Reporter Chen Yong reported that once again the lead, another reversal, 1-3 to Australia, which had not won in the previous two rounds, and the national football team suffered three consecutive defeats in the round of 18. Unlike 0-7 Japan and 1-2 Saudi Arabia, the performance of the national football team against Australia can be said to show its own level - there is some luck in doing its best, but football matches ultimately depend on strength. Three consecutive defeats are completely expected, and fans are powerless to blame for such "meeting expectations", leaving only deep helplessness and endless confusion.
In the face of Australia, the national football team still chose to defend and counterattack, which is the established tactical strategy: at the defensive level, the protection between the players is good, and everyone's attention is relatively concentrated, which to a certain extent curbs Australia's attack, and in the case of 6 to 17 shots, Australia only scored 4 shots on target; In the first half of this game, the international players still showed a good mental outlook, and luck was also on the side of the national football team: Wang Dalei made a long pass in the backfield, Zhang Yuning headed the ferry, Xie Wenneng rushed into the penalty area before the opponent closed the goal, and this one-stop goal once made people see hope.
It is a pity that it is difficult for the national football team to carry out such a state throughout. The set-piece conceded in first-half stoppage time was the same as against Saudi Arabia in the previous round, and conceding points at such a moment was undoubtedly a huge blow to the team's confidence when they were expected to take the lead at half-time.
The first goal conceded was related to an easy foul and a set-piece, which Ivan also mentioned after the game, but the crux of the matter is that the selection of young players with little experience should be planned in advance. In fact, not only did this set-piece conced, the national football defense had given the opponent set-piece opportunities more than once because of blind fouls, and in the case of limited threat of sports in the first half of Australia, the national football team continued to hand the knife and "help" the sluggish home team to find the feeling of scoring.
It is true that it should not be given to the opponent set-pieces in dangerous areas in a row, but what is more deadly is that the national football team's set-piece defense is full of holes. Counting the first goal conceded in this game, the national football team has been scored by the opponent through set-pieces four times in the three Round of 18 matches: the first game against Japan shortly after the corner kick conceded, and the second game against Saudi Arabia The two goals conceded are the same. Of course, there is a reason for the gap in individual ability, but the coaching staff is also to blame.
The key to success or failure lies in the details, but the details are also part of the strength. Of course, although the strength of this Australia team is not as outstanding as the outside world expected, whether it is individual confrontation or overall rhythm, the national football team is at a disadvantage most of the time, whether it is 73% to 27% possession, or 87% to 63% pass success rate, or 704 to 261 passes, the difference between the strength of the two sides is still obvious. In the case of the opponent's comprehensive suppression, with the overall strength of the national football team, with the ability and experience of the national players, it can be said that problems at the detail level are inevitable. This is actually similar to mentality, mentality is never independent of strength, the gap in strength, the evolution of the game situation and on-the-spot command, will affect the mentality of the players.
As for Ivan's on-the-spot command, compared with the criticism of the previous two battles, it is considered decent, and the replacement of the goal hero Xie Wenneng after the halftime once caused confusion from the outside world, but the old coach also explained this after the game, he said that Xie Wenneng had leg muscle discomfort in the half, in order to prevent the injury from expanding, but also for the more critical game against Indonesia a few days later, he chose to replace Xie Wenneng in the midfield, which is not only a protection for the players, but also to save the number of substitutions.
But Ivan's "careful calculation" about the timing of the adjustment pales in the face of the difference in strength. Australia, who also made half-time adjustments, quickly overtook the score with Goodwin's world wave, and the situation from leading to falling behind took a sharp turn, which also made the national football players who could not keep up with the rhythm of their opponents more and more exhausted. Australia's substitute Glia header created danger, and Velupille scored the third goal that sealed the victory, on the other hand, the national football team, several adjustments, did not achieve the expected effect, Lin Liangming's cross from the left side to Baihelam was one of the few threats in the second half of the national football team.
After this game, Wang Shangyuan said in an interview that the national football team did its best, losing to Japan was a big defeat, losing to Saudi Arabia was a loss, "Today is different against Australia, this is the best performance of our three." After three consecutive defeats, the description of "best" is a bit "harsh", but it is true. The truth is so cruel that people are a little helpless.
At the end of this battle, the national football team suffered four consecutive defeats in the world preliminary round, and Ivan also embarrassed to break the record of three consecutive defeats in the national football world preliminary round under Camacho in 2011 (1-2 away to Jordan, 0-1 Iraq at home and away). But at the end of the game, Ivan continued the rhetoric of the pre-match press conference, "The last four games, including the matches against Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia, Australia today are all first-class teams in Asia, and it is indeed a very difficult game. We have to be better in every game to be able to get points, including our last game against Saudi Arabia and today in Australia, we are very close to picking points. ”
Despite finishing bottom of the group, Ivan stressed that the team's goal is to finish in the top four, "From our point of view, with seven games left, our goal is still to finish in the top four of the group and be able to advance to the next stage of the competition, so as to keep the hope of qualifying for the World Cup." He also emphasized, "We also need to prepare carefully, and we have to show our hardness and aggression in order to play well." ”
Physical fitness, hardness, aggressiveness, is the "pain point" that Ivan has been emphasizing since taking office, but obviously, in the first three games, the content presented by the national football team is difficult to qualify, and the first half of the first half against Australia is considered to show a certain degree of aggression, but such a rhythm is obviously not in the comfort zone of the international players, followed by a rapid decline in hardness and physical fitness, especially after being equalized by the opponent, the defensive intensity that once relied on fighting spirit and mental support also collapsed, and finally fell into a vicious circle of confidence collapse and difficult to save defeat.
Regarding the problem of the national football team's mental level, fighting spirit is not the first, the real problem is precisely confidence. The 7-0 defeat to Japan in the opening game and the bitter defeat to Saudi Arabia have dealt a serious blow to the confidence of the internationals, and the club break in September and October is also seen as a recovery period for the mentality of the internationals, which is more important than the physical recovery. It's just that the international players who have just eased up a little bit were reversed in the second game with a 1-0 lead, and their confidence may fall to the freezing point again.
"From our point of view, the next match against Indonesia is the beginning of the real battle and we need to work harder to get a positive result." Perhaps, after three consecutive defeats, only Ivan still has confidence in the national football team. Or perhaps, as a manager, he always has to motivate the players.
The next round of the game can be called the last "straw" for the national football team and Ivan, although today's Indonesia is no longer the original Southeast Asian fish belly team; Although, Ivan himself stressed after the game that "they have a lot of naturalized players who play in Netherlands and Belgium"; Although, after the draw against Bahrain in this round, the sixth team in the group has won three consecutive draws and has not tasted defeat so far - if Ivan still wants to continue the value of what he calls "real fighting", then on October 15, the return to Qingdao Youth Football Stadium against Indonesia is really not to be lost.