National football team match kicks off in second-tier city, 36-team qualifier rivals compete again, Shao Jiayi needs to earn trust.

On June 9th at 19:35 Beijing time, the national football team's international friendly match kicked off at Jinhua Sports Center Stadium in a second-tier city. The opponent this time is Thailand, a familiar rival from the 36-team qualifier. Multiple domestic media outlets will broadcast the match, including CCTV5 and Migu Video.

China vs Thailand:

International ranking: only two places apart, 92nd vs 94th.

Total team value: 14.33 million euros vs 6.43 million euros.

This match also has two special points. First, it is Shao Jiayi's home debut as the national team head coach. Second, the Chinese Football Association will hold a ceremony for Wu Lei's 100th appearance; Wu Lei's statistics for his 100 national team matches are 36 goals and 10 assists.

The last time the national team faced Thailand was in the Asian 36-team qualifier for the World Cup. China achieved one win and one draw against Thailand in home and away matches, remaining unbeaten. Both teams had identical points, goal difference, and even goals scored and conceded in the qualifiers. China narrowly advanced to the 18-team stage thanks to their head-to-head record. China's qualification for the 18-team stage also owed thanks to Singapore. The national team's first friendly match in the June international window was against Singapore. Although China won 2-1 away, the performance was very poor, as they were dominated by a weak Asian team like Singapore, playing passively. Shao Jiayi's tactics and in-game substitutions were questionable.

Shao Jiayi is very courageous to take on the role of national team head coach, but he needs to come up with proper tactics and team-building ideas. The match against Singapore was extremely ugly; the creativity in attack relied solely on Wei Shihao, while other players mostly made sideways and backward passes. Playing like this makes it difficult for the national team to truly improve. The home match against Thailand will test Shao Jiayi's professional competence. If China cannot comfortably beat Thailand at home, or even if they are outplayed, then Shao Jiayi will struggle to lead the team to progress.

In my personal opinion, a young European coach with tactical ideas should be the priority for the national team head coach. It's not that local coaches are bad, but their tactical capabilities are indeed too conservative and unambitious.