Fox in the Penalty Area

Although the Japanese team relied on a penalty kick to get a goal back in the 88th minute of the game, the Chinese team still withstood their last crazy offensive.

In the end, this much-anticipated "China-Japan War" ended with the Chinese team defeating the Japanese team 3:2 in an away game.

"The game is over! We won! The Chinese team defeated the Japanese team 3:2 in the away game and got the most critical three points in this top 12 competition!"

He Feng and Yan Kang cheered.

The away victory against Japan is indeed crucial, which means that the Chinese team is one step closer to the World Cup finals.

After the end of this round of top 12 matches, the Chinese team is the only team in the group that has won all four games and leads the group standings with 12 points.

The second place is the Iranian team, which just defeated Iraq 3:1 at home. They have ten points - because they were defeated by Japan 1:1 at home in the last round.

It was a tie, so they were two points less than the Chinese team in terms of points.

The Japanese team ranks third with seven points.

Qualification for the World Cup is limited to two teams from each group, and even third-placed teams are eligible for the play-offs. Theoretically speaking, as long as the Chinese team can get the top three in the group stage, it is possible to advance to the World Cup finals.

And now the fourth place in the group stage is Syria. They defeated Thailand 2:1 at home in this round and won their first victory and accumulated three points.

The fifth place is Iraq, which has three points. They are ranked fifth just because their goal difference is lower than Syria.

The Thai team, which has not won a single game and lost four out of four games, is ranked at the bottom. It is almost impossible to qualify for the World Cup.

The Chinese team is nine points ahead of the fourth and fifth place teams. It has a total of 13 goals and a total goal difference of 11 points, both far ahead of Syria and Iraq. It also has a five-point advantage over the third-place Japanese team. , it can be said that the offline situation is very good.

This is also the most important reason why everyone was so happy after the Chinese team defeated the Japanese team in an away game - not just because of the grievances between China and Japan.

After the game, the Chinese players on the bench rushed onto the court and hugged and celebrated with their teammates.

Compared with their excitement, the Japanese players were much more frustrated.

They tied with Iran in the last round and lost to China in this round. In the competition with these two direct competitors,

The Japanese team is all at a disadvantage.

This is extremely detrimental to their qualifying goals.

Although it is not difficult to finish third in the group, for current Japanese football, if it relies on play-offs to qualify for the World Cup, this itself is a failure.

Since participating in the World Cup as the host nation in 2022, the Japanese team has always advanced directly to the finals without playing any play-offs or qualifying matches.

※Junpei Morikawa stood on the court leaning over with his hands on his knees.

He gasped for air while raising his head and looking at the big screen in the stands.

The final score is displayed above.

2:3

The Japanese team playing at home lost.

Although he is eager to have a good battle with the Chinese team that goes all out, it does not mean that he is indifferent to the result of the game.

He will still be disappointed if he loses, because it means that his efforts will be in vain...

"Morikawa." Zhang Qinghuan, who had already put on the Chinese team's sports coat, came up and put his hand on his back, bent down and asked, "Are you okay?

"I'm okay, Brother Huan..." Morikawa Junpei said weakly.

He was really out of it.

You must know that Morikawa Junpei's physical fitness is very good, but he even cramped once during the game.

This shows how fiercely he fought in today's game.

"You guarded me well today. Look, you guarded me so much that I was replaced early, ha!" Zhang Qinghuan joked.

Zhang Qinghuan was replaced by Guo Junfu in the 74th minute of the game. He was replaced not because of Junpei Morikawa, or not entirely because Junpei Morikawa froze him. Junpei Morikawa did cause trouble for him, but Dillon replaced him, more to consider letting Zhang Qinghuan rest and giving Guo Junfu a chance to practice in the game.

Morikawa Junpei also understood this very well. He knew that Brother Huan was just trying to comfort himself and did not show a relaxed expression on his face.

Seeing this, Zhang Qinghuan said seriously:

"It's not your responsibility to lose. Let's fight harder next time!"

Morikawa Junpei nodded: "Okay, Brother Huan.

Zhang Qinghuan patted him on the shoulder and said goodbye to celebrate the victory with his teammates.

As soon as he left, Zhou Zijing came to the door again.

"Oh, Morikawa, it would be nice if you were Chinese." He shook his head and sighed.

Morikawa Junpei knew what Zhou Zijing meant, but he just smiled and shook his head gently and did not say anything.

Seeing him like this, Zhou Zijing stopped talking, just patted his shoulder hard and left.

Morikawa Junpei stood there, watching Zhou Zijing join the cheering crowd.

