At 20:00 Beijing time on the evening of September 10, the round of 18 of the Asian World Preliminary Championship continued, and the Chinese men's football team returned to Dalian to face the strong West Asian team Saudi Arabia.
In the first round of the match a few days ago, the Chinese men's football team lost 0:7 to the Japan men's football team, suffering both a black start and a humiliating tragedy. In this way, after the first round of Group C, the national football team swallowed 7 bullets, ranked at the bottom of the points, and became the deputy squad leader of the group. Considering that even teams such as Bahrain and Indonesia have achieved good results in the first round, the former won 1-0 against Australia, and the latter drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia, in contrast, the prospects of the national football team naturally become more slim.
In terms of overall strength, the national football team is naturally at a significant disadvantage compared with Saudi Arabia. However, judging from the past head-to-head records, the national football team has played Saudi Arabia in the last 6 times, with a record of 1 win, 2 draws and 3 losses. This will undoubtedly test coach Ivan's ability to adjust again.
After a 7-0 defeat in the first round, coach Ivan was embattled and suffered an unprecedented crisis of confidence. In order to fight a redemption battle for himself, and in order to reverse the decline of the national football team, this round against the West Asian powerhouse Saudi Arabia, Ivan will definitely sacrifice the strongest lineup in his mind without reservation.
In the goalkeeper position, given that Wang Dalei conceded too many goals in the last round, which was a bit disappointing, it is expected that this game will be snubbed by Ivan and reduced to a substitute, and it should be SIPG goalkeeper Yan Junling who replaces him in the national football goal; On the back line, it is not surprising that Ivan will continue to play a more stable back 4 formation, and it is expected that the four defenders who will start will be Liu Yang, Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Guangtai and Yang Zexiang. Among them, Zhu Chenjie and Jiang Guangtai continued to serve as the double central defender combination; Liu Yang and Yang Zexiang will play as full-backs on the left and right. Gao Zhunyi, who started in the previous round, was replaced.
In terms of midfield, it is not surprising that the main midfielder responsible for intercepting and stealing in the midfield of the national football team will still be Li Yuanyi, a midfielder from Shandong Taishan; And the one who partners with Li Yuanyi to form a double back combination should be Wang Shangyuan. Jiang Shenglong was replaced. In front of the two midfielders, it is expected that the midfielder Xie Pengfei, who was abandoned in the last round, will be reactivated, and Ivan's self-correction will put Xie Pengfei in charge of the frontcourt offensive organization, strategizing, and dominating the team's frontcourt attack line. The two wide attackers who formed a strategy around Xie Pengfei should be Wu Lei and Fernando. Fernando didn't start the last game, and this one will definitely go all out to prove himself. Wu Lei's performance in the last round was not good, and he should also try to score against Saudi Arabia. Xie Wenneng and Xu Haoyang were replaced.
On the forward line, it is expected that Zhang Yuning, who performed poorly in the last round, will be snubbed and reduced to a substitute, and he should be replaced by the new center forward of the national football team, a naturalized international player with stronger attacking attributes. To sum up the above analysis, the final expected starting lineup of the national football team against Saudi Arabia is: Yan Junling; Liu Yang, Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Guangtai, Yang Zexiang; Li Yuanyi, Wang Shangyuan; Wu Lei, Xie Pengfei, Fernando; Alan