national soccer team
Sliding in Asian rankings, outlook in doubt
Even after forfeiting host status, our soccer team still qualified for this year's World Preliminary Round 12 by virtue of a direct entry into the
Asian cup (e.g. soccer)
Final Round. However, the grouping rules for this Asian Cup are still unclear. If the continuation of the previous grouping rules, the World Preliminary Round 12 teams will automatically occupy the first and second slots in each group. But if the grouping based on the world ranking, our team, if there is no international tournament in a year, it is likely to be Uzbekistan, Bahrain, Jordan and other teams need to participate in the Asian Cup qualifiers beyond the points, resulting in China's team down to the third slot, the group stage is facing a serious challenge.
Even according to the grouping rules of the last Asian Cup, if the hosts of the next Asian Cup are countries such as Thailand and India that did not make it to the 12-team tournament, then their national teams will be seeded as a matter of course. Together with World Cup hosts Qatar, our team could still be squeezed into the third slot.
Indeed, after more than a decade of concerted efforts by the soccer community, our
national soccer team
The voice in the AFC has increased significantly, and the environment for survival has been greatly improved. These subtle changes have been reflected in the groupings of the past few Asian Cups and World Qualifiers and in the refereeing decisions of key tournaments. However, the changes in the current Asian Cup foreshadow the uncertainty of our men's soccer team's survival in the Asian soccer world in the future.
If our team wants to improve the survival environment, the most direct way is to take the initiative and improve the world ranking by participating in more matches. However, in the current situation, the national football team to take the initiative to arrange high-level warm-up matches and become extremely difficult. Once the national football team in the Asian ranking decline, in the future of the major tournament draw, it is likely to be encountered again by the opponents of the "backstabbing" risk.
Asian powerhouses have clear preparation plans
According to the FIFA calendar, the two international competition windows in 2022 are May 30 to June 14 and September 18 to 27 respectively. Unlike our team's attitude of "lying down", the Asian football world's various big players have already determined a perfect training program to make full use of these two windows. Japan and South Korea have confirmed a number of warm-up matches, the opponent strength is not bad. Saudi Arabia in the end of the domestic league, quickly assembled to Spain for training, and with Colombia, Venezuela and other teams for warm-up.
The Saudis will once again travel to their base in Murcia, Spain, to train during the September window of international matches and have confirmed a warm-up match against Ecuador. Iran are expected to fly to Canada in June to play a warm-up match against the Canadian national team. Australia will travel to Doha at the end of the month to set up a training camp in preparation for the World Cup play-offs and have confirmed a warm-up match against Jordan. The UAE, on the other hand, have opted to play a warm-up match against Gambia.
In contrast to the
China Super League (soccer league)
The league officially kicks off on June 3, and with at least eight matches to be played in the first phase, it will be difficult for the national team to find time for training or matches. The second window of international matches, the hope of conducting training warm-up is also very slim. With the postponement of the Asian Games, only the adult national team sequence of
national soccer team
out for the July 19-27 East Asian Cup four-nation tournament. With the postponement of the Asian Games, it is likely that the overage players will not play in the tournament.
2022 should have been the key year for our men's soccer team to carry forward and start back, end of the last 12 tournaments, for the next four years of the Asian Cup, the layout of the World Cup, adjusting and enriching the team, a clear direction of development, all of these are due to the meaning of the construction of the national team. Miss this year's valuable adjustment period, the survival and development of our men's soccer team is likely to face greater passivity.
