YESSSSS!!!! i haven't seen china won two games in asian cup for a long damn time. and damn you wu lei for not passing, i was panic as fcuk that uzbek will equalize..
Great result, especially since China were losing at half-time. Through to the quarter-finals for the first time in a long time.
Great performance from China, excellent defensive display once again and much more effective on the attacking end. Uzbekistan came out with a lax attittude and they never could break out from it once we took the lead. Excellent passing and combinations today, the players looked as confident as ever. Hopefully they can keep this form going
Could have had at least 3. Zhang Linpeng's satellite and Wu Lei's chances. Wu Lei has been quiet in both games honestly, and didn't really have much of a presence until 60 min of this game. Sun Ke had a great outing... I haven't followed CSL much but what does Yu Hai offer that Sun Ke doesn't? More defensive/aerial presence? But regardless, it's been 8 years and we finally get out of groups again. Was worth getting up at 4 am for this haha.
Wu Lei didn't really have many chances until Sun Ke came on and he was put up top. I like him better than Gao Lin upfront, who only provides strength but lacks dribbling skills
Wu Lei hasn't seen much of the ball as a CAM, only once Gao Lin was subbed out and he was moved upfront as a striker did he get to display his talent, and it's probably why he didn't pass at all since then lol. Shame that Liu Binbin didn't get the ball as much when he came on, there were mulitple times he was completely free on the right hand side but noone passed it.
He was seemingly more effective but possibly only because Sun Ke and Hao Junmin did a much better job after they came on, and the Uzbek defence were tired. Of course, Wu Lei's speed is a huge asset by the chances he got later on. I'm more referring to the fact that as a CAM, we can say he wasn't getting service, but nor was he getting in great positions to receive. When he did get it today, he was quite wasteful as well as a CAM. Hao and Sun were far more direct with their dribbles and runs.
Whatever the results are on Group B's matchday 3, China will still be group winners due to H2H results against Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan. So that means we get the runners-up of Group A in the quarterfinals.
Wang Dalei has matured but Wu Lei doesn't look like he's living up to his full potential yet. The way he handled that chance left a lot to be desired. Gao Lin continues to be the best non-scoring striker China has ever had. His specialty is creating chances. Luckily we now have a few guys upfront who can feed off of the chances he creates. This good performance is seemingly out of nowhere, the youngest NT and a coach that's still experimenting with players, and then a deflected free-kick goal win in one game and a comeback win in another. If I had to point to one thing, it's the much better media support the team is getting and consequently much better mindset this team is able to play with. The Xi Jinping effect, I'll call it
Yeah it's been 10 years, since 2004, when Hao Haidong last appeared in AC. And even that was nowhere near the best results China could have achieved. China has been performing way below its capability for a long time.
Folks, after a long hiatus, I'm back, as is Team China Looking forward to the likely China-Korea match. I like this new French coach a lot. Very detail-minded. 100x better than Camacho.
Wow, I don't recall the last time I checked bigsoccer and posted a message. It might have been 7 years. Good to know there are still Chinese soccer fans supporting and following the Chinese men's national team. I have pretty much given up on the men's team and said to myself, "I will only follow if the team shows true signs of improvement." What the heck, making it to the knockout stage of the Asian Cup for the first time in 11 years is considered an improvement. Fine, we got lucky in the qualifications barely squeezing in and sort of got a lucky draw with a mediocre/weak group, but advancing to the knockout stage is still a fact. Let's be somewhat happy about it. Didn't watch any of the matches, just sort of followed the results and was quite surprised. I assume most of you watched the 2 matches we won. Can you let me know whether there's an improvement or we just happen to be lucky and happen to face teams that were mediocre? By the way, to our misfortune, no matter what the group results will be, we will be playing either Australia/South Korea the next round. Let's enjoy it while it lasts.
Team China's doing much better now then when Perrin just took over. The main improvement is the mindset and the basics. In the past, our players would always give the ball away easily - even in the defensive area - or panic and play rough - especially when they can't score for a long time or are falling behind. Nowadays, they can string some decent passes, sustain pressure more easily (in both group matches so far) and have solved most defensive errors, the only thing left wanting is the final shot in front of goal. My dream scenario for road-map to winning the Cup: South Korea in Quarter-finals, Japan or Iran in semis, then Australia in finals. If China can (somehow!) win all these 4 Asian sides that made it to World Cup 2014, then they have conquered their phobia once and for all, and are good enough to qualify for World Cup 2018 and beyond. Too many times China always *nearly* miss out on the World Cup - by that one goal difference, by that one match etc. They just need that extra mental edge. Things are hopefully gonna get even better when the promising overseas youths (U19) mature and enter the senior squad.
I like your enthusiasm and appreciate the response. Okay, I will take your word for it that the men's team is improving. As much as I like for it to happen, China is not going to beat South Korea in a meaningful match up. If we lose by less than two goals it's already considered a good game for us. We have never beaten South Korea or Australia in a meaningful match. Between South Korea and Australia, the former is slightly a better match up. I think it's too far of a stretch to say China nearly miss out on the World Cup. After 2002, world cup qualification has been a nightmare. We can't even make it to the final stages of qualification. So the big step forward would be to make it to the final stages and hopefully be competitive. We need a miracle to get pass South Korea or Australia. Nearly impossible with Australia as it is the host nation for this tournament. If South Korea didn't call up all their best players from overseas we might.....might have a slim chance. Then again, I will be happy if I am proven wrong. If the objective is to make it pass the group stage, we have already accomplished that. If what you are saying is true, I am happy to know that there is real improvement.
I'm not gonna delude myself into thinking that we're on the same level as Japan, Korea or even Australia. Personally I thought it was a win to just get out of groups given our recent record. Honestly we were playing pretty boring football in the warm up games and I think while we deserved both wins this past week, there was a big element of luck in both games as well. Either way, in regards to the tournament, I'm jumping with joy that we made it out, not holding my breath on beating either Korea or Australia - as long as they play with some intensity and make a game of it. Who knows... morale is high and football is unpredictable. As for the national level, it's really hard to say that we've gotten better as a whole based on this tournament alone. I think it's good that we're seeing new faces in the NT, and it's good that the level of competition in the CSL is rising (in part thanks to the big investors like Evergrande really accelerating the general level of the CSL teams that want to contend). In the end the success of the domestic league will be the determining factor in how well our NT will perform.