What is the real hot spot of the Panda Cup? Unexpected by the outside world, the coach is "turning over to the national football team ahead of schedule."

When the Panda Cup ended, China U22 only ended in second place, and the results were far from amazing. But the real breaking point is hidden in the starting lineup. In the final game against Uzbekistan, among the 11 U22 starting players, only captain Liu Haofan is in the 03 age group, and the remaining 10 are all teenagers in 05 and 06. While all other participating teams are sending mature players who are "about to hit the first team", the Chinese team is pushing the lineup in a younger direction, as if it is an early generation change. Antonio is obviously not pursuing a championship, but using this international event to complete a more important "future handover."

This kind of employment is by no means a random attempt, but has a clear direction. The quality of the opponents in the Panda Cup is not low. South Korea and Uzi are both U22 teams of strong Asian teams. Antonio chose to use the game as a pressure test, allowing a group of young players who have not yet fully matured to withstand the pressing and rhythm of the international level. This is not a risk, but a forward-looking "pressure training". He wants to know what cracks, characteristics and potential room for improvement these young players will reveal in real tough battles.

And this batch of 05/06 players did play out the "double-sided nature of the youth team." In the first half, Kuai Jiwen used his speed to tear apart his opponents, like an undetected sharp edge; in the second half, Baihe Lamu, Mutalifu and others who came off the bench also brought a sense of impact. But at the same time, when the rhythm is suppressed, their hesitation, caution, and loss of rhythm are also exposed. The advantages and costs of youth were put on the same test bed, and Antonio saw it more clearly than anyone else.

The most convincing scene is that after Wang Shiqin was sent off with a red card in the 72nd minute, the team still maintained its formation structure and defensive discipline even with one player less. Ten players with an average age of less than 20 years old faced a strong opponent for 90 minutes without collapsing or getting into trouble. Such a scene was not common in past national-level competitions. It shows that although the skills of this group of young players are not stable enough, they do have the potential to hit a higher platform in terms of execution, resilience and team awareness.

What Antonio wants is not the Panda Cup trophy, he wants the foundation of the future national team. He used three games to tell the outside world: These 05/06 players are not "starting in advance", but must be pushed to the international stage now, so that they can understand the pressure in advance, make mistakes in advance, and grow in advance. If the Chinese men's football team really needs to be updated in the future, then this Panda Cup is likely to be the first "start button" to be pressed.

(Shopkeeper Luo)