Currently, the Chinese men's Olympic soccer team is conducting active overseas training in Croatia. As of the end of May, the whole team has played 23 games in overseas training, achieving 6 wins, 3 draws and 14 losses, which is a very good performance. It is equivalent to this Olympic team to study abroad as a whole team to collectively participate in overseas leagues. This kind of study abroad obviously has a good effect on the improvement of the strength of all young players and the cohesion of the tactical lineup.
Of course, there is also very good news for the U22 national soccer team. That is, China was categorized in the same group as UAE, India and Maldives in the group draw for the Paris Olympic qualifiers. This can be considered a signing for our U22 national soccer team. Because we avoided the first strong teams of Japan, Australia and even Iraq. Choosing to be in the same group as UAE can be considered very effective. The second and third teams are split into the same tier as India and Maldives. We could have swiped more goal difference in those two teams.
First of all, our U22 national soccer team includes outstanding overseas players such as Wang Bowen and He Xiaoke. Even overseas goalkeepers Liu Shao Ziyang and Li Hao are available for the U22 national soccer team. Efirdin, who used to perform well in the U20 Asian Cup, is also strong. In addition, under the leadership of head coach Cheng Yaodong, our U22 national soccer team has been traveling to Croatia and other overseas regions for training since the second half of 2022. and got many high quality matches. Including the first half of this year, many warm-up matches were also held in Croatia and Belgium. Equivalent to a full year, our U22 national soccer team collectively studied abroad, and its workouts were obviously very good.
Not to mention the fact that we've done very well against European competition, including teams of our own age and a number of adult Croatian teams in different league divisions. The most recent game was against the Croatian First Division leaders NK Ruders FC team. We won 1-0 with a goal from He Hailong. The opponent of this match arranged a full-strength lineup. The referee was also fair and used international standards. This also shows that the current strength of our U22 national football team can be said to be at the top level of the Croatian First Division.
At the current level of the U22 national soccer team there is no doubt about winning the UAE, who finished first in the Olympics. If we slip up in the first round and don't get the desired result, we can swipe more goal difference in India and Maldives to secure second place in the Group of Four to advance. Moreover, the U22 national soccer team also has the home field advantage, having gained quality matches in overseas training over the past year, and we have earned the UAE's hopes.
