Sharjah's Pain: National Football League's road trip is complicated by a lot of heartaches
No comparison is painfully obvious, and in Group B, the national soccer team's rivals have or will soon be battling it out on their own doorstep. Saudi Arabia, the group leaders, have the obvious advantage of having faced Japan and China in October in front of a home crowd of more than 50,000 people.
Looking back to five months ago, the national football team faced a similar predicament, head coach Li Tie clever use of advertising slogans to boost morale, highlighting the loss of the home of the helpless, "no matter where you are, the heart of the home will never change." However, now the situation is grim, but the national football team can not enjoy the advantages of the home field, Li Tie compared the national football team as "homeless children". Long-term loss of home, away from friends and family and fans, the spirit of unity seems to have been worn out.
The West Asia trip, the national football team arrived in the United Arab Emirates in the early hours of November 7 by chartered plane, the next day and Australia's game immediately after the return home, and then stationed in Gusau to accept the isolation, which means that the team in West Asia stayed no more than two weeks. Without the right place, right time, whether it is the external media or internal players, officials, Sharjah as a "blessed place", but ignored the strength of the opponent and the intention to fight.
The two upcoming opponents, Oman and Australia, both harbor the heart to impact the Qatar World Cup final round. The more shouting for four points, the impact of six consecutive victories, the more highlights the strength of the national football team and positioning of the unrealistic and vain.
The internationals, who have a habit of crashing out of their minds, may need one-on-one counseling this time around to be able to tackle the game in a positive frame of mind.In October, they had pinned their hopes on returning to the Gusau even though they were playing on empty fields, but now the huge fallout and off-field negativity have made it difficult for the Iron Army to digest it in a short period of time. The two tests in Sharjah will instantly turn the blessed land into a heartbreaking place once they fail.
Butterfly effect: a year of fragmentation for the national football team
The relocation of the national football team's "home field" has also had an impact on domestic matches. Considering that the national football team needs to carry out 14+7 isolation after completing these two matches back home, the moment when the national footballers regain their freedom will be around December 8th. Therefore, the plan to restart the Chinese Super League in early December can only be postponed, in addition, for the national football team to leave about 20 days of training time, resulting in the second phase of the Chinese Super League was seriously compressed.
The contingency plan is that the 8 rounds of the second phase of the Super League will start on December 13th and end on January 4th of the following year. According to this plan, there will be only 2 days between each round of matches, which means that all participating teams will still have to continue to play according to the rhythm of "two rounds in three days" as they did in the last 9 rounds of the first phase.
In addition, the elevation play-offs between the Chinese Super League (CSL) and the Chinese First Division (CFD) will have to be played after the end of the regular CSL season. The end of the 2021 season for domestic clubs may be delayed until mid-January of the following year. In the current environment of Chinese football, once the national football team's dream of hitting the World Cup is shattered, the league will also suffer a heavy blow in the short term. In the darkness of Chinese soccer, there is still no end in sight. (Zhuo Aoyou)
