Reborn Liverpool

Chapter 401 is a good start
On January 1th, the 5 UAE Asian Cup football match kicked off in Abu Dhabi early this morning at BJ time.

The Huaguo men's football team conducted the last training before the group's first match in Abu Dhabi. On the morning of January 1, they moved from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain to prepare for the match against Kyrgyzstan on January 6.

On the morning of January 1, Du Zhaocai, deputy director of the State Sports General Administration, and his team arrived in Abu Dhabi to supervise the match. This is also the first time Du Zhaocai went to West Asia to supervise the national football team to participate in an official match.

In December last year, the AFC announced the nomination list for the re-election of various positions in the AFC Executive Committee in April this year. Du Zhaocai was nominated for the positions of vice president of the AFC and member of the FIFA Council.

Therefore, in addition to supervising the national football team this time, Du Zhaocai also has to participate in a series of meetings of the AFC, comprehensively establish contacts with the leaders of various departments of the AFC, familiarize himself with the internal operating rules of the AFC, and prepare for the election in April.

This is the benefit brought by the Hua Guo team after reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup. It is imminent to strengthen their power in Asian and world football. Other Asian bigwigs can only applaud and welcome.

In this group match, the national football team played in Abu Dhabi except for the Kyrgyz team's first game in Al Ain. Therefore, the national football team settled in Abu Dhabi.

国足小组赛首战是在当地时间1月7日15时（BJ时间1月7日19时）打响。届时，国足将在打完这场比赛后连夜返回阿布扎比。

当地时间1月6日9时30分，国足将从阿布扎比前往艾因，大约需要2小时的车程。

Although the team stayed in Al Ain for less than two days, the national football team still sent two logistics staff to Al Ain to play the front station last night.

They communicated with the local hotel about the accommodation situation, and reconfirmed the team's route to the training ground, the environment of the competition venue, etc.

The national football team officially submitted the final list of 23 people to the AFC yesterday.In the end, the national football coaching staff chose Quanjian goalkeeper Zhang Lu who had returned from injury, while Shandong Wang Dalei lost the selection.

After Zhang Lu returned, the three goalkeepers of the national football team were ready. Yan Junling was still the No. [-] goalkeeper, Zhang Lu became the first substitute, and Guo Quanbo was the third goalkeeper.

Before the start of the Asian Cup, the AFC announced the list of law enforcement referees for the first two match days.The hosts, the United Arab Emirates, played against Bahrain in the opening game, and Jordanian referee Mahad Meh took the lead.

Another match in the first round of Group A, which is also the third match in the schedule of the Asian Cup group match - the duel between Thailand and India, will be enforced by a group of five referees from Huaguo.

Among them, Huaguo Hong Kong referee Liao Guowen served as the referee, Huo Weiming and Cao Yi served as assistant referees, and Ma Ning and Fu Ming served as baseline referees.

The first opponent of the Huaguo team in the group stage is the Kyrgyzstan team. Many Huaguo fans are still very unfamiliar with this team from Central Asia.

Kyrgyzstan joined FIFA in 1994. As early as 2009, the national football team led by Gao Hongbo had a friendly match with Kyrgyzstan in Tianjin. At that time, the national football team beat the opponent with 3 goals.

2014年12月，佩兰率领的华国队曾在郴州与清远分别以4:0和2:0两次击败吉尔吉斯斯坦队，那两场比赛也是为2015年澳大利亚亚洲杯进行的热身。

Today, Kyrgyzstan is coached by the Russian Krestinin, who took office in October 2014.

However, in the past four years, Krestinen has been sitting firmly in the position of team coach, which is still extremely rare among Asian teams.

When Krestinin first took over, the Kyrgyzstan team was a veritable belly.With the construction in recent years, the Kyrgyzstan team has made some progress. In the latest FIFA rankings, Kyrgyzstan ranks 91st.

In May last year, the team was ranked 5th, which is also the best ranking in the team's history.

In the Russian World Cup qualifiers, the Kyrgyz team once forced the opponent to a very embarrassing situation when they played against the Australian team in the same group.

With the expansion of the current Asian Cup, the team also entered the Asian Cup for the first time in history.

In addition, since the summer of 2017, Krestinin has also served as the coach of a domestic club called "Dodoi" in Kyrgyzstan.

There are many players from the Dodoy team in the Kyrgyzstan national team competing in the Asian Cup.

There are also naturalized players in the team. Defender Tagoe was a Ghanaian and represented the team after he was naturalized in Kyrgyzstan in 2014.

