On July 4, Beijing time, our
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Former leader Fan Zhiyi on
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gave his personal opinion on the first matchup in the Round of 12, predicting that
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It may have gone 1-2 against Australia, but he doesn't think it was all bad.
World Preliminary Round 12
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The first match of the tournament will be played on September 2, local time, when the
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The first match will be a very challenging one for the national soccer team. Facing a strong opponent, Fan Zhiyi said bluntly, "The first match is very challenging for the national soccer team, and I am afraid that we will lose by 1-2. But from a personal point of view, I don't think losing is a bad thing, especially in the first match. Psychologically and mentally, both teams may be more prepared, but that's the way soccer matches are, each one is like a tough battle."
At present, the average age of China's men's soccer team is 30.3 years old, in the 12 strong tournament teams belong to the older class. However, in Fan Zhiyi's view, more than 30 years old does not mean that the player's status has declined sharply: "30 years old is the best age of the player, I went abroad to play football when I was already 28 years old, close to 29 years old. With the progress of soccer science, the retirement age of athletes is gradually extended. Veterans are gaining experience on the field with age. In a way, the maturity of players as they age may even exceed that of younger players."
Back in 2013, Camacho coached the
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The team lost 1-5 at home to Thailand in a warm-up match. After the match, Fan said in an interview, "Now the
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What's the level? If it continues like this, we may have to lose to Vietnam, and after losing to Thailand and then Vietnam, and then Myanmar, no one may win next." Referring to Vietnamese soccer after eight years, Pham said, "When
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When we play Vietnam away in the Round of 12, I will have to travel in person, either to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, and I will buy my own plane ticket to get there for the
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Come on. I'm going to see exactly how the Vietnamese will treat me. Vietnamese, you have to understand that I've been watching your development, but if you want to go beyond the
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, I think you guys still need time!"
Fan also shared a conversation with
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head coach
Li Tie (1977-), footballer
The content of the communication, he said: "As Li Tie's former teammates, from the team's mental outlook, we can say that there is no problem to participate in the Top 40.
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After showing the technical and tactical level of the players in the Top 40, Director Li was very humble and we all agreed with him deep down. At that time, we fully supported him, not because of his personal performance, but for the sake of the whole
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. I think he put in a lot of hard work when he took over such a team more than 500 days ago, and his courage and the layout of the Top 40 in such a difficult situation, which culminated in four consecutive victories to advance to the Top 12, I think he put in a lot of hard work."
Fan continued, "For me personally, in the process of communicating with Li Tie, I was at the same time observing the game and summarizing the changes in the opponents, including director Li and his team. From the bottom of my heart, we have an unspoken feeling because we are always communicating. In our communication, we were always honest because we were looking at the opponent's and our own perspectives, which showed that Director Li had been thinking deeply about winning every game."
