Reporter Chen Yong reports On the afternoon of March 3, the national football team gathered in Beijing, and 22 international players took the lead in flying to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this trip to West Asia, the national football team will play away against Saudi Arabia on March 20 local time (2:15 a.m. Beijing time on the 21st), which is the 7th round of the round of 18, and the goal of the national football team is to score points and return home, and then lay the foundation for entering the top four in the group.

The national team training list is 32 people, at 6:12 pm on the 3rd, Beijing time, the national football team and 22 international players who were concentrated in advance set off to Dubai, Shanghai Shenhua's 5 international players Jiang Shenglong, Yang Zexiang, Wang Haijian, Xu Haoyang and Liu Chengyu, and Shanghai Port's 4 international players Yan Junling, Jiang Guangtai, Wei Zhen and Wang Zhenao, including 9 people, because they need to play with the club in the 1/8 finals of the AFC Champions League Classic, will fly to Dubai after the two-legged match to meet with the big team.

Both teams played at home in the first leg and away in the second leg, with Shanghai Port playing away to Yokohama Mariners on the 11th and Shanghai Shenhua away to Kawasaki Frontale on the 12th. The internationals from both teams will fly to Dubai to join the team after the AFC Champions League Classic. At this time, there is still more than a week to go before the game, and from the perspective of preparation, the form of the two teams of internationals can be carried over into the game.

Another new international player, Qingdao West Coast midfielder Xu Bin, was originally scheduled to arrive in Beijing at noon on March 3 to join the team and set off together. However, due to the heavy rain on Sunday, the West Coast and the Three Towns were forced to postpone to the afternoon of the 3rd, after the official announcement of the postponement, the national team leader contacted Xu Bin for the first time, and arranged a direct flight from Qingdao on the afternoon of March 4, after more than 10 hours of flight, Xu Bin is expected to arrive in Dubai in the early morning of the 5th, Beijing time.

In terms of player position distribution, Shanghai Port and Shanghai Shenhua's international players are mainly concentrated in the backfield, especially Jiang Guangtai, Jiang Shenglong and Wei Zhen are just the three central defenders, Yang Zexiang and Wang Zhenao are also important choices for fullbacks, which is actually an important reason for the national football team to recruit Liu Haofan, Wang Shiqin and other young defenders. Comparatively speaking, although there is also Xu Haoyang, a player who played more in the round of 18 among the 9 players, the midfielders of the 23 players who arrived in the early stage of the national football team are very sufficient, at least there are no problems in midfield defense, offensive and defensive conversion, and offensive tactical drills.

At the moment, the national football team has performed well in the forward line and forward midfield positions, such as Xie Wenneng, Lin Liangming, Wei Shihao and Cao Yongjing, who have scored in both rounds of the league. In comparison, there are many problems with the playing time of the international players in the forward line and back positions, and it is difficult to guarantee the state. As a result, the national football team is also preparing to play a warm-up match during their stay in Dubai, which not only stimulates the state of the international players, but also allows the international players to maintain the rhythm of the game.

In this westward expedition, the goal of the national football team is to get points and return home. At present, the national football team and Saudi Arabia have 6 points, in addition to Indonesia and Bahrain also have 6 points, and the second-ranked Australia has only 7 points. Of course, the national football team still has the hope of reaching the top two and directly qualifying, and fans can also expect a small miracle away from home to beat Saudi Arabia, but that is a more ideal state.

The main leaders of the Chinese Football Association went to the hotel where the national football team stayed to see off the national football team. At present, the national football team has formed a relatively orderly communication and incentive mechanism, and the leaders of the Football Association communicate with the players in a variety of ways to enhance the cohesion of the team as much as possible, which has achieved good results in the two trips to the top 18 in October and November last year.

At the same time as the national football team's westward march, the Chinese Football Association also announced the latest list of the U22 national team, the 2003 age group is the team participating in next year's U23 Asian Cup and Asian Games. It is worth noting that the U22 international team has recruited 9 U20 players.

The main lineup outside the goalkeeper of the U20 national team, in addition to Wang Yudong and Liu Chengyu, who were selected for the national team, and Shi Songchen, who was injured, the remaining 7 people were selected for the U22 national team, they are Peng Xiao, Yang Xi, He Yiran, Yi Mulan, Chen Zeshi, Kuai Jiwen and Mao Weijie, in addition to Wang Yifan, who played more, was also selected for the U22 national team. Yang Haoyu of Shanghai Shenhua, who has been heavily used in the league, was also selected for the U22 national team.

This is actually a very normal thing, and for the Under-22 national team, the Under-20 players are naturally their target, and they are expected to bring significant improvement to the Under-22 national team in midfield and attack. Of course, the appearance of the Under-23s and Under-20s in the league ahead will be more important.

It is worth noting that the goalkeeper of the U22 national team is the focus of attention: Yu Jinyong came off the bench in the first round of the league and started in the second round of the league, and performed well; Li Hao also locked in the main force on the west coast of Qingdao, which undoubtedly improved the defense of the U22 national team to a large extent.