Despite the fact that our soccer team is currently 11 points adrift of group leaders Saudi Arabia and six points adrift of third-placed Australia, and despite the fact that there are still four matches left in the group stage, squeezing into the third place in the group, and thus qualifying for the play-offs, is only a theoretical possibility. Not to mention the dream of advancing directly to the final stage of the next World Cup in Qatar.
However, for the FA, this is not the moment to rush to replace the coach and rebuild the national football team. The choice of Li Xiaopeng, a local coach, is undoubtedly a relatively sound choice for maintaining the stability of the national football team in order to achieve good results in the next round of 12 matches.
In the first six games of Li Tie's tenure, our team's performance in the Top 12 has been considered a mission accomplished.
According to the schedule, the second phase of the Super League will kick off on Dec. 12 and last until Jan. 4 of the following year, followed by the Super League playoffs and the FA Cup final.
Considering that Shandong Taishan and Shanghai Harbour are both international-player-heavy teams involved in the AFC Cup final, Li Xiaopeng will have to prepare for the match against Japan the following January at the earliest after the AFC Cup final.
The match against Japan is crucial: in the event of a loss by our team, Japan's points will rise to 15 and the gap with us will widen to 10. With only three games left in the group stage, the possibility of our team going straight to the line will no longer exist.
Even more grimly, if Australia wins the other game and our team loses to Japan, the difference between the two teams will be nine points. With 1 draw and 1 loss in the first two matches against Australia, our team is at a disadvantage in terms of record, and our hopes of entering the play-offs as third in the group will be dashed, relegating us to being spectators in the Round of 12.
Even so, the 12-team tournament is not over. In the next match, our team will challenge Vietnam, which has not scored a single goal so far, on the road.
Although our team beat Vietnam 3-2 in the first half, the crucial goal was scored by Wu Lei towards the end of the match. Li Tie's team did not show a clear advantage in that match, and the Vietnamese team had expectations for the match, which was held during the Lunar New Year.
For our team, the bottom line is to stay at the bottom of the group and not to lose to Vietnam, a team they have never lost to. After Li Tie's departure, the Vietnamese media analyzed the prospects of our team, arguing that if the four naturalized players in our team do not participate in the Chinese Super League, it is likely that they will not represent our team in the last four matches of the 12-team tournament either.
In addition, our team's new coach Li Xiaopeng has had a mediocre season at the Wuhan club, with a worrying record of 1 win, 8 draws and 5 losses. Against this backdrop, the possibility of Vietnam gaining one or even three points is increasing. The ability to make a breakthrough against Japan and Vietnam will be crucial for Li Xiaopeng to retain his position as head coach of the national soccer team.
