World Cup of Great Powers

The Chinese team defeated Costa Rica 3-1, becoming a highlight of this cup.

Before the game, it wasn't that no one expected that the Chinese team would defeat its opponent, but no one expected that the Chinese team would lose so completely.

During the game, Sun Jihai on the right wing was killing everyone, leaving no face for his opponents.

Not only do they compete for every half-goal, they also don't even give their opponents a chance to make a kick in the frontcourt.

Looking back at Sun Jihai's assists in the second half, he relied on his personal ability and fighting spirit to intercept the ball in the frontcourt and then sent precise crosses.

In this game, Sun Jihai was naturally named MVP and was praised by domestic and foreign media.

In the eyes of the fans, the reason why Sun Jihai performed so well is entirely because of the experience he received in the Premier League.

The local media in Los Angeles will also add the prefix "Manchester City" when referring to Sun Jihai.

As the Chinese team advanced to the quarterfinals, the AFC Competition Committee gathered in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the Asian Cup in a few months.

Lebanon defeated China 14-2 in a vote held by the Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee in December 1996 and won the right to host the 2000 Asian Cup.

When the news came, the whole country in Lebanon cheered, believing that hosting this competition was an opportunity to develop Lebanese sports, tourism and economy.

But since then, the progress of various preparations for the competition has been twists and turns.

According to the relevant working documents submitted by the Lebanese Football Association to the Asian Football Confederation, Lebanon will provide 5 official football match venues and 12 training venues for this competition, including one new football stadium in Tripoli and one in Saida.

The expansion of three football stadiums in Beirut is estimated to require US$60 million.

But until the end of 1998, there was not even a trace of funds required for the above-mentioned projects. The answer from the relevant parties was: no money!

For this reason, some people in the organizing committee even suggested giving up the right to host the 2000 Asian Cup.

It was not until early 1999, after the AFC delegation visited Lebanon and met with Lebanese President Lahoud and Prime Minister Hoss, that the funds needed to build the competition venue were secured, but they were cut in half.

It was not until August 1999 that the main construction of the Tripoli football stadium, one of the host venues for the match, broke ground, but things did not go smoothly.

In January this year, AFC Vice Chairman Tigui led a team to Lebanon to conduct another inspection of the preparations for the event.

It was found that not only the construction of the football field in Lebanon was too slow, but also the turf of the stadium was not up to standard.

Coupled with the recent major armed conflict between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese power plant was bombed, causing a nationwide power outage in Lebanon.

This unexpected incident has increased the AFC's concerns about Lebanon hosting the Asian Cup final as scheduled.

This meeting was held to discuss whether China should replace Lebanon and take over the hosting rights of this Asian Cup.

If the Asian Cup final cannot be held on time, how will the AFC handle it?

Zhang Jilong said: Although China is Lebanon's substitute country to host the game, it is impossible for China Bamboo Shoes to host the game in such a short period of time.

At least in terms of infrastructure, China is not prepared at all.

If the AFC's decision must be implemented, the final time may be greatly postponed.

In this regard, the Lebanese side also stated that for the sake of national dignity, Lebanon would not easily hand over the hosting rights unless there was an accident.

Lebanese will spend the last time improving various infrastructure for the Asian Cup.

Although this meeting ended here, the seeds of passing on and hosting the meeting quietly fell into the hearts of the two countries and took root.

...

On March 10, the national football team played against Trinidad and Tobago in San Diego.

Many teams have been upgrading their teams since last year, and most of the players participating in this exhibition are young players born between 1974 and 1978, who are obviously not as strong as the national football team.

In the 15th minute, Qu Shengqing cut in from the left, received a pass from Sun Jihai from the right and shot into the far corner, opening the scoring for the national football team.

Two minutes later, Zhang Xiaorui advanced from the middle. Seeing that the opponent's defender was not coming up to press, he decisively took a long shot and won another victory.

In the 28th minute, many teams won a free kick opportunity on the edge of the left penalty area of ​​the Chinese team.

No. 2 Bakhtiol shot a curve ball straight into the upper left corner of the goal, getting a goal back for the team.

Ten minutes later, the national football team made a comeback.

Veteran Ma Mingyu used a signature long shot to break through the opponent's goal again.

In the second half, the sides changed sides and the battle resumed, with both sides speeding up their attacking pace.

However, both teams failed to seize the opportunity in front of the goal, especially one minute before the end of the game when many teams took advantage of the wrong pass in the national football penalty area to successfully steal the ball.

In desperation, Wu Chengying committed a tripping foul and gave her opponent a penalty kick, but the opponent's No. 8 Sirkola kicked the ball away. The national football team once again advanced to the semifinals with a score of 3-1.

...

After advancing to the semi-finals, more and more fans began to pay attention to this event.

