U23 national football team gains confidence to prepare for Asian Games
Our reporter Li Li
The Chinese U23 men’s football team recently won the fourth place in the Dubai Cup Invitational Tournament with 1 win and 2 losses. Although the last game lost 0-3 to the host UAE team, the U23 national football team has tested the results of the three-year training camp through the three games this time, found the shortcomings and enriched the experience of the competition… This trip to the Dubai Cup is very important for this For a team, the harvest can be described as not small.
The lineup is basically formed
The U23 national football team has been led by Serbian coach Jankovic since its establishment more than 3 years ago. After several years of running-in, the team has become increasingly stable. Through this Dubai Cup match, the team’s lineup has been basically formed.
Judging from the three games, the starting 11 players of the U23 national football team have not changed much. Among them, Tao Qianglong on the offensive end is the core player in the frontcourt. In addition, Liu Zhurun of the Haigang team felt good in front of the goal, and Fang Hao, who came out of Taishan’s youth training, also firmly locked the starting position with 4 goals. In terms of midfield, Chen Guokang and Sun Qinhan have relatively stable positions. As for the back line, both Wu Shaocong and Jiang Shenglong have the experience of being selected for the Chinese men’s football national training team. In addition, Huang Jiahui from the Dalian team played the defensive midfield position in the Chinese Super League last season, and he also performed well.
The downside is that the midfield is soft
Affected by the epidemic, the U23 national football team has rarely played high-level games since its establishment. This Dubai Cup is the first time the team has gone abroad to participate in an invitational tournament since its establishment.
Judging from the three games, the U23 national football team has exposed the problem of a soft midfield. Especially in the 2 games with the UAE team, the team basically made breakthroughs through personal ability on the two wings, resulting in the disconnection of the three lines. When transitioning between offense and defense, defensive players more often rely on their big feet to find someone.
There are two reasons for this situation, one is the lack of excellent midfielders, and the other is the lack of absolute core players. How to solve this problem needs to be studied by the coach Jankovic in the next few months.
Lack of competition experience
In addition to the problem of a soft midfield, the U23 national football team also exposed the lack of competition experience in this Dubai Cup match.
Judging from the results, if you count the 1-1 in the warm-up match with the UAE local professional team Wahda Sports before the Dubai Cup, and the 0-2 in the Chinese national men’s football teaching match, the U23 national football team recently conceded in each of their 5 games. In the face of the UAE team’s game, the two Olympic teams were slow in the first half, conceded the ball shortly after the opening, and directly gave the initiative to the opponent. In the game with the Thai team and the competition for the third place, the U23 national football team conceded consecutively at the last moment of the game. It was also because the players were inexperienced and too nervous that they played more and more chaotically.
In short, through this Dubai Cup, the U23 national football team has tested the results of the long-term training camp and gained a certain degree of confidence. However, if the team wants to make a difference in the Asian Games, there are still many areas for improvement.