The national football team will fight against Saudi Arabia and will "use tough guys" and "fight for face"!
At 11:00 p.m. Beijing time on March 24, the 9th round of Group B of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian Qualifiers Round 9 will be played in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
On the evening of the 23rd, national football coach Li Xiaopeng attended the pre-match press conference.
Although the national football team has completely missed the Qatar World Cup, Li Xiaopeng still stated that he will "fight for the face of Chinese football".
When introducing the preparations for this game, Li Xiaopeng said: "Tomorrow, against the Saudi team ranked first in the group, I think the game must be very difficult. During this period of time, all the players have gone all out to train, are very dedicated, and are in great shape. I hope I can have a good result in the game tomorrow.”
The reporter at the scene asked: "The outside world currently thinks that there are not many forwards in the Chinese team. There are only two centers, Zhang Yuning and Tan Long. Does this mean that the Chinese team will face Saudi Arabia with defensive tactics?" Li Xiaopeng said: "In football games, offensive and defensive Balance is very important, you can't give up offense just because there are few strikers, both offense and defense are important."
In the last two top 12 matches, there were no 4 naturalized players from Brazil in the national football squad, nor was there any striker Wu Lei who played in La Liga.
Talking about the personnel arrangement for this game, Li Xiaopeng said: "I think tomorrow's game will be a strangulation. The opponent will definitely want to win, and of course we also hope. Then we will at least use some tough players, and we will use a fight. In the end, these players will play the game. I think at least tomorrow will show this. This team has strong will and quality, which is the minimum requirement. This time, the opportunity to enter the World Cup has been lost, but I think all the players have to Fighting with the face of Chinese football is what has been emphasized the most to the players recently."
At present, Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Australia, the top three in Group B, are still fighting for the top two in the group. The match between the national football team and Saudi Arabia will have a certain impact on the qualifying situation.
Currently, Saudi Arabia ranks first with 19 points, Japan ranks second with 18 points, and Australia ranks third with 15 points.
In this round, the two teams of Australia and Japan will have a direct dialogue. Once the Australian team defeats Japan, and the national football team cannot let Saudi Arabia take all three points, then the three teams will have a decisive battle in the final round.
In the last round, Saudi Arabia and Japan will start direct dialogue, and it is not impossible for Saudi Arabia to be overtaken by Japan and Australia at the last minute.
Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter
Zhang Chenbao, Sun Yunyue, Zhang Hao