According to Xinhua News Agency, 7 held in Doha, Qatar, 2022 World Cup Asian qualifying round of 12 round of competition, Japan with Osako Yongya's goal in the first half, to 1:0 to beat China, China's men's football suffered two consecutive defeats.
Even with a five-guard configuration in the starting lineup, China was unable to stop their opponents' offense.
Both China and Japan suffered defeats in the first round of the 12-team tournament, with China going down 0:3 to Australia in Doha and Japan unexpectedly losing 0:1 to Oman at home.
China's head coach Li Tie lined up a starting lineup of five defenders to face Japan, the top-ranked team in Asia. Japan launched a fierce attack in the first half, with 78% of the ball in possession, while the Chinese team focused on defense.
Just two minutes into the match, China's main center back Zhang Linpeng was injured during defense and was replaced by Zhu Chenjie. In the 22nd minute, Japan's 20-year-old striker Kubo Jianying fired a low shot from inside the penalty area, narrowly missing the goal, and China escaped with a scare.
After a long siege by Japan, the deadlock was broken in the 40th minute. Junya Ito scored the only goal of the match with a quick breakaway pass from the right side of the field, and Yuya Osako grabbed the goal from inside the penalty area.
In the second half, Li Tie continuously replaced Alan, Luo Guofu and other attacking players, the Chinese team began to strengthen the attack, but failed to pose a substantial threat to the Japanese goal, the final score of 1:0 to keep to the end of the game.
China is in Group B with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Oman in this 12-team tournament. The top two teams in the group will directly advance to the World Cup final round, while the third place will qualify for the play-offs.
On the same day, Vietnam also suffered two consecutive defeats after losing 0:1 to Australia at home.
In the next round of matches, China will face Vietnam on October 7 in Sharjah, UAE.
Facing Vietnam, Li Tie said he would give his all as if he were playing the final.
Li Tie said after the game, through the game to see the gap with the top teams in Asia, the team will be adjusted in the next month, and strive to show better form in the third game.
"Thanks to the players for their efforts and the fans who supported the team in front of the TV. Through the game, we saw the gap with the top Asian teams. After the first two games, we are clearer about our position. The players will make adjustments in the coming month. I believe the team will come up with a better form in the third match." Li Tie said.
During the match, Zhang Linpeng was unable to hold on due to injury and was replaced by Zhu Chenjie. Li Tie said Zhang Linpeng's injury looks more serious, he will go to the hospital on the 8th to check the severity of the injury.
In this game, the Chinese team was passive in the first half by adopting a five-guard defense, and in the second half Li Tie replaced Alan, Luo Guofu and many other attacking players in an attempt to strengthen the attack.
Li Tie said: "The players executed their tactics very well and showed their will to fight. There is no distinction between starters and substitutes in the Chinese team, and I will only decide who will play according to the state of the game and requirements. Today, both the starters and the substitutes worked very hard, and I am very satisfied with the players' hard work."
According to the schedule released by the AFC, China will face Vietnam, who also suffered two consecutive losses, on October 7 in Sharjah, UAE. The Chinese team will depart for Sharjah on September 8th.
Li Tie said: "I hope the players will treat every game of the 12-team tournament as the final of their lives, and it will be the same against Vietnam. We will practice very hard this month to bring the players' physical condition to the next level. If possible, we hope to make appointments to play warm-up matches against teams that are better than us. In the past two games, the gap between us and the strongest Asian teams in terms of tempo was very obvious, which is something we need to improve."
"I was lucky to play close to 100 games for my country, and I went through dozens more as a national team staff member, assistant coach, and head coach." Li Tie said, "I hope the national team becomes stronger and stronger, which requires our joint efforts."
Japan's head coach, Mori Boichi, said he was happy that his team was able to recover from the 0:1 loss in the first match. He said, "Because of our offense, we made the Chinese team only play defense. This is not the way China plays, we played very offensively. I knew that China would raise the intensity of the game in the second half and they put in more attacking players. We were fortunate to be able to score in the first half and not concede a goal."
The 0:1 loss to Japan was a loss that showed promise.
Compared to the disappointment of the national soccer team's 0:3 loss to Australia in the previous match, this loss to Japan was more of a glimmer of hope in the midst of helplessness.
The helplessness lies in the fact that the national soccer team, despite all their efforts, still cannot overcome the gap between them and the Japanese team.
The hope lies in, can see in the experience of the first game 0:3 after the defeat of Australia, the national football players more adapted to the intensity and rhythm of the 12 strong matches, but also more able to find their own characteristics and advantages.
The national football team 1 goal loss of the Japanese team, both the result and the process, is an acceptable result, this may also be the current team of national football team can achieve the best results.
After all, Japan is currently ranked No. 1 in Asia and No. 24 in the world, representing the top level of Asian soccer. The national soccer team is ranked 9th in Asia and 71st in the world.
The team price, the Japanese team for 186.6 million euros, the national football team only 22.93 million euros, rival striker Kamata earth price of 25 million euros, only this one will be worth the whole team price of the national football team.
In terms of players who stayed abroad, there is only Wu Lei in the national football team, while the Japanese team has as many as 17 people.
These, in turn, are difficult chasms to cross.
So in the 12 meetings since entering the 21st century, the national soccer team 5 draws and 7 losses without a win, the last victory over Japan, but also back in 1998.
The last time the national football team and the Japanese team in the international competition "real" competition, it happens to be in the final, the 2004 Asian Cup duel, as the host of the national football team 1:3 defeated the opponent.
After 60 minutes of this match, the national football team manager Li Tie changed tactics and replaced Yin Hongbo, Jin Jingdao and Li Ang with Artemisia Junmin, Alan and Luo Guofu, returning the lineup from 5-back to 4-back.
The intention of this move is very obvious, since the "dead guard" plan is broken, it is better to use the remaining half an hour to be more proactive with the opponent, to get more opportunities to attack.
With a more balanced offense and defense, even against the No. 1 team in Asia, the national soccer team was able to create a certain threat and even forced Japan to slow down their tempo towards the end of the game.
It was also the half hour that gave some hope for the national soccer team to compete in the next eight matches of the 12-team tournament.
Losing the first 2 rounds to Japan and Australia, the top 2 teams in the group, is not unacceptable, the key lies in the subsequent matches against direct rivals Saudi Arabia, Oman and Vietnam.
Fighting for third place in the group and a play-off spot is the most realistic goal for this current national soccer team.
On October 7, the national football team will face Vietnam in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates "home".
In a certain sense, from the beginning of the match against Vietnam, the national football team in the game will further reduce the margin for error, every game is "can not afford to lose" game.
In the coming month, the national football team will be preparing in Sharjah, UAE. a good result is expected in the two matches against Vietnam and Saudi Arabia in October.