In addition, the team also has several players who were born in Kyrgyzstan but grew up in Germany. Captain Bernhard is one of the representatives.

In the team's 23-man roster, a total of 5 players played in Europe's top or lower leagues such as Poland, Turkey, and Germany, 4 played in other Asian leagues, and the remaining 14 played in their home leagues.

Recently, the Kyrgyzstan team has been in a good competitive state. Qatar captain Afef once reminded the Chinese team that Kyrgyzstan is not so easy to deal with.

Like many teams in the middle and lower reaches of Asia, the Kyrgyzstan team is also a defensive team. The physical condition of the players is relatively outstanding, and their strength is their label.

In the game, the team's overall movement speed is still very fast, and there is still a lot of tactical cooperation in the frontcourt set kicks.

In a recent interview, the players of the team also tried their best to prove themselves in the Asian Cup. For such an opponent, the Chinese team obviously needs to be more careful.

At 1:6 local time on January 15, the Chinese team held a pre-match press conference.Head coach Lippi and captain Zheng Zhi attended.

For tomorrow's game, Lippi said that after 40 days of super-long training, the team is ready:

"Our preparations started on December 12, and we have maintained 1 days of training. The physical preparation and technical and tactical drills have met the requirements. The preparations are good. I am very confident in my players. We know how important tomorrow's game is. , will do my best to achieve good results.”

When asked by a CCTV reporter what he thinks the team still lacks, Lippi said:
"What we lack is that our players need to play every game with a serious attitude."

Talking about Zheng Zhi's suspension, Lippi said:

"Zheng Zhi will be absent from the first game. We already know that in the recent preparations, we put him out of the midfield training. We already have a better midfielder in our plan."

Regarding the opponent of Kyrgyzstan, Lippi said:
"For the first game in Kyrgyzstan, we watched the videos of their 6-7 warm-up matches, and we have a certain understanding of their usual style of play and personnel lineup. Now that the world is advancing in technology, many things are open confidence. No matter how secret it is, the key is to play our own style."

Talking about the goal of this Asian Cup, Lippi said:
"The goal of this Asian Cup is to win the championship, and I also hope that the players can make breakthroughs and bring some surprises to the fans. There are teams from Japan, Australia, and South Korea in the Asian Cup. They are all very strong. The game is very tough. I have worked in China for seven years. China has a population of 14 billion and a large number of fans. I hope to surprise the fans."

But what is embarrassing is that when the national football team officially enters the stadium, the attendance rate in the first game does not seem to be good.

It can be seen that most of the vacant seats appeared in the stands, and the national football fans only concentrated in the stands opposite the rostrum, but the cheering voice of the national football fans was still very loud.

It is worth mentioning that the attendance rate of this Asian Cup does not seem to be very high. Even the opening ceremony + opener, it was revealed that there were a large number of empty seats in the stands.

At 1:7 on January 19, at the Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium in Al Ain, the match between the Chinese national team and the Kyrgyzstan team officially began.

This is the first meeting between the two sides in the Asian Cup.According to FIFA records, this is the second dialogue between the two teams after the warm-up match in 2009.

The big screen on the sidelines displayed the starting lists of the two teams:

Hua Guo Team (4-2-3-1):
1-Yan Junling;
19-Liu Yang, 4-Shi Ke, 6-Feng Xiaoting, 5-Zhang Linfan;
21-Liu Jianye, 15-Wu Xi;

13-Zhang Mai, 16-Jin Jingdao, 7-Wu Lei;

11- Zhang Yulin.

Kyrgyzstan (4-4-2):
1 - Pavel Matyash;

2-Kitchen, 23-Israilov, 17-Tago, 3-Kuzobayev;

11-Saganbayev, 18-Zhirgarbek, 21-Musabekov, 9-Bernhardt;

10-Murzayev, 19-Lux.

Zheng Zhi of the Hua Guo team was absent due to suspension, and Wei Shihao was also absent due to a slight strain, although they were placed in the big list.

In this campaign, Feng Xiaoting and Shi Ke partnered at the central defender position, while Zhang Yulin served as the forward striker, with Liu Jianye wearing the captain's armband.

The four-back formation means that Lippi's national team still chose to focus on stable defense in the first group match.

However, during the game, as the positions of Liu Yang and Liu Jianye change the formation of the national team, it may become a 352, or even a 343 or a five-back formation at any time.

