At 2 a.m. in Beijing, the ultimate showdown between the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar Asian qualifiers and the second stage of the 2023 Asian Cup China qualifiers, Group A of the 40-team tournament, is about to take place. On the green field in Sharjah, UAE, the national soccer team led by Li Tie and Syria are engaged in a life-and-death struggle. The national soccer team, which controls its destiny, will be able to secure a foothold in the 12-team tournament if it wins; if it draws, it will also have a very high probability of advancing directly into the tournament.
Before heading to the final round of the 40-team tournament, the national soccer team had 16 points from five wins, one draw and one loss, five points adrift of Syria, which has already locked up the top spot in Group A for advancement. To advance to the next stage, the national soccer team will have to earn a spot in the Round of 12 by being the second best of the five groups with the best results among the eight groups.
In the current second ranking list of the group, Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan in Group F has already gone out early, and Lebanon still has the theoretical possibility to overtake the national football team, but Jordan with eight points can only push the national football team out of the back if it netted seven goals in the match with Australia. Therefore, if the national football team can draw in this round of matches, there will be more than 90% of the chances of not need to pay attention to the other results of the game, and directly to qualify for the round of 12.
"Black three-point system", "playing a draw is out of the line", "leaving the national football team not much time", these words as if the pointer of time, constantly approaching the national football team. In the last round of 5-0 victory over the Maldives, the domestic media have touted the Iron Family Army has won 11 consecutive victories, and even the warm-up matches with eight domestic club teams during the epidemic are also counted.
However, it must be noted that since beating Hong Kong 2-0 in the East Asian Cup at the end of December 2019, the Tiejia have won four straight World A matches, scoring 16 goals and keeping a clean sheet. Nonetheless, the clash with Syria will be the biggest challenge facing the national soccer team in the restart of the 40-team tournament. Although there is no competitive pressure on the opponents, the Chinese soccer team will still need to give their best.
From the recent three games, the only foreign player Wu Lei is the key to the team's win, the national football team three break the deadlock goals are related to the "nuclear weapon 7". In the game with the Maldives, will be removed after the rest of Wu Lei, the national football attack once into chaos, visible Wu Lei on the importance of this iron family army. In addition, Li Tie in the last round of matches on the lineup of the big rotation, so that most players have got a valuable opportunity to rest and recuperate. As head coach Li Tie said after the match, "Everything is going according to plan, all players should be in the best condition to face the Syrian team."
November 14, 2019, the day the national football team lost 1-2 to Syria in the 40-team tournament, but also the day the Italian coach Lippi resigned again after "two years in the palace". That battle, with the injured Zhang Linpeng accidental oolong once became a target. In fact, the Syrian team has repeatedly "hurt" the national football team. The last World Qualifier 12, the national football team against the Syrian team is a loss and a draw, not only led to the dismissal of Gao Hongbo, but also let the national football team once again impact on the World Cup finals circle to the end of the failure.
Although the national football team previously against the Syrian team win and lose half, but in the World Cup, the Syrian team against the national football team to maintain undefeated. Prior to meeting the national football team again in the 40th round of the tournament, the Syrian team's record was 7 wins, scoring 21 goals and conceding only 4 goals. In other words, this game has become a 7 consecutive wins versus 11 consecutive wins, for the national football team, whether it is on the competitive level or off the field factors, are more eager to get this victory.
In this game, the national football team, in addition to Ming Day confirmed injury absence, the remaining 28 players in good condition. Mingri was injured in the Maldives match, initially diagnosed as right tibial inner ankle avulsion fracture, right foot tibiofibular anterior ligament, deltoid ligament partially torn.
For Syria, the national team's top player and main striker Soma missed the remaining matches of the 40-team tournament due to injury, and Hribin is also out of the Syrian national team due to disciplinary issues. In the two games with the Maldives and Guam, Mardiqian and Ardali two people rotate as the team's center forward, at present the possibility of Mardiqian debut against the national football team is greater. Of course, the Syrian team also has a "big killer" Mawas, this person not only had a hard to hurt the national football team, and the last two games scored 4 goals in the World Cup is in good shape.
Prior to the match, Syria's national team manager Maroor publicly stated that he was owed 15 months' salary and might leave after leading the team in the Top 40. However, Maroul pointed out that the unpaid salary is part of the "assistance program" of the Syrian and Tunisian Football Associations, and is not directed at him personally. In fact, Maroul is not worried about finding a job, even when he was the head coach of the Syrian national team, he often wrote articles in the media to comment on Tunisian clubs. As for his job, Maroul said: to lead the Syrian team to beat the national football team, and strive to end the journey of the 40-team tournament with a full victory.
Back in the national soccer team, the match against Syria will be a small test that the Iron Family has been welcomed to since its inception. Winning the previous three games is to win a time to take the test. Now the national football team is facing the barrier of the 12th round of the tournament, the magic talisman that plagued the national football team for many years has been pasted in front of the door. For Li Tie and his disciples, it's all about going all out to meet the challenge, fighting off the last opponent, beating Syria and advancing to the next stage in style. (Cheuk Oyu)