The Chinese team players celebrated at the home court of the Japanese team...

As their friend, Junpei Morikawa knew that winning this game was of great significance to them.

At this moment, he noticed a person walking in his field of vision.

It's Hulaisan!

He should be here for himself.

But halfway, he was stopped by Sugiyama Tatsuya.

The two chatted for a while, and then Junpei Morikawa saw Hu Lai shaking his head at Tatsuya Sugiyama and pointing at himself. Then he waved goodbye to Tatsuya Sugiyama and continued to walk towards him.

Soon he came to him.

"Come and exchange jerseys, Morikawa." Hu Lai tugged at the front of his jersey.

Morikawa Junpei was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Hu Lai to come to him to exchange jerseys.

So Sugiyama-kun should have asked him to exchange jerseys just now, but he was rejected?

Did he reject Sugiyama-kun because he wanted to exchange jerseys with me?

Morikawa Junpei still couldn't believe it.

Then he thought of his first meeting with Hu Lai - the 2023 East Asian Cup five years ago. In that game, he was responsible for defending Hu Lai and performed well at first. But later he was beaten by Hu Lai, so he had to be replaced early by the head coach.

When he felt painful because of self-blame, what he didn't expect was that after the game, Hu Lai came to exchange jerseys with him.

No, it was not an exchange of jerseys, it was Hu Lai who gave him the jersey unilaterally, because Morikawa Junpei did not react at all at that time and did not take off the jersey and handed it to Hu Lai, and Hu Lai turned around and left after giving him the jersey. , and didn’t ask him for anything…

Morikawa Junpei thought it was normal. Because at that time, how could he be qualified to give his jersey to Hu Lai? Hu Lai is the top scorer in the East Asian Cup, scoring a hat trick against South Korea. What about yourself? Just a failed nobody.

He didn't dare to exchange jerseys with Hu Lai, but Hu Lai took the initiative to give him the jersey.

When he was at his saddest, it was this jersey that brought him strength and hope again.

His new life began after that jersey exchange.

He even had to thank Hu Lai for beating him up.

Let him know that he can't succeed in the position of central defender. Instead, he should make full use of his flexibility and tenacity and switch to playing as a defensive midfielder.

Now, in the defensive midfielder position, he has become the main force of the Japanese national team and the Premier League level.

It all started with that game, that jersey...

Therefore, Junpei Morikawa now naturally connects today with the past, thinking that Hu Lai must also want to comfort and encourage himself by exchanging jerseys.

Seeing that he was still stunned, Hu Lai simply took off his jersey first and then handed it to Morikawa Junpei.

The latter came to his senses and bent down to take off his clothes.

When completing the jersey exchange, Hu Lai said to him: "I believe you can go to the World Cup, Morikawa. When the time comes, I will be waiting for you at the World Cup."

Junpei Morikawa took the jersey with both hands and solemnly promised Hu Lai: "I will, Hu Lai San. I will go to the World Cup. We agreed, see you at the World Cup!"

Hu Lai patted him on the shoulder, clutched Morikawa Junpei's jersey in his hand, and turned to leave.

When passing Tatsuya Sugiyama, he said hello to him again.

Sugiyama Tatsuya walked towards Morikawa Junpei. As he walked, he looked back at Hu Lai's back and said: "Originally, I wanted to exchange jerseys with him, but he told me that he would come to you to exchange. Did you discuss it before the game? ?"

After saying that, he withdrew his gaze, then turned back to look at Morikawa Junpei, but was surprised to find that Morikawa Junpei was holding Hu Lai's jersey, and unknowingly shed tears...

"you"

Sugiyama Tatsuya didn't know what to say for a moment.

After losing the game, many people were unhappy and depressed, but Junpei Morikawa was the only one who cried like this.

Junpei Morikawa had tears on his face, clutched Hu Lai's jersey with both hands, raised his head, and suddenly said to Tatsuya Sugiyama: "Sugiyama-kun, we must go to the World Cup!"

Sugiyama Tatsuya was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Of course, we must go to the World Cup, otherwise how can we explain it to the domestic fans...

Junpei Morikawa stopped talking. He put the jersey Hu Lai gave him on his body and walked off the field with his head lowered.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, this is just an ordinary exchange of jerseys after the game.

But Junpei Morikawa knew that this jersey carried Hu Lai and his promise, and it seemed heavy in his hands.

What he held in his hand was not a jersey, but an agreement.

A promise about the World Cup.

This time there is no need to fantasize about Sakura. The Chinese team's No. 14 jersey in his hand is the best witness!