In the past autumn and October, our national soccer team demonstrated its strong fighting spirit by defeating Myanmar and Palestine in two intense friendly matches. Despite the mediocre strength of the opponents, this is undoubtedly a good opportunity for the national team, which is in the midst of an eventful period, to boost its morale and accumulate experience. It is reported that the national team has thoroughly evaluated the potential risks when choosing the opponents for the warm-up matches, and even rejected the invitation from the United States for the warm-up matches.
It is reported that the U.S. Soccer Federation had actively invited our soccer team to the U.S. for a friendly match, but the offer was politely rejected by the CFA. At the same time, the U.S. officials also announced at the end of last month, the list of opponents for the September International Game Day, Oman and Uzbekistan are among them. Considering the strength of these two Asian powerhouses and our national team, the U.S. team invited with the obvious intention of using warm-up games to examine the strength of Asian opponents.
The U.S. team's invitation may have been motivated more by scouting Asian opponents, after all, they will be one of the hosts of the 2026 World Cup. Initially, the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) also promised to cover the appearance fees and travel expenses of our soccer team to the United States. However, our soccer federation decided to reject the warm-up tournament after considering various aspects.
In fact, September is the golden period of the domestic league, the time difference between China and the United States is more than 10 hours. Players go to the United States after the game, but also need to quickly adjust the jet lag, back to the country and then have to non-stop back to the club to prepare for the Chinese Super League and the Asian Championship. This warm-up match is a great test for the players' body and psychology, and it does not have much practical value. Even if the Football Association intends to arrange for the national football team to receive exercise, but also need to fully consider the interests of the club.
Not long ago, our national team had declined an invitation from Argentina to play in a match, a move that sparked widespread controversy. Argentina came to China this time to participate in a commercial match, while our soccer team chose to let Australia play. Some people thought that this move by our soccer team was a reflection of their concern about losing, and even fear of slipping down the FIFA rankings. However, from a soccer point of view, the commercial match with Argentina was of no real significance. At that time, our soccer team should focus on matches against strong Asian teams such as Palestine and Myanmar in order to solidify their points and secure their position in the FIFA rankings.
As a matter of fact, our soccer team will have to face many Asian opponents if they want to play well in the Asian Cup and the World Qualification Tournament. Although Myanmar and Palestine are not the top teams, it is important to understand the characteristics of the teams in these two regions for the development of our soccer.
