20 | Friday, March 6, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY SPORTS SOCCER MMA Coach Li not letting virus uncertainty cloud focus By SHI FUTIAN tough task master since being
[email protected] named as Marcello Lippi’s succes- sor in January, pushing his play- Team China head coach Li Tie ers to their limits during his first has prioritized discipline both on national team training camp in and off the pitch as his squad Guangzhou and now again in readies for World Cup qualifiers Dubai. under a cloud of uncertainty due From day one, the former Ever- to the coronavirus outbreak. ton midfielder stressed the Li and his squad kicked off a importance of discipline and training camp in Dubai on Team China “selflessness”, with breaches of Wednesday in preparation for coach Li Tie punctuality and travel protocol Group A qualifying matches in not tolerated. Thailand at the end of the month that could Only defender Zhang Lingpeng and striker yet be postponed as the virus continues to Wu Lei were absent from Li’s 26-man squad spread around the world. on the first day of training in Dubai. Player discipline and safety have, therefore, Zhang is working separately with a fitness taken on extra importance for Li’s squad, with coach as the veteran tries to shake off a minor PP Sports reporting that the national team injury, while Wu will not train in Dubai due to has enforced strict rules forbidding players to his commitments in Spain with relegation- travel alone in Dubai. battling Espanyol. “Despite the number of confirmed corona- If the March games go ahead, Wu will join his virus cases in the United Arab Emirates being national teammates in Dubai after Espanyol’s relatively low, the team is still abiding by strict match against Getafe on March 22, before the rules as a precaution for the safety of the squad heads to Thailand together.