Looking forward to the national football team playing well in the final game of 2024. Photo by Jinan Times·New Yellow River Client reporter Yao Zheng
Xiamen, also known as “Lu Island”, will attract the attention of Chinese fans tonight. At 20:00 on November 19, the national football team will face the Japanese team at home in the sixth round of the Asian top 18 of the World Cup preliminaries, which will be staged at Xiamen Egret Stadium.
“The opponent of the Japanese team is a strong team in the world. Their strength is here. Needless to say. But we are playing at home. I believe that the players can be fully prepared and try their best on the court without any timidity.” At the previous press conference, national football coach Ivankovic said.
National football team reorganizes forward line
It is a “convention” in the football world that winning teams do not make changes. However, this time against the Japanese team, the national football team, which had won two consecutive games, had to make passive adjustments due to injuries, suspensions and other factors.
During the national football team’s two-game winning streak, the striker pair of Zhang Yuning and Baihe Lamu both started and scored the team’s three goals. In the match against the Japanese team, Baihe Lamu accumulated yellow cards and was suspended, while Zhang Yuning was suspended due to injury. As a result, the national football offensive line is bound to be reorganized. On the defensive line, the main left back Li Lei is absent due to injury, which is also a big loss for the national football team. In order to solve the problem of insufficient manpower on the defensive line, the National Football Team recruited Shanghai Haigang full-back Wang Zhenao. At the pre-match press conference, Ivankovic also talked about the difficulties faced by the team: “Wu Lei, Fernando, and Micro Motion did not participate in the training camp due to injuries. Li Lei and Zhang Yuning were injured and cannot participate in this game. Thank you. Lamu is also suspended due to accumulation of yellow cards. But in every game, we give full trust to the players and believe that they will perform at their best.”
But consecutive victories have greatly boosted the confidence and morale of the national football team. Since the start of the top 18, the national football team has shown commendable enterprising spirit and fighting spirit on the court. What is certain is that in the battle with the Japanese team, the national football team will do its best to strive for the best result. Wang Shangyuan, who attended the pre-match press conference with Ivankovic, made it clear: “Victory definitely brings a lot of confidence. Our performance in these games has been getting better and better, and we have a more intuitive understanding of the intensity and difficulty of the game.” We will be fully prepared to play against the Japanese team and use our experience and confidence.”
“Do we have a chance to beat the Japanese team?” Before the end of the pre-match press conference, a Chinese reporter asked Ivankovic. In this regard, Ivankovic gave this answer: “In football matches, everything can happen, everything is possible. We will go on the field and try our best.”
“Blue Warrior” is ready
In previous away games, the Japanese team mostly adopted the same “travel method” as the national football team this time – rushing to the airport the night after the game ended and heading to the next game non-stop. But this time, the Japanese team adjusted their travel plans. After defeating the Indonesian team in an away game, the Japanese team rested overnight in Jakarta before boarding a flight to Xiamen at noon the next day. At 16:15 on November 16, the Japanese team arrived in Xiamen. Considering that the players were relatively tired, Japan’s head coach Mori Yasuichi did not arrange team training that day. On the afternoon of November 17, the Japanese team held its first training session after arriving in Xiamen. In terms of physical fitness, the national football team, which is waiting for work, may have a certain advantage.
But in terms of overall strength, the Japanese team playing away from home has an absolute advantage. In the 5 games in the first round of the top 18, the Japanese team achieved an unbeaten record of 4 wins and 1 draw, leading the Group C standings with 13 points. The Japanese team, composed mainly of overseas legions, showed a unique level of competitiveness. In an interview before the game, Japanese international Takumi Minamino, who plays for Ligue 1 powerhouse Monaco, said: “Although the interval between the two games is shorter than usual, I think we can overcome this difficulty as long as we use the strength of the entire team.”
At the pre-match press conference, Japan team head coach Mori Yasuichi said: “We came from Indonesia to participate in this game. The team trained yesterday and the players were in very good condition. As a team, we are ready. Hopefully. The team rises to the challenge.”
In the first round of the round of 18 match between the two teams, the Japanese team won 7-0 at home. But Mori Yasuichi said that this will be a brand-new matchup: “We are full of confidence in the game, but we still need to arouse more fighting spirit. We have to forget the result of the first round – this game is from It started at 0-0. The Chinese team has won two games in a row and is in good shape, so we need to analyze the Chinese team’s tactics carefully to win.”
The national football team, which had previously won two consecutive victories, is also looking forward to a better performance in home games. At 19:00 on November 18, the national football team held its last practice before the game at Bailu Stadium. The stadium was extremely quiet at this moment, and the coach’s commands, players’ jokes, and the sound of photographers pressing their shutters were clearly audible.
The stands of this stadium will soon be filled with passionate Chinese fans. The national football team won two consecutive victories in the top 18 matches, igniting the enthusiasm of Chinese fans to watch the game and completely igniting the football market. Egret Stadium has a total of 53,405 seats in track and field mode. In addition to the isolation area used for safety purposes, a total of more than 40,000 tickets can be sold. Once on sale, the tickets for this game were sold out early. On the evening of November 16, the organizers of the event sold some additional tickets, which were also snapped up by fans in an instant. Amid the cheers and cheers of the home fans, the national football team will strive to perform better in the final game in 2024. Wang Shangyuan stated before the game: “All our players are fully prepared. In a packed stadium, we will give 200% of our energy and fight together for the national team.” (Jinan Times New Yellow River Client reporter Yao Zheng) Xiamen)
