On August 18th, the Chinese men's football team assembled in Shanghai, kicking off their preparations for the Top 12 tournament. In accordance with the established arrangement, players who completed Group A of the Chinese Super League were the first to complete the assembly, while those from Suzhou enjoyed an extra day's vacation as the league ended a little later. The team is scheduled to train for a week at the Shanghai Houpaier Football Park and depart for Doha, Qatar on the 26th, where the first two group matches are expected to be played.
The first practice was focused on recovering and waking up the body, and Zhang Linpeng was interviewed by the media before the training. He said he arrived in Shanghai on the morning of the 18th and used the time to spend with his family as his body was exhausted during the league.
Talking about this Top 12 tournament, Zhang Linpeng said that the journey is very different from the past, "We may face a long time of closure, we have already prepared ourselves mentally, and this is also a brand new challenge for us."
In the most extreme case, the national football team departed from Shanghai on the 26th, and it is possible that they will train and play in West Asia for about 80 days before returning home. Zhang Linpeng said, "80 days, we have known for a long time, everyone is psychologically prepared, the epidemic situation is also helpless, we still have to try our best to complete their work and meet the challenge."
Facing the problem of not being able to be with his family for a long time, Zhang said that he has gotten used to the two years of the tournament-based league, "Everywhere I go, I carry a picture of my wife and children, and I hope that they can motivate me, help me, and play at my best."
This is Zhang Linpeng's second individual Top 12, and as a veteran of the team, he said, "The Top 12 is a new start for me, and I want to work hard with my teammates to do my best, regardless of the outcome."
Compared to the last Top 12 tournament, Zhang Linpeng believes the biggest change is the impact of the epidemic. "The epidemic conditions have changed a lot, the previous tournament had home and away, this time we lost our home ground and our opponents may not play on their home ground, which is still different from the home and away system, we have to be psychologically prepared for that more than anything."
Due to injuries, the national team's right back position of the personnel reserve has been greatly affected, Tang Miao and Mingzhi are absent from the current training session. Zhang Linpeng said he is ready to play right back. "For so many years, I sometimes play center back, sometimes right back, there is no big problem in this regard."
