The U22 national football team has other plans for its third match against Uzbekistan. Is this the prelude to a ticket-grabbing battle?

Sports Weekly All-Media Reporter Wang Xiaorui Chengdu Report

After winning the South Korean team, China U22 will face its old rival Uzbekistan in the third round of the Panda Cup on the 18th. Regarding the latter, neither most players of the U22 national team nor coach Antonio are unfamiliar at all. In March this year, the two teams had played against each other in the Yancheng Four Nations Tournament, and they ended in a 0-0 draw. However, the Uzbekistan U22 team coming to China this time is still slightly different in terms of personnel composition.

How do you say this? The Uzbekistan U22 team 8 months ago was still mainly composed of players in the 03/04 age group, almost the same age as the Chinese team. But this time, head coach Heydarov's selection was very knowledgeable. All 23 players were born after 2005. Strictly speaking, it is more like an Uzbekistan U20 national team. At the beginning of the year, it was this group of players who were unfortunately blocked from the semi-finals by the South Korean team in the U20 Asian Cup held in Shenzhen and missed the World Youth Championship in Chile.

But when it comes to Uzbekistan’s 05/06 age group, it has also had many experiences with the Chinese team. For example, in the Changsha Four Nations Tournament last September, the Uzbekistan U19 National Youth Team, represented by these players, drew 0-0 with the China U21 coached by Antonio. In the younger age group of 05/06, China and Ukraine also faced off twice. They drew 0-0 in the 2024 Weinan Cup. In the warm-up match before the U20 Asian Cup in February this year, the Chinese team drew 2-2 at the last minute. At that time, the head coach of the team was Djurjevic. It is precisely because of this that there are almost no secrets between the two teams. To use the team's description: "Almost everyone knows themselves and the enemy."

This is the third time that the team has met Uzbekistan. Judging from the situation, Antonio has the opportunity to compete for the championship, and the players have also expressed such a desire. Zhang Weihui said: "In the next game against the Uzbekistan team, we still need to carefully analyze their game videos and go all out to try to win them." Kuai Jiwen, who has experienced many matches between China and Uzbekistan, said bluntly: "Uzbekistan is also a very tough team. We have to take the lead in defense and then try to win the game."

If nothing else, Antonio will continue the strategy of the previous two games: focusing on defense and focusing on counterattacks. Against South Korea, his tactics were relatively successful. "We first defended well, and then seized some opportunities to counterattack. Basically, the Korean team did not cause us too much difficulty, and the opponent did not take many shots." Kuai Jiwen explained in detail. In fact, after qualifying in the qualifiers in September, this has gradually become the standard configuration of the U22 national team, and is likely to be put into use in the U23 Asian Cup. From this perspective, this match against Uzbekistan is a great opportunity for Antonio to further strengthen this tactical concept: "We must continue to get closer and closer (to the best level) to keep our level moving forward. The team will not always win, and everyone needs to look at it dialectically."

As for the Chinese team, another factor that cannot be ignored is that with the approach of the U23 Asian Cup, the team's lineup is bound to be slimmed down. As the last public warm-up match before the start of the main game, the China-Ukraine war will naturally bear the heavy responsibility of inspection. Especially in this training session, the team has a total of 30 players, and 27 people actually attended. When it comes to the U23 Asian Cup, the registration limit will be 23 people. At present, compared with the first two games, the starting lineup of the U22 national team may be fine-tuned, but it will mainly focus on the replacement of individual positions. The 532 formation played by Antonio is expected to be continued.

Among them, Kuai Jiwen, Chen Zeshi, Zhu Pengyu and Zhang Huihui, who played in the second half of the second game, will be the focus of the inspection. In addition, Yang Xi, who has just started training with the whole team. What is more regrettable is that due to poor physical condition, both Wumitjiang and Xiang Yuwang were on the sidelines in the last practice before the game. Against Uzbekistan, it may be difficult for them to enter the starting lineup.