The national football team confirmed that the question of whether to leave the country and return to the country today will be decided by the team management after careful study

　　According to the plan, the Chinese men's football team and the Chinese U23 men's football team will depart from Sharjah, UAE to return to China on the morning of April 3, local time.

After arriving in Haikou from Dubai, the entire team will perform a "14+7" quarantine there.

Since the new season of the Chinese Super League is scheduled to start at the end of this month at the earliest, during the closed isolation period, the entire team will still arrange training camps normally to ensure that the international players can devote themselves to the league journey in a relatively ideal state.

　　After arriving in Haikou

　　The entire team will be quarantined according to regulations

　　Affected by the epidemic, the Chinese team's return trip had to be postponed, and the team's return entry location was changed from Shanghai to Haikou.

According to the latest confirmed plan, the national football team and the U23 national football team will leave Sharjah on the morning of April 3, local time, and then fly to Haikou from Dubai.

　　After arriving in Haikou, the entire team will strictly implement various epidemic prevention regulations including "14+7" days of medical isolation and observation.

That means teams won't be released from quarantine until April 24 or 25 at the earliest.

In the meantime, in addition to the normal rest adjustment, the coaching staff will arrange for the whole team to train.

This is because the new season of the Chinese Super League is likely to start around April 29 at the earliest. Therefore, even if the players of the two national teams have to take a few days off after being released from isolation, it is necessary for them to maintain systematic training during the isolation period, so as to prepare for the future. Prepare for a new league journey.

　　Round of 12 Summary

　　Wait until the entire team is released from quarantine

　　On the evening of March 29, local time, after the national football team's away match against Oman, some media people who went to the scene reported that the national football coach Li Xiaopeng had been standing independently in the venue for a long time, and he had no clear answer as to whether he could stay in office.

In fact, after the Chinese team ended this World Preliminary Tournament with a complete defeat, the issue of Li Xiaopeng's departure and stay has become the focus of heated discussions in the public opinion circle, which has also triggered various speculations by the media and fans.

　　The summary of the top 12 matches of the national football team, especially the four rounds after the new coach Li Xiaopeng took office, may not be completed until the entire team is released from isolation.

As for the recent issue of whether Li Xiaopeng will stay in office, it needs to be carefully studied and determined by the team management, and the implementation of the specific work must also follow the strict procedures as when he took office.

　　2023 Asian Cup

　　Preparing for war is difficult

　　Prior to this, it was reported that the national football preparation leading group led by the sports management department originally selected Li Xiaopeng, and also hoped that he could lead the team to do a good job in the preparation and competition of the 2023 Asian Cup.

However, the team only scored 3 losses and 1 draw in the 4 rounds after taking over, and the humiliating first loss to the Vietnam team during the Lunar New Year.

It is obviously unfair to put the blame for the defeat on the new coach who took over the team on the verge of being eliminated, but the poor record still caused dissatisfaction from all parties including the fans.

From this point of view, it is not surprising that the issue of "whether to change coaches" has sparked heated discussions.

　　It should be noted that after the end of the national football team's current top 12 competition, its preparation and competition tasks for this year's competition have also come to an end.

Although there are still two international competition days in the next June and September, due to factors such as the epidemic and the need to play 34 rounds in the league, it is impossible for the Chinese team to use these two periods as the time node to arrange long-term training camps.

In the second half of the year, when the focus of global football is on the World Cup in Qatar, it is also difficult for the Chinese team to implement high-quality international warm-ups during these two international competition days.

It can be said that the team's preparations for the 2023 Asian Cup have been difficult from the beginning.

　　Judging from the above situation, the national football management and the Chinese Football Association have enough time to make a comprehensive and in-depth summary of the current top 12 national football competition.

Since Li Xiaopeng took office under the background of the change of the management model of the national football team, the issue of whether to stay or stay must be carefully studied and decided by the team management, just like when he was originally hired.

Before that, Li Xiaopeng's coaching team will still lead the team to train step by step, and prepare for the next visit to the professional league division to inspect the players.

　　Text/Reporter Xiao Xun

　　Coordination / Photo courtesy of Wang Haozhou / Visual China