Chinese men's soccer team first practice in Sharjah
After a day's rest, the Chinese men's football team embarked on a journey to Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium, the base of Sharjah Sharon, on the night of March 17 to begin their first training in the United Arab Emirates. It is reported that naturalized player Jiang Guangtai, who arrived in Dubai as early as March 4, also joined the team's training. The only absentee was defender Gao Junyi, who was unable to participate in the training due to injury.
The team arrived in Dubai on the night of March 17th and immediately afterward took a bus to their hotel in Sharjah. Despite a delayed flight, the team arrived at the hotel late at night, but the players quickly returned to their rooms to rest and adjust to the jet lag.
In order to ensure the health and safety of the entire national team and the U23 national team delegation, the CFA has requested that all members of the team must strictly adhere to the closed-loop immunization regulations while in the UAE. The two teams are staying in the same hotel, but are arranged on different floors of the hotel. The first training sessions for the two teams were scheduled for the afternoon and evening of the 18th local time respectively.
The national team departed from their hotel at 6:30 p.m. local time and officially began training at 7 p.m. The training venue is the Khalid bin Mohammed Stadium, which the team previously used in preparation for some of their home matches in the Round of 12, and is also the main venue for Sharjah Sharon U21's participation in the national league.
As the team has just arrived in Sharjah for only one day, the first practice was focused on physical recovery. It is worth noting that naturalized player Jiang Guangtai arrived in Sharjah from Dubai at noon on the 18th local time to join the team. It is understood that Jiang Guangtai arrived in Dubai ahead of schedule on March 4, and underwent various physical tests and passed them successfully. 48 hours before the national team gathered, he also conducted two consecutive nucleic acid test, and after passing the test to the national team premises.
Unlike the four naturalized players in Brazil, Jiang Guangtai is of moderate age and one of the more valued players by the national team. Jiang Guangtai himself is eager to represent the national team. At the training site, he has repeatedly taken the initiative to greet his teammates and coaches, and communicated with Dai Weijun, who is fluent in English.
The national team's local training remained open to the media for only the first 15 minutes as per usual. The players completed a round of stretching on yoga mats before quickly moving on to the technical and tactical drills. A total of 23 players showed up for the training, absent was defender Gao Zhunyi, who stayed at the hotel to continue his physical adjustments.
