Undoubtedly, Wu Lei carries such a heavy responsibility. As a veteran in the team, it is not easy to maintain such a competitive state, but the plight of no one to take over is heartbreaking.
Similar to Wang Frost's outpouring of truth after his World Cup loss, Wu Lei was not shy about sharing his heartfelt sentiments before and after the awards ceremony. He bluntly stated that the national soccer team has long since ceased to be a second-rate option in Asia. Despite the imperative of advancing to the next round of matches (i.e. the Preliminary 18), he confessed that he was not confident enough in the face of strong opponents.
This is not an inferiority complex, nor is it a lack of objectivity. Looking back at the performance of the national football team in the Asian Cup, we can see that it is a far cry from the standard of the UAE when they won the championship, and it is unexpected that they do not have a ten percent chance of winning against rivals such as Tajikistan and Lebanon. In the past, we only feared Japan and South Korea, but now, everyone has become a potential opponent.
Of course, Wu Lei was a huge inspiration to his teammates and fans. He vowed to do his best to instill confidence in the team. During the game, he will give his best to show his best form. Although these words sound full of confidence, they are in fact extremely difficult. In the case of Wu Lei, for example, his mistakes in the preliminaries were no different from those in the local tournament, as if it had become his "destiny" to play. Wu Lei certainly has his own problems, but more from the environment.
In the environment of China's local tournaments, international players have little chance to adapt. If they are not fast enough, not to mention confrontational, then they will be stretched in their grasp of attacking and defensive transitions. When you come to the international scene, no one is going to be able to adapt to you. Speed, physicality, confrontation, every matchup can lead to conceding goals. In addition, the lack of solid basic skills is even worse.
The new coach, Ivankovic, has indeed brought a fresh start to the national soccer team. However, how can these problems be solved with just a few coaches and a short period of time? If there is a change in the soup but not in the medicine, then the problems will remain.
