On September 5, Beijing time, China's U22 national team (National Olympic Team) officially unveiled its roster for the U23 Asian Cup qualifiers and Olympic qualifiers, with a total of 23 new members confirmed. In this list, Chengdu Rongcheng's young players Hu Huotao, Mutalifu and Jiantao are listed, while Tao Qianglong, a sideways speedster from Chinese Super League (CSL) juggernaut Wuhan Sanzhen, serves as the team's key player. Tao Qianglong helped the national youth team win the 2018 Panda Cup by jumping through the ranks, however, his career has not been as brilliant as expected and he is still playing in the Chinese Super League.
As the 2023 season of the 03/04 age group national youth team came to an end, they successfully completed their U20 Asian Cup assignment, exceeding the set target. As a result, some of the youth team players were able to be promoted to the U22 national team. Among this group of players, He Xiao Ke has shown great potential and he is ready to play in the West B League, just waiting to complete the registration procedure. Players such as Liu Shao Ziyang, Li Hao, Jia Bolian, Li Xiancheng and Wang Bowen are also honing their skills in Europe.
From the announced list, U22 national team coach Sung Yeo-dong has called up only one overseas player - Wang Bowen from Werder Bremen II. The remaining five overseas players will miss the tournament and will not appear in the U23 Asian Cup Qualifiers and Olympic Qualifiers.The 23-man U22 National Team roster includes Tata, Yu Jinyong, Wang Jinshuai, Hu Huotao, Liu Haofan, Liang Shaowen, Zhu Yue, Chen Yuhao, Nai Bi Jiang Mohu Maidi, Yang Zihao, Abdul Meatsuili Abdulamu, Liu Junxian, Jia Feifan, Abraham Khalique Duan Dezhi, Wang Yu, Mutalifu Yimincari, Efirdin Eskal, Tao Qianglong, Wang Bowen, Fernando, Liu Zhuyun, Xie Wenneng.
Hu Hortao and Mutalifu are undoubtedly at the top of this list. Hu Hetao is valued at €450,000 and Mutalifu is valued at €325,000 for the "German transfer". Unfortunately, due to frequent transfers and training, their form has dipped compared to their performances at Chengdu Rongcheng last season. Last year, both of them were starters in the Chinese Super League, while this season they have only played a few games for Chengdu Rongcheng, mostly as substitutes, and their pace of growth has been disrupted.
Recently, the national Olympic team has been in an up-and-down form in two warm-up matches against Turkmenistan with scores of 0-2 and 1-0 respectively. According to Oriental Sports Daily, after the warm-up matches, the Olympic starting lineup has been basically determined, with players such as Efirdin, Duan Dezhi, Tao Qianglong, Hu, Abra Khan, Jiang Zhixin, Jantao, Liu Haofan, and Liang Shaowen expected to make their debuts, with Efirdin playing the role of the core of the offense, as he did in the U20 Asian Cup.
According to the schedule, the National Olympic Team will not face much pressure in the group stage. on September 6 at 19:00, the National Olympic Team will play against the United Arab Emirates; on September 9, the National Olympic Team will face India; and on September 12, the National Olympic Team will face the Maldives. All three matches will be played at the Barracuda Bay Professional Football Stadium in Dalian. The goal of the National Olympic team is to try to finish first in the group stage. In order to meet the challenge of this Olympic Games, Coach Cheng Yaodong has made full preparations and has spent half of the past year in intensive training, expecting to achieve the expected level of performance.
