On the night of Doha, China and Japan faced off as promised, with the Khalifa Stadium witnessing the first home game of the 12-team tournament. Following an unexpected loss to Australia in the first round of the group stage, the focus of attention was on how the national football team would adjust its strategy and break through the difficulties.On the night of September 4, the national football team started its regular training session at the University of Qatar, with full participation. Before the training, Coach Li Tie had a short exchange with defensive midfielder Ji Zhongguo. Whether coach Li Tie will make adjustments to the staffing in response to the characteristics of the opponent is still undecided.
Before the start of the body relaxation practice, Coach Li Tie brought the whole team together for a lecture. After the full team lecture, he deliberately left Ji Zhongguo, one-on-one communication. However, according to the reporter's observation, this communication time is not long, only about a minute. Coach Li Tie may have just inquired about Ji Zhongguo's injury recovery and current status. The Chinese team exposed the problem of empty defense in the midfield in the match with Australia, and it is widely believed that the national football team should add a sweeping center forward in the midfield, and Ji Zhongguo is exactly this type of player.
The national football team's training on September 3 was focused on relaxation, with the starters doing physical strength training at the hotel, while the substitutes and players with shorter playing time relaxed on the field. Therefore, the 4th is also the first full team training of the national football team after the battle between China and Australia. From the training situation, the players were in a relatively relaxed state and seemed to have let go of the psychological burden of the China-Australia battle. Coach Li Tie let the coaching staff in the stadium placed a small number of goals, seems to be intended to carry out a small field group confrontation, the overall technical and tactical system for rehearsal. According to team sources, the team has summarized and analyzed the problems of the Sino-Australian battle. Coach Li Tie may make personnel adjustments based on the characteristics of the Japanese team and the shortcomings exposed in the China-Australia battle, but due to the limited preparation time, the possibility of large-scale adjustments is unlikely. The most likely is still in the midfield and back line personnel combination of small repair.
The Japanese team had taken a chartered flight from Tokyo to Doha on the night of the loss to Oman. In the early hours of the 3rd local time, the Japanese team has arrived in Doha. According to Japanese media reports, after losing to Oman in the first round of the group stage, the Japanese team has been under tremendous pressure. Maya Yoshida and Air Endo said in an interview that the goal of the Japanese team is to take all the group matches, the first competition has passed, "the next Japanese team's approach will remain unchanged." Facing a weaker opponent, how the national football team can return from the first home game, need to be Li Tie coach led by the coaching staff to think deeply.
