Special correspondent Ding Xu reported In the cold wind of Dalian, the Chinese U16 national junior team defeated the Bahrain team 2-0 and won the opening of Group C of the 2025 AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifiers. The national junior team won the first game, laying a solid foundation for the group qualification, and also setting an example for the big brothers of the national football team who will play in the top 18 of the world preliminary round in the middle of next month. It is worth mentioning that Song Kai, chairman of the Chinese Football Association, also watched the battle between China and Pakistan at Puwan Stadium.
In less than 2 minutes of the opening game, 1 minute and 47 seconds to be exact, the national junior team scored a goal. At that time, Jiang Zhiqin threw a throw-in from the right side of the front field, Abibulla turned on the right rib and cut into the penalty area and adjusted his left foot to arc into the far corner, although Bahrain goalkeeper Hassan · Ali touched the ball, but it was still difficult to prevent it from entering the net, and the national junior team made a dream start.
After taking the lead, the national junior team firmly controlled the pace of the game and created many scoring opportunities, but it was helpless to never expand the score. In the 60th minute, Abibulla passed Caral · Huvida at the top of the arc, dribbled to the right side of the penalty spot to shoot, the ball was blocked by Yahya · Adel, Bian Yulang won the ball in the front of the small penalty area and volleyed, the national junior team led by two goals, and Bian Yulang was replaced after scoring.
Interestingly, the second goal of the national junior team was more or less a element of luck. Before Bian Yulang scored, the coaching staff had decided to make substitution adjustments, and handed over the substitution list to the fourth official, this time the substitution adjustment was to replace Bian Yulang with Yao Junyu, but the dead ball was never formed on the field. Playing crookedly, Bian Yulang, who stayed on the court for the time being, helped the national junior team lock up the victory.
"Bian Yulang was more inclined to attack, and the situation on the field at that time was that we needed more midfield organization and tandem and players, so the decision to change personnel was made." After the game, the head coach of the U16 national junior team, Kenichi Uemura, said. After Yao Junyu came on the field, the national junior team was completely in control of the situation on the field, and Yao Junyu took advantage of the free kick opportunity to hit the crossbar from distance. In the end, the national junior team defeated the Bahrain team 2-0.
After completely controlling the situation on the field, the national junior team made continuous substitution adjustments in the second half of the game. The national junior team has used up five substitutions, and the coaching staff wants to give more players a chance to get on the pitch and get more time to rotate and rest.
The temperature in Dalian plummeted by more than a dozen degrees on the day of the match, and the change in weather made both sides look uncomfortable. It is reported that the Bahrain team did not bring enough cold equipment to China, and urgently purchased coats before the start of the competition. Kenichi Uemura said: "The cold weather and the encounter against Bahrain made it possible for our players to hold on to the end and win the game in such an environment, and the coaching staff highly praised the performance of the players. ”
Kenichi Uemura said: "Abibulla's opening up in the early stages, coupled with the tenacity and integrity of the team in terms of overall defense, was a key part of our victory. "The match against Bahrain was the first match of the Asian preliminary round of the national junior team, and no matter what the nature of the game, the first game was very difficult. Before the game, there was a nervous and anxious situation among the young players. Kenichi Uemura believes that it is the players who attach great importance to this game, which is why they are nervous.
After the game, many players took the initiative to communicate with the coaching staff in the locker room, and everyone was very unanimous: "Actually, this game can be played better." "The national junior team had a lot of chances to score in the game, but only managed to take two of them.
Zhang Yaokun, the former captain of the national football team who watched the game with reporters and is now the youth training director of the Dalian Football Association, also said: "If you play a little better, it will not be a problem for the national youth to win three or four of Bahrain." ”
Kenichi Uemura himself regrets that the team failed to convert more of its best chances into goals, and he believes that it is necessary to summarize it from two aspects: "One is the tactical reason: what is done well to form so many scoring opportunities. On the other hand, why didn't you take advantage of the goalscoring chances when they were formed? In both aspects, it is necessary to make a more systematic summary and review. ”
The MVP of the game, Abibulla, was very satisfied with his performance, and he was a little shy and wanted to work harder in the next games. "It's so cold, thank you to the fans for cheering us on." Bahrain head coach Bubydale said: "In the game, we can see that there is still a certain gap between us and the Chinese team. Congratulations to the Chinese team for winning, they are very lucky. ”
The 08/09 age group is participating in the 2025 AFC U17 Asian Cup qualifiers, and the team is actually the U16 national junior team this year. If they qualify, the team will compete in the AFC U17 Asian Cup and strive to qualify for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup. The ultimate goal of the team is to cultivate and reserve more outstanding talents for the national football team.
On February 6 this year, the Chinese Football Association officially announced that Kenichi Uemura was officially appointed as the head coach of the Chinese U16 team. In the current (8th) training list, the average age of the 27 players is 16.6 years old, and the average height is 177.2 cm. Among them, 13 players are from 5 Chinese Super League clubs, 10 players are from 2 Chinese League A clubs, 1 player is from China B clubs, and 1 player is from the Youth Academy; One team member is from a member association and one team member is from a school.
Since the team training camp in 2024, the national junior team has played a total of 12 warm-up games, with a record of 2 wins, 1 draw and 9 losses. The team hopes to improve the team and accumulate experience by participating in more high-level competitions. At the same time, the team is also working hard to establish a regularized, systematic, scientific and standardized national team building model.
A total of 43 teams signed up for this year's U17 Asian Preliminary Round, divided into 10 groups, and the top winners of each group will advance to the finals, and the second of the 5 best groups will also qualify. The Chinese national junior team is in Group C with Korea, Bahrain, Bhutan and Maldives, and the Chinese team is the host of this group, and the match is played in Dalian.
Earlier, Lebanon withdrew from Group H, and the rules for qualifying for the U17 Asian preliminary group were changed. Kenichi Uemura said that in this way, it will be more difficult for the national junior team to qualify, and the same situation is the same for other groups, which is fair.
According to the schedule, the national junior team has a bye in the second round, against Bhutan on the 23rd, against the Maldives on the 25th, and against the strongest opponent in the group, Korea, on the 27th. "I hope that the players can continue to maintain their desire to win and achieve their goal of training themselves in this competition. With three games left, hopefully our team can fight it one game at a time and complete the goal of qualifying from the group. ”