The Chinese men's football team is about to assemble in Shanghai to prepare for the upcoming Asian Cup, which clearly shows the great importance it attaches to this event. The national team's top players Zhang Yuning, Dai Weijun and Lin Liangming have arrived in Shanghai ahead of schedule for additional training and preparation. The Asian Cup is the largest football competition under the AFC, which is divided into two stages: qualifiers and finals, and is held every four years.
The Asian Cup, originally scheduled to be held last year, could not be held as scheduled due to the epidemic, and was later taken over by Qatar. As the host, the Chinese men's football team did not participate in the Asian Cup qualifiers, but conducted the draw as the second pot. The results show that the Chinese men's football team is in Group A with the host Qatar men's football team, Tajikistan men's football team and Lebanese men's football team.
A total of 24 teams are divided into six groups, with the top two teams in each group and the best third place in each group advancing to the knockout stage, for a total of 16 teams.
Japan, South Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and host Qatar are seeded in each group, while the Qatar men's football team, as the seeded team in Group A, has already qualified for the group in advance.
The Lebanese men's football team has been strong in recent years, and the ranking of the Chinese men's football team is gradually approaching, and it also successfully advanced to the top 12 of the Asian qualifiers in the last World Preliminary Tournament. The Tajikistan men's football team is weaker, ranked outside the top 100 in the world, and there are not many highlights in history, and it is the fish belly team in this group.
According to the rules of the top two teams in the group and the third place in the group with the four best results, the Chinese men's football team only needs to win two games in the group stage, or one win and one draw to advance, but considering the strength of the Qatari men's football team and the Lebanese men's football team, the Chinese men's football team must first win the Tajikistan men's football team, and then compete with the Qatar men's football team or the Lebanese men's football team.
The first match of the Chinese men's football team will be against the Tajikistan men's football team at 22:30 on January 13. The first match of the Chinese men's football team has attracted much attention, and it is a match that is known as a battle of life and death. Although the opponent is the weakest, losing this game almost means not qualifying. If even the weakest opponents cannot be defeated, it will be even more difficult to face the stronger Qatari and Lebanese men's football teams.
If the Chinese men's football team cannot win this crucial game, it will have no choice but to withdraw from the game. It is worth mentioning that CCTV5 will be broadcast live, and this game will bring a fairly high level of spectacle. Looking forward to the Chinese men's football team getting off to a good start in the game!