The Chinese team reportedly left Shenzhen for Bangkok yesterday afternoon to begin their 13th bid for a World Cup berth. An analysis by the Daily News pointed out that the current Chinese team is not strong enough or confident enough to secure an away win against Thailand.
Since the 11th, the Chinese team has begun targeted drills, focusing on localized pressing and offensive-defensive transitions. Chief Coach Yankovic has made detailed arrangements for this, and emphasized that the players must abide by the tactical discipline, so as to learn from the lessons learned in the warm-up matches. At this time, the Chinese Super League season has ended, the international players are physically tired and some players are still recovering from injuries, so during the preparation in Shenzhen, the Chinese team did not train too much, and did not carry out a full simulation of the actual battle against the drills.
The first match between China and Thailand is crucial for them as they both face a very strong South Korean team. If they lose the first match, both China and Thailand will be in a passive situation. As of now, the Chinese team does not have enough strength and confidence to beat Thailand on the road, which is also reflected in the fact that Jankovic and his teammates did not make any grandiose statements in their interviews.
It is for this reason that Yang Shuai pays great attention to tactical confidentiality. They have taken measures to seal the training for many consecutive days to ensure that the contents of the drill are not leaked. 14th morning, the national football team reviewed the drill in the outfield of Shenzhen Grand Olympic Center. Considering that it is difficult to ensure that the training is not spied on in the away field, only one stepping practice was arranged for today in order to make the players find the feeling. Regarding the positional ball practice, it is only part of the real tactics and not all of them will be exposed.
