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"...Since Syria defeated Qatar 3:1 at home in the penultimate round of the top twelve, the situation of the Chinese team is still not optimistic. They not only want to win Qatar in the final round, but also pray for Uzbekistan And Syria can’t win, or even if Syria wins, they can’t win by a big score. It seems that whether it is Uzbekistan or Syria, it is difficult to beat their respective opponents, especially Syria. They challenged the Iranian team in the last round... ..."

"...But Iran has already qualified ahead of schedule. Their performance after qualifying ahead of schedule really makes it difficult to give them any hope. Judging from the attitude of the game, Iran, which qualified ahead of schedule, has obviously relaxed. Moreover, Iran and Syria are both West Asian teams. Who knows, will there be any underground deals? Never underestimate the filth and darkness of West Asian football. In order to kill the Chinese team, the Iranian team may really dare to lose to Syria at their home court. And also Just watch the match between the Chinese team and Qatar, no more, no less, to ensure that Syria has one more goal difference than the Chinese team..."

"Currently in terms of goal difference, China has two goals and Syria has zero. There is a two-goal lead on goal difference, but it is not enough. I think if China's last game against Qatar If you want to play, try to win as much as possible...I don't believe that Iran dares to lose to Syria at home!"

Although the Chinese team defeated Uzbekistan, the cloud hanging over the hearts of all Chinese fans has not dissipated.

At this time, everyone doesn't care much about the results of the South Korean team and Uzbekistan. They care more about the results of the match between Syria and Iran.

At the same time, Korean media and fans also began to pay attention to the game.

Because if they lose to Uzbekistan in the away game, and Syria wins against Iran at the same time, the three teams of South Korea, China and Syria will have 14 points, which is a comparison of goal difference.

The Chinese team now has a goal difference of two, Syria has a goal difference of zero, and the South Korean team has lost one.

As long as the South Korean team loses, the goal difference will only decrease, and it will definitely not increase.

Based on this calculation, as long as the South Korean team can lose to Uzbekistan, they will definitely be eliminated, and they will not even qualify for the play-offs.

The South Korean team, which was originally considered to be qualified for the World Cup without any difficulty and would definitely be able to participate in the World Cup, was forced to the edge of a cliff. This is something that many Korean media and fans could not have imagined.

In the last round of the top twelve, the situation of this group is complicated.

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After the match against Uzbekistan, the next day, the whole Chinese team flew to Doha by plane to prepare for the final match against Qatar.

Gao Zheng was interviewed at the airport, and he seemed very confident: "I don't care about the situation in the other two games, because the situation is more favorable to us now."

Unlike the worries in the media and public opinion, Gao Zheng believes that the situation is more powerful for the Chinese team: "Because it's very simple, we only need to score as many goals as possible and win. As long as we can win by a large score, it doesn't matter the other two games. It doesn't matter what the outcome of the game is, who wins or loses, we will all qualify for the play-offs."

A reporter wanted to remind Gao Zheng that the road ahead was difficult: "But it is very difficult to win the opponent by a big score in the away game..."

"We will do our best." Gao Zheng waved his hand with a smile and waved goodbye to the reporters.

Turn around and enter the security checkpoint.

※※※

After the last adaptation training at the Khalifa Stadium, the Chinese team returned to the hotel where they stayed and had dinner.

In order to prepare for the game, the Chinese Football Association specially sent a full set of chefs from China. They also brought a lot of Chinese ingredients, just to ensure that the players of the Chinese team can get used to it during the few days here.

There is no problem eating it.

Of course, these things do not necessarily meet the healthy standards of athletes' diet in everyone's impression.

But it is too cruel to require athletes to eat only boiled chicken breast all the time.

While paying attention to nutrition, we must also pay attention to psychology. After all, the eating habits of the Chinese people from childhood to adulthood are partial to the Chinese style. Forcing Chinese players to eat in full accordance with the Western style will cause the players to have no appetite at all and not want to eat.

The result is that when eating dinner in the restaurant, everyone pretends to eat casually, and when they return to their room, they start to boil water and soak instant noodles...

