The Chinese men's national soccer team will have a 10-day training session in Dalian before heading on the road for the first round of the 18-team tournament on Sept. 2, according to a report by Ma Dexing of Sports Weekly. This is to better prepare for the first match against Japan.
After the group draw for the 18-team tournament was revealed on June 27, the
national soccer team
Head coach Ivan then held a videoconference with the leadership of the domestic football federation and the relevant personnel of the National Management Department to present a series of preparation requirements and plans. One of them was to fine-tune the league's schedule. The FA has moved the 24th round of the league, which was originally scheduled to be played on August 24th and 25th, to July 20th to 22nd. And before the scheduled 24th round of the Super League, there is another round of the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
The original plan was to advance or delay the AFC Cup so that the national team could focus on preparing for the Sept. 5 match from Aug. 18 after the 23rd round of the Chinese Super League on Aug. 17th. If this plan is implemented, the national team will have 18 days to prepare for the first match against Japan. However, due to various reasons, the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup could not be moved forward or postponed, resulting in the postponement of the national team's training from the scheduled August 18th to August 23rd.
Although the training has been shortened by five days, the national team will not schedule any more warm-up matches after the training until they face Japan, which will help the players maintain their competitive status. The national team will start training in Dalian on August 23 for 10 days until September 2, when they will leave for Tokyo. During this period, the national football team will conduct two practices a day to fully prepare for the match against Japan, including the analysis of the overall technical and tactical analysis of the Japanese team, the study of key players, and set-piece drills.
Upon arrival in Japan, the national football team will conduct two training sessions, mainly to adapt to the local ground and weather, while there will be no further focused technical and tactical drills.After playing the match against Japan on Sept. 5, the national football team will fly directly from Tokyo to Dalian on Sept. 6 to recover and make adjustments in preparation for the home match against Saudi Arabia.
This training and schedule adjustment shows the importance and full preparation of the Chinese men's national team for the 18-team tournament, and it is hoped that through solid training and detailed tactical analysis, they will be able to achieve good results in the tournament.