As for the Kyrgyzstan team, as many as 4 people are from Bishkek Dodoy, the head coach Kristinin has coached the team for a year and a half.

The game started with the shouts of Huaguo fans in the audience, because 10 out of 9 spectators on the field were Huaguo fans.

At the beginning of the first half, the two sides tested each other, but the Kyrgyzstan team played more proactively, while the national football team first stabilized their defense.

In the opening 5 minutes, the Kyrgyzstan team created a threat and used the gap in the Huaguo team's ribs to play a cooperation. Although it ended with Wu Xi knocking Bernhard down during the fight, the ball was very dangerous.

In the 6th minute, Lukes passed the ball directly to Saganbayev on the left side without stopping the ball.

In the 9th minute, the national football team launched an offensive from the left. Zhang Yulin made the Hua Guo team's first shot, and the ball was blocked by Maji Ash.

Zhang Yulin's shot is very critical. The opponent has been suppressing the shot before. This shot can make his teammates more confident.

Immediately afterwards, the Hua Guo team won the ball continuously and kept pressing, gradually reversing the passivity of the scene. Zhang Mai led the formation to press forward.

In the 14th minute, the Kyrgyzstan team once again penetrated the left side of the national football team and formed a cross. Fortunately, Saganbayev and Musabekov's shots from the edge of the penalty area were directly blocked by the defenders.

In the 16th minute, the Kyrgyzstan team took a free kick in the penalty area and was cleared with a header. After getting the ball, Musabekov hit the goal with his right foot 25 meters away and fired an anti-aircraft gun.

Then the Huaguo team counterattacked, Zhang Yulin used his physical advantage to push back against Tago but failed to kick the ball at the first time, the ball was stabbed by Kitchin, Wu Lei followed up with a shot from the left rib and was blocked by Kitchin.

In the 23rd minute of the first half, the Huaguo team made an early substitution. Yu Dabao replaced Jin Jingdao. When he left the field, Jin Jingdao went back to the locker room with a puzzled expression on his face.

Although Lippi, who directed the substitution, looked calm and didn't show anything, Zhang Mai knew that Jin Jingdao's international career might be over.

Lippi's substitutions and changes on the court this time are very decisive. Once he finds that the team is in a passive position, he quickly makes adjustments.

In the first 20 minutes, Lippi was dissatisfied with the performance of the players on the field, especially the gap behind Liu Yang's assists, which the opponent used very frequently.

Jin Jingdao has a good habit of Messi not returning to half-court defense, but he can't handle the offense from the left by himself. It's time to play in Barcelona!
With this substitution, the problem that it was difficult for the national football team to comfortably hit the ball into the opponent's half was immediately resolved.

In the 25th minute, Zhang Mai made a direct pass in the midfield, and Zhang Yulin reluctantly passed and shot from the left side. The ball was confiscated by Maji Ash.

In the 27th minute, Zhang Mai once again instigated the offensive with a long pass. Zhang Yulin knocked and Wu Lei formed a single goal. However, the shot from the left side of the penalty area failed to hit the goal and missed the opportunity.

In the 29th minute, Zhang Mai knocked horizontally in front of the penalty area, and Wu Xi's shot near the arc of the penalty area missed the left post slightly.

Two minutes later, Yu Dabao made an oblique pass from the left side of the penalty area. Wu Lei outflanked the ball from the far end and did not reach the ball at all and failed to form a shot.

In the 33rd minute, the Kyrgyzstan team got a corner kick, and the Huaguo team's penalty area was in chaos. The referee signaled the players in the penalty area not to make any moves. Finally, the corner kick was cleared by Zhang Mai, who returned to the penalty area with a header.

After the 35th minute, the Kyrgyz team played resolutely and kept making use of Liu Yang's behind to make a fuss, but Yu Dabao and Liu Yang focused their attention and did not leave an opportunity for the opponent.

In the 43rd minute, the Kyrgyzstan team took the lead in scoring. Kitchin threw the ball out of bounds on the left side of the frontcourt. Murzayev made a header from the edge of the penalty area. Mi Chu volleyed with his left foot and sent the ball into the lower right corner of the goal, 18-1.

It didn't look like a very good chance, but the opponent scored. This is also the first goal scored by the Kyrgyzstan team in an official game against the Huaguo team, and it is also the history of the Kyrgyzstan team in the Asian Cup finals first ball.

In the 44th minute, the national football team that had just conceded a goal hadn't come out of the panic. Musabekov went straight and Lukes formed a quasi-single goal from the center. Unfortunately, the shot went slightly wide of the left post.

