As early as the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League schedule came out, there were rumors that the Chinese Football Association believed that the Chinese team had a high probability of qualifying this time, and hoped that the two Chinese Super League teams in the civil war could "show mercy". Unexpectedly,
The most undesirable situation occurred - Feng Xiaoting was still injured.
Some people are happy and some are worried. Feng Xiaoting's injury condition is unknown. Longteng's young central defender Liming and Guangzhou Evergrande's former Longteng central defender Du Zhenyu are very likely to make their first start for the national team.
Next, we will see how the two of them are doing in the past few days of training before the game.
Compared with the two AFC Champions League games that just ended, even the quarter-finals are still far from the excitement of the upcoming national team games.
Not to mention, this is likely to be a key battle for the Chinese national team to enter the World Cup again.
The Chinese team is in Group A, and the situation is still somewhat suspenseful.
The Iranian team currently ranks first in Group A. Their 20 points can guarantee that the team will directly qualify for the World Cup finals, because according to the rules of the World Football Federation, the top two teams in the top 12 in Asia will be ranked first.
They can all directly get tickets to the World Cup finals, while the South Korean team, ranked third in Group A, only has 13 points. With two rounds left in the game, the 7-point gap makes Iran's qualifying an established fact.
In addition, the situation of the other team in Group A that will directly qualify and the team that can qualify for the play-offs is not so clear.
It seems that the Chinese team with 16 points is now ranked second, 3 points more than the South Korean team, and the goal difference is 8 more than the South Korean team. But once they lose the last two rounds and the South Korean team wins, the national media will
This optimistic or even carnival attitude may very well turn into another crusade across society.
Fortunately, Uzbekistan, ranked fourth, only has 9 points, 7 points less than the Chinese team. According to the qualifying rules of this World Cup, the third place in the two groups will play a two-leg home and away play-off.
It will compete with the fourth-placed team in CONCACAF for another two-round play-off to compete for a qualifying spot. This also means that the Chinese team has at least guaranteed the qualifications for two play-offs.
In fact, as early as last year when the top 12 tournament just started, the initial goal of the Chinese Football Association was to count on the Chinese team to be third in the group and then use its strong home court to win two qualifying rounds. I never thought that waiting for the top 12
When the tournament reached the eighth round, the Chinese team actually defeated the South Korean team and ranked second in the group. This is a ranking with great hope of directly qualifying, and it is much safer than betting on two play-offs.
After all, in the history of Asian football, the play-offs have always been a curse.
Including the Chinese team, Asia has participated in the World Cup play-offs six times. Except for the Iranian team in the 1998 World Cup in France, which was really strong and defeated Australia, which was not a strong opponent, the other five times were different from others.
In the continental play-off games - including the 1982 World Cup qualifying match in which the Chinese team was hacked by Saudi Arabia and the disbanded Chinese team hastily formed a team and lost to New Zealand 1:2, all games were eliminated by their opponents.
Even if the Chinese team really competes for a qualifying spot with the third position in the group, even if it can defeat the Asian opponents in Group B, facing the teams from Central and North America and the Caribbean, it is really not easy to squeeze out the opponents and qualify.
At this time, the CONCACAF World Cup preliminaries have entered the second stage of the group stage. There are six teams. The third, fourth and fifth teams are the United States, Panama and Honduras. The three teams are most likely to be in the group.
At the end of the game, we were ranked fourth and competed with Asian teams for a World Cup spot.
In FIFA's current national team rankings, the United States ranks 23rd, Panama ranks 49th, and Honduras, the weakest, is ranked 74th. Because of China's consecutive wins, it has finally made some progress since the beginning of the year.
Ranked 72nd to 66th, but this ranking does not guarantee that the Chinese team will definitely qualify. After all, the CONCACAF teams used to be higher than Asia in FIFA's competition points coefficient. In recent years, Japan
Korea's continuous breakthroughs have given Asia a certain status, and the points coefficient of both games has reached 0.95.
Therefore, the safest way for the Chinese team now is to win the last two games against Uzbekistan and Qatar, especially the home game against Uzbekistan. After all, it is hard to say whether the other side will make mistakes when they go to West Asia to play Qatar away.
The match against Uzbekistan happens to be played at home in Jiangcheng. This is very good news for the Chinese team, which is mainly composed of the Longteng team and the former Longteng team. It can only be said that the top 12 matches of the National Football Team were originally arranged.
