In preparation for the upcoming Top 12 tournament, the Chinese men's national soccer team (hereinafter referred to as the "national football team") coaching team carefully planned a series of warm-up matches, with a view to significantly improving the team's practical skills during the preparation period in Sharjah. According to the news of September 16th, the head coach of the Syrian national team, Mr. Mahrous, announced that the Syrian team will play a warm-up match with the Chinese team on September 30th.
Observing the recent training program of the national football team, it is obvious that the team is making full preparation for participating in the warm-up matches. Young defender Zhu Chenjie revealed in an interview that the intense training in the hot and humid climate has left the players exhausted, but recognizing the gap between them and the strongest teams, it has become especially important to work tirelessly.
Reinforcement of the actual combat, internal teaching tournament practice
Li Tie, head coach of the national football team, has repeatedly emphasized that the team is in urgent need of high-quality warm-up matches, especially international warm-up matches, to test the results of training and enhance the ability to compete in the field. For this reason, the Chinese Football Association (hereinafter referred to as "CFA") actively contact with the opponents, and strive to arrange as many warm-up matches as possible for the national football team.
Given that the team still needs some time after the break to strengthen the physical reserves and technical and tactical exercises respectively, the arrangement of international warm-up matches will have to wait a little. At the same time, the national football team will face Vietnam and Saudi Arabia in the first half of October for the 12th round of the competition, the protection of players is particularly critical. In the context of just resuming outdoor training, the team should not rush to participate in high-intensity international warm-up matches.
After thorough consideration, the coaching staff decided to schedule internal teaching matches for practice, with the first event taking place on the evening of the 16th local time to simulate the environment of the Big 12.
First warm-up opponent locked in Syria
In fact, in addition to internal teaching matches, the national football team will have to play about three warm-up matches, including international warm-up matches with local clubs and non-co-operation teams, before facing Vietnam in the third round of the 12-team tournament on October 7th.
In the early hours of Beijing time on the 16th, the head coach of Syria, a team in Group A of the 12th round of the tournament, Mr. Mahrous confirmed that the Syrian team will have a warm-up match with the Chinese team on the 30th. Before arriving in Sharjah, the national football team has contacted a number of AFC member associations, such as the Syrian Football Association, through the Football Association's forward foreign affairs working group, in the hope of playing warm-up matches with their representative teams in West Asia. Among them, the Syrian Football Association had the most positive response. As the Syrian team had their home ground in Amman, Jordan, they were able to travel easily to and from various countries in West Asia.
Mahrous took over the Syria coaching reins from Tunisia's Maroul at the end of the Top 40 tournament. In the first two rounds of the Round of 12, Syria lost to Iran and then drew with the UAE. Next, they will face South Korea and Lebanon. Therefore, conducting targeted warm-up matches is crucial for the Syrian team, and the value of the Chinese team from the East Asian Region as a warm-up opponent is self-evident. Thus, the Chinese and Syrian Football Associations reached an agreement to arrange a warm-up match between the two teams.
It is worth mentioning that the national football team and the Syrian team were in the same group in the Top 40, so the two teams are more familiar with each other. However, with the return of Soma and other key players to the Syrian lineup, the team's strength has improved significantly, and warming up with them will undoubtedly help to improve the quality of the national football team's warm-up.
Zhu Chenjie: Going all out to prepare for the war
In an interview with the media, Zhu Chenjie emphasized that the hard training now is to prepare for the high-intensity, fast-paced warm-up matches and Top 12 matches later. He said, "We sometimes train once a day, sometimes twice a day. After training, everyone is too tired to speak. Affected by the epidemic, we have been training abroad for a long time, and staying in hotel rooms for a long time has put a lot of pressure on us physically and mentally, causing mental fatigue. However, we will try to overcome the difficulties and adjust our condition to prepare for the preparation. The team is now moving in the right direction."
