Chapter 232: The last round of the group stage, Iran! (Chinese national football team)

The day after the game, the players rested in the hotel for a morning. At 1:30 p.m., the hottest time in Qatar, the players arrived at the training ground to start today's training session.

In this U23 Asian Cup, the training ground allocated to China is a small stadium that can accommodate about 8000 people.

However, the number of people that can be accommodated is actually not important, because the game has already started. The current training is kept confidential throughout the process, and no one except players, coaches, and staff is allowed to enter the training ground. The purpose is to protect the team's tactical preparations.

This afternoon, the training arranged by Fu Bo was relatively simple, consisting of some of the most common passing and receiving exercises, followed by an intra-team competition. According to the coaching staff's arrangement, Jiang Yuan was assigned to Team A, which did not wear a vest.

"Let's go!"

Jiang Yuan dribbled the ball down the field and pointed at Team B's goal, signaling Zhang Yuning to move.

Seeing Zhang Yuning starting on the right, Jiang Yuan suddenly accelerated and held Shi Ke with his right hand. Without any fancy techniques, he left Shi Ke far behind.

Then, during the breakthrough, Jiang Yuan kept his eyes on the movement on the right. When he felt the time was right, Jiang Yuan suddenly kicked his left foot towards the middle. Zhang Yuning on the right completed the outflanking move and shot into the goal with his right foot.

"nice shot!"

Jiang Yuan applauded and cheered, and after Zhang Yuning scored a goal, he immediately ran over to hug Jiang Yuan.

Putting aside the team's tactics, the training sessions arranged by Fu Bo were relatively reasonable. He used a 40-minute confrontation match to help Jiang Yuan get familiar with the rhythm of the U23.

If it was at Chelsea, Jiang Yuan would not care about the winger on the right and would just run to the bottom line, because the players of Chelsea's first team would definitely be able to react to what he was going to do. Just like Hazard, when Jiang Yuan was ready to break through with the ball, Hazard was already standing on the offside line and started.

But it is different for U23. Jiang Yuan needs to make sure that his teammates have started running before he can break through. Otherwise, if he completes the run but his teammates have not reached the position, the offensive opportunity will be wasted.

"Beep!"

Li Shubin blew the whistle, and the 40-minute competition ended. Team A led by Jiang Yuan defeated Team B led by Liu Binbin with a score of 5:2.

"how do you feel?"

Fu Bo dripped a bottle of water to Jiang Yuan, who unscrewed the lid and gulped down the drink. Although it was January, the local temperature had reached 1 degrees Celsius, and it was still very hot even if he was wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts for training.

"It's OK. I've almost found the feeling of cooperation."

Jiang Yuan screwed the bottle cap back on and then threw the mineral water bottle on the grass.

To be honest, the whole training process gave Jiang Yuan the feeling of an adult playing games with a child.

But it doesn't matter. Training is secondary. The main thing is to get familiar with these teammates. After all, if I really get a ticket to the Rio Olympics, I will still be with these teammates.

From Fu Bo to Liu Binbin, Xie Pengfei, Zhang Yuning, and Wei Shihao, the U23 teammates are all pretty good. This doesn't mean how good their football skills are, but that there is light in their eyes. Jiang Yuan can see a kind of vitality and hope from them.

The most important thing is that Jiang Yuan hasn't been so relaxed during training for a long time.

Fu Bo nodded and called all the players on the scene over: "The rhythm is still a bit chaotic, the left and right lanes are not playing the same game"

Fu Bo was naturally talking about Team A. Zhang Yuning, the right wing leader of Team A, lowered his head in disappointment when he heard what Fu Bo said.

"But... overall it's pretty good. I know it's going to be hard to keep up with Jiang Yuan's offensive rhythm, but we did better today than yesterday. If you can maintain this state, it shouldn't be a big problem to beat Iran the day after tomorrow."

"Coach Fu, there's nothing to worry about Iran. Look, Brother Yuan almost made those Syrian defenders go crazy yesterday. Who could defend them?"

Liu Binbin stood with his front and back feet crossed, and his whole body posture gave people a very relaxed feeling. He seemed a little arrogant, but what he said was true. This was indeed the situation yesterday. Mubayed and Jeniat couldn't even hold Jiang Yuan back, let alone defend him.

Fu Bo glared at Liu Binbin in front of him and said, "Don't think too simply. Iran is much stronger than Syria. They are the favorites to win the championship this year. After we played Syria yesterday, Iran played against Qatar. Iran almost defeated Qatar."

Jiang Yuan licked his lips: "Iran, what are their characteristics?"

Hearing that it was Jiang Yuan who asked the question, Fu Bo immediately turned around and faced Jiang Yuan: "Hiss... Their physical stats are better than Syria's, and their speed and strength are generally faster, but when it comes to passing and controlling, the two teams are not much different."

