However, despite the fact that there are only two matches left to play in the tournament, according to the AFC's regulations, if a player receives a red card in the final match or is suspended for accumulating yellow cards, the suspension will automatically carry over to the next official international match even if he continues to play for the national team afterward. This means that a player who already has a yellow card in his hand
Wu Lei (1979-), Chinese footballer
If another foul is committed in the final match against Oman, then the team will be held in our country in 2023.
Asian cup (e.g. soccer)
The first group game, he will face a suspension. The current national team, and Zhang Yuning, Xu Xin, Wei Shihao, Zhang Linpeng and other players in a similar situation there are a lot of players, how to avoid in the 12 "pot", so that next year's Asian Cup to become a "pot", which for the national football team is a problem that must be thought about! The problem is that the Chinese national football team must think deeply about it.
In comparison, the situation of Li Lei, another player playing in the Swiss league, is relatively simple. Since joining Grasshoppers, Li Lei has been playing consistently and is now in the starting lineup. Unsurprisingly, he will leave for the UAE on the 20th, local time, after the Grasshoppers' home match against Basel. He is expected to meet up with the national soccer team on the 21st to prepare for the match against Saudi Arabia two days later and return to Switzerland directly after the match against Oman. As the matches of the 12-team tournament are scheduled on the international match days stipulated by FIFA, and the time difference from the UAE to Switzerland is not too big, the journey will not be too tiring, which will not have much impact on Li Lei's participation in the club's training and matches.
"To go is to go to war."
For Li Xiaopeng, at least, finalizing the list of players for the trip to West Asia was both the easiest and the hardest.
Four naturalized players, plus the frontline that has been the centerpiece of the
Wu Lei (1979-), Chinese footballer
The offensive line of the national football team is missing five players, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as "half of the sky has collapsed". How to fill the void left by the absence of Wu Lei and others, Li Xiaopeng is obviously not simple, especially in the case of Wei Shihao due to injury has not been able to play.
In the Haikou training period, the national football team carried out a total of three warm-up matches, has been serving as the main center forward Zhang Yuning although no goals, but in Li Xiaopeng's tactical system, his role is irreplaceable. Around Zhang Yuning, Li Xiaopeng after some attempts, but also basically determined to "Zhang Yuning + Liu Binbin + Dai Weijun" as the main attack "trio", plus the back line of "Zhu Chenjie + Jiang Guangta + Zhang Linpeng "combination, the front and back of the big structure of the field is basically established, the rest is in other positions, put the most suitable players.
Seemingly simple "addition", in the absence of sufficient ability and characteristics of the players, is precisely the most difficult to do. Due to the epidemic, the past two seasons of the Chinese Super League have adopted the tournament system, especially the second phase of the 2021 season, which was basically completed in a closed environment with the rhythm of one match in three days. And because the league was completed across the year, the players, lacking the necessary rest and recuperation, took part in the national team's training, once again experiencing a three-week quarantine after the two Round of 12 matches against Japan and Vietnam. Because of this, this time the national team training, the FA leadership and coaching staff most of the time and energy on the communication with the players, to help them adjust the psychological state.
In the view of Li Xiaopeng, want to play well with the Saudi Arabia this game, in addition to technical and tactical, more importantly, in the psychological and spiritual level of preparation, in his words before that is "must be able to fight". Although the outside world is not optimistic, and some people even predicted that the Chinese team will end the 12-team tournament with four consecutive losses, but a source within the national football team confessed that after the adjustment of the training in Haikou, everyone has been ready to go all out: "In the words of the players themselves, it is 'now we can save our own, and only our own! '."
It's confirmed. We'll play three center backs.
Obviously, no matter the formation or playing style, with the national Olympic team during the game, Li Xiaopeng did not hide. On the one hand, in just over two months after taking over and having played only two official matches, he needs his players to understand and implement his tactical design as much as possible; on the other hand, after basically confirming that the four naturalized players who are still in Brazil won't be involved in the China-Saudi Arabia battle, as the head coach, Li Xiaopeng has to find out the 11 players who are ready from the body to the spirit.
Yan Junling still occupies the position of the main goalkeeper of the national soccer team in the afternoon match on the 15th. The goalkeeper from the Harbor team still has the trust of the coaching staff in case of the injury of Wang Dalei, another experienced goalkeeper of the World Championship.
The same as the previous two warm-up games, the center of the back line in the center back position, Li Xiaopeng is still using the "Zhu Chenjie + Zheng Zheng + Zhang Linpeng" combination. As to whether the official game with Jiang Guangtai to replace Zheng Zheng, to see Jiang Guangtai and the team after the meeting of the physical and athletic condition, whether to meet the requirements of the game and then make a decision. It is worth noting that Zhu Chenjie withdrew from the game after 20 minutes in the first half due to an injury, but it should not affect his travel to the UAE with the team.
Li Xiaopeng took office after the organization of the first national football training, but also had practiced the system of three center backs, but did not use in the later matches with Japan and Vietnam. The reason why practice but do not use, according to insiders analysis, on the one hand, with the practice of bonding time is too short; on the other hand, in the case of the national football team still have the group out of the line hope, Li Xiaopeng may hold the last hand idea, chose to focus on the attack of the 433 formation. As for the game with the Vietnamese team, in the first round won the opponent and think not to give the fans "add blockage" in the case, not to add a center back to strengthen the defense to "show weakness".
Meanwhile, as the "leader" in the table of China's group, Saudi Arabia's attack on the left and right sides is quite distinctive, and even against the strongest teams in the same group, such as Japan and Australia, it is still able to create a constant threat. This was also proven in the first round match between China and Saudi Arabia. Wanting to refuse to collapse in the 23rd match, suppressing the opponent's offense by strengthening the defense is almost a necessity for Li Xiaopeng.
It is worth noting that in previous matches, although the Chinese team also used the combination of Zhu Chenjie, Jiang Guangtai and Zhang Linpeng in the back line, but Zhang Linpeng, who plays on the right side of the field, is still playing more as a right fullback, and the position of the right fullback, no matter whether it's Wu Lei or Luo Guofu, basically as a winger rather than a wingback to be used on the field of responsibilities and roles, but also with the current play of the right wingback of the Gao Junyi is not The responsibilities and roles on the field are not exactly the same as Gao Junyi's.
"In the recent period of training, Li (Xiaopeng) guide especially emphasized the distance maintained between the center backs and the sides, including the midfielders, but also according to the situation on the field, at any time to make up the position, to ensure the integrity of the defensive link." According to sources close to the national football team, the national football team in Haikou training period, the coaching staff put a considerable part of the energy to build a defense system, and this is actually not just for the final two games of the 12 strong match to prepare: "several players in the back line, Jiang Guangtai is in the prime of life, Zhu Chenjie is just more than twenty years old out of the face of the next period of time, the national football team defense is bound to be to them! The next period of time, the defense of the national football team must be dominated by them. Now play more games, can accumulate more experience, at the same time in the cooperation will also be more tacit understanding, plus Zhang Linpeng, Liu Yang and Gao Junyi, as long as these several people can be stable, at least the quality of defense is still guaranteed."
