In the opening match of the Qatar World Cup Asian Zone 12, the Chinese team did not bring surprises, and in the early hours of Beijing time on the 3rd, they lost 0-3 in the showdown with Australia. A three-goal difference, two yellow cards and few chances on goal completely shattered China's illusions of winning with the weak. However, with the Top 12 only just kicked off, the first loss has given the Chinese team and its staff a deeper understanding of the nature of the tournament, its difficulty and the team's positioning.
On the eve of the match, the Chinese team enjoyed an afternoon tea time at their resident hotel and remained optimistic until they boarded the bus to the match venue. They were looking forward to the upcoming Round of 12, and like head coach Li Tie, the players were eager to score points in the first round of the tournament, and even fight for an opening goal. However, what awaited them was a harsh reality.
Compared to the match against Syria in the final round of the 40-team tournament, China's lineup for this match has not changed much. On the basis of sticking to the 442 formation, Li Tie adjusted Zhang Linpeng, who originally played as a center back, to the right back position, replacing Tang Miao, who was absent due to injury. The vacancy left at center back was filled by veteran Yu Dabao, who has switched to playing center back in recent years.
Looking at Zhang Linpeng's right-back origins, Yu Dabao's rich experience in the World Series and his steady performance in the league, this adjustment seems reasonable. However, there is a clear gap between the Chinese Super League and the mainstream European professional leagues in terms of game intensity, rhythm and individual player ability. This gap was fully realized in the direct dialogue between the Chinese and Australian teams. The Australian team, which is dominated by players from Europe, was obviously more composed in controlling the rhythm of the game, and they gradually took control of the game after resisting China's 15-minute pressurized attack in the first half. According to the statistics, Australia's ball possession reached 61%, 20 percentage points higher than that of China, and the shot ratio was 23-7, which is not surprisingly far ahead of China in terms of threatening attacking data.
Under the opponents' continuous high-pressure pressing, the Chinese defense line soon appeared to have a loophole. In the 23rd minute, Australia's captain Mabiel pushed China's center back Jiang Guangtai to take a shot on goal. Yu Dabao, as a center back, was slow to react during the breakout, and he was also responsible for the goal. As a result of the constant pressure on the Chinese inland, Australia scored their second goal two minutes later on a counter-attack by Boyle. The seemingly easy penetration of the Aussies' offense actually reflected the huge gap between the two sides in their ability to adapt to the pace of the game. If it wasn't for goalkeeper Yan Junling's heroic performance, China could have crumbled in the first half.
In the face of the team was forced to the situation, Li Tie in the half after the end of the lineup was adjusted. Yu Dabao and Zhang Xunzhe, who were not performing well, were replaced by Wang Gang and Artemisia Junmin respectively, and then Jin Jingdao, Wei Shihao and Zhang Yuning came on in the second half. But the huge strength gap, so that the Chinese team is difficult to reverse the situation of passive beating. The Chinese team to the scene watching the game of FIFA President Infantino left the most impressive perhaps only Wang Shenchao, Yin Hongbo respectively received a yellow card.
Mitchell Duke scored Australia's third goal in the 69th minute to seal the win. At this moment, the Chinese team was unable to return to the game, and the game thus entered the garbage time. "I didn't play well today, when I looked up, I felt that I was full of opposing players," said one of the international players after the match, which was a graphic illustration of the Chinese team's passivity in the match.
A complete defeat also let the majority of Chinese fans in front of the television set to stay up late to watch the game depressed, but a comprehensive view of the world soccer world and the status quo of Chinese soccer, this result is actually not beyond the normal field of the soccer world.
Truth be told, the world's best security conditions created by the CFA for the Chinese team have not been able to improve the team's hard power in a short period of time. Prior to joining the Top 12, the Chinese team played only four official world matches under Li Tie's command, of which only the 40-team finale against Syria was considered a high-quality match. Compared to Australia and Japan, who have many players playing in the mainstream European leagues, China only has one overseas player, Wu Lei. In other words, the distance between Chinese soccer and the world's advanced soccer is getting farther and farther.
Taking China and Australia as an example, the last time the two teams had a conversation on the world stage was more than six years ago in the Asian Cup Quarterfinals. The Chinese team's knowledge of their opponents is based on data. Therefore, until the experience of the real battle, the Chinese team on their own ability level of backwardness has a clearer perception.
For China, the 3-goal loss came too soon, but in time. After all, the 12-team tournament has only just begun, and the Chinese team has only lost the first of 10 matches, so this result is not devastating for the Chinese team. From another point of view, by the first game "wake up" the Chinese team won the possibility of correcting mistakes. A bad loss is like pouring cold water on every member of the team, making them throw away all unrealistic fantasies and return to rationality.
Five days later, the Chinese team will face the top seed of the group, who unexpectedly lost to Japan in the first round, in the same venue. For the Chinese soccer team, the difficulty of the second round of matches is even greater than that of the first round. Therefore, the CFA and the coaching staff of the national soccer team are actually quite prepared for various outcomes including consecutive defeats. For the Chinese team, it is more practical to prevent the collapse of the psychological defense.
After the first round of defeat, the national football team back to the resident hotel has been the local time on September 3 early morning. A national footballer said to the Beiqing-Beijing headline reporter: "This may be the first time many players to participate in the 12 strong match, but for me it may be the last time, everyone extraordinarily cherish the opportunity to play such a game, the 1st game has passed, we then have to train hard, we do not want to let themselves regret."
