, still does not seem to have found a solution to the team's offensive problems, and even let the substitute goalkeeper make a cameo appearance as a striker.

In the matches against Japan and South Korea, goalkeeper Kim Yong came off the bench in the 89th and 82nd minutes respectively as a central striker. Such an "off-the-board move" seems to bluff people, but in fact, the opponent quickly found a way to deal with it in a very short time. After two games, Yu Jinyong failed to play at all.

The lack of competition experience is an objective difficulty faced by players in this age group. Changing the order at a moment's notice, and the delusional desire to "win by surprise" is the real "man-made disaster" faced by the National Olympic Games. In the face of players who are in the growth period, respecting the laws of football and cultivating and selecting materials in a down-to-earth manner is the right way.

under Sessional team There are still difficulties

The back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves. After the end of the mission of the 2001 National Olympic Games, the 2005 National Olympic Games began to come to the forefront. In May, the U19 national youth team, coached by Serbian coach Djurdjevic, will reassemble.

After failing to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games, the goal of this national youth team is to get a ticket to the 2028 Olympic Games. However, the 2005 age group faced only a lot more difficulties.

It is worth mentioning that this U23 Asian Cup has played a role in training for the next National Olympic Games to a certain extent. Du Yuezheng, Wang Yudong, Xu Bin, and Yu Jinyong are all U19 national youth players. Among them, Du Yuezheng will join the Portuguese fifth-tier league team Pontivargus Youth Power to start his career abroad.

It is important to accumulate strength for the next National Olympic Games, but it should be noted that in terms of competition experience, the U19 national youth team does not have an advantage in Asia.

The U19 national youth team has already conducted two training camps this year, and after the March training camp, the team travelled to Jakarta to play two friendly matches against Indonesian teams in the same age group. This is the first time that the team has participated in an international competition since its formation.

The lack of high-level competition opportunities also plagues the U19 national youth team. In previous years, players in this age group had rarely experienced international competition. Nowadays, it is difficult for players in the U19 age group to play in the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League, and the intensity of the U19 league is significantly lower than that of international competitions.

At the same time, players of the same age group from Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and other countries have formed teams at least two years before the U19 national youth team and have already played dozens of international matches. In contrast, the experience of several U19 players in this Under-23 Asian Cup is really limited.

Can the next National Olympic Games, which has already fallen behind at the beginning, not repeat the mistakes of the past? This not only requires the head coach to select materials and lead the team in a more scientific way, but also requires the Chinese Football Association to make efforts to provide players with opportunities to participate in higher-level international competitions.