Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai, December 18 (Reporter Xu Dongyuan, Xiao Shiyao) The Chinese men's national football team set off from Shanghai to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on the 18th to officially start preparations for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. During their stay in Abu Dhabi, the national football team will train for nearly three weeks and plan to play four warm-up matches.
Regarding the current state of the national team, the head coach of the Chinese team, Jankovic, said in an interview with reporters at Shanghai Pudong International Airport that on the basis of the good performance in the world preliminaries, he hopes that the team will continue to maintain a modest attitude, train hard, generate positive energy, and continue to retain the good form of the previous stage to the Asian Cup.
Jankovic added: "For three weeks, the purpose of training is to keep the team balanced. Mainly in terms of physical fitness, technical tactics, and psychological construction, I hope that the team will prepare for the Asian Cup with sufficient motivation. ”
Regarding the goal of this tournament, Jankovic responded: "The team as a whole must play a relatively compact formation, have a good mental state, and strive to win the game with an all-out attitude, which is the same requirement as always. After that, we will take the second game as the next goal, and we will go down step by step. ”
Wu Xi, a veteran of the national football team, said: "First of all, we must do a good job of training every day, prepare for every game, and accumulate bit by bit. In the game, you have to defend well, and on the premise of solid defense, you have to think about how to score goals. ”
In this national football squad, goalkeeper Jian Tao from Chengdu Rongcheng Football Club was selected for the first time. "I am honored to be able to fight for the country, and I hope to turn pressure into motivation to promote myself to grow faster, make faster progress, and go all out to serve the country and win glory for the country. Jian Tao said.
A total of 26 players have been recruited for the national football team's current training camp, and according to the plan, the whole team will have their first outdoor training after arrival in the UAE on the morning of the 19th local time. Wei Shihao, Wang Qiuming, Li Ke, Jiang Guangtai and Wu Shaocong, five players who are currently overseas, will go directly to Abu Dhabi to join the team.
It is reported that the 2023 AFC Asian Cup will be held from January 12 to February 10, 2024 local time in Qatar. (ENDS).