World Cup of Great Powers

“Beep beep, beep!

"

As two short and one long whistles sounded, the South Korean players on the court stopped their current actions for an instant.

Their eyes were dull and they looked around the stadium with blank faces.

There are red flags fluttering and waving in the wind everywhere.

The cheers of the fans lasted for 45 minutes, a full 45 minutes.

From the moment both players entered the court in the second half, even if one team committed a foul and the game was interrupted, the cheers from the stands never stopped.

8 to 0!

An absolutely unforgettable score.

The red numbers are eye-catching, making people unable to believe what happened on the court in the past 90 minutes.

Even Huang Jianxiang, who has always been aggressive, fell silent the moment the final whistle sounded.

"The game is over."

"8 to 0."

"The Chinese team defeated its old rival South Korea in the opening match of this Asian Cup."

"It's over, everything is over."

It was clear that the opening match had just begun, but Huang Jianxiang said the words "It's over."

This appears to be a live broadcast accident.

But not.

The national football team and substitute players came to the sidelines and bowed to the fans.

Seeing the sweat and smiles on the young boys' cheeks, the fans roared even harder.

But those older fans, like Huang Jianxiang, withdrew from the cheering ranks one by one, sat back on their chairs, and calmly watched the scenes on the court.

They seemed to want to record this moment forever.

Rossi gave up the red flag in his hand to others and fell down on the chair.

He wiped the sweat from his temples with his arm. There were a few white hairs mixed with the water stains on the back of his arm.

"More than ten years have passed..." Rossi sighed softly, "I'm getting old too."

Just when Rossi was staring at the white hair, whether it was hair or eyebrows, a pair of green hands held his shoulders from behind.

"Uncle Li, it's over, the game is over, we won, hahaha!"

Rossi looked back and saw that it was the niece of his golfer who was studying in college.

This is the first time she has come to the scene with the team to watch the national team's game.

Watching a national team game for the first time, what I saw was the national team’s first big win in twenty years!

How lucky is this?!

The last time the national football team scored 8-0 against another national team was in the 1987 Olympic qualifiers, when it defeated Nepal 8-0.

In that Olympic qualifying match, the Chinese team defeated the Philippines 19-0 in two rounds (9-0, 10-0) and Nepal (8-0, 12-0) in two rounds 20-0.

But what kind of opponents are these?

Not only is it not worth writing about, it’s not worth mentioning!

Against such a weak team, we should have a double-digit score difference.

But what about the last time we played against an opponent of South Korea's level, 8-0?

Rossi searched through the memories in his mind and found nothing.

Let alone the Chinese team playing South Korea 8-0, there has never been a time when South Korea played the Chinese team 8-0.

The strength of the two teams is almost the same.

Even if there are some legends about "Korean phobia" in the past 20 years, it is just a matter of being unable to win against South Korea, and it is still common in normal games.

But now, the balance has completely tilted to one side.

Amid cheers all over the place, the exhausted South Korean team members finally came to their senses.

Dragging his legs filled with lead, he hurriedly walked towards the players tunnel with his head hanging down.

They don't want to stay here for a moment.

Looking at the backs of the South Korean players leaving the field in a hurry, I didn't know who was taking the lead in the stands, and the fans actually sang together.

"Vigorous, high-spirited, transnational river..."

This majestic and majestic song directly struck the fearful hearts of the South Korean players.

Jin Yongda, who was fed 8 balls, even stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

After he shook his arms several times to barely maintain his balance, maybe because he was the last South Korean player on the field, he burst out with superhuman strength and rushed towards the tunnel.

Several other South Korean teammates seemed to have noticed something after being overtaken by Jin Longda.

We spread our legs together and ran towards the tunnel.

At this moment, a certain gene deep in the South Korean players' bodies was awakened, and they did not want to stay here any longer.

After this Asian Cup, this South Korean team failed to recover.

Many players retire hastily and give up football when they are around 30 years old.

It is precisely because of this talent shortage that South Korean football has not recovered for many years.

And every time I recall this game, a trace of fear always appears on the wrinkled old faces of the South Korean players who have been there.

That day, they lost, they lost, they finally escaped...

Xu Dingmao was standing on the sidelines at this time, looking at his disciples who could still burst out with such energy after the game, and he was dumbfounded.

