He seems to no longer have pride in Chinese soccer. Fans have turned a blind eye to him, too.

China’s U-23 national soccer team will compete in Group B with South Korea, Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar U-23 Asian Cup in Qatar.

While South Korea and Japan are considered to be the two strongest teams, Group B will feature China and the UAE. Unless something unexpected happens, China will not be able to compete in the Paris Olympics.

However, Chinese striker Tao Changlong had a different idea. Japanese media outlet Soccer Digest Web delivered interviews with Chinese media and also included responses from Chinese fans.

“We don’t have much pressure on Group B. We didn’t have many opportunities to compete with South Korea and Japan. They have weaknesses technically and tactically,” Tao said in the interview.

“We need to get together first because we have characteristics. We need to be more committed and play well than our opponent. We need to use our strengths well to play well. We have chances,” he added.

China also has to go to Paris, so the confidence they show is fully understandable. And with an important competition ahead, a morale-boosting interview is also a matter of course.

Of course, Tao Changlong and China have experienced losing 0-2 to South Korea at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. It is also an interview that seems to have forgotten that time.

What’s more interesting is the reaction of Chinese fans. Soccer Digest Web also shared Chinese fans’ reactions to Tao’s interview, which was mostly negative.

These were followed by bad reactions such as “completely brazen,” “crazy,” “where do you get the courage to say such things?” and “complete nonsense.” 먹튀검증

And one fan said, “There must be weaknesses, but I don’t have the ability to target them.” Another fan said, “There must be weaknesses in Korea and Japan, but we have weaknesses in everyone.”

Meanwhile, China will play its first match against Japan on Wednesday (Korea Standard Time). It will also face South Korea on Wednesday and the UAE on Wednesday. It may be a match that can be decided early on after losing to Japan and South Korea.

China has never participated in the Olympics on its own other than the 2008 Beijing Olympics held in its own country.