There are only three days left before the Chinese national soccer team's first World Cup qualifier away to Thailand. This time the national team's trip to Thailand is very different from the previous Chinese Football Association (CFA) president Chen Xuyuan's tenure. According to Oriental Sports Daily, the national team will travel to Bangkok on the afternoon of the 14th. It is worth mentioning that the national team will arrive in Bangkok on a regular civilian flight. During Chen Xuyuan's tenure at the CFA, whenever the national team had a major away game, most of the time they would choose to charter a plane to go there and have a team of specialized chefs to ensure the players' diet.
Song Kai decisively canceled the charter system for the national football team after taking office, and did not have a special team of chefs for the national football team. The treatment of the national football team traveling to away matches is more austere than ever. Understanding the situation, Song Kai will personally go to the airport to see off the team, but will not personally go to Thailand to supervise the away game. The top leaders of the FA will also not go with the team. Currently, all the players of the national soccer team are training in Shenzhen to prepare for the match against Thailand. Song Kai also went to Shenzhen, encouraging the players to put down the burden, and achieve good results in the game. The senior management of the national football team will not go to Thailand to supervise the away game, obviously to reduce the pressure of the players.
Song Kai, the new president of the Football Association (FA), traveled to Shenzhen to not only visit the national team members preparing for the World Cup qualifiers, but also to the grassroots level to inspect the soccer youth training and related training work in Shenzhen. National team head coach Jankovic said in an interview with domestic media that he is confident to lead the national team to get out of the group and compete for a ticket to the World Cup qualifiers. But through the performance of several warm-up matches, the national team players are not in the best condition. It is an indisputable fact that the level of the national team has been on a downward trend in recent years. As a result, the national team is facing considerable difficulties in away matches.
The CFA has changed its previous flamboyant style by abolishing the system of special flights for the national soccer team and does not have a team of professional chefs to ensure logistics. Senior leaders will also not personally travel to the away game to participate in the supervision of the game. In addition to reducing the pressure on the players to go to away games in a low-key manner, this may also be a way to avoid the newly appointed CFA leadership from being subjected to public pressure from the media and fans, especially when the team does not achieve satisfactory results on the road. This also shows that the leadership of the CFA does not have much expectation for the national team to travel to Thailand. As long as the team doesn't fall behind on the field and keep the away game without conceding a goal, it will be a mission accomplished.
As far as the group qualification is concerned, if the national soccer team loses to Thailand in the first match, their prospects of qualifying for the group will deteriorate rapidly. Despite the fact that the national soccer team will be playing at home in the second qualifying match, it is almost impossible to win against the powerful South Korean team. Therefore, for the national soccer team, the away match against Thailand is a matter of life and death.
