Without Wu Lei, who will score for the national football team in the Sino-Thai life-and-death battle?

Xinmin Evening News

2024-06-03 08:45Published on the official account of Shanghai Xinmin Evening News

The Chinese men's football team is gathering in Shenyang to prepare for the fifth round of the top 40 of the 2026 World Cup Asian qualifiers on the evening of June 6 against the Thai team. This game can be called a "battle of life and death" - win the game and qualify directly; If you don't win, the road ahead is dangerous. What worries many fans is that Wu Lei, the team's top scorer and Chinese Super League Golden Boot, is suspended due to accumulating yellow cards, and center forward Zhang Yuning is also injured. Who can score for the national football team? The greatest hope may be pinned on naturalized striker Fernando.

Caption: The national football team prepares for the World Preliminaries Xinhua News Agency

For the national football team, there are 2 rounds left in the group stage, and the home game against Thailand is a must-win game. After the first 4 rounds, the Chinese team has 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, accumulating 7 points and ranking second in the Group C standings. Thailand has 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses, accumulating 4 points, temporarily trailing by 3 points. This round of the national football team sits at the home of Shenyang, and if it can defeat the opponent, it can enter the top 18 of the world preliminary round in advance. However, if they lose or draw, considering that the national football team will face a strong South Korean team in the final round, and the Thai team will face a weak Singapore, the Chinese team's hopes of qualifying will become slim.

If you want to win, you have to score more goals. The problem is that the current front line of the national football team has caused a "shortage of people". Wu Lei received a yellow card in the last game against Singapore, and will accumulate four yellow suspensions in this round, as the most goal-scoring striker in the national football team, his absence against the Thai team is undoubtedly a major blow. The main center Zhang Yuning was also injured unexpectedly in the league before, and it is still unknown whether he can return in time. Another naturalized player, Ackerson, has been in very average form this season and has played very little time in the league. In this way, the burden of scoring goals naturally falls to the 31-year-old Fernando.

Fernando's ability goes without saying, since joining the Chinese Super League, his speed, breakthrough, and passing are very good, so he is called the "little motorcycle" on the field by fans, and he successfully became one of the naturalized players of the Chinese team in 2020. However, he has been plagued by injuries in recent years, and despite being selected for the national team in 2021, he has never been able to play for the team. It was not until he joined Shandong Taishan from Guangzhou Evergrande this season that Fernando ushered in the "second spring" and regained his former form.

In the last round of the national football team against the Singapore team, Fernando finally made his debut on behalf of the national football team, and his right side gave the opponent the greatest pressure, although the "little motorcycle" failed to score goals and assists, but he had an excellent performance in passing, confrontation and scrambling, and the sharp side breakthrough completely revitalized the right side attack, becoming a major weapon in the front of the national football team.

Some time ago, Fernando was unable to play due to a muscle injury, but fortunately, after careful treatment, he has fully recovered before the Sino-Thai game, which is undoubtedly great news for coach Ivankovic. In an interview with the media the day before yesterday, Fernando revealed: "I am very happy to return to the national team this time, I have been treated for some injuries before, and I have undergone rehabilitation training in the later stage, and I am now able to participate in training and confrontation with everyone normally." I have no problem, please rest assured. ”

"We do regret Wu Lei's absence, but the manager will find the best way to deal with it. We all recognize Wu Lei's talent and value, and his position in the team is irreplaceable. Fernando is also very clear about his responsibility, he said: "The last win was a very important victory for us, and we will continue to work hard and keep in good shape. We all know that the game against Thailand is crucial, so we are very eager to get three points and help the team. Every game is stressful for us, but what we have to do is turn that pressure into motivation to win the game, especially at our home stadium, and we want to win with the fans and take those three points safely. ”

After Wu Lei watched from the wall, if Fernando, who returned from injury, can break out, it is obviously very important for today's national football team. If the Chinese team wants to defeat the Thai team, they can only count on the "little motorcycle" to speed up and lead their teammates to score more goals. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Guan Yin)

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