Xinhua News Agency, Jinan, February 19 (Reporter Wu Shuguang, Xiao Haichuan) Shandong Luneng team reversed against Vietnam Hanoi FC team at home on the 19th and successfully advanced to the Asian championship. Luneng coach Li Xiaopeng said with a smile when talking about the goal of the Asian crown: “If the goal is lower than before, the class may be over. The Asian crown rivals are very strong and will carefully prepare for all competitions and strive for the best results.”
The last time Luneng advanced to the Asian championship was in 2016. At that time, he also played the play-in first and finally stopped at the top eight. On that day, it happened to be Lantern Festival. At the post-match press conference, Li Xiaopeng continued to say “Happy Lantern Festival”. Pele on the side grinned after hearing the translation.
Li Xiaopeng commented on the game and said: “This game is very difficult, but the players work very hard. We lost the rhythm in the first half, but the players did not give up. In the second half, we recovered the rhythm and achieved a reversal. Thank the players and the fans present.”
In this campaign, Luneng lost one goal in the first half and won four consecutive goals in the second half, three of which were scored by the substitute players. Li Xiaopeng said frankly: “The composition of luck is a little bigger. Let the players concentrate their attention in the midfield. After all, it is the first game. It is normal to have difficulties. The players have played their corresponding roles, it was luck that they scored, and it was also the result of the team’s efforts.”
Before that, Liu Junshuai and Liu Binbin were selected into the national football training team and missed Luneng’s winter training, but they all scored goals after this substitute. Li Xiaopeng commented, “these two people have been training very hard recently, including Wu Xinghan, Liu Binbin and Liu Junshuai, but they have not been able to play the whole game yet, only half-game ability, so coordinate with each other. Their performance was beyond my expectation, and it was very difficult for them personally, because they had been separated from the team for too long.”
When talking about Luneng’s new aid to Felini, Li Xiaopeng said: “Felini is an important member of our team. He was introduced this year just to do more in the league and the Asian championship. He needs to run in with the team and train with the team more, which is more targeted for his use.”
Pele, a foreign aid who scored a goal for Luneng, said that the start of the game was really bad, but fortunately, he didn’t give up. Finally, he adjusted his state to get his attention and won the game.
At present, Luneng’s team in Group E is all confirmed, namely, Malaysia Johor DT team, South Korea’s Qingnan team and last season’s Asian champion Kashima Antlers.
This is the fifth time for Hanoi team to fold the halberd Asian Championship. Zhu Tingyan, head coach of Vietnam’s Hanoi team, said that we created many opportunities in the first 70 minutes, but we failed to convert them into goals. Finally, due to physical decline and lack of concentration, we lost the ball, however, the team showed its elegant demeanour.
When talking about the reasons for losing the game, Zhu Tingyan thought that the cold weather was only one of the factors, and more importantly, the three matches a week, and the long-distance flight led to the players’ insufficient physical fitness.