The Panda Cup drew with Australia in the second game, and the U19 national youth gained a lot

Reporter Lu Mi reports The 2024 "Panda Cup" ushered in the second round of matchups, with the Chinese U19 men's football team facing the strongest opponent of the tournament, the Australian U19 men's football team. When everyone thought it was a very difficult game, the boys played a surprise, from the opening goal to the opponent's corner kick opportunity to equalize, the national youth players were still able to deal with it calmly and suppress the opponent in attack. Although it was a game that ended in a draw, the U19 national youth team led by Djurdjevic showed their strength through these two and a half main games.

In the first round of the "Panda Cup", the Chinese U19 men's football team defeated the Mongolian team, and that game was more like a warm-up for this tournament. This match against Australia is a very important match for the national youth team and Djurdjevic, because this opponent is also one of the team's group stage opponents in the U20 Asian Cup next year. Moreover, Australia itself is strong, and many players in the team stay in European giants.

In the face of such a formidable opponent, Djurdjevic chose to dominate me, and compared to the first leg against Mongolia, he made as many as eight changes to the starting line-up, leaving only three on the central axis. Also because of the strong strength of the opponent, this game also changed the previous 4231 formation and changed to five defenders. Judging by the rapid pace of the players at the beginning of the game, they have already adapted to the rotation of the two formations in training. It can be seen that Djurdjevic has done enough preparations.

In the opening 2 minutes, the national youth played a very good front-court pass and receiving cooperation, Mao Weijie entered the penalty area after cooperating with Yi Mulan's one-two, calmly shook the defender and sent a low flat ball cross, Chen Zeshi easily pushed the goal, and made a dream start for the Chinese team.

Australia's attack was then unable to create a sustained threat, and the national youth defended well. After taking the lead early, the national youth team has repeatedly launched effective organizational attacks while carrying the opponent's attack, as the team's midfield metronome, Yi Mulan's multiple passes have created a lot of threatening opportunities for teammates.

The only fly in the ointment was that they gave the opponent too many corner kicks at the defensive end, and in the 22nd minute, Australia took advantage of successive corner kicks to equalize the score.

It's a bit of a shame for the national youth to concede, because for most of the time, Australia doesn't have an absolute attacking opportunity, and seeking a goal from corner kicks is one of Australia's few options. On the issue of fighting for one point, the Chinese team obviously has no advantage over its opponents.

But it is gratifying that although the score was equalized, the national youth players were not affected, but continued to implement the tactical arrangement at their own pace: carefully combing every pass, calmly controlling the ball, and conducting accurate and effective transmission, the players showed a steady attitude beyond their age.

In addition, the personal ability of the national youth is also eye-catching. Wang Yifan, who played on the left wing in this game, had a high success rate in the one-on-one attack on the side, and grasped the timing of the cross or shot just right, whether it was cutting inside or going down, he could create enough threat, and even forced the right fullback of Australia to not dare to get close.

Djurdjevic did not make a big substitution in the second half as he did against Mongolia in the previous round, and Australia tried to strengthen their attack and force the national youth to make mistakes, including a continued desire to rely on winning corners to play on China's weaknesses. However, after the half-time break, Djurdjevic was clearly ready to deal with it, using tall center forward Zhu Pengyu to press the opponent.

After withstanding a wave of Australia's offensive, the national youth once again found the ball and put pressure on the opponent's defense through the wing attack, and the opponent's defense line was also chaotic for a while, and the national youth almost rewrote the score. Djurdjevic's substitutions were also well controlled, and when the attacking line gradually declined in physical fitness, he began to update the striker, constantly disrupting the opponent's rhythm with his attack. The players also worked hard, and despite fitness problems, the attack never stopped, and they were able to run out of space until the last moments.

The game ended up with a 1-1 draw, but the Chinese U19 men's football team gained a lot in this game: first of all, it affirmed the training content, and the team's execution was well reflected; At the same time, in the state of uneven personnel, through the draw against Australia, the players improved their self-confidence; In addition, this game will also give the coaching staff and players an early understanding of the opponent, and in this regard, Kyrgyzstan will also have the same takeaway.