Reporter Madsen passed on the news that on the evening of March 19, China's U24 national Olympic soccer team started its second training session on the soccer field of a university in New Zealand. The players are in excellent spirits, sharpening their swords for the first match against New Zealand's U22 national Olympic team in three days' time.
The U24 Asian team took off from Dubai early in the morning of March 17, UAE time, and arrived directly in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand will team up with Australia to host the Women's World Cup in July and August, and for this reason, the New Zealand Football Association closed the China-related venue for repairs. The Asian Games team had to borrow the university grounds upon arrival.
The first day's training ground was in poor condition and the delegation urgently contacted the New Zealand Football Association (NZFA) to seek improvement. After coordination, the NZFA provided the team with another field at Christine University. The turf was not as good as the one in Dubai, but better than yesterday. The players were so excited that during the attacking set drill in the training, Fang Hao, Tao Qianglong, Dai Weijun, etc. shot with amazing accuracy, and the goalkeeper sighed: "This shot ......" The coaches and staffs applauded for the performance of the players from time to time.
In Dubai, the team suffered from fatigue and other injuries, but at least 15 or 16 players insisted on training. 24 players from Dubai and Auckland were present at the training session on the 19th, and Wu Shaochong, who plays for Turkey, arrived at noon on the same day and eventually met up with the team. This means that all 25 players will be available for the next two warm-up matches against New Zealand.
Zhu Chenjie missed the final warm-up match in Dubai. However, it was revealed that he had recovered from his injury but chose to rest in preparation for the New Zealand game. In training, Zhu Chenjie showed no signs of injury and was fully engaged. Zhang Wei missed three consecutive warm-up matches due to injury during Dubai, but not only did he participate in the whole training session in New Zealand, his shot in the attacking drill was even better, so he seems to be ready for the challenge of New Zealand.
