Exciting news is pouring in from the UAE. Later this week, the UAE Football Association (UAEFA) officially released the competition blueprint for the Dubai Cup international soccer event. In a departure from the established program, the Vietnam U23s, who were scheduled to play China U23s on March 26, have been replaced by Thailand U23s.
Although this change stems from the Vietnam U23 team plagued by an epidemic may be withdrawn, but in view of the "Sino-Vietnamese soccer dialog" due to the national football team's first defeat to the Vietnamese team in the 12 round of the tournament in the limelight, the adjustment is undoubtedly to a certain extent to alleviate the pressure on the Chinese U23 team and even the national football team.
It is reported that after confirming the registration of the participating teams, the tournament organizers initially drew up the schedule and the pattern of matchups. According to the original plan, the Chinese team will face the host UAE U23 team and Vietnam U23 team on March 23 and 26 respectively.
National football team in the first day of the first month of the Lunar New Year accidentally lost the first away from Vietnam, resulting in two rounds ahead of the final round of the World Cup in Qatar, this historic loss also makes China and Vietnam U23 men's football team duel will undoubtedly become the focus of attention of the two countries and even the international football world. However, a U23 national soccer team source said, "If we are so nervous about playing against Vietnam, what else do we have left to fight for?"
But later this week, information from the United Arab Emirates indicated that the schedule, format and specific matchups for the "Dubai Cup" have been finalized. China's first round opponent will remain the UAE U23s, while the second round will change from Vietnam to Thailand U23s.
So, was it the NFF or the Chinese U23s that made the request to adjust the matchup situation? The answer is not. According to a report by Beijing Youth Daily on March 5, the organizing committee of the Dubai Cup recently learned from the Vietnam Football Association that the Vietnamese U23 team has also been infected. If there are too many cases of infection among the recruited players and they are unable to make up a full lineup, they may pull out of the tournament early. For this reason, the organizers had to prepare in advance and adjust the matchups for the first two rounds of the tournament.
The first round match between China U23s and UAE U23s will be held on March 23 at 4 p.m. local time (8 p.m. Beijing time) at Dubai Stadium, the home ground of Al-Ahli FC. It is worth noting that this stadium also hosted the first leg of the 2015 season's AFC Champions League final, where Al-Ahli hosted Guangzhou Evergrande.
The 2nd round match between China's U23s and Thailand's U23s will be played at the Seven Stars Stadium on March 26 at 4 p.m. local time. China's 1993-age and 1995-age U23 teams have all played at this stadium.
