On January 20, Beijing time, our soccer team played a crucial pre-match warm-up match at the Shanghai Yuanshen Sports Center to warm up for their upcoming trip to Japan. In the match, the Red Team beat the White Team 1-0 with the winning goal from Jin Jingdao. The team is scheduled to depart from Shanghai on Jan. 23, stay at the Hilton Hotel upon arrival in Japan, and face off against Japan at the Saitama National Stadium.
Before departing for Japan, the Chinese men's soccer team will also undergo a major slimming down of its squad. The original 46-man roster will be reduced to about 25. Today's warm-up revealed the starting lineup for the red team: Wang Dalei, Wang Shenchao, Zheng Zheng, Yu Dabao, Ji Xiang; Wu Xi, Ji Zhongguo, Gao Tianyi, Wei Shihao; Wang Ziming, Xie Pengfei. The white team, on the other hand, is led by Yan Junling, Liu Yang, Wu Shaocong, Wei Zhen, Zhu Chenjie, Deng Hanwen; Dai Weijun, Xu Xin, Artemisia Artemisia, Tan Long; and Zhang Yuning.
Looking back at the previous training session, the red team maintained a 433 formation while the white team adopted a 3 center back layout. Both sides failed to score in the first half and played to a 0-0 draw. However, Kim Kyung Do's goal in the second half helped the Red Team win 1-0.
It is worth mentioning that coach Li Xiaopeng had revealed that the warm-up match on the 20th will decide the starting lineup for the match against Japan. Judging from today's starting lineup, the Chinese men's soccer team may continue to use the 5-back formation in the match against Japan. In addition, the 16th and 20th of the two warm-up matches, the white team back line remains unchanged, Wu Shao Cong, Wei Zhen, Zhu Chenjie as three center backs, Liu Yang and Deng Hanwen with excellent assisting ability to guard the two wings.
