U23 Asian Cup Group List
U23 Asian Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Men's Football Qualifiers will be held in Thailand from January 8th to 26th. According to the rules, Japan is the host of the Tokyo Olympics and will automatically obtain tickets to the Olympic finals. In addition to Japan, there are three places in the Asian region, namely the final championship, Asian and third place in the U23 Asian Cup. Sina Lottery will simply bring tours of the various groups of this event.
A Group: Australia has a great advantage. The host is determined to break through
As the host of this U23 Asian Cup, Thailand undoubtedly occupies the right time and place. Former Japanese national team coach Nishirano serves as the head coach of the Thai national team and the National Olympic team. In the context of Japan's point-to-point "support" work from South Korea to Vietnam, there are always 6 Thai super giants Buriram in this list of Thai U23s. Among them, Subachu, Subacha and Subacha are the main players in the team. Subacha and Subacha are traditional forward teams. I believe that this Thai U23 team will become the first choice player. But the current weakness of Thailand's U23 is that it is often a big victory when encountering someone weaker than itself. Once a strong team is instantly depressed, the team's winning value is not enough.
As a traditional Asian powerhouse, Australia has made many achievements in the World Cup, which is closely related to the complete youth training system. On this U23 roster, there are 12 players playing overseas, and the rest are also playing in the A-League club, and there is no doubt about tactical qualities. However, an incident occurred in Australia's U23 in November 2019. Four U23 internationals Wells, Atkinson, Wilson and McGrie made an appointment with girls in Cambodia and never returned home. They were eventually suspended for 10 months, which objectively reflects that the Australian team is very disciplined and is determined to win the qualifications for this Olympic Games.
The other two teams, Iraq , are relatively stable in the main competition, and the last loss in the main competition dates back to 3 years ago; Bahrain is generally limited, and it is a certain amount of luck to stand out from the qualifiers, and it is not difficult to make a difference in the group stage.
B group: Olympic host practices tactics Qatar unstable performance
Japan is the host of the 2020 Olympics and has qualified for the Olympic finals circle, so this U23 Asian Cup is more fighting for practice tactics. The 23-man roster is basically composed of players who play in the domestic league. Only Ryotaro Muino is selected as a European player. Overseas players of Kubo age, Ariki Do, Yu Ai Abe, etc. have not been recruited. This also shows that Japan's intention for this game is to select better players. Among them, including Yukisuke Kojima, Keisuke Oma, Takashi Watanabe, Oki Hashioka Oki, Koga Sun, Morishima Shinta Tanaka, Shunta Endo Hita, Hita Tanaka, Daiki Suga, Yuki Aima, Yuki Tagawa Tagawa , Hokawa Oki, and Kie-sei Ueda were selected, so the strength of Japan's U23 is good. Moreover, in order to seek the opportunity to start in the Olympics, Japanese players are extremely likely to work hard.
Qatar is the organizer of the 2022 World Cup. In recent years, it has been in a passionate period for football. In 2019, Qatar defeated Japan and won the Asian Cup championship. The success factor is attributed to the naturalized youth training system. Due to the insufficient population base and harsh climate, the domestic league level can only be maintained by high-priced foreign players. In order to quickly improve the performance of the national team, Qatar chose to plan players to grow rapidly. However, Qatar U23 failed to win three games at the 2018 Asian Games, and only drew with Thailand during the period. Previously, the qualifiers won the top spot in the group with a slight advantage of goal difference, and unstable performance has become a big variable.
The two remaining teams in this group, Saudi U23 and Syria U23, have not performed stably before, but they are still potential roles of disruptors or dark horses.
C group: China's death group Iran is under great pressure
The C group where China is located naturally attracts much attention, but according to the signing of the Chinese National Olympic Team, the Chinese National Olympic Team is deeply in the death group, and it meets South Korea and Iran's U23 in a narrow road. When the adult national team is still at a psychological disadvantage, it can be imagined at the national Olympic level. Uzbekistan U23 is the champion of the last U23 Asian Cup. The explosive power of Central Asian Wolves is also amazing. If the Chinese Olympic team wants to qualify in the group, it needs to forge ahead and be blessed with luck.
