Article source: Sports Weekly
Following the 0-1 loss to the United Arab Emirates, the U23 national team met its old opponent again. This time, it was the Thailand team who lost the Bangkok Cup four years ago. As a result, the Chinese team won 4-2. Interestingly, after winning the third place in the Dubai Cup, the team’s next game opponent is the United Arab Emirates. However, after the first two rounds of competition, the U23 national team said in unison, “After four years, the UAE and Thailand have made greater progress than us.”
When preparing for the U19 Asian Youth Championship four years ago, this 99/00-age Chinese men’s national football team played against the United Arab Emirates and Thailand once and twice. Among them, in the Bangkok Cup, the team lost to the United Arab Emirates 0-1 and beat the latter 1-0, while in the Indonesian Football Association U19 International Invitational Tournament, it finally won 3-1 in the second game against Thailand. Now in the U23 national team, the players who played against the UAE in the Bangkok Cup that year included goalkeeper Peng Peng, defender Wen Jiabao, Wang Xianjun, Sun Qinhan, He Yupeng; midfielder Chen Ao and striker Tao Qianglong. In 2018, there were 8 witnesses who defeated the Thai team twice: goalkeeper Peng Peng, defender Wen Jiabao, Wang Xianjun, Jiang Shenglong, Sun Qinhan; midfielder Xu Yue, Chen Ao, striker Tao Qianglong and full-back He Yupeng, among them the former The 7 played against Thailand twice in 2018. Therefore, the above-mentioned players represent the U23 national team against the United Arab Emirates and Thailand again this time. Strictly speaking, it can no longer be regarded as an encounter.
But even with a 4-2 victory over Thailand, many players expressed emotion after the game that these Thai players in the 99/00 age group are not as easy to deal with as they were four years ago. “It gives me a deep feeling that the opponent (referring to the Thai team) conducts faster, and it is more difficult to grab the ball under their feet. Generally speaking, the Thai team is stronger than it was four years ago.” Midfielder Xu The more expressed. In Tao Qianglong’s view, the Thai team can stick to their own style even when they are behind 1-4. “They pass as they should, and they don’t play randomly when they are behind. They are just players who lack finishing ability.” In the Thai team, there are still many players of the same age as Tao Qianglong, that is, born in 2001 or even younger, “I just feel a little familiar, their ball control is really good.” You must know that in May 2019 In the Panda Cup, China’s 01 National Youth once lost to the same age group in Thailand. In March of the same year, they went south to Nha Trang, Vietnam, and lost to their opponents 1-2. However, when the Thai 01/02 age group “played big” against China’s 99/00 age group, they are more likely to be at a disadvantage.
In fact, before departing from Haikou, the U23 national team was a little optimistic when talking about the United Arab Emirates and Thailand. Chen Ao recalled, “Although they lost 0-1 in the Bangkok Cup against the United Arab Emirates four years ago, the difference in strength between the two sides was not big. There was also the impact of heavy rain in that game, and it was basically a five-to-five situation.” In fact, in 2018, the people who really made the team feel strong were Jordan, who defeated the Chinese team 2-0 in the Bangkok Cup, and Saudi Arabia, the champion of the Asian Youth Championship (the Chinese team lost 0-1 in the Asian Youth Championship). Saudi). As for the Thailand team, because they have completed a double play, the players are still confident that they can win. But after this match, the gradual narrowing of the strength gap has become the consensus of the U23 national team. “When I came out to play the Dubai Cup this time, I felt that our team’s progress in the past four years was a bit slow. The UAE and Thailand that we played in the past have made really fast progress in these years.” Xu Yue admitted frankly. And Tao Qianglong felt the same after the first round of the United Arab Emirates. “I remember that in 2017 and 2018, we often went abroad to participate in international competitions, and we didn’t play so hard now. To be honest, we have improved a little over the years. child.”
So, from the age of 18 and 19 to the age limit of U23, how did the gap narrowing come about? An unavoidable factor is the epidemic. The fragmentation of the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League One, as well as the decline in the overall technical and tactical level, have slowed down the growth trajectory of these players and even all local players in China compared with previous years. Then there is the lack of international competitions. Wen Jiabao used the UAE as a reference for comparison, “I have seen their videos before the game, and the UAE always played against Brazil last year. So when facing us, (compared to 2018), they are more confident and more proactive.” In fact , the Chinese U23 and the UAE U23 had the same number of training sessions last year, but the difference lies in the arrangement of the warm-up matches. When the UAE U23 can compete with Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal in the Premier League), Diego Carlos (Serbia in La Liga), Matthews Cunha (Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga), China U23 only Can helplessly find Dalian, Zhejiang and other domestic clubs to warm up.
This subtle contrast, in the absence of actual competition, is simply impossible to appreciate. Therefore, the team is very grateful to the Chinese Football Association and higher authorities for approving the participation in the Dubai Cup. “We are really very fortunate to come to Dubai and to be able to play this kind of international competition. We also want to thank the leaders of the Football Association for their strong support. I really want to say thank you. In the future, I hope to play more high-level competitions like this.”
It is still less than half a year from the Dubai Cup to the Asian Games. After returning to China, it is still unknown whether the U23 national team can still arrange international events. Among them, the U23 Asian Cup in June this year, because the team has withdrawn from the qualifiers last year, will definitely not be able to participate at that time. Therefore, many players are also very eager to participate in the East Asia Cup held in China at the end of July, although whether to send the national team or the U23 national team to participate? There is no clear conclusion so far.Return to Sohu, see more
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