China's men's soccer team will take on a new challenge at the Hangzhou Asian Games in September. For the first time since last year's World Qualifier, the national soccer team is participating in an official intercontinental soccer tournament.
The group draw for the Asian Games men's soccer team has been completed, and China's Asian Games men's soccer team has been assigned to Group A along with India, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Although the strength of Chinese men's soccer team has dropped so badly that it has become a third-rate level in Asia, India, Myanmar and Bangladesh are too weak. The Chinese men's soccer team won the first place in the group with 3 wins in 3 matches, and there should be no doubt to advance to the knockout stage.
The fixtures for the men's soccer team at the Asian Games have all been finalized recently. According to the schedule, the Chinese men's soccer team will face India on September 19th, Myanmar on September 21st, and Bangladesh on September 24th, the last opponent in Group A.
All three matches are scheduled in the afternoon on 19. :30 years later, the CCTV sports channel CCTV5 will broadcast Chinese men's soccer matches live in prime time. We hope that fans who were able to be there at that time can watch the games live and cheer for the Chinese men's soccer team. Fans who can't be there can watch the three matches in front of the TV.
Although the Asian Games is not a top international soccer tournament, it is a key game for the Chinese men's soccer team to win and regain confidence. Therefore, at that time, the Chinese men's soccer team will certainly send all the strongest lineup. From the current situation, China's Asian Games men's soccer team's formation and starting lineup can basically be determined:.
The formation will be 4-3-3, with starters including: goalkeeper Han Jiaqi; defenders Wu Shaocong, Jiang Shenglong, Zhu Chenjie and naturalized player Jiang Guangtai; midfielders Dai Weijun, Wang Haijian and naturalized player Fernando; and strikers Fang Hao, Eckerson and Tao Qianglong.
Each team is allowed to have three overage players in this Asian Games soccer tournament. Considering the players' form in the World Qualifiers, coach Djurdjevic will leave the quota of these three overage players for naturalized players.
Needless to say, Jiang Guangtai is currently the best center back player in China. The absolute core of the Chinese men's defense for the next few years, the national football team will certainly not participate in less than him in various matches.
As Beijing Guoan's Zhang Yuning is out for the season, Shandong Taishan's Guo Tianyu was taken away by the Liaoning police for investigation for playing a fake soccer ball and has not been released yet. As a result, Djurdjevic had to use naturalized player Eckerson to play as the starting center forward for men's soccer at the Asian Games.
Although the naturalized striker Ackerson is now 34 years old, his form has been quite good. This season, he is still the absolute mainstay of Chengdu Rongcheng. Currently, Aixon has scored 5 league goals, and he also scored an absolute equalizer in the last round of the league, but he was disallowed due to the referee's misjudgment. Such a good form makes Eckerson fully qualified to be the main center forward of the national football team for the Asian Games.
Another naturalized player, Fernando has been in explosive form lately. Although he hasn't played an official game for two years, Fernando quickly regained his form after joining Shandong Taishan this season. Especially after Cui Kangxi entered Shandong Taishan, the little motorcycle managed to reactivate.
In the last two rounds of the league, Fernando scored a goal in the match between Taishan and Guoan, and his breakthrough created another penalty in the match with Meizhou Hakka. It's worth noting that Fernando was a substitute in both games, used as a wonderkid by Choi Kang-hee, and didn't get much time on the pitch, which is proof of how effective Fernando's offense is.
In his prime, Fernando had a very unique break on the sidelines. Once he was running, it was very difficult for anyone to stop him. Although he got injured and spent two years recuperating from the injury, he is not in the same shape as before. However, Fernando is still China's best side blitzer. His speed and breakout ability is perfect for Asian underdogs, such as the national football team, and plays a key role in the defensive counterattack tactical system.
Therefore, this time Djurdjevic should bring Fernando to the Asian Games. If he performs well in the Asian Games, Fernando will surely be the first choice for the starting wingers in the World Qualifiers.