This big list of China's battle in the U23 Asian Cup, there are good players on the front, middle and back front. The frontcourt Zhang Yuning and Yang Liyu are both mainstays of outstanding performance in the league. Zhang Yuning, who returned from studying abroad, was repeatedly mentioned by the AFC in the official preview and will be the leading figure of China's National Olympic Team. Yang Liyu almost became the assisting king in the Chinese Super League last season, and his potential on the wing was also effectively stimulated by Cannavaro . In terms of midfield, the long-lost battle formation, Huang Zichang is worth looking forward to. The defense line is guarded by the newly promoted national team's main central defender, Zhu Chenjie, , but it is difficult to withstand the attack of South Korea, Iran, Uzbek. After taking office, head coach Hao Wei has experienced many competitions such as Wanzhou Four-National Championship, Thailand Training, and Four-National Championship. This time, the Football Association Vice Chairman Gao Hongbo personally supervised the battle, which will also encourage the morale of the whole team. Despite this, the situation of the Chinese men's football team this time is still not optimistic. After all, it is an indisputable fact that talent is out of stock. In such a terrifying group, it is extremely difficult to qualify in the group.
South Korea U23 drew 1-1 with Australian U23 in the previous warm-up match, while Australian U23 once defeated China U23 5-1. South Korean team head coach Kim Hefan said that Iran and Uzbekistan in the same group are all powerful opponents, while China is a team that must be defeated. In addition, Jin Hefan has repeatedly emphasized that every game must be played like a final, or even a warm-up match. Needless to say, the ability and fighting spirit of the Korean young players are the first three, and even the championship is the result of the championship. The Korean team's roster includes the only European player, Zheng Youying, Lee Dong-jun, who ranked second in the K League Best Player Selection last season, and Oh Se-hoon, runner-up member of the U20 World Youth Championship last year. In addition, there is Cao Kyu-sung who entered the 11-man roster in the K2 league last season. Korean football has a glorious history in participating in the Olympic finals. Since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Korean men's football team has participated in the Olympics for 8 consecutive times. The Korean Football Association also provided full logistical support for this U23 Asian Cup. 16 staff members, including 6 members of the coaching team and 10 logistics personnel, were specially equipped with chefs and equipment assistants.
The domestic situation in Iran is turbulent, and the football level is changing dramatically. The chairman of the Iranian Football Association resigns, the head coach of the national team is not trusted, and the two domestic giants Persepolis and Tehran’s independence also change coaches on the New Year’s Eve. The current Iranian U23 coach Esteli said: "Iranian football is in the most difficult moment, and the whole team must unite." In the previous warm-up match between Iran U23 and Qatar U23, he was once behind 0-2 and Qatar U23 was sent off with red cards, but the Iranian U23 coach still insisted on the other side to take two more players, and finally the two sides shook hands 2-2. In this Iranian U23 roster, captain Norafkan was led by captain Norafkan. He represented Tehran at the age of 18 in December 2015. In June 2018, he joined the BJA team Charleroi and was loaned to Sepahan in 2019. It is worth mentioning that the Iranian U23 has never won the Olympic Games since the 1972 Munich Olympics. The fact that he missed the Olympics for more than 40 years has given the team both motivation and pressure.
Uzbekistan U23 won 3-1 in the warm-up match against Qatar U23 on January 3, and maintained a complete victory in the four warm-up matches in the first four Asian Cups. As the defending champion of the U23 Asian Cup, there are as many as 5 active Uzbekistan internationals in this roster, namely defender Khojahba Ariyonov, and midfielders Aziz Ganiyev, Ismerov, Ibrajimov and Yakshpoyev. Uzbekistan U23 went to Thailand for warm-up training early, which shows how much it attaches to this event.
D group: Vietnam emerged and the UAE is in a stable state
Vietnam football has made rapid progress in the past two years. It reached the semi-finals of the 2018 Asian Games and reached the semi-finals of 8 in the last Asian Cup. The Tiger Cup broke Thailand's monopoly position. In the previous qualifiers, Vietnam U23 scored 11 goals in three games and lost zero goals without any suspense. Vietnam won three goals in the final of the 30th Southeast Asian Games, breaking the 44-year championship monopoly of Thailand and Malaysia . Such a glamorous record has declared the full rise of Vietnamese football. South Korean coach Park Hengshu is undoubtedly the number one hero. The Vietnamese are not tall, but they are very flexible. The spirit of hard work has allowed the Vietnamese who have been sharpening their swords for ten years to see the opportunity to get a piece of the pie in the Asian football section. The signing of this U23 Asian Cup Vietnam is good. The UAE, North Korea, and , Jordan and are not strong in the same group, and there are many opportunities to qualify in the group.
The UAE, North Korea and Jordan have to compete for another qualification to advance to the top 8, which depends on who will perform more. In comparison, the UAE is more optimistic about qualifying. After all, they remain unbeaten and stable in 9 games last year.
(Lucky Star)
