0:3 Australia, in the first match of the World Preliminary 12 finals held in the early morning of the 3rd Beijing time, the national football team was unfavorable.
I have to say that this is a game that allows people to recognize the reality enough, whether it is the team or the fans.
Exon (left) in the game.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
Of course, this result is not a surprise, as Li Tie said before the game, the national football is the fourth-tier team, and Australia is a team that can often participate in the World Cup.
Although there are certain psychological expectations for the result, the gap presented in the game is so big that it is still unacceptable for a while.
Especially in the same group of games that opened earlier, Oman defeated the Japanese team 1-0 in an away game. In contrast, disappointment doubled.
The national football team was passive for most of the game.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
The game against Australia was the first time the national football team competed in the top 12 of the world preliminaries after a lapse of 1458 days. The last top 12 game also happened to be held at the Khalifa International Stadium.
In the past 4 years, the national football team began to pursue their dreams from here, and they are in Doha, Qatar, which is also the destination of this dream-catching journey.
And the unwillingness and regret of that World Cup dream 4 years ago has not yet completely dissipated.
After all, at that time, the national football team was only three points away from the second South Korean team that passed through the World Cup, and only one point away from the third Syrian team that got the place in the play-offs. And from the process point of view, the national football team did not have the opportunity to smooth this gap.
Wu Xinghan competed with his opponent for the top.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
With the regret of the last 12 finals and the confidence accumulated by the national football team in the second half of the current 40 finals to achieve 4 consecutive victories, the outside world can not help but have a glimmer of illusions about the first match of the 12 finals with Australia.
Especially when Japan is the first to play in Oman at home 0:1, and the other group of South Korea is tied 0:0 by Iraq, this fantasy is further magnified.
But the reality is cruel.
Wu Xi (first from right) confronts his opponent.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
The national football opponent Australia is currently ranked 35th in the world and 3rd in Asia. The national football is ranked 71th in the world and 9th in Asia.
The last time the national football team played against the top Asian teams, it also dates back to the Asian Cup at the beginning of 2019. The national football team with the 85-year-old team defeated Iran 0:3 in the quarter-finals.
Half a year later, the updated national football team started the World Preliminary 40 finals, but at this stage, except for Syria, which is ranked 80th in the world, there is no team comparable to or stronger than the national football team.
Later, when the epidemic broke out suddenly, Li Tie's national football team has never been able to train with strong teams in the past one and a half years.
The battle with Australia was a difficult encounter.
Wang Shenchao (first from left) in the game.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
Of course, under the epidemic, both sides are facing more or less difficulties.
Australia was also forced to temporarily relocate its home court to Doha, Qatar. Among the 27 players, there are 26 players who have played overseas. The number of joint training sessions is very limited. The two main players and assistant coaches also failed to go with the team due to the epidemic. Australia, which is in the process of upgrading, has certain adverse effects.
To a certain extent, this time against Australia is a good time to grab points.
But no matter how good the timing is, it seems futile in the face of a huge gap.
The national football starting lineup.
Image Source: Chinese Football Team
In fact, 20 minutes before the opening, the national football team performed fairly well. They launched a high-pressure press in the frontcourt, and were able to play some cooperation and get some shot opportunities.
In the second minute, the national football team took the lead and Wu Lei inserted a small angle shot in the penalty area and hit the goal side net.
However, as Australia gradually entered the state of the game, the national football team began to fall into a continuous passive position, completely not dominant in the midfield competition, and it seemed that it could not keep up with the rhythm.
In the 23rd and 26th minutes, the national football team lost 2 goals in a row. The fluctuations in mentality made the national football team unable to find a way to reverse the situation. The game was defeated at 0:3 and failed to hit the goal once.
In the second half, Li Tie made 5 substitutions in succession, but failed to reverse the situation.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
The huge gap makes people have to recognize reality.
But this kind of "recognition of reality" does not lie in "recognizing fate", but in how to play the next game. After all, there are 9 games in the future, and how to solve the problem is the top priority.
In this game, Li Tie basically used the lineup of the top 40 stage, and the few changes are also passive adjustments. Yu Dabao replaced Tang Miao who was injured and failed to play, and Zhang Linpeng returned to right back.
In general, the effect of "response to all changes with the same" is not ideal, especially in terms of offensive and defensive transitions in the midfield.
Coach Li Tie and the retiring internationals.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
It is foreseeable that this situation will continue into the next game against Japan.
Given that the Japanese team lost in the first round and faced the Chinese team in the second round, they will definitely be more energetic, so the difficulty of the game can be imagined.
But for the national football team, facing the strongest Japanese team in the top 12 matches, even if it loses, it is understandable, including the result of this loss to Australia is not unacceptable.
The key is in this state, how to face the next direct rival Saudi Arabia, as well as Oman and Vietnam, which are lower than the national football level?
After a defeat, the players showed their loss.
Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency
I hope that the national football team can learn the lessons of the Australian game and find the tactics and personnel matching for the top 12 matches.
After the Beijing time on September 7th, after the match against Japan, there is still a month to go before the October match with Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, leaving little time for the national football team to adjust.
(Author Bian Liqun)