While the start date and format of the new Chinese Super League (CSL) season are yet to be revealed, the South Korean and Japanese soccer leagues are already in full swing. Japan and South Korea, traditionally regulars in the World Cup final round, have recently finalized detailed plans for world-class warm-up matches, which has made domestic fans and soccer practitioners look on.
On May 4, the Korean Football Association (KFA) officially announced that the South Korean national team will host four warm-up matches at home in June against five-time World Cup winners Brazil, South America's Chile and Paraguay. The three matches are scheduled for June 2, 6 and 10, while the remaining one opponent has yet to be determined.
Meanwhile, Japan, another World Cup regular in Asian soccer, is scheduled to play four international matches during the same period. According to plans announced by the JFA in late April, the Japanese team will play Paraguay and Brazil on June 2nd and 6th. In addition, the JFF plans to host the Kirin Cup 4-Nation Invitational Tournament from June 10-14, featuring Chile, Tunisia and Ghana. The tournament will be a single-elimination tournament, with Japan playing two of the three teams mentioned above on June 10th and 14th.
The move by the Japanese and South Korean football associations is actually crucial. The 2022 season calendar released by the World Football Federation (WFF) shows that there will only be two cycles of international matchdays between the end of the 12-team tournament and the start of the final stage of the World Cup in Qatar. The first of these cycles runs from May 30 to June 14 and the second from September 19 to September 27th. As a result, the national teams entering the World Cup final round will not miss the opportunity to organize warm-up matches in these two cycles. Comparatively speaking, this next cycle spans a longer period of time, which is more conducive to national men's football teams to focus on organizing training and warm-up matches. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Japan and South Korea organized as many as four warm-up matches during this period.
It is worth noting that most of the warm-up opponents invited by Japan and South Korea during the last international matchday cycle were the same. For example, three South American teams, Japan, Paraguay and Chile, will travel to Japan and South Korea respectively. This demonstrates the strength of Japan and South Korea as the top teams in Asian soccer, and also meets the warm-up needs of the invited world powers. At the same time, the two football associations in order to ensure the quality of the national team warm-up, but also invested a considerable appearance fee. It is reported that the Japanese Football Association paid 300 million yen (about 15.23 million yuan) for inviting Brazil to play as a guest. This price is undoubtedly very high in the context of the current epidemic and the world economy. The Brazilian Football Federation has promised to send its entire starting lineup, including Neymar, for this occasion.
It is understood that Japan, South Korea and the two football associations to protect the quality of their national teams warm-up at any price, but also has been to maintain a "frugal" attitude. The same "frugal" also invited several South American teams. Specifically, the three South American power trip to Asia, if only to participate in a warm-up game, then from the point of view of preparation for the World Cup or practice, the cost-effectiveness of such a long-distance travel will be lower. In this case, the three South American national football associations will seek more affordable, accept the invitation of the Japanese and South Korean football associations is also logical. As similar high-level international warm-up program will usually be at least half a year before the start of the game or even more than a year to finalize, so in the information developed today, Japan and South Korea FA will not miss each other's team warm-up program information, information and resource sharing has also become inevitable. More importantly, Japan and South Korea Football Association together to invite the same opponents to their own warm-up, can save a large sum of money. For example, the total cost of the Brazilian team's trip to Asia was basically shared between Japan and South Korea.
As a core member association of the East Asian Football Confederation (EAFC), the Chinese Football Association (CFA) could have joined hands with the Japanese and Korean Football Associations (KFAs) in the implementation of international warm-ups. For example, a few years ago, the Chinese team had invited the Uruguayan team and other high-quality warm-up opponents, but also visited Japan, South Korea and other neighboring countries at the same time for warm-up matches. Unfortunately, due to the impact of the epidemic, the match program for the new season of the Chinese Super League has not yet been determined. And since the Chinese team has already failed to qualify for the Qatar World Cup in advance, there are no other important preparation tasks for this year. In addition, due to the impact of the epidemic, the representative teams of other member associations (national teams) will not be able to come to China for warm-ups in the short term, and the Chinese team has no plans to visit China in the near future, in which case, the CFA has considered "letting" the cycle of international matchdays from May 30 to June 14 to the first phase of the Chinese Super League.
Compared with Japan and South Korea, who occupy the leading position in Asian soccer, the backwardness of Chinese soccer is not only limited to the technical level on the field, but also in many other aspects off the field. In addition to envy of rivals, Chinese soccer needs to be more down-to-earth, with the spirit of practical work to lay a good foundation.