"Um……"

Jiang Yuan nodded, showing a thoughtful expression: "As long as the passing and control are not working, there shouldn't be any big problem"

What Jiang Yuan fears is not how strong Iran's physical fitness is, what he fears most is the team that is good at controlling the ball and passing the ball. After all, facing a team with particularly fine skills, it will become more difficult to break out unilaterally, because Jiang Yuan may not be able to get the pass from his teammates.

Fu Bo saw the worry in Jiang Yuan's heart and comforted him: "Don't worry about this. Except for Japan, the ball control ability of other teams is average."

"There is also South Korea. Son Heung-min is also very good. I have played against him before."

Jiang Yuan added that Son Heung-min's physical fitness is not that explosive just after he transferred to Tottenham, but his passing and shooting abilities are at the top level in the Premier League.

There is still some gap between him and the top players, but being able to start for Tottenham says a lot.

"Son Heung-min?"

Fu Bo was stunned for a moment, then a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes: "Is he half as strong as you?"

……

"China Media Group, China Media Group, good evening to all dear audience friends"

"This is the live broadcast of the third round of the 2016 U23 Asian Cup Group A match, China U23 VS Iran U23"

"The venue is the home of Qatari team Al Duhail, the Bin Khalifa Stadium!"

"We can see that there are obviously more spectators coming to the scene today than last time. It is estimated that there should be 8 to 9 people."

"The referee is already looking at his watch!"

"Okay, the game has begun. Now let's introduce the starting lineups of both teams. First up is the Chinese U23!"

China U23 (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Du Jia

Defenders: Wang Tong, Mi Haolun, Shi Ke, Wu Xinghan
Midfielders: Liao Lisheng, Zhang Xiaobin, Xie Pengfei
Forwards: Jiang Yuan, Liu Binbin, Zhang Yuning
"Then it's Iran U23!"

Iran U23 (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Ahbari

Defenders: Abdulrazade, Milad Mohammoudi, Daneshgar, Haidare
Midfielders: Çeşmi, Ali Karimi, Segebi, A-Najzadeh
Forwards: Torabi, Motahari

……

"Go China!"

"Go China!"

"China--!!!"

Bang bang bang, the Khalifa Stadium was filled with noise. Nearly 5000 Iranian fans wearing red jerseys gathered in half of the stands. The huge noise made the Iranian fans a little breathless.

The atmosphere at the scene was very lively. In order to prevent their headscarves from flying off, some Iranian female fans adjusted their headscarves before entering the stands. This was because some male fans liked to wave their arms when they were excited, and they might accidentally knock the headscarves of the women next to them off.

In the 10th minute of the match, the performance of China U23 was much better than the previous match against Syria U23. The reason was simple: Jiang Yuan gradually adapted to the rhythm of the game and started to play some passes with his teammates. But Iran was a popular team after all, and even though the Chinese team was in good shape, they did not gain much advantage on the field.

As the Iranian team launched an attack in the frontcourt, commentator He Wei's speech speed became faster and faster.
"Haidalie's long pass to Karimi, Xie Pengfei stepped forward. Xie Pengfei is not a good stealer, let's see how he handles it. Hey! He was a little slow, Karimi dribbled away, and the ball came to Segebi's feet."

“Segebi goes straight to Motahari!”

"Hit the door!"

"Oh my God, Du Jia! A save from Du Jia! The Chinese team's goalkeeper saved the ball!"

"Give it to Shi Ke where it lands!"

Just after Shi Ke got the ball, Fu Bo, who was outside the court, put his hands around his mouth and used his hands as a megaphone to shout, "Long pass! Pass it forward!"

Hearing this, Shi Ke did not hesitate at all. After shaking his head for a while, he found Jiang Yuan who was at the front on the left.

Snapped!
A long pass from Shi Ke from the backcourt!

"Nice!"

Looking at the ball flying towards him, Jiang Yuan was delighted. He made a fake move to the right and then quickly ran to the baseline.

Because Jiang Yuan did not need to take on the task of defense, his position was often more forward than Liu Binbin, who played as a center forward. Because of this, the only person defending Jiang Yuan at this time was the sideback Haidalie, who had been thrown away by Jiang Yuan 2 seconds ago.

"Snapped!"

There was another hit, and Jiang Yuan knocked the ball inside with his left foot. Liu Binbin in the middle knew that Jiang Yuan would not pass the ball to him, so he decisively rushed into the opponent's penalty area to attract defense.

Because of Liu Binbin's sudden forward advance in the middle, Iran's backcourt defense was forced to retreat, which also gave Jiang Yuan an opportunity.

"boom!"

"The ball goes in! It was a long shot from Jiang Yuan outside the penalty area. Goalkeeper Ahbari's sight seemed to be blocked by Liu Binbin. He did not make any reaction after Jiang Yuan shot!"

