In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the group draw for the Qatar World Qualification Asian Zone Phase 3 and the Round of 12 kicked off at 3 p.m. Beijing time on July 1st. In the end, China was placed in Group B along with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Vietnam. Despite avoiding such strong opponents as Iran and South Korea, every game for China in the Top 12 will be a tough battle and should not be taken lightly.
Grouping results: relatively optimistic signings
The Drawing Ceremony was held in Kuala Lumpur with all participating teams and their member association representatives participating via video link. Liu Yi, Secretary General of the CFA, and Li Tie, Head Coach of the National Team, represented the Chinese team at the online event.
In accordance with the established procedure, AFC Secretary General Dato' John Windsor started the draw with the 6th slot teams. The first team to be drawn was Lebanon, which consequently landed in Zone A6, while Vietnam, in the same slot, naturally went into Zone B6. The next 5 slots teams were drawn in turn until the 1st slot teams determined their positions. In the end, China, as the 4th slot team, was placed in Group B with Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Vietnam.
After the results of the draw were announced, people in the domestic soccer community, including members of the national team, generally agreed that the Chinese team's signing was relatively optimistic. One member of the national team said that although it was difficult to judge whether the team had drawn the upper hand, the result was not bad when combined with the team's past performance in foreign matches.
Historical record: Only Vietnam holds an absolute advantage
Looking back at historical records, China maintains an absolute advantage in matches against Vietnam, but its record against the other four teams in the same group is not favorable. Taking the Sino-Japanese confrontation as an example, the two teams have met a total of 34 times in their history, and although their records are equal, China has only won 4 draws and 6 losses in the last 10 matches without a win.
China has a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses against Australia, but in the last 10 matches, China has a slight advantage with 5 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. The record against Saudi Arabia is 6 wins, 4 draws and 7 losses, but in the last 10 matches, China is the underdog with only 2 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses. The most recent meeting between the two teams took place in the group stage of the 2015 Asian Cup, where China won by one goal. They have played 5 times against Oman, with a record of 3 wins and 2 losses, but in the last 2 matches (friendlies), the Chinese team lost. With Vietnam, China has won 9 consecutive matches and has an absolute advantage over Vietnam.
Judging from the above statistics, China has no reason to take their opponents lightly in this year's World Preliminary 12 tournament.
Aggressive preparation: every game is a bad one
In the last 12-team World Qualifier in Russia, China finished 5th in Group A with 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses in 10 matches, just one point less than Syria, who qualified for the play-offs. The opponents that China won against were South Korea, Uzbekistan and Qatar. China also drew with group leader Iran at home, and lost by just 1 goal when they were guests. If China hadn't dropped four points on Syria, they might have even advanced directly to the final stage of the World Cup. Therefore, despite the fact that the Chinese team is facing strong teams such as Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia in this 12-team tournament, it should not take itself lightly and prepare for the game positively.
The fact that China advanced in the Top 40 proves that in order to achieve results in the Top 12, you can't get hung up on math problems or be influenced by other non-competitive factors. In the last Top 12, for example, the Australian team in Group B reached 19 points and could only advance to the play-offs as the 3rd team in the group. Therefore, the Chinese team must fight for three points one game at a time in the Round of 12.
The Chinese team has remained generally calm after the draw for the Round of 12 was announced. In their view, they will face 10 tough matches regardless of their luck in the draw. If China can take all 12 points from Oman and Vietnam, and fight for one or two more victories and some draws from their other opponents, then they are expected to achieve their goal of qualifying.
