Reporter Lu Mi reports On the evening of the 18th, in the last group stage of Group A of the U20 Asian Cup, the national youth team, which had rotated the lineup, lost 1-2 to Australia and missed the first place in the group, but in the game, they still showed their determination and courage.

In the last round, the national youth ushered in the strongest opponent in the group, Australia, the first two games, the national youth used the same set of main lineup, considering the yellow card and for the knockout round, coach Djurdjevic carried out part of the personnel rotation. The entire starter, only Liu Qiwei, He Yiran, Shi Songchen, Chen Zeshi, Kuai Jiwen 5 people, in the forward position, Liu Chengyu suspended, Zhu Pengyu, who scored two goals as a substitute in the last round, started. Australia has also carried out a large area of rotation.

Last year's "Panda Cup", the two teams had to fight, at that time, the national youth lined up a five-back formation, Djurdjevic started this time is still a four-back, the two sides fought in the midfield, the Australian formation was pressed higher, and the national youth was relatively cautious.

Australia played openly, and they started a high-pressure press up front, and they hoarded four attackers to attack in turn. It was difficult for the national youth backfield to play the ball for a while, and it was difficult to form an effective counterattack. In a passive situation, the national youth quickly conceded goals - two goals in two minutes, and both failed to effectively stop the opponent's fast attack after the midfielder was tackled.

In the case of conceding two goals in a row, the outside world thought that the national youth would collapse, but in fact, the mentality of the players was not greatly affected. In the 29th minute, Kuai Jiwen received Xu Junchi's cross from the side and then unloaded the ball and turned around and volleyed, which completely ignited the enthusiasm of the fans.

'We started a little sluggishly and after conceding two goals the lads woke up and they wanted to prove themselves. Djurdjevic concluded after the game.

In the second half, Djurdjevic made formation and personnel adjustments, changed to 541, and replaced Mao Weijie and Peng Xiao, hoping to make up for the shortcomings at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends.

Djurdjevic wanted to open a breakthrough from the wing, and Mao Wei got a number of great chances after the pitch, and in the 61st minute, he flanked the middle and headed in front of the goalkeeper, but unfortunately it was a little off.

Subsequently, Djurdjevic sent attackers such as Du Yuezheng and Wang Yudong, and the national youth set off waves of attacks, with the number of shots on goal and the opponent's hand-held equal, both 12 times, and the ball possession rate also increased from 30% to 46%.

Although they still lost the game 1-2 in the end, it can be seen that the national youth are very tenacious, they did not give up in the face of difficulties, and they did not relax, they always believe that they and their opponents have the strength to fight.

'We played well in the second half, we had a lot of chances, we were just a little bit unlucky. Djurdjevic said: "There are a lot of good 'things' in this fight, and once again we have a place in this division. ”

After 3 group games, the national youth won the recognition of the outside world. As for his own gains, Mao Weijie said that it was the rhythm of the game, "At our age, it is rare to feel this kind of rhythm in the Asian arena. In the game, everyone was very quick to adapt to the rhythm of the game, handle the ball and think very quickly, which was very conducive to our good performance in the league after that. ”

Three days later, the national youth team will face the crucial quarter-finals, and the winner will advance to the World Youth Championships, where the opponent will be determined after today's Group B match.

For the knockout round, the national youth players are very confident.

"No matter who the opponent is, we must take it." Kuai Jiwen said. Mao Weijie said that there are 3 days to prepare, "We will follow the coach's technical and tactical arrangements to play a good 8-in-4 game, and we will definitely fight it." "We're not afraid of any opponent, whoever it is, we can win." Xiong Jizheng said.

With determination and confidence, we will wait and see what kind of answers the lads will hand in in 3 days.