National Olympics 0:0, the first battle determines life and death
U23 Asian Cup qualifiers: China Olympic 0-0, UAE Olympic 0-0
On September 6th at 19:35 Beijing time, the first round of Group G for the 2024 Qatar U23 Asian Cup qualifiers and the Paris Olympics men's football Asian qualification tournament was played between the Chinese team and the United Arab Emirates team at Dalian Suoyu Bay Football Stadium. In the first half, Yang Zihao and Liu Zhurun got yellow, Duan Dezhi missed the opportunity, and UAE starting goalkeeper Monkhari was injured and retired. Yi Bian fights again, Liu Zhurun wastes good opportunities, and Hu Hetao creates risks. The final match came to an end, and China's Olympic team drew 0-0 with the United Arab Emirates.
Previously reported
Tonight we will face the UAE team, and the Chinese Olympic team will face off in their first match
At 19:35 today, the Chinese Olympic team will face the first match of the 2024 Qatar U23 Asian Cup qualifiers and the Paris Olympics Asian region qualifiers at Dalian Suoyu Bay Stadium, against the strongest team in the group, the United Arab Emirates. For the Chinese Olympic team that wants to advance to the top of the group, this game must strive for victory and draw.
The last time the Chinese national Olympic team made an appearance in the Olympic finals can be traced back to 2008 when they participated as the host in the Beijing Olympics. Since then, their three attempts to compete in the Olympics have been dismally eliminated in the preliminary stage.
The current Chinese Olympic team has traveled to Croatia for long-term training twice in the second half of last year and the first half of this year, playing over 50 warm-up matches with local teams at all levels; Shortly after returning to China in June, he completed two warm-up matches with the visiting Uzbekistan team at the Xianghe base. Then, in July and August, he organized two flight training sessions to continue the technical and tactical skills that the players had honed during their European training. During this period, the Chinese Olympic team played against the Turkmenistan team twice, losing 0-2 in the first game and winning 1-0 in the second game. The players not only gained confidence as a result, but also developed an ideal starting lineup.
Obviously, both in terms of preparation cycle and content, this national Olympic team is definitely well prepared. However, in terms of overall strength, due to the continued low level of Chinese football youth training, this team still has a certain gap from the high level in Asia.
The preliminary rounds of this stage are divided into 11 groups, with the first place in each group and the second place in the four best performing groups competing with the host country Qatar in the U23 Asian Cup finals. The Chinese Olympic team is in the same group as the UAE, India, and Maldives teams. Among the three groups, the UAE team is undoubtedly the strongest, and they are the strongest contenders for the first place in this group with the Chinese Olympic team, which is also equivalent to a decisive battle in the first game.
The UAE team is mainly composed of players who participated in the U23 West Asia Cup in June this year, among whom the most famous is winger Harib, who is also an active mainstay of the UAE national team. In addition, center Adili was also selected for the UAE national team last year, and he also has considerable strength. These two players are the key targets that the Chinese Olympic team needs to focus on.
The head coach of the Chinese Olympic team, Cheng Yaodong, said at the pre match press conference, "This should be the last time our team of players will participate in the U-series' national brand 'competition. We believe they will cherish this opportunity very much, show their spirit, tenacious style, never give up spirit, and determination to fight to the end in the game. In terms of technology and tactics, we have always demanded that players have unity and unity on the field. In the game, we will show our strength, hardness, and speed, and dedicate a wonderful and intense game to everyone."
