Kuai Jiwen takes the lead
At noon on February 12, which was 7 hours before the opening match of the 42nd U20 Asian Cup, Chinese Football Association Chairman Song Kai, while giving a mobilization speech to the Chinese U20 team, quoted the classic line “I am the master of my fate” from the domestic animated masterpiece “Nezha 2-The Devil Boy’s Sea” which was popular during the Spring Festival, encouraging the young players to bravely control the ball at their feet and rely on their own efforts to achieve breakthroughs. The U20 national team soldiers also lived up to their mission that night in Shenzhen. With Kuai Jiwen and Liu Chengyu’s wonderful goals in the first 5 minutes of the first half, they defeated the Qatar U20 team 2-1, achieving a good start to the competition and also winning the initiative for the team to advance to the group stage.
According to official data from the AFC, the Chinese U20 team had a ball possession rate of 59.1% throughout the match, significantly higher than the opponent’s 40.9%, and the home team’s 13 shots were also 5 more than the opponent’s. Objectively speaking, the Chinese U20 team had the advantage in this match, and the score and the match scene complemented each other.
On this victory night, there were many wonderful moments for the U20 national team to savor. For example, Kuai Jiwen’s goal in the 17th minute and Liu Chengyu’s goal in the 21st minute came from decisive and brave steals, or benefited from smooth ground cooperation. Although winger Wang Yudong __ did not score, his dribbling and breakthroughs caused the fans at the scene to cheer excitedly. “It’s a wonderful enjoyment to see the U20 national team’s such smooth technical cooperation. Chinese football hasn’t seen such a scene for a long time.” This is the evaluation made by the on-site media reporters.
“Insist on ground cooperation”, this is the basic technical requirement that head coach Djordjevic put forward to the U20 national team. And at noon on the day before the match, Chinese Football Association Chairman Song Kai also gave a mobilization speech in the restaurant of the U20 national team’s hotel. Interestingly, Song Kai mentioned the domestic animated masterpiece “Nezha 2-The Devil Boy’s Sea” which was popular at home and abroad during the Spring Festival. Song Kai especially used the line “I am the master of my fate” from the protagonist Nezha in the film to encourage the U20 national team players: “The ball is at your feet, if you want to break through, you have to rely on your own efforts.” A person from the U20 national team said after the match: “Indeed, we insisted on playing on the ground and playing at our feet today. The players did not change their playing style because of the stalemate on the field, and the whole team withstood the test.”
Liu Chengyu expands the advantage
Before the match between China and Qatar, the players of the U20 national team were under considerable pressure. Because the Kyrgyzstan U20 team in the same group was defeated 1-5 by the Australia U20 team, it meant that the former would fight for their lives against the Chinese team in the second round of the group stage. However, as predicted by the coaching staff, if the team can overcome the psychological barrier in the first match, then the subsequent competition will go smoother. It has to be said that the opening match, both in terms of process and result, was under the control of the U20 national team. The Chinese team has not made the fans feel this kind of joy for a long time.
On the evening of the 12th, national team coach Ivankovic appeared in the box at the China-Qatar match. He watched the match with Milu, the former national team coach who is a consultant to the Qatar Football Association. The performance of the top players of the U20 national team, represented by Kuai Jiwen, Liu Chengyu, and Wang Yudong, was amazing enough. While Ivankovic congratulated his old friend Djordjevic, he was also delighted with his new discoveries.
On the night of the Lantern Festival, Chinese football felt joy because of this uplifting victory. Song Kai commented after the match: “The moon on the fifteenth is round, the first match of the group stage, a small victory is a big victory!”
Text/Beijing Youth Sports Xiao Nan
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