After a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia in the 9th round of the Round of 12, the Chinese team plans to leave Sharjah, UNITED Arab Emirates, at 2 p.m. local time on March 25, and then fly to Muscat, Oman, to prepare for the upcoming finale of the Round of 12 with Oman on the evening of March 29. It is understood that after the Chinese team arrived in Oman at more than 3 p.m. local time, it only made a slight adjustment and will go to the training ground to prepare for the game that night. "Youthfulness" will be one of the goals pursued by the team's preparation for the new cycle.
In the game on the evening of the 24th local time, the Chinese team did its best to finally rely on a penalty to "grab" and draw the powerful Saudi team 1-1 to ensure that it was unbeaten at the home of Fudi Sharjah. In this game, which has nothing to do with the fate of the World Cup, the Chinese team has withstood the test of will quality or psychology. The young generation of players represented by Gao Tianyi, Dai Weijun and Gao Zhunyi have also experienced an unprecedented competition experience. After the game, the young players who appeared in the national football team were also affirmed by head coach Li Xiaopeng.
In fact, after the Two Teams of China and Saudi Arabia ended the mission of the Top 12 competition ahead of schedule, the match on the 24th was an important warm-up for both teams in a sense for both sides. Li Xiaopeng was able to "risk" the use of young players, in fact, because the team has already focused on the preparation of the 2023 Asian Cup. The veteran captain Arthur Junmin was replaced after half-time, which is actually one of the signals for the Chinese team to accelerate the replacement. The pursuit of "rejuvenation" is the next goal that the whole team must implement. To this end, in the final round of the round of 12 away games against Oman, Li Xiaopeng will not unexpectedly further reuse young players.
The Chinese team was able to force the powerful Saudi team to equalize, but also benefited from the hard work of the whole team in the early stage. The coaching staff also hopes that the whole team can maintain such a good momentum. According to the plan, the team will leave the station hotel at 12 noon local time on the 25th, and then plan to take a flight departing from Sharjah to Muscat at 2 pm on the same day.
It is understood that since the away match against Oman is about to start on the 29th, the time left for the whole team to prepare for the match is very limited. In this case, the coaching staff asked the whole team not to relax in the slightest during the preparation period, so after arriving in Muscat, the whole team took a break and went to the training ground. Ending the journey of this year's Round of 12 with 1 victory is not out of reach for the Chinese team.
Text/Beiqing Sports Xiao Zhao