In stoppage time, the fully attacking Huaguo team finally equalized the score. This time it was Zhang Mai who broke through the bottom triangle from the right, and Zhang Yulin in the middle grabbed the point.

1-1!In the first half of the game, the Huaguo team and the Kyrgyzstan team shook hands, and then entered the halftime break.

Lippi was dissatisfied with the first half of the game. The Hua Guo team's sharp offense did not play much, and the position of the back line was chaotic.

Ignoring Jin Jingdao who was begging for justice in the locker room, Lippi replaced Shi Ke with Hao Junmin and played when he was off work.

Zhang Mai also saw the problems of the Huaguo team in the first half. The five guards lined up in defense, and the two wing guards were not very clear about their responsibilities.

In this way, when counterattacking, only Wu Xi and Liu Jianye are left in the midfield, and there are no deep players.

Now with four backs, everyone will be more clear about their roles, adding Hao Junmin, the midfielder can hold the ball, and Wu Xi moves forward to increase the attack point.

At the beginning of the second half, with Lippi's substitutions, the Hua Guo team's formation of three central defenders and five defenders returned to four defenders in the second half of the first half.

In the 48th minute, Yu Dabao received a pass from Wu Xi on the right side of the penalty area, but he was too hesitant to handle the ball and failed to form a shot. He knocked back to Hao Junmin and failed to pose a direct threat.

Soon afterwards, Yu Dabao knocked across the right side of the penalty area, and Wu Lei did not kick. Zhang Mai, who missed the opportunity but outflanked the back post, scored easily.

2-1!Zhang Mai's goal helped the Huaguo team quickly overtake the score.

Now the Huaguo team is playing more smoothly. It's like once your body is healthy and your tendons are comfortable, your skills will come up.

Compared with the first half, the Chinese team in the second half was almost like two teams, firmly controlling the situation on the court.

In the 50th minute, after the Hua Guo team took a corner kick from the right, Zhang Linfan confronted the two opponents. Kitchin fought for the top until the ball bounced in front of his own goal. As a result, the goalkeeper Maji Ash made a low-level error and dialed the ball into his own goal. goal.

3-1!The national football team accepted the gift with a smile and relied on the opposing goalkeeper's own goal to widen the score gap.

In the 58th minute, Hao Junmin took a free kick from the left, and Wu Lei outflanked the ball and missed the opportunity.

Two minutes later, the Kyrgyzstan team got their first chance to shoot in the second half. Bernhard took a free kick from the right to the far end, and Murzayev barely missed the goal under the interference of Liu Yang.

Seeing that the situation on the field was not good, the Kyrgyzstan team also made substitution adjustments. Zemlyanukin replaced the goal hero Islailov.

In the 62nd minute, Wu Xi received a pass from Liu Yang from the left and scored with a header, slightly above the crossbar.

Then the Kyrgyz team counterattacked, and Zemlyanukin's shot went wide of the baseline.

In the 71st minute, Zhang Yulin knocked back, Liu Yang made a cross, and Wu Lei's header from the edge of the small penalty area was slightly higher than the crossbar again.

Soon after, Liu Jianye shot high after stealing the ball.

In the 76th minute, Liu Yang suffered from cramps, but continued the game without hindrance after a brief treatment by the team doctor.

After Lippi's adjustment, the Huaguo team suppressed the opponent throughout the second half, because the midfielder was protected, and Liu Yang dared to press up. The Huaguo team's wing was extremely fierce.

In the 79th minute, Liu Yang still sent a wonderful pass from the backcourt. Wu Xi headed the ball away. Kyrgyzstan goalkeeper Mati Ash made a mistake. Yu Dabao got the ball and swung it past the goalkeeper. The high ball sent the ball into the empty goal.

4-1!After the Huaguo team took a three-goal lead, they defeated the opponent's fantasy of chasing points.

The ensuing game went very smoothly for the Hua Guo team, and the strength gap between the two teams was also vividly reflected on the field.

In the 81st minute, Zemlyanukin received a pass from Saganbayev, and the header went slightly wide of the right post.

Two minutes later, Wu Lei, who was eager to score a goal, turned around in the middle of the penalty area and was directly blocked.

Subsequently, both teams ran out of substitutions, and in the end, the Huaguo team reversed Kyrgyzstan 4-1 and scored all three points to get off to a good start.

Hua Guo's next match will be against the Philippines in the second match of the group stage on January 1.

(End of this chapter)