At home, you picked the right place.
Jiangcheng has always been a place that values face. The Chinese national team has received extremely high treatment at other home stadiums in the country. Jiangcheng will not lag behind, not to mention that this is the hometown of the Longteng team. The arrangements are really poor, so that
If there are any rumors among the fans outside, the face of the entire Longteng team and the entire Jiangcheng will be lost!
On August 25, players from Shanghai SIPG and Guangzhou Evergrande who had played in the AFC Champions League also came to Jiangcheng. The Chinese team players who were very likely to qualify directly in this game were picked up at the airport.
, this is a grand occasion that only those idols can have.
The Longteng team's fan organization and selected senior fans from all over the country formed a massive cheering group at the airport pick-up channel. Some fans held small flags with national flags in their hands and kept waving to the Chinese team players, and some even more
A few people held the corners of a large flag and showed it to the players and media.
The national football players who passed through the airport pick-up channel frequently waved to the fans. It was not until they all got on the reception bus that the fans reluctantly left.
The fans at the airport left, and the fans squatting in the hotel started the relay. The fans who had been waiting in front of the hotel and in the lobby repeated the operations of the fans at the airport, and then left in an orderly manner.
Along the way, Jiangcheng's fans showed their enthusiasm without disturbing the players' actions too much, and were truly organized and disciplined.
In this national team training session, in addition to a large number of former Longteng players, several other players from Jiangcheng were also selected, such as the No. 1 goalkeeper Zengcheng, and the two outstanding technical players in the midfield Zhang Xizhe and Hao Junmin. In fact, if it were not for Mei
Fang is seriously injured, and he also has a chance to be selected for this 25-man roster.
Three tourists from other places were also chased by Jiangcheng fans. It must be said that Jiangcheng players stole the show in this national team.
The fans showed their enthusiasm, and Jiangcheng City officials were also ready.
In addition to focusing on pre-game training and game arrangements for the national football team as usual, Jiangcheng went a step further. With a big backer like the Longteng team, a large number of high-tech auxiliary equipment was contributed, including during the game.
On-site ambulances, various usual liquid nitrogen recovery chambers, etc.
In terms of food, whether it is the home team or the away team, Jiangcheng does not favor the other. In addition to the ingredients and taste, the city's Drug and Food Supervision Bureau also specially sent people to conduct food sampling inspections at the hotels where the teams stayed to ensure that there would be no defects.
A little flaw.
On the day of the game, the organizing committee will set up multiple bus and subway services for fans to watch the game on site. Of course, some traffic control will also be implemented near the game venue, which is also preparation work for the team to successfully conduct the game. It is understood that
, the organizing committee will provide special vehicles to pick up players for training before the game. On the day of the game, there will be special vehicles to clear the way for the team bus to ensure the smooth progress of the game.
At five o'clock in the afternoon on August 31, 2017, the national football team's bus departed from the hotel.
In fact, under normal circumstances, the team does not need to start so early for the eight o'clock game in the evening. After all, home games, food, clothing, housing, transportation and other aspects of the team will naturally have more conveniences, so they don't have to be so impatient.
However, in order to seek good luck, this time the Chinese team chose to stay in a hotel far away from the stadium. They gave up the five-star hotel closest to the Jiangcheng Sports Center of the stadium and stayed in Hankou, about 20 kilometers away from the stadium.
The reason for making such a choice is related to the top 40 of the World Preliminaries in March last year. At that time, the Chinese team chose the hotel where they stayed. In the end, they defeated the Maldives 8:0, laying the foundation for advancing to the top 12.
.
Therefore, the Chinese team chose this hotel again, hoping to bring good luck.
Since today is a working day, in order to prevent traffic jams and ensure that the Chinese team arrives at the stadium on time, the team had to leave four hours in advance.
Mo Daojun will leave early, and there will be more early travelers.
The Chinese team came out so early, and the fans were earlier than them. Fans from all over the country obviously flocked to the stadium after having lunch.
At around three o'clock in the afternoon, groups of fans gathered in twos and threes in the square outside the stadium. If viewed from an aerial camera, they looked like a herd of antelopes on the African savanna.
Next to these crowds are reporters with news badges hanging around their necks. With formal units, they are like a pride of lions waiting for opportunities next to a herd of antelopes. After observing good prey, they will swoop into the crowd from time to time to catch it.
