2023 The Asian Cup will begin in less than 48 hours. The national football team will face its first opponent, Tajikistan, at 22:30 on January 13, Beijing time.
However, the recent warm-up performance of the national football team during the training period in the United Arab Emirates was hardly satisfactory. Although the local low-level league teams in the United Arab Emirates won big victories in the two games, they both conceded goals. What is even more irritating is that, facing two participating teams in the Asian Cup, the national football team lost both games. This performance casts a shadow over the prospects of the Asian Cup for the national football team in Qatar. The hot weather in Doha is also another severe test for the national football team, which is not good at fighting in hot weather.
It is understood that head coach Jankovic recently led all soldiers to watch a documentary on China’s football anti-corruption. Before the competition, negative news continued to pop up in the public opinion environment, and the start of the new national football team was worrying. Demoralized! Scandal ridden! People can’t help but worry about whether the national football team can prove themselves in the troughs again and again? Can they restore the past glory of Chinese football?
Faced with doubts and ridicules, head coach Jankovic’s response was “ The team was very well prepared while in Abu Dhabi. The two weeks of training were very substantial and effective. The whole team was very excited and full of fighting spirit. There are new players and old players in this team. The team is growing and we will Turn pressure into motivation and have the confidence to play every game well. Our goal is to perform strongly in the group stage, overcome all difficulties, and strive to qualify from the group, even if our opponents are experienced veterans."
When talking about the status of the players, Jankovic said, "At the beginning of the training camp, everyone's status was very different. At that time, they had just finished playing in the league. Now they have adjusted in place and are ready to go on the field and accept the challenge."
When talking about the consecutive defeats in friendly matches, Jankovic said, "No one likes to lose, but the national football team has fully reviewed the two losses. The lessons learned from failures are extremely valuable to the growth of the national football team. . The most important thing is that the whole team is full of confidence in winning against Tajikistan."
When talking about Qatar, one of the opponents in the group stage, Jankovic said, "Playing against Qatar is a major challenge, but I am very excited. . Qatar is a strong team, and as the host country, it is reasonable to hope to win the cup at home. They also have the experience of playing in the World Cup. So this game will be a great test for us."
The national football team has made it twice in 1984 and 2004 Entering the Asian Cup finals, although we ultimately missed the championship, what we saw during that period was endless hope.
According to the schedule, the national football team will face their second opponent, Lebanon, four days after the match with Tajikistan. And on January 22, we will face Qatar, the last opponent of the group stage. We hope that before the last game, the national football team will not face the words "guaranteed a draw and qualify" or "theoretically possible", but "strive to be first in the group." Or "Time is running out for the Qataris"
