At ten o'clock in the morning the next day, the national football team came to the Mong Kok Stadium for their first and last training session after arriving in Hong Kong.
Mong Kok Stadium has a big name, but it is actually very small. It can only accommodate 6,000 people, and only 500 seats are prepared for the visiting team.
The Hong Kong team's first three home games in this top 40 competition were all played at the Mong Kok Stadium, and the Hong Kong team also achieved a good record of 2 wins and 1 loss. However, the Hong Kong Island Football Association has always hoped that the home games against the National Football Team can be played at the Mong Kok Stadium.
It will be played at the Hong Kong Island Stadium, which can accommodate 40,000 people. After all, this game attracts a lot of attention. Allowing more fans to enter the stadium to watch can create a good home atmosphere for the Hong Kong team.
However, the Hong Kong Island Stadium has been undergoing turf maintenance since April this year, and the Rugby Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held here on November 7 and 8. Therefore, the Hong Kong Island Leisure and Culture Department refused to provide the venue to the Hong Kong team. In desperation,
The Hong Kong Island Football Association can only move the game against the National Football Team to the Mong Kok Stadium.
Accustomed to seeing large stadiums with tens of thousands of people, the national football players felt a little depressed when they came to this small and cramped stadium.
Especially in the Hong Kong team's first three home games in the top 40, fans continued to boo and throw debris, and were fined 5,000 Swiss francs by FIFA. This made the national football players even more uneasy and worried.
During the game, I was attacked by fans from Hong Kong Island.
Only Zhao Yang remained calm, even feeling familiar and friendly.
Before joining Espanyol, Zhao Yang had been playing in small stadiums similar to the Mong Kok Stadium. Some amateur stadiums are even smaller than the Mong Kok Stadium. They are the kind of stadium where you can talk to the fans while playing.
Although it was just a warm-up, many fans from mainland China and Hong Kong Island came to watch.
When the national football team was warming up, mainland fans were cheering and cheering, while Hong Kong fans kept booing.
The turf of Mong Kok Stadium is large-leaf grass. When the ball rolls on the turf, it is different from ordinary small-leaf turf. The speed is faster, so it is necessary to adapt to the venue.
Training at the opponent's home court, and it's an open training, so naturally you won't practice anything real, just warm up, pass the ball, and shoot.
The training was not interesting, and the fans focused mainly on yelling at rival fans.
After being fined by FIFA for being uncivilized on the field, the Hong Kong Island Football Association also took some protective measures on the stadium.
To ensure safety, the stands are divided into two areas: the Hong Kong fan area and the mainland fan area. Fans in the two areas enter and exit from different entrances. In order to avoid conflicts between fans from both sides, even the toilets are divided into two areas.
After this division, no matter how angry the fans on both sides are, they can only make their voices louder.
After the training, when the national football team came out of Mong Kok Stadium, they were surrounded by fans from both mainland China and Hong Kong Island.
Hong Kong Island fans have bad intentions. They constantly use words to humiliate the players of the national football team, calling the national football team a third-rate team, calling the players trash, and wishing the national football team will be eliminated soon.
Clay figures are still earthy, not to mention young and energetic men like the national football team.
Yang Xu took the lead and raised his index finger to his mouth to shut up the Hong Kong fans. Then other national football players followed suit and raised their index fingers, and some even raised their middle fingers.
Mainland fans originally wanted to ask Zhao Yang for a photo and autograph, but when they saw the national football team being besieged by Hong Kong fans, they immediately changed their focus and angrily criticized the Hong Kong fans.
The fans from both sides became more and more violent and almost started to fight. Fortunately, the security guard called the police in advance, and the police arrived and dispersed the fans from both sides.
These things that happened in today's training made the coaching staff of the Chinese national team very worried.
The stadium is so small, and the stands are so close to the stadium. If fans throw debris or the like, it will definitely have a great impact on the players' hearts, regardless of whether it hurts anyone.
After the Huaguo coaching staff returned to the hotel, they immediately held a short meeting with the fans and provided psychological counseling to the players, asking them to concentrate on the game and not be disturbed by the outside world. They responded to the humiliation they received off the field with goals on the field.
.
Unlike the Chinese team, the Hong Kong team conducted closed training, and even its own reporters were not allowed to enter, specifically practicing tactics against the Chinese team.
In the afternoon, the coaches of both sides took the captains to another press conference. At the meeting, the coaches of both sides announced the players who would start the game that night.
The starting lineup of the Huaguo team is: goalkeeper Wang Lei, four defenders Mei Fang, Zhou Zheng, Zhang Peng, Feng Xiaoting; three midfielders: Zheng Zhi, Huang Bo, Wu Yi; three forwards: Wu Lei, Yang Xu, Zhao Yang.
Faced with the current extremely severe qualifying situation, the national football team, which could only win, deployed a 433 offensive formation. Captain Zheng Zhi partnered with Wu Yi and Huang Bo as three midfielders. Wu Lei and Zhao Yang partnered with two wingers, and Yang Xu served as the center.
On the bench, there are Yu Chao, Zhang Zhe, Zheng Long, Yu Hai, Zhang Dong and other offensive players.
The Hong Kong Island team started with a 4231 formation. The goalkeeper was 1-Ye Honghui; defenders: 2-Li Zhihao, 5-Kilanma, 3-Fatus, 13-Zhang Jianfeng; midfielders: 14-Ji Shili, 4-
Baihe; forward: 22-McGee, 16-Liang Zhenbang, 11-Xin Zu; this is also forward: 17-Paulino
This is also the strongest lineup that the Hong Kong Island team can field. Although the Hong Kong Island team is weaker than the Chinese team, at this point in the game, everyone wants to participate in the final top 12, so the Hong Kong Island team also gives it a try.
Already.
Now.
Almost all the attention of Chinese fans has been focused on Hong Kong Island, and on the Chinese team and the Hong Kong Island team that are about to have a life-or-death battle.
Perhaps it is a coincidence that in the process of competing for the World Cup, the Chinese national team has faced the Hong Kong Island team in three life-or-death battles so far.
On May 19, 1985, in the Mexico World Cup qualifier against the Hong Kong Island team, the Chinese team qualified after a draw. As a result, the Chinese team lost 0:2 at home to the Hong Kong Island team, causing the 519 Incident that shocked the whole country.
In the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, the Chinese team defeated the Hong Kong Island team 7:0, but the calculation was wrong and they were eliminated by Kuwait with a goal difference.
In this Russian World Cup qualifier, the Chinese team once again faced the Hong Kong team. They were tied at home and the Chinese team was in dire straits. This time in the away game, if the Chinese team lost, they would be eliminated directly. If they won, they would still have a chance.
Participate in the final top 12 games.
In a life and death battle, despite the fact that Chinese fans usually scold the national football team like grandchildren, now everyone has put aside their prejudices and prays wholeheartedly for the Chinese team to win the Hong Kong Island team in the away game.
Due to historical reasons, Hong Kong Island also attaches great importance to this game.
Today, the police dispatched 1,200 police officers and set up a command post at the Mong Kok Stadium. However, except for the 20 police officers arranged by the organizer, no other police officers were stationed in the stadium.
In order not to disturb fans watching the game, half of the 1,200 police officers deployed were on duty in the Mong Kok neighborhood and would only show up when problems occurred.
The rain is coming and the wind is blowing!
The game has not yet started, but the tense atmosphere has already filled every corner of Hong Kong Island and the mainland.