The final battle of the top 12 matches is not allowed to have any problems related to the ranking and the division of the next world preliminaries
The national football team will fight for a victory in Oman tonight
On the evening of March 29, local time, at 0:00 a.m. on March 30, Beijing time, the Chinese team will face the 10th round of the Qatar World Preliminary Asian Top 12 in Muscat, Oman, which is the last-round opponent Oman. Although the two teams have both missed the cut, the game is still of great significance to the Chinese team. If they lose to their opponents, the Chinese team will be surpassed by their opponents in the international rankings, thus falling to the 10th place in Asia. Such a result is tantamount to setting up “roadblocks” for the subsequent reconstruction and preparations for the new cycle for the national football team. For veterans such as Hao Junmin, the game may also be a “curtain call” for them to pursue their World Cup dreams. Therefore, it is the common wish of the national football delegation to end the trip to the top 12 with a victory, and it is also an unshirkable responsibility.
Fight against Oman
Strive to secure football seats
After drawing with the Saudi team that had already qualified in the last round, the Chinese team accumulated 6 points in this round of 12. To a large extent, this can help the team avoid the embarrassment of being at the bottom of the group points in this round of 12. After all, the Vietnamese team is still at the bottom of the Group B standings with 3 points after losing in the same round, and is behind the Chinese team in other data.
Is the Chinese team only satisfied with rejecting the goal of “bottom in points”? the answer is negative. In fact, the current standings of Group B in the top 12 matches objectively reflect the current situation of the strength comparison of each team, except that the third team Saudi Arabia joined hands with the first team Japan to advance to the Qatar World Cup main match, and the second team Australia was eliminated. Except for the “squeeze” into the qualifier play-offs, other competition results in this group are generally consistent with the filing conditions of each team. If the Chinese team wants to keep the fourth position and dignity, they cannot lose in the final round away game against Oman. Otherwise, their seat in Asian football will drop from 9th to 10th, and it is the Oman team that has translocated with them.
As the host team of the 2023 Asian Cup, although the Chinese team has automatically obtained the status of the seed team, if the international ranking further declines, the team will be adversely affected in the process of dividing the next World Preliminaries. From the perspective of maintaining the competitive interests of the competition, the Chinese team should go all out to win the Oman team.
Away Oman
Important for the national football team
The away game against Oman is of great significance to both veteran and young players of the national football team. On March 24, the day of the 9th round of the top 12 national football home game against Saudi Arabia, veteran Hao Junmin ushered in his 35th birthday. A draw was not a decent gift for him, but the result of trying to keep undefeated finally did not add to his birthday.
Whether it was a coincidence or intentional by the coaching staff, Hao Junmin appeared in the starting lineup for the match between China and Sands when another captain, Wu Xi, was suspended, and was substituted after halftime. As the last stalwart of the “Golden Generation of 1985”, Hao Junmin failed to enter the World Cup as he wished, which has to be said to be a pity for him personally.
For such regret, Zheng Zhi, who has now become a coaching staff member, can be said to feel the same. An example like Zheng Zhi, who has entered the age of confusion, but can still stick to the front line of professional football as a player, is rare in domestic football, and it is difficult to replicate. For example, Gao Lin and Feng Xiaoting, the other two representatives of the “85 Golden Generation” who once joined hands with the “Three Brothers” as the main force to attack the last World Cup in Russia, have completely faded out of the national team, so they put their hopes on Hao Junmin, Zhang Linpeng and Wu Xi. It is not realistic for the veteran to impact “2026” for the national football team. Judging from the situation of the national football team’s “old age” in the current world preliminaries and the U23 national football team’s expedition to the Dubai Cup, it is urgent to update the national football team. Then, Hao Junmin and others naturally need to end the impact of the personal world preliminaries with a victory.
The game is equally important to the younger generation of the team. As of the 9 rounds of this round of the top 12, the Chinese team has never won a victory other than a difficult victory over the Vietnamese team at home. It is self-evident how much the victory in the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers will inspire young players. If the Chinese team can end this World Preliminary with a victory, it will undoubtedly play a huge role in spurring the rapid growth of young players, and will add more confidence to the subsequent reconstruction of the national football team.
The previous game against Oman
The record is 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses
Data show that the Chinese team has played against Oman 6 times in international official competitions before, with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. Among them, they have played against each other 3 times in the final stage of the World Preliminaries, with 2 wins and 1 draw, remaining unbeaten. In the second half of 2001, the top 10 in the Asian region of the Korea-Japan World Cup qualifiers, the Chinese team had successively defeated their opponents 2-0 away and 1-0 at home. On October 7, 2001, the Chinese team made it to the World Cup finals in Korea and Japan after winning the Oman team at home in Shenyang.
The first confrontation between the Chinese team and its opponent occurred on December 10, 1998 in the second stage group match of the 13th Asian Games. At that time, the Chinese team defeated the opponent 6-1. However, in the last two clashes between the two teams, the Chinese team lost. The last time the two sides played against each other took place on January 30, 2013, when the Chinese team visited Muscat and lost 0-1. Another loss occurred in the semi-final of the Oman International Invitational in Muscat on December 17, 2008, when the Chinese team lost to their opponents 1-3. In addition, the Chinese Olympic team in the 1989 age group once lost to the Oman National Olympic Team 1-3 in the second round of the second round of the London Olympic football match, thus being eliminated with a total score of 1-4. Wu Xi, Wang Dalei, and Zheng Zheng who participated in the game at that time are currently in the national football team.
The only draw between the two teams came in the fifth round of the round of 12 last November, when the two teams drew 1-1 in Sharjah, UAE. During the 2018 U23 Asian Cup group stage, the Chinese U23 team defeated the Oman U23 team 3-0, and the current national football striker Zhang Yuning is one of the main players of the current U23 national football team. Judging from the battle records of the two countries over the years, although the Chinese team has a certain advantage in the overall record, it does not have the absolute strength to win the opponent. Therefore, the team still needs to keep improving in the preparation process.
High probability of national football
Will continue to use the three-back strategy
In fact, the Chinese team at this moment has no so-called “tactical secrets”. The captain Wu Xi, who was suspended in the last round, will appear as the starter this round, and he is likely to be replaced by Liao Lisheng, who is also no longer young. As for this round of technical and tactical play and specific personnel arrangements, judging from recent training and competition, head coach Li Xiaopeng will still use the three-back tactic with a high probability. If the specific formation chooses 343 or 541, the coaching staff needs to be flexibly adjusted according to the situation.
Before the start of training on the evening of the 27th local time, the Chinese team specially arranged for the young midfielder Gao Tianyi to be interviewed by the media. Before that, members of the coaching staff had spoken highly of Gao Tianyi’s ability and his performance on the bench during the match against Saudi Arabia. Therefore, regardless of whether he can start the game in this round, Gao Tianyi has become the focus of the national football team in the midfield, especially the midfielder.
It is understood that a whole group of international referees of Korean nationality are enforcing the law enforcement of the national football team’s away game against Oman. Among them, the referee Gao Hengjin, the fourth official Jin Xikun, and the video assistant referee Jin Zhonghe have all come to China to enforce the law many times, and have enforced many major international competitions for the Chinese team, including the top 40 games.
The expected starting lineup of the national football team: Yan Junling; Zheng Zheng, Zhu Chenjie, Zhang Linpeng; Liu Yang, Gao Zhunyi; Wu Xi, Xu Xin; Liu Binbin, Zhang Yuning, Dai Weijun.