"No wonder everyone says that South Korean players have good physical strength." Fans commented incessantly.

"Look! You can still run so fast at this time."

"It's really accurate!"

The pale-faced Xu Dingmao calmed down, walked slowly to the middle of the sideline, and held hands with Zeng Zheng.

"Coach Zeng, you played well in this game."

"Coach Xu, I told you not to use 352, but you didn't listen."

"This is not something I can decide." Xu Dingmao smiled bitterly.

South Korean bamboo shoes are not that democratic either.

After a wry smile, Xu Dingmao did not let go of Zeng Zheng's hand, "Coach Zeng, what tactic are you using? Why is the attack so fierce?"

Zeng Zheng smiled slightly, "Want to learn? I'll teach you!"

Xu Dingmao was stunned for a moment, then sighed: "I lost..."

After the game, Xu Dingmao resigned amidst the curses from South Korean fans.

In December of the same year, Xu Dingmao joined the Zeng Zheng national football coaching staff.

At the end of October 2002, Xu Dingmao replaced Gao Hongbo, who retired after a successful career, as the head coach of Jianglong.

...

"The End of Fear of Korea, the Beginning of Fear of China!"

"Twenty years of grudges settled in one day"

"The strong rise of Chinese football!"

"The War between China and South Korea, the Unspeakable Score"

"352 doesn't work? Is it a rant or a promise?"

"The situation between China and South Korea has completely changed"

"The war between China and South Korea shows how much advantage the host has"

"Why is the score so disparate? Zeng Zheng has his own explanation"

"Xu Dingmao: It will be a nightmare from now on"

"General Fan: Distant England Sends Blessings"

"No double figures? Pick a 'thorn' for the national football team!"

"It's natural for the Chinese team to qualify for the group stage"

"Asian Cup: The Chinese team has shown its championship appearance"

"Li Weifeng and ten other Chinese players underwent drug testing after the game"

...

After the bronze medal in the Olympic Games, fans never thought that Zeng Zhenghe's name on the national team would hit the sports world again so soon.

The result of this war between China and South Korea made the fans grin from the corners of their mouths to their ears, unable to stop at all.

This is a score that no one had thought of before the game.

Even the drunkest drunkard could not imagine that the Chinese team would win by such a big score.

Qu Shengqing, Yang Chen scored twice, Li Weifeng, Shen Si, Ma Mingyu, and Su Maozhen each scored one goal. It was a total success and it was impossible to guard against it.

Before the game, there were many "Korean-phobic" words in the media that were noisy, but they completely disappeared after the game.

This huge victory not only completely shattered the shadow of fear of Korea, but also caused a 180-degree change in the fans' mentality.

In the hearts of fans, playing 3-0 to relieve their anger and vent their accumulated resentment over the past 20 years is already an extremely high expectation.

But the score scored by Zeng Zheng made many fans feel a pity for South Korea.

When did South Korea become a small team like the Philippines and Nepal?

Is it still meaningful for us to keep worrying about winning or losing against teams of this level?

In the words of the "Beijing Morning News", "The biggest change brought about by this game is that Chinese fans have completely let go of their feud with South Korea."

"...If it is a close contest between Kuwait and Indonesia after the game, then this battle between China and South Korea is a David and Goliath battle."

"...Since the Chinese team has made such a good start, there is no need to evade and pretend to be second-rate."

"...Build up confidence, give full play to your strengths, and qualifying from the group will be a matter of course."

"...Winning the championship locally is not impossible."

At home, the victory is being celebrated, but over there, South Korea, which is anxious to lose, has given up.

The "Seoul Daily" directly used the word "national humiliation" as its title, and completely nailed the name of head coach Huh Jung-moo to the pillar of shame.

Bamboo Shoes of South Korea is also a bachelor. Amidst the overwhelming condemnation from the people, he threw all the responsibilities on Xu Dingmao.

The honest man Xu Dingmao did not make any excuses and directly resigned to apologize.

But is that the end?

of course not!

The angry South Korean fans continued to pursue the case and strongly demanded that Huh Dinh-moo be completely expelled from the South Korean football community and that he be banned from contacting football for the rest of his life.

After South Korea complied with the request, they began to collectively attack the AFC, believing that there was something fishy about the Asian Cup being taken over by China.

