There is a dream called football

At 3:30 on December 10, 2005, capital time, the German World Cup group stage draw ceremony will be held in Hall 1 of the Leipzig Exhibition Center in Germany.

The reason why it is held in Leipzig is because it is the only former East German city among the host cities, and the German organizers have also given full consideration.

Representing Asia this time are Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China.

It is rare for Asia to have five teams participating in the World Cup. At this time, Australia has not joined the AFC, so they emerged from Oceania, so they and Asian teams do not need to avoid being in the same group.

The Chinese delegation came to Leipzig on December 8. As one of the most important contributors to China's entry into the World Cup, Li Qiao was also invited to join the Chinese delegation, along with Li Weifeng and Zheng Zhi.

When they arrived in Leipzig, the Chinese delegation stayed at an officially arranged hotel. Li Qiao remembered that the World Cup in Germany had a very good reputation in his previous life, in which the rigor and carefulness of the Germans were very important.

This country is indeed very suitable for hosting major competitions, but the difference is that this time the Chinese team is also here.

In the hotel, Li Qiao naturally became the focus of attention from reporters from all over the world.

Many reporters gathered around.

"As a fourth-tier team, do you think the Chinese team will enter the group of death?"

Li Qiao smiled.

"Theoretically, for a team in the fourth tier, entering any group may be the group of death."

"hehe."

Everyone was happy too.

In fact, this is indeed the case. The World Cup brings together the 32 best teams in the world and divides them into tiers according to their strength. So since you are a team in the fourth tier, you will definitely not be able to escape. This is similar to the Champions League draw.

meaning.

"But no matter what group we are assigned to, I am sure that we are not here to travel to Germany and we will work hard to qualify from the group."

"So do you have an ideal opponent?"

Li Qiao smiled.

"Actually, I would rather touch Brazil."

"Haha, defending champion."

"When we played Brazil in the last World Cup, I hadn't started my career yet, so I really want to make up for it this time."

"Is there an opponent you least want to meet?"

"Then of course it's the German team."

In a game like the World Cup, no one wants to encounter a wolf-like host. Think of Saudi Arabia in the World Cup in Russia.

Domestic reporters are more concerned about whether there is a conspiracy in the World Cup lottery. Li Qiao remembers that in his previous life, during the live broadcast of the lottery, Bai Yansong said that someone was trying to hack Argentina. As a result, Argentina was really drawn into the group of death. Many people also laughed about the World Cup lottery.

In fact, it was arranged.

Faced with such questions from the domestic media, Li Qiao laughed.

In fact, it stands to reason that the drawing of lots cannot be completely random, and many situations need to be avoided.

For example, during the Champions League, Russia was not drawn with Ukrainian clubs to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

There are also strong dialogues. Some highlights are talked about by fans and the media, which means box office. For example, the battle between Barcelona and Chelsea in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for several consecutive seasons. Is that random?

However, Li Qiao fully understands this. Modern football has become very commercialized. It would be naive not to consider the box office.

"This is how I look at it. In fact, the results are known by ranking them in high school. But no matter which result, there are always people who are satisfied and people who are dissatisfied, so I think it doesn't matter."

"Conspiracy theorists just have more to talk about. I don't think there is a conspiracy in the lottery."

There is another issue that is also very controversial, and that is the dispute between local coaches and foreign coaches. China has worshiped foreign coaches since the professional reform in 1994. Milu also led the team in the last World Cup.

This time, it was domestic coach Zhu Guanghu who led the team to compete in the World Cup, and many people were skeptical.

Li Qiao thought this question was even more ridiculous.

"Chinese football used to be weak, so it was right for us to learn from others. But with the progress of Chinese football, I think we must eventually go our own way. No country relies entirely on foreign coaches for development. Go and see

South Korea and Japan, the Koreans also use local coaches this time, I think South Korea is ahead of us in this regard."

"Our domestic media have only seen the great achievements of foreign coaches, but what they have not seen is that our Chinese coaches are also working very hard to develop their own football. For example, Director Zhu, his private work is something that many of us have not seen.

"

Regarding this point, Zhu Guanghu himself is very modest. He said that whether it is a foreign coach or a local coach, the most important thing is to look at the results. For example, Milu was successful and Krauchen was also successful, but in the 1990s we invited

The foreign coaches were less successful.

"My contract will end after the World Cup. Whether the Football Association can renew my contract will mainly test my coaching ability. It has nothing to do with which country I am from."

In the hotel, many football bigwigs gathered, including Milutinovic, an old friend of the Chinese.

Chinese fans have deep feelings for Milu. Later, many people hoped that Milu would return to China to coach, but the smart Milu did not come back because he knew that there was no one in the Chinese team at that time.

When Li Qiao saw Milu, he felt as if he had met him too late, and the two briefly hugged each other.

"What a pity. Why didn't you give birth four years earlier? In that case, I think we could have scored at least one goal in 2002."

"Haha, you are too polite."

Milu still has fresh memories of the 2002 World Cup. The Chinese team actually played well, but their finishing ability was average. To put it bluntly, they did not have a first-class forward. For example, in the game against Costa Rica, there were many opportunities, but they could not score.

"No, I'm not polite. If it were for you, I probably wouldn't resign. After all, the salary in China is pretty good."

"Ha ha."

Milu was also invited to participate in the World Cup draw this time, because he is a magical coach in the World Cup. As long as the teams he leads, all the teams have entered the World Cup, and he also led Costa Rica to the miracle of qualifying from the group for the first time in the World Cup.

Milu also had dinner with the Chinese delegation. Everyone was very happy and even predicted the results of tomorrow's draw.

Li Qiao said: "Brazil, Belgium, China, Togo."

Milu said: "Croatia, Paraguay, Ghana, China."

Zhu Guanghu thought for a while, "Poland, Ecuador, the United States, China."

"Haha, you always pick on the weakest team."

"Haha, of course. You guys just stand and talk without hurting your back. I am the head coach, and this has to do with whether I can renew my contract."