It is said that instant noodles are junk food, but the Chinese Olympic champions did not eat this kind of "junk food", and it did not prevent them from competing for gold and silver.

Gao Zheng had just sat down with the dinner plate and was about to eat when he saw the captain Zheng Zhi walking over with the dinner plate, and asked him, "Is there anyone beside me?"

Gao Zheng shook his head: "No."

"Then can I sit down?" Zheng Zhi asked again.

"OK."

Zheng Zhi put down his dinner plate and sat down opposite Gao Zheng.

"Thank you." This was the first thing he said after sitting down.

"Captain, you are here again..."

"I just don't think saying it once is enough."

"Then you have told me two or three times. It's really unnecessary, you are too polite, the World Cup is the goal of all of us, and I am also for myself." Gao Zheng said.

"Then I want to thank you too."

"The last game hasn't been played yet, and even if we qualify for the play-offs, we have to play two games against Australia or Saudi Arabia first, and then we have to play against teams from Central and North America... The eight characters have not yet been played. One stroke." Gao Zheng waved his hand.

"Regardless of whether we can enter the World Cup or not, I still want to thank you. At least this time we fought to the last moment. Since I joined the national team, this is the first time I have had such an experience." Zheng Zhi said with a smile.

Gao Zheng couldn't laugh.

The captain made his mark in 2002 and won the Chinese Footballer of the Year award, but he had bad luck, and his success came in the second half of the year, failing to catch the last train of the World Cup.

At that time, the captain might think it was nothing. He was so young, he won the Chinese Footballer of the Year at the age of 22, and his career had just begun. The Chinese team entered the World Cup in a historic way, and the football boom in the whole society is surging. Chinese football will definitely get better and better, and he just caught up with the golden age of Chinese football, and his future will definitely show great promise.

I didn't participate in the World Cup this time, but I will participate next time.

Unexpectedly, what he caught up with was not the golden age of Chinese football, but the dark age.

Since the Chinese team defeated Syria 3:1 in the Bahrain Four Nations Tournament on December 7, 2002, Zheng Zhi has played 97 games for the national team so far, only three games away from the 100-game mark. In the next game against Qatar, it is only two games away.

But none of these 97 games was a World Cup match, and none of them was a match between the top twelve in the final stage of the World Cup Asian qualifiers.

Not only did he miss the World Cup, he didn't even play in the top twelve.

An iconic figure of national football, a well-deserved core and captain, but he hasn't even played in the top 12.

It's really incredible.

In the darkest time of Chinese football, it can even be said that Zheng Zhi is the only face of Chinese football. He won the honor of Asian Footballer of the Year when Chinese football was at its worst. This is after Fan Zhiyi won this honor in 2001, there is a Chinese player.

Many people scolded him because he "kicked" and broke Cisse's leg. Many people scolded him because he missed the penalty kick against the Hongkang team, which caused the Chinese team to fail to reach the top ten.

But so many people who scolded him didn't scold him until later, because they found that Zheng Zhi was the only one left in Chinese football...

They are cursing the only pillar.

The captain born in 1980 has just celebrated his thirty-seventh birthday.

Before that, which Chinese professional player could still play for the country at the age of 37? Who can still become the core midfielder of the Chinese team at this age?

He has been struggling until he finds a successor.

During this arduous trek, he still has the dream of participating in the World Cup deep in his heart.

Not for Chinese football, but for himself, to give an explanation to his young self.

So why did Gao Zheng rush back to China to participate in the top 12 match against South Korea just after recovering from his injury? Why must you sing against the team medical team of Atlético de Madrid?

Because he knew that he shouldered the dreams of many people, including Zhao Bureau, the old man, and the captain.

"Don't worry, captain, we will definitely participate in the World Cup. You can't mess up your hundred national team games." Gao Zheng said.

If all goes well, the last game of the Chinese team in the Asian play-offs will be the captain's 100th game.

That game will determine whether the Chinese team can compete with CONCACAF for the final World Cup spot.

"Thank you." Zheng Zhi said with a smile.

Gao Zheng was not polite this time.