The latest news from Daily News is that the Chinese Football Association (CFA) has officially announced that the Tianjin Olympic Sports Center Stadium will serve as the second home of the national soccer team for the World Qualifying Tournament. Tianjin is pushing ahead with preparations for the tournament, striving for perfection.
It is worth noting that it is not common for northern cities to host national soccer tournaments, which are largely influenced by the weather and the condition of the turf. For this reason, the underground heating system is activated a few days in advance, and a team of professionals will devote about a month of fine maintenance to ensure the healthy growth of the turf.
The venue should not only meet the standard of international events, but also the reception of the event should not be neglected. The Tianjin Football Association has already started to arrange accommodation for the home team, visiting team, match officials, media and fans. According to the usual practice, five-star hotels will receive the home team, the visiting team and tournament officials, and strive to host the home team and the visiting team in different hotels. Accommodation options for the visiting team will be provided by the organizers to ensure that there is more than one choice. In addition, officials from FIFA, AFC and CFA, including referees, will avoid sharing accommodation with any team.
The head coach of the Chinese team has not yet been announced, and the team's assembly time and preparation location have not yet been clarified.The third round of the 36-team tournament is scheduled to start on March 21 against Singapore, and the fourth round will be played on March 26th. The Chinese team will return after the away game to prepare for the second round. According to the time projection, between March 22 and 25, the team will have a four-day training at the Water Drop field. It is worth mentioning that the Waterdrop Outfield is also the training base for the Jinmen Tigers, and the relevant coordination work is underway.
