As preparations for the Asian Cup to be held in Qatar in mid-January approach, the Chinese national soccer team is about to kick off a new round of training in Shanghai. The choice of location for this training is undoubtedly a sign of the importance of the upcoming international competition. The submission date for the Asian Cup entry list is set for December 12, when the team will leave Shanghai and move to the United Arab Emirates for final preparations until they arrive in Qatar on the eve of the tournament. It is worth mentioning that during the training period in the UAE, the national football team has already had warm-up matches with India and Oman, the latter of which epitomizes Qatar as the group stage opponent of the Asian Cup, with similar styles and strengths. Although Qatar had played the role of host in the last World Cup, their performance did not meet the expectations, and even considered to be one of the worst-performing hosts in history.
In the view of the national soccer team, Qatar is the strongest opponent in the group, but they are not a typical Asian team. The national football team has never been afraid of this team from West Asia in its past encounters with Qatar, and has achieved notable results in the world preliminaries as well as other competitions. Now, the national soccer team has seen an unexpected change - a month before the start of the Asian Cup, Qatar changed its coach. The sudden departure of Portuguese manager Queiroz led to the announcement of Spanish coach Max Lopez in just one day, and the new coach was even described as a "nobody".
Max Lopez, 61, known by his nickname 'Tintin', has had one of the most notable coaching stints of his career with the Spaniards, despite his advanced age, with mediocre results. Prior to taking over in Qatar, he coached Wakrah in the Qatar League, where his knowledge of Qatari soccer was a major advantage, albeit in a lower league and team. Max's coaching experience has been mainly in the ladder and youth teams, and he has served as a firefighting coach on several occasions, so he is relatively experienced in taking over.
While Marks knows Qatari soccer and youth training inside out, he also faces a distinct disadvantage: a lack of national team coaching experience. The national team and club coaching models are very different, with some coaches specializing in national team coaching and others focusing more on the club. For such a coach to suddenly become the head coach of the national team a month before the tournament seems like a risky move for Qatar. In fact, this approach is contrary to their philosophy of valuing soccer and pursuing quick results.
However, we don't need to worry too much about Qatar, their new coach is a rookie but an opportunity for the national team to capitalize on. We can take this opportunity to study his tactical style in depth and let him realize the brutal competition of the national team during the game. As hosts, Qatar naturally have certain advantages, but the national soccer team has no psychological burden against Qatar.
