As the night wore on, last night's soccer extravaganza brought back a long-lost joy to many national soccer fans. In the second round of the group stage of the U20 Asian Cup, the Chinese U20 team brought us a victory with a thrilling battle of the weak over the strong. The opponent was Saudi Arabia U20, who had won the last championship, and their strength is naturally not to be underestimated. Dating back to the 2015 Asian Cup, the glorious moment when our soccer team beat Saudi Arabia has been fixed in the memory of nearly eight years ago, and the national team has sunk more than a star.
In the first round match against Japan U20, our U20 lost 1-2, which was quite passive. Saudi Arabia U20, on the other hand, looked strong as they beat Tajikistan U20 1-0 in the first round. As a result, people generally favored the Saudi team and thought that our U20 team would lose two games in a row. However, the 0-0 score in the first half seemed to confirm this trend. Despite the passivity of the national soccer team, the Saudis failed to capitalize on their chances despite the many threats they posed.
However, the tide turned in the second half, and when everyone thought the national soccer team was going to repeat the same mistake, a hero stepped up and turned the situation around. He was the 19-year-old striker Efirdin.
In the 65th minute, our U20 midfielder broke the ball and passed it to the foot of Efirdin on the side. Aifeldin broke through to the edge of the penalty area, then cut to the right side and passed the ball to the goal. Mutalifu grabbed the ball and broke the goal to give our team a 1-0 lead. Efirdin was credited with the assist.
Immediately after that, in the 72nd minute, Efirdin sent a direct pass on the counterattack, Mutalifu followed up with a cross, and Xu Bin pushed an empty net to score, giving our team a 2-0 lead over Saudi Arabia. The initiator of this attack is still Efirdin.
The goal against Japan in the first round of the group stage was also related to Efirdin. At that time, our team was awarded a corner kick, and Efirdin took the penalty. After the corner kick, the Japanese player made a mistake in the scramble.
It can be said that the three goals of our U20 national football team are closely related to Efirdin, who is undoubtedly the core of the team's strikers. Efirdin's style of play is reminiscent of another international player, Wei Shihao, who scored a penalty and free kick against Japan in the first match of the 2014 Asian Youth Championship, helping our U20s to a 2-1 win. Wei Shihao showed his power of defiance at that time, and in the pressure of the game, he could always turn the situation around.
However, Wesley's development has not gone as well as expected. Will Efirdine be able to repeat the same mistake? It remains to be seen. But Efirdin has an advantage that Wei Shihao doesn't have, and even most Chinese players haven't had for years - inexhaustible physical strength and vigor.
Against Saudi Arabia, Efirdin became the most energetic and hardworking player up front. Even near the end of the game, he was still able to chase back half the break and keep running at high speed when he was substituted. It was as if he could have been on the field for another 20 minutes.
As a striker, it is rare to see such strong physical strength in our soccer world. Thinking back to our previous national soccer team, why is it that in the first half of the game, there is always the so-called "black three minutes" or "worm" phenomenon in the second half? The reason lies in the lack of physical fitness, the body can not keep up, fuzzy consciousness, and ultimately lead to collapse. In the fast-paced, high-intensity matches of modern soccer, the physical energy of players is greatly depleted. However, the physical reserves of our players have not been significantly improved, so we were only able to play 20 minutes of basic matches in the 12-team tournament, and the basic matches could only last for 20 minutes.
As a result, the physical and energetic Efirdin is able to run consistently and keep his form high. He doesn't have the fitness problems of older international players. He is a new force in the new era of Chinese soccer, and that is exactly what he is. We also hope that this trait will become the trait of Efirdin's generation of players, creating miracles in running.
