Original title: The national football team lost 1:2 to the New Zealand team and ended the friendly match with 1 draw and 1 loss
On the 26th Beijing time, the Chinese men’s football team and the New Zealand national team had their second friendly match in Wellington, New Zealand.
The Chinese men’s football team is currently ranked 80th in the world, and the New Zealand team is ranked 105th. The strength of the national football team is better, but the overall level of the New Zealand team is good, with many players playing in European leagues. In the first friendly match, Wu Lei, Wei Shihao and other players created many good opportunities in the game, but failed to score in the end, and the two sides scored a goalless draw.
Compared with the first game, the national football team has adjusted the starting lineup in this campaign. Chen Pu replaced veteran Tan Long as the starter, Deng Hanwen replaced Liu Binbin as the right midfielder, and Wu Shaocong, who was studying abroad, replaced Wei Zhen as the central defender. The national football coach Jankovic expressed the hope that through the rotation of the lineup, the team will continue to be filled with fresh blood to exercise the team’s tactics and discipline.
In the opening stage of the game, neither side had too many chances, but the New Zealand team’s style of play has changed a lot compared to the first game, and they fought more aggressively on the offensive end. In the 32nd minute, Wu Shaocong made a tackle foul in the penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty kick. Fortunately, the national football goalkeeper Yan Junling confiscated the opponent’s shot.
However, in the 42nd minute, the New Zealand team got a chance to set the ball in the frontcourt. The national football player Zhu Chenjie accidentally sent an own goal while defending. The New Zealand team broke the deadlock and took a 1-0 lead. Throughout the first half, the New Zealand team had a 64% possession rate and completed 12 shots, while the national football team only had 2 shots.
After changing sides and fighting again, the New Zealand team’s offensive continued unabated. In the 81st minute, there was a loophole in the defense of the national football team. The New Zealand player succeeded in shooting in front of the penalty area of the national football team, extending the lead to two goals. In stoppage time in the second half, the Chinese team played a quick counterattack. Button received a pass from his teammate and scored a header to get back a point. In the end, the Chinese team lost 1:2 to the New Zealand team.
From the perspective of the game, the national football players showed fatigue, the conversion rate of offense and defense was not high, and the fighting intensity decreased significantly as the game deepened. The new national football team under the new coach Jankovic still has a lot to summarize and adjust.
In another friendly match earlier, the Chinese National Men’s Football Asian Games team also lost to the New Zealand U23 National Men’s Football Team with a score of 1:2, suffering a two-game losing streak. In this warm-up match to New Zealand, it is hard to find a victory for China’s two national teams.