Who is the next opponent of the Chinese team?

This has become the biggest concern for fans.

After learning that the next opponent of the Chinese team is Mexico, fans have made predictions about this game.

Mexico won the championship in this highest-level tournament in CONCACAF in 1993, 1996 and 1998, and also performed well in the 1998 World Cup.

Not only that, but they also won the Confederations Cup in Brazil, which made many Mexican fans believe that Mexican football will be revitalized again after the 1986 World Cup.

March 13, San Diego Stadium.

After seeing the Chinese players take the field, huge cheers surged up in the stadium like a tide.

Facing the North American powerhouse Mexico, the Chinese team launched a blitzkrieg.

Only two minutes into the game, Sun Jihai boldly advanced from the right to assist. After Zhang Xiaorui got the ball in the middle, he attracted two opposing players to defend, and then cleverly distributed the ball to the left.

Li Jinyu on the other side received the ball, took a step forward and made a cross.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The ball seemed to be passed too wide. The ball passed high over everyone in the penalty area and flew towards the right baseline.

At the same time, fat man Qu Shengqing intervened in time and stretched out his foot to stop the ball when it was about to fall out of the baseline.

Then he dunks the ball inward lightly, sways past the oncoming defender, lifts his left foot and hits!

Guarding the gate of Mexico is the famous goalkeeper Jorge Campos, nicknamed Butterfly!

In past competitions, Butterflies have become world-famous for their flexible reach and quick reaction speed.

But this time, a Mexican defender happened to be standing in the small penalty area.

Qu Shengqing's shot hit the calf and changed direction. Even Huadie couldn't react.

In this way, only one minute into the game, the Chinese team broke through the gate guarded by Huadie.

A goal scored so quickly in the opening game disrupted all Mexico's arrangements.

They originally wanted to rely on shrinking defense to wear down the energy of the Chinese team from afar, and then score goals through counterattack.

But now, the score has fallen behind, and it is obviously unwise to launch a defensive counterattack.

Because the score was behind, Mexico quickly started a confrontation with the Chinese team.

After the attack started, the Mexicans discovered that there was no good way to pass through the dense midfield defense.

In desperation, we can only use the forward's personal ability to make a strong breakthrough and attack wherever he can.

Li Tie's excellent running ability and active interception made the Mexicans suffer a lot.

Although his passing ability is inherently weak, under the dual training of Zeng Zheng and Sevilla, at least in terms of ball awareness, Li Tie can fully adapt to the current Segunda División.

With the double midfielder partnering with Yao Xia, Li Tie successfully stole 6 times in just 20 minutes!

This is an amazing statistic!

Continuous successful steals gave the Chinese team many counterattack opportunities.

In the 19th minute, Zhang Xiaorui, Ma Mingyu and Su Maozhen played an exquisite cooperation at the front of the opponent's penalty area. Unfortunately, Jintou Lao Mao's final kick missed the goal frame, which caused a sigh from the fans present.

The Mexicans also had a good chance in the 29th minute.

Taking advantage of the gap created by Sun Jihai on the road, Mexico quickly counterattacked.

After using his speed to pass through the wing corridor, he was about to go straight to the forward to form a single goal.

No one expected that at the critical moment, the last pass would be blocked by Sun Jihai who was actively chasing after him and stretched out his foot from behind.

Sun Jihai made amends and prevented the opponent from counterattacking this time.

Ladd nodded repeatedly on the sidelines, while Jin Zhiyang and Chi Shangbin also celebrated.

Regarding the tactical arrangements for this cup, they had some conflicts with Zeng Zhengben.

Coupled with the above orders, the three parties have never reached unity.

After drawing with Canada and defeating Costa Rica, Jin and Chi slowly figured out a "development path" suitable for the current Chinese team.

That is "governing by doing nothing".

Zeng Zheng's identity this time is as a consultant, and what he says most often is: Just put the right people in the right positions.

Because of this sentence, even if Zeng Zheng did not arrange the formation, players and basic tactics, the Chinese team could still compete with Mexico on a par!

You know, Mexico is not a weak team.

A common estimate.

If the Chinese team can really be on par with Mexico, then it will not be difficult to qualify for the World Cup group stage in Asia.

A normal formation of four backs, four midfielders, and two forwards, and then selecting some experienced and capable players from the national team, can achieve the current level of one goal ahead of Mexico.

Can Jin and Chi be unhappy?

Looking at the situation on the field, although Mexico has many opportunities.

But since the midfield and center are not dominant, they still need something new if they want to break through the Chinese team.

On the offensive side, Ma Mingyu is a veteran of the national football team, and Zhang Xiaorui is Benfica's most popular rising star.

Under the organization of these two people, the Chinese team's offensive organization was flourishing.