It is very likely that the Chinese team bribed the referee, which ultimately led to this "fiasco of the century."

In addition to suspecting the referee of collecting illegal money and blowing illegal whistles, he also complained to all the players on the Chinese team, thinking that they must have taken some kind of drug bought from the United States, and they even memorized the model number and production date, just like the real ones.

I saw Chinese players getting the same injection.

Of course, these untrue remarks were directly slapped in the face by the urine test results of the Chinese team after the game announced by the AFC.

However, the angry South Korean fans did not give up.

They began to completely shift the blame to the AFC, believing that the AFC and the Chinese team were "complicit" and even asked FIFA to expel the AFC!

Such a ridiculous suggestion was actually put forward by FIFA Vice President Zheng Menghuai on FIFA's agenda, shocking the world.

It can be said that Zeng Zheng made Chinese fans "come out" with a victory, but made South Korean fans "trapped".

...

"Hello, audience friends!"

"This is the Maojiawan training base and the competition venue for Group A of this Asian Cup."

"Behind me is where the teams in Group A rest."

The camera extended behind the reporter, and the fans saw rows of newly built three-story villas.

Maojiawan has been turned into an "Olympic Village"!

"The person we are going to interview today is none other than the legendary coach of the national team, Mr. Zeng Zheng."

"Speaking of Coach Zeng, there is a little anecdote."

"The day before yesterday, long after the China-South Korea war ended, Coach Zeng hurriedly ran to the stands and shouted to Chinese coach Li Huajun and others who were interpreting the India-Korea war: 'Have any of you seen my backpack?

'"

"Coach Li Huajun said that Coach Zeng is always like this, making mistakes every day."

"Coach Li Hui on the side said, 'Coach Zeng is so busy every day, focusing on the team. His mind works so fast, it's strange that he doesn't miss anything!'"

Zeng Zheng was indeed restless.

When reporters found him, the players were training on the field.

However, he ran to the side and chatted animatedly with the soldiers who provided security, the workers responsible for site maintenance, and the old doormen.

When talking about the players, Zeng Zheng's first words were: "Our players are not like before now."

As he said that, Zeng Zheng pointed to his temple, "Our players know how to use their brains when playing football, and some of them are very smart!"

"Coach Zeng, what action do you think is the most important on the football field?"

Facing the microphone, Zeng Zheng pondered for a moment, "Next."

"What?" The reporter didn't understand.

"The next move is the most important!"

Before the female reporter could react, the photographer carrying the camera suddenly realized what she was doing.

Reporter: "Coach Zeng, how do you enlighten the players and let them relax before the game?"

Zeng Zheng: "It's very simple, just tell them a few jokes."

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Reporter: "Can you give an example?"

Zeng Zheng: "I remember that after Yang Chen returned to China because the situation was not very clear, he specifically asked me which group we were divided into in the Asian Cup, and I said we were in group D. Yang Chen was stunned at that time, amusing Zhou Ninghe who was standing aside

Xie Hui laughed."

reporter:"???"

Seeing that his colleague didn't respond, the photographer coughed a few times and reminded him: "This Asian Cup will be divided into three groups."

During the relaxed Q&A, Zeng Zheng came to the side of the training ground with reporters.

At this time, Li Hui and Li Huajun were leading the team in the most basic return running exercises with stopwatches. This was also the course that Zeng Zheng gave the public the most public training performances.

Reporter: "Coach Zeng, did you predict that the score would be like this from the beginning in the China-South Korea battle?"

Zeng Zheng: “Why do you say that?”

Reporter: "From the analysis after the game, the Chinese team's defenders rarely defend."

Zeng Zheng: "Isn't this obvious? Since there is no defensive task, let them attack!"

Reporter: "Coach Zeng, after Su Maozhen scored the seventh goal in the second half, did you ever think about letting South Korea also score a goal?"

Zeng Zheng: "I thought about it, but the players didn't listen. As a result, Shen Si scored another goal before the end. There was nothing I could do about it."

Reporter: "Coach Zeng, do you still plan to score a big score in tomorrow's game against Indonesia?"

Zeng Zheng: "I will pay attention to every team in this Asian Cup, but the Chinese team is far from reaching a unique level in Asia. For tomorrow's game, my goal is not to concede a goal and beat the opponent completely."

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