Live interviews with Target fans.
Most of them are self-media. They walk through the crowd like salivating hyenas. They don't dare to compete with real reporters for prey. They can only catch some people on the corner to make articles. Of course, they are also more
Dare to ask.
However, whether it is an official media reporter or a self-media reporter, the confidence of the fans can be clearly seen from the reporters' interviews with the fans.
As Jiangcheng Metropolis Daily's team reporter for the Longteng team, Chen Lin was playing at home this time, and she immediately captured the top group among the fans - the star fans.
"The Chinese team will definitely win, and will definitely qualify directly after the game!" Chen Jiangfeng, who is famous for being caught kissing his girlfriend during the game by broadcast cameras, is now a "star" fan of the host team Longteng. Chen Lin
During the interview, he looked forward to the results of the national team. His face was full of excitement, and the pimples on his face became brighter. "It is impossible for South Korea to catch up with the eight goal difference gap."
"Victory!!!" There was an interview and a large number of people gathered around to watch. Chen Jiangfeng's answer was obviously in line with the fans' thoughts. Everyone shouted their wish, "Qualify!!!"
Chen Lin also turned to the camera at the right time: "Before the game, the fans were full of confidence in today's game."
On the other side of the square, the famous fan "Monkey Ball" dressed as the Monkey King was also being interviewed by a reporter from the Football Newspaper.
Mr. Tan from Houpiqiu is already 62 years old. He has followed the entire national team throughout the World Cup qualifiers. He will definitely not be absent from this crucial match. After expressing his belief that the Chinese team will definitely qualify today, the crowd gathered around
The large group of fans around the reporter began to shout, applaud and whistle at the top of their lungs.
The interview was interrupted.
"If the Chinese team qualified, how are you going to celebrate?" The reporter in charge of the interview today was also a veteran. Her rhythm was very steady. Once the noise around her subsided, she immediately asked questions and quickly took control of the scene.
"You won't come home until you're drunk."
"When I drink beer at night, I start chewing shrimps!"
Different from the excitement of others, Mr. Tan said with admiration and nostalgia: "First send a congratulatory letter to Old Tang and Xiao Tan. They are probably reading it in the room. Finally, burn incense sticks to Lao Zhong and tell him
We qualified again and can watch the World Cup again."
The old Tang Mr. Tan is talking about here is the famous fan "Little Ball" in Chongqing, and Xiao Tan is another famous fan "Big Trumpet" in Chongqing. Both of them are either too old or have poor health, so they are not suitable.
I watched the game live, and Lao Zhong was the "Big Ball" who was the deceased fan leader of the older generation in Chongqing.
The optimism of the fans stems from the excellent results in this World Cup qualifying match after Lippi took over. Now all fans regard Lippi as the savior of Chinese football.
Just after 6 p.m., the national football team bus arrived at Jiangcheng Sports Center.
A large number of well-informed people have been waiting at the bus stop for a long time. When the national football players stepped out of the bus, they were greeted by overwhelming flashing lights, cheers from fans, and thumbs up from the stadium.
Every player, whether he is a major star player like Li Yun, Qin Minghao, or Nie Jiang, or a player who has only made the roster and cannot play, is not treated favorably by those who greet him.
No matter who gets off the bus, their names will be shouted in unison and they will be praised and encouraged.
When Lippi got out of the car, he received the loudest cheers and applause. The silver-haired man waved to the crowd and responded with a calmness of scolding Fang Qiu, which attracted media cameras to snap.
The players and coaching staff who filed out of the car one after another also had smiles on their faces and responded to the fans one after another.
Overly enthusiastic fans took the team a minute or twenty to get rid of.
After the team arrived in the locker room, a smiling Lippi began to relax and arrange pre-match warm-up activities.
As a veteran, he still attaches great importance to the warm-up before the game.
For example, before the game, the goalkeeper's low dive, high catch and second rise reaction exercises, defenders' long passes, heading exercises, some passing skills exercises for midfielders and their teammates who often cooperate with them on the field, forwards
The players' regular passing, sprinting and shooting exercises can all reveal the player's condition.
The 20-minute tactical offensive and defensive drill of the main force and the substitute team is a regular means of sharpening one's skills in battle.
However, this will also allow the outside world to see some of the head coach's game intentions, and it is the same this time.
