According to FIFA history, the fourth cycle of this year's international competition will be scheduled from October 9th to 17th. Although the third phase of the Chinese Super League (rounds 25-27) will end on Sept. 30, given that the Hangzhou Asian Games men's soccer tournament doesn't end until Oct. 7, China's men's soccer team will likely regroup on Oct. 8 before playing two international A-level warm-up matches against Vietnam and Uzbekistan, with training likely to be scheduled in Dalian, where the team trained and warmed up in June.
Combined with the performance of the national soccer team in two warm-up matches this month, head coach Jankovic is likely to make considerable changes to the new training candidates.
No wins in two international matches in September
Exposing a seriously aging national football team
In two matches in September, the national team drew 1-1 with Malaysia and lost 0-1 against Syria. Influenced by other related teams' unsatisfactory performance and other factors, China's international ranking did not drop, but rather rose. But the team sat at home and lost consecutively to two teams ranked lower than the team in the international rankings, an overall poor performance that left fans deeply dissatisfied.
Among the many questions, the criticism of the "serious aging of the international players" is particularly fierce. However, it is true that Jankovic is facing some problems in terms of selection. For example, young players such as Zhu Chenjie and three overage players from the Asian Games have recently been preparing for the Hangzhou Asian Games with the Chinese men's Asian Games team. Some of the best players who were planned to be drafted were unable to join the team under the influence of injuries. For example, Lin Liangming and Li Shuai were seriously injured during this training and warm-up period.
The next training lineup for the Chinese team
The adjustment is significant compared to the current period.
Judging from the current situation, China's accelerated replacement of the old and the new is not only the desire of the fans, but also the objective demand of the team to strengthen the preliminaries lineup. Unsurprisingly, the lineup of the next training of the Chinese team will be significantly adjusted than the current period. Zhu Chenjie and other men's football Asian Games elite players and study abroad Turkish A defender Wu Shaocong is likely to join the team. It is understood that the lineup of the new round of training of the national football team will be closer to the team's lineup in the first 36 rounds of the preliminaries. Specific adjustments to the candidates, the coaching staff need to be based on the next three rounds of Super League matches and the performance of the three Super League teams before the AFC Champions League, as well as the performance of the men's soccer Asian Games.
According to the preliminary design of the preparation plan, the national football team will hold two international A-level warm-up matches against visiting Vietnam and Uzbekistan from October 9 to 17 at home. As with the warm-up schedule in September, the CFA has invited the two teams to come to China in October to warm up or prepare for the first 36 rounds of the National Football League (NFF) preliminaries. The national soccer team will face Thailand and host South Korea in the first two rounds of the 36-team tournament in November. Vietnam and Uzbekistan are similar to Thailand and South Korea in terms of technical style, making them the ideal "hypothetical opponents" for the national soccer team.
Notably, China played triangular matches against visiting Malaysia and Syria during the September training session. This format not only meets the warm-up needs of the teams, but also saves them the trouble of traveling. Therefore, a similar approach is likely to be used in the national soccer team's training in October. China, Uzbekistan and Vietnam may also play triangular matches, which may be scheduled on October 13, 15 and 17 respectively. Text/by Xiao Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Race related
Five Chinese referees have been selected for Manning's Asian Cup enforcement lineup.
Yesterday, the AFC announced through official channels the list of 74 referees (including assistant referees) who will be enforcing the men's soccer team in the Asian Cup. Chinese international referees such as Ma Ning, Fu Ming, international assistant referees, Zhou Fei and Cao Yi set a record for the number of Chinese referees enforcing a single Asian Cup. This selection result shows that in recent years, Chinese international referees are generally trusted by the AFC.
Affected by objective factors, the 2023 Asian Cup, which was originally planned to be held in July and August this year, will be postponed to January 12 to February 10 next year, and the tournament will be easily held in Qatar. In accordance with the usual practice, the AFC initially delineated the lineup of the current list of referee candidates to enforce the matches in the first half of the tournament, and then, based on the referees' recent enforcement performance and physical condition, finally selected the list of elected referees to participate in the enforcement of the matches.
Chinese referees Ma Ning, Fu Ming, assistant referees, and Zhou Fei were confirmed to be in the referee and assistant referee lineup for this tournament, with Cao Yi serving as an alternate assistant referee. A total of five Chinese referees have participated in the enforcement of this Asian Cup, the highest ever.
The data shows that from the 2007 Asian Cup to the 2023 Asian Cup, in the past five tournaments, there were Chinese referees in four of them, except for 2015 when no Chinese referee took part in the enforcement. For example, Sun Baojie participated in the enforcement of the 2007 Asian Cup. After serving as an alternate referee for the World Cup in South Africa, assistant referee Mu Yuxin took part in the enforcement of the 2011 Asian Cup.
A total of four Chinese referees took part in enforcement activities during the 2019 Asian Cup, namely referees Ma Ning, Fu Ming, assistant referees Cao Yi and Huo Weiming. Fu Ming enforced two matches as a referee, including the knockout match UAE vs Kyrgyzstan. Fu Ming held one match in the current competition, serving as the fourth in the Qatar vs Japan final.
The enforcement level of Chinese international referees is increasingly recognized by FIFA and AFC. A team of Chinese referees, with Ma Ning, Cao Yi and Shi Xiang as members, served as referees in the 2022 Men's World Cup. Earlier this year, Ma Ning, Fu Ming, Cao Yi, and Zhou Fei traveled to Morocco as chief referee, video assistant referee, and assistant referee, respectively, to take part in the enforcement of the recent Club World Cup, and joined hands in enforcing the opening match of the current competition. On May 6 of this year, Maning, Fu Ming, Zhang Xiang, Zhou Fei, etc. joined forces in Japan to enforce the second round of the 2022 AFC Champions League final, a home match between Ute and Red Diamond in Japan.
Recently, Chinese referee Wang Di and assistant referee Luo Zheng, referee Zhang Lei and assistant referee Shi Xiang went to Saudi Arabia and South Korea to enforce the Olympic Preliminary Round matches in different groups. Shen Yinhao and assistant referee Guo Jingtao were also selected to participate in the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games soccer tournament.
