Recently, the Chinese men's football team played an international A-level warm-up match with the Oman men's football team in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This match is the final match of the Chinese men's football team in 2023, so it has attracted the attention of fans. Due to the continuous high-intensity training in the early stage, the international players showed fatigue in the game, which also laid the groundwork for the national football team to lose in the game.
In the first half of the game, the two teams exchanged attacks and defended but failed to pose a real threat to each other's goal. The Oman team performed very positively, while the national football team looked tired, especially the forward duo of Wu Lei and Tan Long, who were not smooth enough to run and cooperate on the field, and missed many offensive opportunities. At the end of the first half, the Chinese men's football team drew 0-0 with Oman.
After the start of the second half, head coach Jankovic made personnel adjustments, replacing Wu Lei and Tan Long with Zhang Yuning and Lin Liangming. However, the substitution did not turn the tide, but instead Oman stepped up their attack in the second half, putting more pressure on the national team's backline.
In the 49th minute of the game, Oman's Alavi shot a long shot straight into the corner of the goal, goalkeeper Wang Dalei was unable to react and was breached, and the Oman team led 1-0. After conceding the goal, Jankovic replaced Dai Weijun and Wei Shihao in the 60th minute, and the team's attack became more sluggish, and the Oman team took the opportunity to attack, and in the 65th minute, Gasani scored again, and the national football team finally lost 0-2.
In the last World Preliminary Tournament, the national football team also lost 0-2 to Oman away from home, and the loss of this game made the national football team suffer two consecutive defeats of the captain Oman team. After the game, many people blamed goalkeeper Wang Dalei for the national football team's loss of the goal, but some insiders said: "This kind of ball is played, and it is understandable to lose points." "And the second goal conceded by the national football team is because the back line has collapsed across the board, and the responsibility cannot be put on the goalkeeper. There are problems with the entire defensive system of the national football team, allowing opponents to easily tear through the defense line and score.
In the performance evaluation of the starters, Wu Lei, as one of the core of the forwards, was disappointing in this game, he was weak on the offensive end, whether it was running, passing or shooting, there were no bright spots, and he could only play a certain role in restraining him. In contrast, Wei Shihao's performance is much better, daring to take the ball and dare to break through, and Wei Shihao's role on the field is obviously stronger than Wu Lei.
In addition to the performance of individual players, the overall problems of the national football team at the defensive end are prominent, and the back line is like a fictitious defense, which needs to be summarized and improved urgently. Head coach Jankovic also had problems with his decision-making in terms of line-up, especially when the score was behind, replacing Wei Shihao, the only offensive point in the national football team that could hold the ball, which led to the team being more passive in the transition between attack and defense, unable to organize an effective attack, which further exacerbated the unfavorable situation of the game.
After this game, the national football team will make adjustments to the problems that arise. In addition, Wu Shaocong, who plays in the Turkish Super League, will also arrive in the United Arab Emirates to join the national football team. After Wu Shaocong returned to the team, the national football team's Asian Cup registration lineup was all completed, which provided more options for future competitions. Coach Jankovic needs to seriously summarize the defeat, conduct in-depth thinking on tactical arrangements and personnel adjustments, and make necessary adjustments and optimizations, so as to improve the overall strength and competitiveness of the team as soon as possible, and make full preparations for the Asian Cup that starts next month.