On November 1, the pre-match press conference of the first leg of the FA Cup semi-finals was attended by Taishan coaches Hao Wei and Delgado. Hao Wei revealed that the team is plagued by injuries, and Fellaini and Wang Tong will certainly not start. Henan team acting coach Antonio is full of confidence, stressing that it will pose a threat to the Taishan team, and revealed that Ivo is absent due to injury, and Henan team has 3 foreign players to play.
In the quarter-finals, Taishan eliminated Wuhan 3-0, and Henan narrowly defeated Sichuan Jiuniu in the penalty shootout. The two-legged semi-final match between Taishan and Henan was played on November 2 and 6, with kick-off times at 15:30. In two league encounters this season, the Taishan team has achieved a record of 1 win and 1 draw, and now they meet in the FA Cup, and the lineups of both teams have changed. Taishan lacked 6 internationals, foreign aid Moises returned to the team, Henan team foreign aid Schonic, international wang Shangyuan and midfielder Zhou Dingyang did not return.
For the first showdown of the semi-finals, Hao Wei said bluntly: "The team prepared according to the normal plan, but the team had a lot of injuries and diseases, and I also hope to insist on playing the next game." For the team's injury situation, Hao Wei did not give a clear answer, but confirmed that Fellaini and Wang Tong could not start. Fellaini missed the two-legged match with Wuhan due to strain, Wang Tong failed to play in the second leg due to injury, both of them are the main players of the Taishan team, and their absence also has a great impact on the overall strength of the team.
Especially in the absence of Fellaini, Taishan's attack encountered greater resistance, two rounds against Wuhan, Taishan scored 3 goals, but the overall efficiency is not high, Hao Wei also pointed out that the team's offensive efficiency is not ideal, against Henan, hope to solve the problem of breaking the dense defense. Indeed, the Henan team is better at defensive counterattack tactics, and Delgado, who attended the press conference with Hao Wei, also said bluntly: "I think Henan team will have different options in defense, they will have more players to defend, play defensive counterattack, and we will play well according to our own playing style." ”
Compared with the league clash, the manager of Henan changed, Javier left, and Antonio served as the acting manager. In the first three rounds of the FA Cup, Henan defeated the Zhongguan Meixian Ball Township, the Chinese Super League Chongqing and the Chinese League Sichuan Jiuniu, and the team entered the final four of the FA Cup for the first time in its history. For the FA Cup, Antonio stressed before the game that the team attaches great importance to and has the confidence to pose a threat to the Taishan team: "I know that the opponent is very strong, the Taishan team is the first in the league, and we have won 9 consecutive games in various competitions in recent times, but we are also their strong opponents, in the league we have played a draw, every player in the team is growing, I believe it can pose a great threat to the opponent." ”
Obviously, Antonio is still very confident in the FA Cup, but henan's squad is not neat. Antonio confirmed before the game that the main players such as Shunic, Niu Ziyi, Abdu Waili and Luo Xin were absent, and midfielders Ivo, Wang Shangyuan and Zhou Dingyang could not play. Even so, Antonio is convinced that the team can play high-quality games. In terms of foreign aid, Kalanga, Toure and Dorado are expected to start together, they are the key to Henan's attack, and they also have the strength to threaten the Taishan team's defense line, Hao Wei attaches importance to the attack at the same time, but also to be careful of Henan's counterattack.