On October 11, the National Football Team (NFF) embarked on a tense warm-up duel, ultimately defeating Vietnam with a 2-0 score. Recalling the defeat on the first day of last year, the national football team left a dishonorable mark on its history and that loss is still fresh in the minds of fans.
During the Chinese New Year, countless fans were expecting the national soccer team to respond to the skepticism with a victory, however, unexpectedly, even with the arrival of the 2-0 victory, there were still many well-known figures who had some comments on the performance of the national soccer team. Mr. Huang Jianxiang, an iconic figure in Chinese soccer, then sparked a hot debate in his subsequent comments.
Huang Jianxiang said bluntly, "This 2-0 victory of the national soccer team is certainly welcome, but I raised a question before the match. Our national soccer team's soccer style is too primitive, which is not a long-term solution. Chinese soccer must not stop here, much less always fall into this relatively rough game quagmire."
He further analyzed, "The national football team won the game, but what I really want to see is the development trend of Vietnamese soccer. They failed to win despite having over 60% possession, but they are moving in the right direction. In the future, they are expected to win while maintaining their possession advantage. This is one of my points."
Regarding Chinese soccer, Huang Jianxiang pointedly stated, "We can't tolerate our soccer to be so rough. We can't be satisfied with a low level of play. We can't give up the pursuit of high-level soccer just because the level is low. We can't always rely on defensive counterattacks, a tactic that can only steal an occasional win, but if we continue to play this way, it's not the high level of soccer we're looking for."
Take Japan as an example, they are also good at defensive counter-attacks, but weaker teams can also find the right tactics through passing and possession. We lack skills and always stick to one set of tactics, which is obviously not enough to support our progress. Even if we win the occasional match, this style of play is not suitable for the real Chinese national soccer team.
Although we may be able to win in one or two matches through this strategy, it may not be very helpful for the overall progress of the national soccer team. According to Huang Jianxiang, the national football team still needs to change its mindset and pursue a higher level of soccer. Surprisingly, his comments, made in the dead of night, could not satisfy him even if the national soccer team beat Vietnam, as he did not see any substantial progress in Chinese soccer.
