Grab the points! The national football team set a record home tonight, and Ivan made a strong statement before the game

Reporter Chen Yong and Han Bing report The 67,000 tickets that filled the press conference hall and swept away all proved that Hangzhou on the evening of March 25 was destined to witness a record night. But in the face of Australia, the real challenge of grabbing at least one point to retain the initiative in the race for the top four is indeed a bit daunting. Fortunately, the national football coach showed a relaxed side before the game, Ivan did not reserve his backhand, and Li Lei also made a clear statement on behalf of the players: In the battle between China and Australia, the national football team needs to be tougher and more active.

"I'm very happy to see so many reporters here, which also reflects the importance of the game," the media gathered at the pre-match press conference, making Ivan feel that the China-Australia game will definitely be a "grand game", "such a good venue, so many spectators, I hope the players will show a good performance." We are also facing a shortage of personnel, four players are unable to participate in this game, Jiang Guangtai and Gao Zhunyi are unable to participate due to injury, Wang Shangyuan and Lin Liangming are suspended for red and yellow cards, so we have recruited two players to help the team. Hopefully our players will play well with the crowd cheering them on. ”

Lin Liangming's red card suspension, Wang Shangyuan's cumulative yellow card suspension, Jiang Guangtai's confirmation of a muscle strain and his inability to participate, plus Gao Zhunyi, who has been absent from the team's joint training due to injury, has 4 people in the starting lineup of the Sino-Saudi battle. In the case of a shortage of personnel in the backline, the national football team urgently recruited central defender Wu Shaocong and defensive defender Huang Zhengyu.

Yesterday's adaptation training was still 25 participants, and in the training on the earlier day, 10 players wore black vests, namely defenders Li Lei, Jiang Shenglong, Han Pengfei, Yang Zexiang, back Huang Zhengyu, midfielders Xie Wenneng, Cao Yongjing, Xu Haoyang, Wei Shihao and Zhang Yuning, plus goalkeeper Wang Dalei is a proper set of starting lineup. As far as the current situation of the national football team is concerned, the only starting variable at the personnel level is Baihelam.

Not only was the starting card almost open, but even about the back hand, Ivan did not hide it. Serginho is naturally one of them, judging from Ivan's pre-match statement, he has a greater probability of being a substitute, "There was an unexpected red card in the last game and the injuries of Jiang Guangtai and Gao Zhunyi, we were forced to make passive substitutions, and the planned play did not materialize." He hasn't played systematically for a while, so he has to be physically prepared, and we will decide this game according to the situation on the pitch, and hopefully he can bring a good performance to the fans. There is no doubt that he obviously has the intention of using Serginho in this game, participated in the systematic winter training, and also practiced with the national football team for more than ten days, Serginho should have a chance, the only regret is that he failed to adapt to the rhythm of the game in advance in the battle between China and Saudi Arabia.

The other is Wang Yudong, and Ivankovic also gave a good evaluation: "We have five young players in Dubai, three U23 players, two U20 players, they are very positive, and you can see that they are a very good generation of players in Chinese football. As far as this match is concerned, Wang Yudong's technical characteristics are more distinct, which is beneficial for us to use him, so let's wait and see what happens tomorrow. Obviously, he also saw Wang Yudong's characteristics.

In the last game, Wang Yudong was not selected for the final list, which made the outside world regret. It is true that he is not yet 19 years old and lacks physical confrontation ability and senior team game experience, but in the position of full-back or winger, players with sufficient speed and breakthrough ability can play the role of a miracle player, after all, the starter needs to consider how short the shortcomings are, but the substitute wonder player focuses on the merits. Returning to fight at home, Wang Yudong's possibility of making his national football debut has greatly increased.

In this pre-match press conference, the player who participated with Ivankovic was Li Lei. Talking about the preparation, the veteran said: "I am very happy to be able to play this match against Australia in Hangzhou, today the coach analyzed the match between Australia and Indonesia, and we also made some summaries, I hope that tomorrow we can bring a wonderful game to the fans and friends and get the results we want." ”

When talking about how to deal with Australia in terms of mentality and technical and tactical aspects, Li Lei said: "Australia is relatively strong physically, and the offensive transition is very characteristic, and in the last game against Indonesia, they scored two goals through three corners and two offensive transitions, and we also analyzed this. This time we are at home, we have to have a tougher confrontation, a more positive attitude, everything is possible at our home stadium, and we have to show a tough attitude to face tomorrow's game. ”

As one of the few veteran players in the current team, Li Lei said that the international players should not overemphasize the hard work of the journey: "The game with Australia needs to bring up the spirit, and the body is a little tired when I come back from Saudi Arabia, but we are not qualified to say that the performance is affected by the physical condition, especially in the round of 18 on behalf of the national football team." Li Lei's attitude was also recognized by the media at the scene.

In this game with Australia, the starting lineup, substitution selection, and tactical arrangement will affect the final result, but for the players, the most important thing must be two points, one is hard work, and the other is confidence, which is reflected in the "tough attitude" that Li Lei said.This China-Australia battle will create a home attendance record in the history of the Chinese national team, which can be called a feast. And about 60% of the fans are out-of-town fans. Although the future is uncertain, "tougher confrontation and more positive attitude" is the best way to break through the fog and live up to the feast.

Australia coach Popovich also spoke about the excitement in the press room before the game, "I saw so many reporters at the scene and knew the importance of the game. Compared to last October, we have more new players and the team is stronger. China are respectable opponents and will likely start the game up to speed, so we will be confident that we will face all the situations and make sure the game goes according to our tactical rhythm. ”

Australian centre-back De Geneke doesn't seem to be worried about the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre, which is set to set a record for the number of viewers in Chinese football, saying that the team's goal is only to win: "Our eyes will only be on the game, and the away environment of 70,000 or 80,000 people will not cause pressure. It makes us more motivated and enjoys the game more, and I love the atmosphere. ”

In an interview with Australian media, Australia's main defender Burgess also talked about his impression of the national football team: "The Chinese team is a very direct team and always wants to solve problems through rapid attack. We will stick to our style and the way we play, and we look forward to breaking the deadlock as quickly as we did against Indonesia." There are so many factors that affect the game, but I'm definitely not going to make any excuses. That's football, we have to accept it. ”

Australian media believe that Popovich will make some adjustments to the starting lineup, in addition to the center is likely to be started by Duke, who is recruited as a supplement, and defender Degnek who attended the pre-game press conference may also start. Goodwin, who came off the bench against Indonesia, is expected to be a regular in the field, with nine goals (five goals and four assists) in his last nine international matches, including one goal and one assist at home to the national team last October.

Defender Owen is also an important attacking point for Australia: he has converted 75 per cent of his major scoring chances into goals since 2024, the highest conversion rate of any player in the Australian team during the same period. He also won 97 possessions, at least 25 more than any other Australian international, and was both offensive and defensive.

Australian media predict that there may be newcomers who will make their national team debuts in this campaign, including defenders Tenvin, Grant, midfielders Tiger and Triantis. Whoever makes their international debut will become the 649th international player in Kangaroo history to make an international appearance.