The situation in this year's World Qualifying 12 is complicated by the impact of the epidemic, and the teams need to devote more energy to deal with the off-field challenges.
national soccer team
The first opponent, Australia, was assembled in a hurry this time and prepared for the game in the early morning of September 3 without two scorers.
national soccer team
Can you cut the score?
Time is short for pre-game training
When it comes to the Australian team, Chinese fans' memories of the "Golden Generation" players such as Cowell and Viduka have faded, and even the players who had played in the
China Super League (soccer league)
Cahill, who played for the team, has also retired. Despite having been part of the AFC for a long time, Chinese fans have a soft spot for the team's four consecutive
World Cup
The teams in the tournament are unfamiliar. Nowadays, the Australian team has a feeling of "things are different".
The team recently released a 27-man roster with only one player playing in the Australian Premier League, with the rest of the players coming from clubs in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
It is worth mentioning that at the time of the Top 40 in June this year, there were still 10 people from the Australian Premier League in the Australian squad, but the country's anti-epidemic policy has brought a lot of difficulties for local players to leave the country to participate in the tournament, and therefore Leckie and McLaren, two goal scorers, were not involved in the first two battles of the Top 12 tournament. It can be said that the Australian team that came to Doha is a team that manager Arnold put together on the spot.
The Australian players have been arriving in Doha over the past two days, and the team will conduct its only training session before the first competition today, which will be the only test for those assembled from around the world to understand the tactical intentions of the skipper.
Of course, the Australian players themselves are of a very high standard, and even in the rush to get to the game, the team is still very strong. Among this team, Chinese fans are most familiar with Shanghai Harbor's Muy, a player capable of playing multiple positions in the midfield who has already made a name for himself at
China Super League (soccer league)
Playing for almost a year. Interestingly, harbor player Stanley Wong said, "He will definitely not be humble to Muy on the field."
Be wary of the "tower" of the opponent's defense.
The one to really be wary of is Rokic, who has just returned to the Australian team, the veteran has shown great athleticism with two goals and an assist for Celtic in the Scottish Premier League recently. Previous
World Cup
, Rokic is the very heart of Australia's offense.
In addition, Hrstic, who plays for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, and Jackson Irvine, who plays for St. Pauli in the Bundesliga, have both been in excellent form of late, with the latter being Australia's highest-attendance player in the Top 40.
Special attention needs to be paid to the opponent's back line of 1.98 meters tall Suta, the defense of this tough player in the 40 strong match scored 6 headers, the number of goals ranked first in the team. How to limit this player in set piece defense.
Li Tie (1977-), footballer
The coaching staff will have some more brainstorming to do. "We know a little bit about Soutar, the coaching staff gave some information, his primary characteristic is that the set piece will come up and I'll get closer to him and be ready."
national soccer team
Goalkeeper Yan Junling said.
Likewise.
national soccer team
For those who have worked in
China Super League (soccer league)
Playing for Sainsbury's, McGovern as well as Grant (Sydney FC) and Taggart (Cerezo Osaka), who are often encountered in the AFC Champions League, are no strangers to the game, and the team has been conducting targeted training in recent days in conjunction with the Australian team's style of play.
Australia's head coach Arnold has reportedly been in control of the team since the summer of 2018 and knows all the players in the squad very well. He also doubles up as the head coach of the Australian National Olympic Team, which just finished in Tokyo
the Olympics
In the tournament, the Arnold-led Australian National Olympic team failed to break out of the group with one win and two losses in the group stage.
audible
Leko (Shanghai Harbour skipper): "China need to focus on themselves, they need to have confidence in themselves, even though Australia has a lot of good players, China still has a good chance."
Arnold (Australia skipper): "China are very strong defensively and have a lot of experienced players, we don't have a lot of time to practice together so we want to make sure the players can be ready."
World Qualifier - Round of 12
Australia vs China
September 3, 02∶00
Khalifa International Stadium
CCTV5 Live
Records of the last 5 matches between Australia and China
Time Race Result
Asian cup (e.g. soccer)
China 0:2 Australia
2013.7.28 East Asia Cup China 4:3 Australia
2008.6.22 World Qualifier China 1:0 Australia
2008.3.26 World Qualifier China 0:0 Australia
2007.3.24 Warm-up match China 0:2 Australia
