On October 7, noon, the second round of Group G of the 20th U17 Asian Cup Qualifiers, the showdown between the Northern Mariana Islands and our country was passionately staged at the Sports City Stadium in Shepperton, Australia.
The first round of meetings, China's U16 National Junior swept the Philippines with a score of 9-0, in which Wang Yudong solo three, another two assists; Kuai Jiwen and Huang Kaijun, Ouyang Jiaxin each have a goal and an assist, Zhang Haojie, Wang Haobin, Lai Ming scored a goal, Kang Hua, Liu Chengyu, Cui Taixu, each offering an assist. Head coach Yang Chen commented, "No matter how the opponent is, the first game is full of challenges. However, we were well prepared, and our training in Australia allowed us to adapt to the climate here, and we had a plan for the rainy game. The players fought hard on the field, and this win has greatly boosted our morale."
In the other match of the round, the Northern Marianas set a new record for the largest point spread in this Asian Preliminary Round with a 0-23 defeat against hosts Australia. The previous record was 14-0 for Indonesia against Guam in Group B and 14-0 for Uzbekistan against Brunei in Group J. The previous record was 14-0 for Indonesia against Guam in Group B and 14-0 for Uzbekistan in Group J.
According to the regulations, in this U17 Asia Cup qualifier, the first place of the 10 groups and the second place of the six groups with the best results will advance to the main round. In terms of power comparison, China's U16 Junior Nationals are expected to compete for the top spot in the group, with the Philippines in third place and the Northern Marianas being the weakest team in the group. If China's U16s have a better goal difference than Australia in terms of points or tie-breakers, they will advance directly; if China's U16s finish second in the group, they will have to compete with the second-place finishers of the other nine groups for the remaining six qualifications for the final stage.
In December 2006, the Northern Marianas joined the East Asian Football Association (EAFA) as a provisional member and became a full member in September 2008. on June 8, 2010, the Northern Marianas Football Association (NMFA) became an alternate member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). on December 11, 2020, the Northern Marianas officially became the 47th member of the AFC. The Northern Marianas is one of the weakest teams in Asian soccer and has yet to become a member of FIFA.
In the Northern Marianas, the U16s are expected to win, but the question is how much goal difference they can get. If our U16s have a better goal difference than Australia at the end of the 2nd round, then a draw in the final match is all that is needed to qualify for the top spot in the group. If our U16s finish second in the group, then the goal difference in this match will be meaningless, because when comparing the results of the second place in each group, only the results with the first and third place in the same group will be counted. Provided, of course, that the third place in the group is the Philippines and the fourth place is the Northern Mariana Islands.
Since our match against Northern Marianas was played before Australia's match against the Philippines, our U16s lost the initiative in goal difference comparison. Should our U16s go all out for goal difference or play with a rotated lineup for the final match against Australia? This has become a choice question for head coach Yang Chen. Unsurprisingly, Yang Chen will probably rotate his squad considerably.
[Projected debut]
Northern Mariana Islands: 1-Reyes; 4-Ngwakel, 5-Shimizu, 8-Lin, 9-Leland Guerrero; 7-Tovis, 13-Lizama, 14-Omerau, 17-Mejino, 21-Chambers; 10-Ruben Guerrero
China: 1 - Yao Hao Yang; 14 - Mei Shuai Jun, 5 - Chen Le Yun, 13 - Yang Bo Wen, 21 - Yu Zhuowei; 20 - Ouyang Jia Xin, 4 - Jin Cheng Min, 6 - Qian Yuan Fan, 18 - Min Xian Kun; 9 - Liu Chengyu, 11 - Wang Haobin
