The news of the Chinese men's soccer team's warm-up matches remains a mystery. Extrapolating from the timing, the Chinese team could be stepping into the Round of 12 with little preparation.
The Chinese team, which was scheduled to gather in Shanghai for a week, will take a special flight to West Asia on the 26th to start training at a third-party venue agreed upon with the Australian team. From the time they arrive at their destination to their first match against Australia, the Chinese team will have less than a week to adapt to their new environment, adjust to jet lag, and get used to the local climate and venues. Add to this the fact that the possibility of finding other opponents to train with is severely limited by the epidemic situation outside the country, and quality warm-up matches are almost impossible to talk about. In this case, the Chinese team may repeat the mistake of the second round of the 40-team tournament "naked".
However, while the opening match of the 40-team tournament against Guam can be considered as a warm-up, the opening match of the 12-team tournament against Asia's top-ranked team, Australia, is a completely different story. Only five days after the end of the game is the "home" game against Japan, the organization of warm-up games is obviously impractical. For now, it seems that the Chinese team must be mentally prepared for the first two rounds to be both World Cup matches and warm-up matches. Nevertheless, the Chinese team has not given up its efforts to find warm-up opponents before the tournament.
