With the restart of the Asian Top 40 of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, our soccer team defeated Guam in the first match on May 30 with a 7-0 score. Facing this opponent, Korean head coach Seo Dong-won expressed his views on our team's performance, Wu Lei's outstanding play, the contribution of naturalized players, as well as the sudden change in the venue of the 40-team competition and the outlook of our team's impact on the 12-team tournament. Recently, Xu Dongyuan accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from the Yangcheng Evening News all-media program.
Xu Dongyuan Photo/Visual China
We're an amateur team, but we've caused a lot of trouble for the Chinese team.
Yangcheng Evening News (hereinafter referred to as Yang Evening News): Hello, Coach Xu! Before the game, you said that Guam is not as strong as China, but it's not easy for China to win easily. How do you evaluate the performance of the two teams?
Dongwon Seo (hereafter referred to as Seo): There are gaps in the personnel structure and technical and tactical skills of the Guam team. I have no intention of winning the game, but just prepare accordingly for some of the fixed attack patterns of the Chinese team. My goal was to make it difficult for the Chinese team for some time. We didn't prepare well and had a lot of fitness problems, but despite that, we caused a lot of trouble for China in the first half.
Goat Night: This is your first meeting with Guam and your first game as a coach, do you find this score acceptable?
Xu: Of course. First of all, we only had 5 days of preparation training after arriving in Suzhou, 4 of our main players were not able to enter the country, and our main goalkeeper arrived at the tournament area the day before the game, so we encountered a lot of difficulties in terms of preparation. Secondly, No.5 Ryan, the right back, went off with an injury after half a game, which was even worse for a short-staffed team like ours.
Goat Night: The Guam players were seriously out of shape in the second half, and a number of them cramped up. What do your players usually do? Are they amateur or professional players?
Xu: Yes, most of our players do not have the physical reserves to play a full 90-minute game right now. Most of them are amateurs with no professional soccer experience such as youth coaches, college students, zoologists, architects, etc., and only Dallas, the starting goalkeeper, is an active Major League Soccer Division III player. The individual technical skills of Guam's players were very weak, and the Chinese team had an overwhelming performance in terms of individual skills, tactics, passing, shooting, and speed.
Goat Night: The remaining matches of the 40-team tournament were suddenly shifted to the UAE, do you think such a decision is reasonable?
Hsu: Team Guam is also in a position to argue that it is not reasonable. Guam also has a number of starters who were not authorized to come to China to meet the team.
Yang Evening: In what ways will this decision affect the Chinese team? What does the Chinese team need to focus on?
Xu: The Chinese team needs to re-adapt to the climate and jet lag in the Middle East, as well as the physical and psychological changes brought about by the unexpected situation. The team may be distracted when they re-enter the preparation after a long journey. In addition, I think the Chinese team should also have sufficient consideration in the reasonable adjustment of the training program and the timing of the matches with the Philippines and Syria.
Wu Lei (right) during the game
Wu Lei was at his best and should have stayed in Europe to play
Yang Evening: Do you know the current Chinese team? Which player impressed you the most during the game?
Seo: I'm a member of the technical committee at the Korean Football Association and also a member of the technical committee of the Korean K-League, so I definitely keep an eye on the Chinese national team and Chinese soccer in general. In this match, I think No. 7 Wu Lei is the best player.
YANG EVENING: Wu Lei is the only player of the Chinese team who plays in Europe now, and he has not had many chances to play in the Spaniards this season. Do you think Wu Lei should continue to stay in the ocean or should he return to his home country to play soccer?
Xu: Personally, I feel that even though it is the second tier of European leagues, Wu Lei should still prefer to play for a European team. Although it takes a long time to adapt to the European league, once you get through it you will have the hope of becoming a world-class player.
YANG EVENING: You also studied in Europe when you were a player (played for German C Trier in 2000), what do you think is the biggest gain from playing in Europe? What kind of advice would you give to Wu Lei?
Seo: Lee Jae-seong, the current No. 10 of the South Korean national team, has been playing for Holstein Kiel in the German Bundesliga for three years and has high hopes of landing in the top five leagues in the future. Maybe it's because I tutored him (Lee was a player for Goryeo University's soccer team coached by Seo Dong-won before joining Jeonbuk Hyundai), I think Wu Lei, like Lee, is the kind of player who has a spirit of sacrifice. If supported by more creative passing from his teammates, Wu Lei will develop even more in the Europa League.
Goat Night: Do you think China can make it to the Top 12? If so, what are the prospects for the future of the Top 12?
Xu: China's entry into Asia's top 12 is without much difficulty, but having entered the top 12, the Chinese team will need more detailed and specific tactics than they do now.
Yang Evening: What do you think are the main gaps between this current Chinese team and the Korean and Japanese teams?
Xu: One thing, I think, is the difference in the ability to touch the ball for the first time. Korean and Japanese players are more delicate in observing their surroundings and handling the ball before the first touch, while Chinese players stop the ball and then think about the next step, and their preparation and agility to carry out after receiving the ball are still insufficient.
Exxon Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Naturalization helps in the short term, unfortunately Chinese soccer fails to develop further
Yangcheng Evening News (hereinafter referred to as Yang Evening News): China's team now has five naturalized players, and three of them, Eckerson, Alan and Jiang Guangtai, all played in the match against Guam. How do you rate their performance in the match?
Xu: No. 9 Eckerson and No. 11 Alan have a unique sense of attack and the ability to seize the moment in front of the goal, but the cooperation with other teammates is not yet very smooth; No. 6 Jiang Guangtai shows his individual organization talent and confrontation power in the backfield, but is not quite integrated into the organization of the team's overall attack.
Goat Night: Do naturalized players help improve the Chinese team? Will it help China's World Cup push in any way?
Xu: My personal view is that naturalized players may work in the short term. And in the long run, Chinese soccer needs more excellent training of coaches and lecturers, and uniformity in the cultivation of young players across the country. Chinese soccer has enough resources and infrastructure, and one of the reasons why Chinese soccer has failed to make progress in this situation is the serious lack of coaches who are detailed in analyzing the fundamentals of soccer and passionate about it.
Mobilizing strong resources and giving players more different experiences is what will make Chinese soccer stronger and stronger. It would also help Chinese soccer if more youth players could get training, experience and growth in lower European leagues during their underage years.
Yangcheng Evening News (hereinafter referred to as Yang Evening News): How does the Korean soccer world look at the Chinese Super League's "golden dollar soccer" in the first few years, as well as the current large-scale reduction in investment?
XU: The Korean soccer industry admires China's active commitment to soccer and its ability to respond to policy, but regrets that it has not been able to develop more deeply under such good conditions and that it has not been able to reach the ranks of the world's most advanced soccer teams in areas such as the culture of the teams in each region. The Korean industry in general was very surprised that teams that had gained strong support were shut down overnight (Jiangsu Suning won the Chinese Super League last year and shut down this year).
Yangcheng Evening News (hereinafter referred to as Yang Evening News): Do you usually pay attention to the status of the Guangzhou team? How does the Korean soccer community view the Guangzhou team?
Xu: Guangzhou is a very strong team that has brought in world-class managers, achieved very good results and entered the ranks of top teams. But the most important thing is that the team should be able to stick around in the top teams.
