In the afternoon of July 1, the draw for the 12-team tournament was announced, and the Chinese national team fell into Group B with mixed feelings. The opponents in the same group include Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Vietnam. To be honest, it's not an easy draw, but it's not a desperate one either. As long as they are well-prepared and play at their true level, victory is not out of reach!
Facing the technical flow of Japan, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam, the Chinese national team's need for a high center forward has become more and more urgent. The high center forward can not only implement high-altitude bombing, but also play a key pivot role in the defensive tactics.
It is worth noting that the Chinese national team has four home games in the first six rounds of the tournament in 2021, and the results of these six rounds will have a significant impact on the prospects of qualifying for the Round of 12. In addition to the technical and tactical preparations, we also need to pay attention to the physical and psychological state of the international players, after all, they are facing continuous combat, almost all year round. How to maintain the best condition, how to deal with the game with a normal heart, is the key to the place.
[Drawing of lots] "Fair" results.
12 strong tournament draw results for the Chinese national team, although not on the sign, but also not the lower sign. In the first gear rivals, encountered the Japanese team, if against Iran, the opportunity may be more; second gear rivals for Australia, more ideal than the draw South Korea; third gear team, compared with the United Arab Emirates, touching the UAE seems to be better, but ultimately with the Saudi team in the same group.
As for the teams in the fifth and sixth slots, there is not much difference in strength. The Chinese national team meets Vietnam on a narrow road, and despite their superior historical record, the last time they met was nine years ago, when the Chinese national team beat their opponents 3-0 in a warm-up match. However, the Vietnamese team has improved significantly over the past nine years.
In this group, except for the outstanding strength of Japan, the strength gap between the other teams is not obvious, and the point situation may change dramatically. For the Chinese national team, they need to get satisfactory points from Vietnam and Oman, and suppress at least one team from Australia and Saudi Arabia. As for the Japanese team, there is no need to worry about it, and go all out for scoring.
Li Tie, the head coach of the Chinese national team, said, "The result is okay, we will do our best to play every game. All organizations are the best, the only way is to be united and do our best."
Wu Xi also said, "Every game is a final, I think (whether to enter the World Cup) there is a 50% chance. Still look at it from the soccer itself, we have to play ten games and give it our all, not as some media or fans say the upper or lower signatures, must return to the soccer itself and bring out the team spirit."
[Preparation for the war] Urgent need for a high center
The results of the grouping draw are an important guide for the Chinese national team's preparation. According to the current grouping results, the high center is crucial.
Against Vietnam, a high center is crucial. To ensure a victory over Vietnam, the Chinese national team should not be limited to footwork, but should make full use of their physical strengths. In addition, against the technical Japan and Saudi Arabia, the Chinese national team will focus more on defense and counter-attacks, and the pivot role of the senior center forward is crucial.
In the current national team, although both Ackerson and Allan are strikers, they are not high centers and are not pivotal attacking players. Among the existing domestic players, there is also no suitable high center forward. Therefore, the naturalization of Caldecott has been recognized by the CFA side, the relevant procedures are being promoted. 21 July, Caldecott meet the conditions of five years in China, the relevant procedures are quite a lot, and now need to look at all aspects of the work of the speed of progress.
If it is not possible to naturalize Caldecott or to complete the formalities in the short term, the national team will need to prepare more available people in the relevant positions in the first few rounds of the Top 12 tournament, for example, Guo Tianyu, who has height and impact, is worth cultivating.
[Key] 4 home games in the first 6 rounds
The Chinese national team's fixtures for the Round of 12 were finalized after the draw was made:
First round: Sept. 2, Australia vs. China;
Round 2: September 7, China vs. Japan;
Round 3: October 7, China vs. Vietnam;
Round 4: Saudi Arabia vs. China, Oct. 12
Round 5: Nov. 11, China vs. Oman;
Round 6: Nov. 16, China vs. Australia;
Round 7: Japan vs. China, January 27, 2022
Round 8: February 1, 2022 (New Year's Day), Vietnam vs China;
Round 9: China vs. Saudi Arabia, March 24, 2022
Round 10: Oman vs. China, March 29, 2022
With 6 rounds of matches organized for 2021, the Chinese national team has 4 home matches and 2 away matches, and these 6 matches are crucial. If they can get around 10 points (3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses), this is a competitive number of points, and there is a greater hope of eventually making it out of the tournament; however, if the number of points is below 8, the hope will be slimmer.
As for the Chinese national team's home stadium, it seems to be basically finalized in Suzhou, which has rich experience in hosting tournaments and where the Chinese national team is very familiar with the venue. The weather is also guaranteed as the matches will be played mainly in the fall and spring seasons (with two away matches in winter).
Of course, the Chinese national team will also need to find alternate home grounds in case their opponents are unable to enter the country.
[Concerned] National players face "no rest all year round."
With the intensive schedule of the Top 12 tournament, the international players are afraid that they will not have a chance to take a vacation before February 1 next year.
The season started in April, after playing five rounds of the Premier League and then the 40-team tournament, and the internationals have been in the middle of matches and training.
The three months of September, October and November are all about one month between matches for the Chinese national team, but because of the need for quarantine against epidemics and the fact that there are only 10 to 14 days left after the quarantine is over before the next match, when a new training session needs to be started, it is impossible for international players to take any real vacation and rest at this stage.
According to the 14+7 epidemic prevention standard, after the 14-day closure of the quarantine, the seven-day period of independent investigation, the international players can be with their families, a rare adjustment period, but because of the training soon afterwards, the international players can not really completely relax.
The Chinese Super League will be organized in December, then the following year, starting in January, is another 12-team tournament. A good news is that the Chinese national team is the home team for the November 16th match, Australia will normally arrive in China on the 12th, and the quarantine date will be counted from the 12th, so that on November 26th, the Chinese national team can complete the closure of the quarantine, and the autonomous investigation will be completed on December 3rd, so that the Super League will be able to play on December 10th or so.
The only opportunity for international players to take a vacation is after the game away from home and Vietnam on February 1, when the team back to the country need to isolate to late February, after the end of the isolation from the game on March 24 there is still about a month of time, the international players can take a vacation, but at the moment it is the club team in previous years the more important time of the winter training, how to coordinate is a problem.
Long time in the game and centralized training, the psychological condition of the players need to pay attention to, how to let the players keep "normal heart" into the game, is the CFA and the national team coaching team must consider the problem.
