See progress! Although the national football team lost to Japan, the scene was gratifying, and the set-piece defense problem needed to be solved urgently

Reporter Chen Yong reports from Xiamen Although it was a 1-3 defeat to Japan, when the final whistle blew, the fans of Xiamen Egret Stadium still applauded the national football players. Lin Liangming's goal helped the national football team become the first team to break the Japanese team's goal in the round of 18, and the performance of the international players in the strong confrontation and fast pace made people see the gratifying side.

It's a pity that three headers were conceded, two corners were conceded, and the national football team's defensive problems are still difficult to get rid of - among the 16 goals conceded by the national football team, 6 goals were conceded from set-pieces, and 9 goals were conceded with headers, accounting for more than half. If the national football team wants to achieve good results in the next four games, this problem must be paid great attention to and solved.

Needless to say, when technical and tactical capabilities are at a significant disadvantage, it is the most effective way to block the opponent through constant confrontation or even foul play. "Everything we did was not let the Japanese team do what they wanted to do." After the game, Ivan also clarified his tactical thinking.

In recent games, the national football team has gradually increased the intensity of confrontation, and the game against Japan is even more crazy to grab the whole game, and almost every ball, the international players are putting pressure on the opponent. Xie Wenneng, Cao Yongjing, and Wei Shihao, three midfielders who originally played the role of attackers, have also been dyed yellow because of this.

As Wang Shangyuan said: "This kind of world preliminary game, if you don't play with your body and against your opponent, you can't play, everyone has seen our hard work and confrontation on the field, which is a premise of modern football." Only if you can't keep up with this kind of confrontation, there will be no skills and tactics at all, and our body, including strength, can play football well. ”

And what surprises people about this national football team is not only the strong confrontation. In dealing with the fast pace of the opponent, as well as their own offensive and defensive transitions, the international players did a good job, with fast passing coordination, individual breakthroughs and quick transfer of the ball, ensuring that the national football team could threaten the Japanese door many times.

Lin Liangming's goal is the best embodiment: Hu Hetao steals Junya Ito in the backfield, Xie Wen can quickly advance after getting the ball, look up and observe after deducting Endo Hang, wait for Wei Shihao, who was originally in an offside position, to retreat and then divide the ball on the right side in a timely manner, the latter gets the ball and sends a straight stopper, at this time Xie Wen, who has been inserted into the top of the arc of the big penalty area, can cleverly leak, Lin Liangming does not stop pushing the ball and directly penetrates the goal guarded by Suzuki Caiyan - in just 15 seconds, from defense to offense in one go, the international players have almost made the most correct choice in every moment.

'I think today was one of the most difficult away games for us, especially in the first half, it was particularly tough. Facing the interview camera after the game, Japanese player Kenei Kubo commented on the performance of the national football team in this game, and he even said: "The Chinese team (tempo) is faster than most European clubs, I am a little surprised. "The affirmation from the opponent may better reflect the progress of the national football team.

Wang Shangyuan pointed out that now all the players should be more calm in this kind of fast-paced game, "Maybe everyone is getting more and more familiar with the game, and we are getting better and better." Japanese coach Mori Boichi sighed: "The last time we met was the first game of the World Preliminary Tournament, and now, the Chinese team has won two consecutive victories, they are not improving, but they have great potential, and they now have faster passes." ”

In fact, whether it is fast progress or great potential, it generally means the same thing, that is, the national football team is more and more in line with the requirements of modern football, which includes the adaptation to the intensity and rhythm of the game, including the familiarity and tacit understanding between each other, and the change of mentality - more and more self-confidence.

"Potential comes from the absolute trust of the players." After the game, Ivan affirmed that Lin Liangming and Wei Shihao did a good job in positions that he was not familiar with. And this trust is not only between generals, but also between teammates. After winning against Bahrain in the last round, Wang Dalei's sentence "This team has no absolute stars, we can only run one more step for everyone to strive for every 1 point" is the best portrayal of the national team's unity.

Despite seeing the bright spots, in terms of results, the national football team still lost. At present, the national football team is becoming more and more adaptable in terms of intensity and rhythm, and the players' confidence is getting more and more, but the problem still exists and is serious - set-piece defense, especially header defense, has become the most significant shortcoming of the national football team in the first six games. In the first half, the national football team conceded 13 goals, 4 set-pieces conceded, and 6 headers, of which 11 were reversed by Saudi Arabia, all of which were corner headers. After this game, that statistic changed to 16 goals conceded, with 6 goals conceded from set-pieces and 9 goals conceded with headers.

At present, the national football team has conceded goals in set-pieces, all of which happened to Japan, Saudi Arabia and Australia. This is related to the opponent's tactics and ability, but the national football team still has room for improvement, in addition to the need for a high concentration of attention on the marking, it also needs to have corresponding arrangements in terms of positioning and protection.

Ivan also said after the game that the team had conceded from set-pieces before, "We are emphasising that in training, there are also defensive training from set-pieces. It may be a momentary distraction that can change the result, but we will continue to work on this aspect to get the players into good habits. We're also emphasising set-pieces in attack. ”

In addition, it is worth noting the time of conceding the goal: in the first game against the Japanese team, the national football team lost the goal in the injury time of the second half, and the second game against Saudi Arabia was killed by the opponent in the 90th minute, and the third round faced Australia also conceded a goal in the second half of the injury time, plus the goal lost in the first half of the game, the national football team has been scored by the opponent at the end of the second half of the second half for 6 times, which naturally has the objective reason that it is difficult to concentrate after the physical fitness bottoms, but it is definitely another chronic disease that the coaching staff needs to pay attention to. The national football team always loses the gate at the last moment, which is undoubtedly a great blow to the team's self-confidence.

In the other two games of this round, Indonesia defeated Saudi Arabia and Bahrain drew with Australia, and the national football team fell back to the bottom of the group. At the moment, Japan has 16 points and it is only a matter of time before they qualify. Japan's coach Boichi Moriyasu said at the post-match press conference: "Although we can qualify for the World Cup in March next year, our goal is to win the World Cup." ”

After the Japanese team, there was a five-team melee. The points are stale, and it is not easy for the national football team to reach the top four in the group. This requires the internationals and Ivan's coaching staff to polish the details repeatedly, especially to solve the two major problems of set-piece defense and stoppage time conceding.