2024-01-23 18:42:00
Original title: Against the background of the overall progress of Asian football, the continued decline in the competitiveness of China’s men’s football team is particularly glaring – (Quote)
Asian Football Feast, National Football Team Alone and Lonely (Theme)
Workers Daily-China Industry Network reporter Li Yuanhao
In the early morning of January 23rd, Beijing time, as the referee Jamali blew the final whistle, the Chinese men’s football team lost 0-1 to Qatar in the final match of the Asian Cup group stage. The record of the three group stage games was two draws and one loss. And not a single goal was scored. In another match in the same group, the Tajikistan team reversed the Lebanese team 2-1 and qualified as second in the group.
Since there is still a theoretical possibility of becoming “third in the group with better results” and then qualifying, the national football team, which currently only has 2 points, is in an awkward waiting state. It will have to take into account the results of other groups in the next few days to know. The final “sentence” of whether to go home or continue the war.
Since the Qatar Asian Cup kicked off on January 12, it has entered the final round of the group stage, and the top 16 promotion places are being determined one by one.
As of press time, judging from the completed group matches, this Asian Cup has the following characteristics: First, the overall progress of Asian football is eye-catching. In addition to the traditional top five such as Japan, South Korea, Iran, Australia and Saudi Arabia, the second camp such as Iraq, Qatar, and Uzbekistan continues to expand, and the Southeast Asian sectors such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, which are traditionally considered “underdogs”, even It is South Asian teams such as India and Tajikistan, which competed in the Asian Cup for the first time. The improvement in strength shown in this competition is obvious to all. In a nutshell, there are basically no so-called “fatty” teams in today’s Asian Cup.
Secondly, although the overall progress of Asian teams is faster, there is still a gap to challenge the first-class echelon of Asian football. Judging from the first round of this Asian Cup, the six teams representing Asia in the 2022 Qatar World Cup (also the seed teams of the six groups) include Qatar, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Iran and The Saudi team defeated all its opponents; in the second round, even if there were so-called “upsets” in which the Japanese team lost to the Iraqi team and the Korean team was tied by the Jordanian team, it would be difficult to affect the prospects of Japan and South Korea’s qualifying on the whole. The results of Qatar, Australia, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia qualifying early also reflect the difficulty for emerging forces in Asian football to challenge the original structure.
In this Asian Cup, the struggles and difficulties of the Chinese men’s football team are particularly prominent. Since participating in the Asian Cup in 1976, the national football team’s record has been ups and downs, but it has never been as disheartening to fans as its performance in this tournament. There are few bright spots to be found in the technical and tactical level and competition content displayed by Jankovic’s team in this competition.
As of now, the AFC has not released detailed technical statistics for this Asian Cup, but judging from the relevant data of a single game, the technical and tactical capabilities of the national football team are not only difficult to match the top teams in Asia, even with the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Compared with Iraq and even Thailand and other Southeast Asian newcomers, there is a certain gap.
For example, in terms of running distance, the national football team’s running distance in the three group matches was no worse than that of its opponents. However, the national football team members seem to be running without any effort, but in fact they are tired of defense, ineffective running in disordered offense and defense, and have little significance for the actual control of the game process.
Relevant technical analysis reports from FIFA (FIFA) show that in modern football matches, important indicators to measure a team’s strength are high-intensity running and sprint distance, and the most important parameter is running combined with ball movement. During the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the average total distance run by each of the top 32 teams was 108.1 kilometers, and the high-intensity running (>20km/h) and sprint running distances (>25km/h) were 9,001 meters and 2,345 meters respectively. The Argentina team that ultimately won the championship did not have an advantage in total running distance, but it was able to lead in high intensity and sprint distance in almost every game, especially in the knockout rounds, reflecting the world-class team’s control of the game. force.
National football forward Wu Lei said frankly in an interview that the pace of Asian football is getting faster and faster. “The level and pace of Asian football are getting faster and faster. For our team, sometimes it is difficult to confront our opponents. Adjust to the same rhythm.”
In fact, the national football team ended alone in this Asian Cup. The stagnation of technical and tactical strength and the “lack of match” in the rhythm of the game are just superficial. The underlying reason is still “people” – the team’s personnel structure is aging and there is an extreme lack of potential newcomers. It highlights that the Chinese men’s football team’s deficiencies in system construction, especially at the youth training level, have reached the most dangerous level.
According to relevant data from the AFC, the Chinese team is the second oldest team in average age among the 24 participating teams in this Asian Cup, with the average age of the 26 players reaching 29.7 years old. In the 2019 Asian Cup four years ago, the national football team at that time became the oldest team in the Asian Cup with an average age of 28.74 years old. The national football team has become the “oldest” team in the Asian Cup for two consecutive years, which has exposed the dilemma of lack of successors in Chinese football.
To develop football, we must attach importance to youth training. This seems to be a simple truth, but it has become an insurmountable gap in the development process of Chinese football. In this Asian Cup, the collective progress of the so-called third- and fourth-rate teams in Asian football in the past all benefited from the construction and improvement of the overall football development system based on youth training.
The Vietnamese team, with an average age of 23.3 years old, became the second youngest team in this Asian Cup. Although they were eliminated in the group stage, the team’s improvement in strength in various levels of Asian competitions in recent years cannot be underestimated. The continuous improvement of the Vietnamese football youth training system, with national youth training academies such as “PFV Football Academy” as the leader, the third-level league youth training center as the skeleton, and local youth training institutions as the basis, has given the Vietnamese team a sufficient talent reserve.
The youth training debt that has been delayed for many years has made the Chinese men’s football team continue to taste the bitterness of a lack of talent in recent years. Chinese Football Association Chairman Song Kai will make his first public appearance to the media after taking office, focusing on youth training. The Football Association also restarted the national youth winter training at the end of last year, which had been stagnant for many years. Song Kai said frankly: “With the construction of a competitive training system as the guide, we will coordinate youth training and competition; with strengthening coach training as the core, we will continue to improve the coach training system structure and promote high-level coaches to enter the grassroots youth training; with key cities as the support , giving full play to the role of youth training academies and youth training centers will be the normal work of the Chinese Football Association in the future.”
However, football youth training is by no means a day’s work. It is necessary to abandon the idea of quick success and instant benefit and continue to work hard. AFC Secretary-General Windsor John said when talking about suggestions for the development of Chinese football: “If you want an excellent national team, you have to start from the grassroots. Youth training will lay a solid foundation and then build a strong, competitive team.” Intense league to further develop players and clubs. This is the way to improve the level of the national team. I believe this secret is not a secret, everyone knows it. We hope this model will be effective for Chinese football.”
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