In an international soccer friendly match on October 16, China's soccer team was defeated by Uzbekistan with a score of 2 to 1. According to Sports Weekly, Mao Jianqing bluntly stated on social media platforms that Wu Lei's performance in the national team was not satisfactory. He also emphasized that if the Chinese Super League lacks high-level matches, it will be difficult for the players to improve their skills.
Looking back on China's match against Uzbekistan, Mao Jianqing said bluntly, "Uzbekistan is far stronger than us, and a 2-1 loss was reasonable, if not less. We were 1-0 up at one point, but that was more luck than anything else. Wei Shihao was outstanding and contributed a lot on the defensive end."
In yesterday's match, China's ball possession was low and the field looked too conservative.
Mao Jianqing further analyzed, "The current Chinese team is unable to show the style of soccer we expect. The team made mistakes when the number of passes was less than three goals. The midfield also made mistakes in stopping the ball when there was no pressure, so they could only adopt a simple and direct style of play. The success rate of this style of play was extremely low, just like the blind leading the elephant, and the game had no highlights to speak of."
Talking about the game from 1:0 to being reversed, Mao Jianqing said: "In the second half, as the tempo accelerated, the team's physical fitness slipped, and the field fell into passivity. Although we can accept a 1:0 result, a 1:1 scoreline presents a problem. We wanted to attack but were unable to mount an effective attack. This formalistic pressure put us in a difficult position after the score was equalized. The tempo was disorganized and the tactics were difficult to execute."