In the 31st minute, Sun Jihai and Zhang Xiaorui, who came forward with assists, cooperated continuously, and finally the latter made a pass from the right.

Su Maozhen and Qu Shengqing both jumped up to grab the point. Campos, the butterfly, hit the ball out of the penalty area ahead of them. The defender immediately made a big kick to clear the ball.

Two minutes later, Sun Jihai advanced again and was brought down by the opponent on the wing. Ma Mingyu took the free kick and passed it directly into the penalty area, but Campos got the ball again.

The Mexicans counterattacked quickly. The players on the wing got rid of Li Tie who ran towards the center to block him and then ran straight in. He rushed to the left side of the penalty area and suddenly took a shot. The ball hit the side netting hard, causing the hearts of the fans at the scene to beat violently.

Immediately afterwards, the Mexicans got another corner kick.

Fortunately, Jiang Jin is tall and hits the ball in time.

Seeing that the Mexicans, who were one goal behind, were gaining momentum, the Chinese fans who came to the scene couldn't help but increase their cheers.

After only five minutes, these cheers turned into cheers.

This time, it was Wu Chengying who assisted from the left.

After Li Jinyu got the ball, he rushed into the penalty area, but the ball was intercepted by the opponent.

However, the ball was not controlled by the Mexican, but rolled towards the penalty area line in the middle.

At this time, Ma Mingyu, who was at the top of the arc, rushed up suddenly, facing the rolling ball and kicking it without stopping!

The moment the instep comes into contact with the ball, the force-bearing surface of the ball suddenly dents.

"Whoosh!"

The ball flew out from Ma Mingyu's feet like a cannonball. The Mexican defender three meters in front of him didn't even have time to react. He only felt a gust of cool wind blowing from his side.

After the ball rushed into the air, it began to clearly draw a slight downward arc.

Faced with the apparent fall, Campos seemed to be caught off guard.

He desperately stretched out his hand to block it, but the ball hit his fingertips hard, continued forward, and finally flew into the net.

"Wonderful world wave!

"The American commentator on the scene shouted loudly.

"2 to 0!"

"The Chinese team expanded the score!

"

Amid the cheers of the fans in the audience, Ma Mingyu pointed to the sky with both hands, showing off his own style in a foreign country.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The Mexicans also looked at each other in shock.

They really didn't expect it.

An Asian team invited to participate in the cup for the first time could actually make itself, a three-time champion, so miserable.

Seeing the strength of the Chinese team, CONCACAF also had some questions: Is this invited team too strong?

They invite teams from other continents to participate for commercial interests.

We don’t really want them to win the championship!

During the intermission, Zeng Zheng did not have any communication with Jin Chi.

Correspondingly, Ladd did not make any substitution adjustments, but only requested that the score can be expanded in the second half.

The "let go" players quickly achieved this.

In the 54th minute, after receiving a pass from Zhang Xiaorui, Su Maozhen made a beautiful turn and broke through into the penalty area. Facing the attacking Campos, he calmly pushed and shot, making it 3-0.

The victory was almost sealed.

After taking a three-goal lead, Ladd sat back in his chair with satisfaction.

After Jin and Chi exchanged glances, they began to arrange for those players who had never played for the national team to go to the sidelines to warm up.

From a certain perspective, this three-goal lead was just for these "newbies".

We're already three goals ahead. If you slip up again, you won't lose all this three-goal advantage, right?

After Jin and Chi took over the team, Zeng Zheng, like Ladd, was bored in the coaching bench doing his own thing.

At this moment, Zeng Zheng's satellite phone rang.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Coach Zeng, it's me!" Miss Qian's voice came from the other end of the phone, "What are you doing?"

"Miss Qian, I'm competing right now! What's the matter with you?" Zeng Zheng said helplessly.

"Oh oh oh!" Upon hearing that Zeng Zheng was at work, Ms. Qian also stopped joking and went directly to the topic.

"Coach Zeng, the latest news I received is that there is an excellent investment opportunity. Do you want to give it a try?"

"What investment opportunity?" Zeng Zheng asked curiously.

"The news I just got is that our bamboo shoes are planning to host this Asian Cup instead of Lebanon, and they are planning to gather people to recruit investment and subcontracting! If we win a few turf businesses, won't this pattern open up?

"

Zeng Zheng's eyes lit up.

I am delighted by the words "hosting the Asian Cup", but also a little proud of the name "we".

However, Zeng Zheng, who has always been steady, did not immediately express his position.

After all, this matter has not been settled yet, and it is still a matter of debate as to whether the Lebanese side can agree to it.

"Coach Zeng, what do you think of this?"

Seeing Jin and Chi replacing three overseas players with three "local freshmen" in succession, Zeng Zheng couldn't help but snort.

"Tsk, tsk, now I feel like I can do it again!"

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