"China 1:0 Iran!"

In the group stage, the Khalifa Stadium was not equipped with live commentary. At this time, He Wei's support was very important. The atmosphere in the live broadcast room depended on the performance of the players on both sides of the field and the commentary in the live broadcast room. He Wei's passion was just right for this game.

"Ha ha!"

Jiang Yuan raised his hands and high-fived Liu Binbin above his head.

Speaking of celebration moves, Jiang Yuan's should be the one with the simplest celebration move in this event so far.

There is no other reason, mainly because scoring a goal here will not give Jiang Yuan much sense of accomplishment.

"Fuck, that's awesome! Jiang Yuan is awesome!"

"Jiang Yuan, you are my real dad! Dad is awesome!"

“Wuhu!! China takes off!”

Jiang Yuan didn't feel any sense of accomplishment, but the Dragon Team fans in the stands definitely felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Sure enough, it is a bit difficult for Chinese Super League players to play in the U23 Asian Cup, and Premier League players are just
"Come on, come on, come on!"

Jiang Yuan applauded and cheered for his teammates on the field, hoping to continue to expand the score with the opportunity of the first goal.

In the 24th minute, the Chinese team successfully disrupted the Iranian players with the help of two midfielders, Xie Pengfei and Liao Lisheng, who played two-on-one. Liao Lisheng then made a low pass to Liu Binbin in the front.

The ball was not kicked very well, but because it happened suddenly, several Iranian defensive players did not have time to react, and Liu Binbin who rushed forward successfully caught the ball.

"here!"

Jiang Yuan called out and signaled Liu Binbin to pass the ball to him. Liu Binbin did not dare to hesitate at all. After catching the ball, he immediately passed it out.

After Jiang Yuan took the ball, facing Daneshgal's defense, he suddenly accelerated and passed between Daneshgal and Mohammudi.

"Fuck!"

Mohammudi reached out to pull Jiang Yuan, but this guy's strength was really weak, so weak that Jiang Yuan was embarrassed to fall to the ground and lie.

So Jiang Yuan simply dragged Muhammadi into the small penalty area.

Then there was a very funny scene. Muhammad, who reached out to pull Jiang Yuan, failed to stop him. Instead, he was dragged to the ground by the huge pulling force brought by Jiang Yuan. Muhammad did not let go either, and was dragged by Jiang Yuan for almost half a meter.

The Iranian goal was in front of them, and goalkeeper Ahbari chose to attack. Jiang Yuan calmly slowed down, gently pushed the ball with his instep, and the ball passed between Ahbari's legs.

In the 25th minute, Jiang Yuan scored his second goal in this game!

Jiang Yuan, who scored the second goal, did not celebrate. Instead, he jogged behind him and stretched out a hand to Mohammudi who was lying on the ground: "Hey, man, are you okay?"

Seeing that Jiang Yuan wanted to help him stand up, Muhammad blushed, turned his head away, and did not grab Jiang Yuan's hand.

"Ok, whatever you want."

Jiang Yuan shrugged and pulled his hand back.

These young people are still too arrogant!

"Well... Jiang Yuan wanted to pull Mohammudi up, but the Iranian defender rejected Jiang Yuan's kindness."

[??? This guy is at least half a meter behind. The Iranian center back is at least 1 meters tall. Is he so weak in confrontation?]

[It's not that the defender is weak, it's that Xiao Jiang's impact is too outrageous. He also likes to do this in the Premier League, but the success rate is not high]

[2000 million euros dragging 30 euros away, hahahaha]

[I don't understand, what kind of game is this? The No. 7 of the Chinese team is so fierce, it shouldn't be the U23, right? ]

[Um...brother above, to be precise, Jiang Yuan is U19, not U23...]

[Outrageous, he scored twice in just over 20 minutes. I bet Xiao Jiang will score a hat trick within 35 minutes. Anyone want to guess?]

[What's the point of bullying others? 】

[What the hell, Iran is the favorite to win the championship. If you are so awesome, why don’t you go play? Do you really think you are a professional player in the comment section of the football expert? ]

[Xiao Jiang is indeed very good, but if Iran is a passing and controlling team of the same level, China will be very uncomfortable. Did you see that our U23's style of play is very straightforward, that is, the midfielder passes the ball back and then passes it to the defender, the defender passes the ball back to the front, and finally finds an opportunity to pass it to Jiang Yuan. This style of play will definitely lead to a loss when facing a passing and controlling team. As long as the Chinese team's possession rate is less than 30%, Jiang Yuan will have a very uncomfortable time playing.]

[The problem is that our current ball possession rate is 42%, which is not yet at that point! Jiang Yuan still has many opportunities to get the ball, and the opponent can't defend against him! ]

……

(End of this chapter)