According to the established plan, about 80 members of the Chinese national soccer team will depart from their hotel in Shanghai in the evening of August 25th, Beijing time, and take a special flight to Doha, Qatar, just after 1:00 a.m. Beijing time on August 26th, to take part in the first and second rounds of the Asian Zone 12 tournament. In the afternoon of the 25th before the departure, the team will hold an internal teaching match at the Shanghai Houpel Sports Park base. The coaching team will finalize the list of players who will travel with the team based on their physical condition and possible injuries after the warm-up matches.
Since August 18th, the national football team has started a new training session in Shanghai. Considering the ultra-high density of matches the international players experienced in the league and other objective factors, head coach Li Tie consciously adjusted the intensity of some training days and specially arranged free time for the players in the afternoon of August 20 to get together with their families and friends.
Despite the daunting task of preparing for the Top 12, the team's outdoor training sessions remain full. In the last two days, the training has shifted from physical recovery to technical and tactical drills.
Together with the recent supplementary recruitment of Zheng Zheng, Wang Shangyuan, as well as in Spain Wu Lei, this period of national football training a total of 33 players selected. In the media meeting on the 22nd, Li Tie emphasized that considering the actual situation of training and competing abroad during the epidemic, the Chinese team will maximize the number of players with the team. This means that, as long as the physical condition allows, all participated in the Shanghai phase of training 32 international players are expected to go to Doha to prepare and participate.
However, the initial two additions to the coaching staff were mainly due to the continued risk of injuries in the squad. Some of the players have suffered injuries of varying degrees after "9 or 10 consecutive games in a month" in the league. The team did not rule out the possibility of keeping individual players in the country for treatment if their injuries were so severe that they could not participate in normal training.
Due to the impact of the epidemic, the Chinese team was unable to arrange international warm-up matches before the Top 12 tournament. In order to test the effect of preparation and also prepare for the Top 12, the coaching team finally decided to solve the problem by organizing internal confrontation matches. According to the plan, the whole team will have an internal teaching match in Shanghai in the afternoon of August 25th, a few hours before leaving for West Asia. The coaching staff will also make the final choice of the travelers based on the warm-up situation and possible unexpected injuries.
It is reported that the national football team will be led by Chen Xuyuan, the chairman of the Football Association, in the Western Asia campaign for the 12-team tournament. Du Zhaocai, deputy director of the General Administration of Sport and party secretary of the Football Association, who traveled to the outpost of the tournament during the 40-team tournament, was unable to travel to Qatar with the team for some reason this time. Nevertheless, he has been keeping an eye on the team. Recently, Du Zhaocai also arrived in Shanghai to send encouragement and blessings to the team.
As of August 24th afternoon Beijing time, the Football Association is still actively communicating with the AFC, the Australian Football Association, the Qatar Football Association and other parties to communicate the details of the first round of the 12-team tournament program. The Australia-China match has been determined to be played on September 2, Doha local time in the afternoon, the specific kick-off time will be combined with the Australian Football Association television broadcasting needs to determine the final.
