Chapter 22: First/Fourth Finals Vs. South Korea
The Chinese team finally defeated Uzbekistan 3:0 at the Brisbane Stadium. With two consecutive group wins, the Chinese team won the right to qualify for the group and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup in advance. With a five-goal difference, it basically meant that they finished third in the group in advance. one.
Of course, even if the Chinese team does not have a five-goal difference, it is certain that it will be first in the group, because the Chinese team's last group opponent is the fishy team Palestine.
As long as the Chinese team does not take the initiative to kill, even if it cannot win, it will at least get a draw.
At the same time, China's domestic sports media and fans have varying degrees of excitement, pride and superiority.
Especially the older generation of fans, how could they ever dare to think that their national team could play so smoothly in the Asian Cup?
Let’s not talk about the local Asian Cup in 2004. The 2007 Southeast Asian Asian Cup started very smoothly, with a 5:1 victory over Malaysia, one of the hosts, and then a 2:2 draw with Iran. In the final round, as long as there is a tie, the result will be heavy. The Chinese team, which was under pressure, lost to Uzbekistan 0:3 and was eliminated.
Four years later, in the Asian Cup in Qatar, the Chinese team also got off to a good start in the first round, but lost to the host Qatar 0:2 in the second round. In the third round, they drew 2:2 with Uzbekistan when they had to win, and were eliminated again.
The same four years later, a hearty victory over Uzbekistan and then qualifying from the group early gave some spiritual comfort to the older generation of Chinese fans.
And the quarterfinals are not the end of the Chinese team. According to the Asian Cup quarter-finals matchup arrangement, the Chinese team’s opponents are either the South Korean team or the Australian team, but no matter which team they face, the Chinese team will have a fight. force.
In the 2014 Brazil World Cup Asian Top Ten qualifiers, the Chinese team was in the same group as Australia and South Korea. They had one win and one draw against the South Korean team, while Australia had the upper hand with one win and one draw.
But don't forget that the Chinese team's level of integration in the World Cup qualifiers two years ago was still very high, and the head coach at the time was not Lippi.
Today is different from the past. The Chinese team led by Lippi has entered the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The two group matches of this Asian Cup also played a great technical and tactical content. Anyone who knows a little bit about football knows that as long as the Chinese team does not take the initiative to make mistakes, It is really difficult for other Asian teams to defeat the Chinese team.
After qualifying from the group in advance, the Chinese media and fans hope that the Chinese team will face the South Korean team in the quarter-finals, because the Chinese team personally sent the South Korean team to the play-offs in the World Cup Asian Qualifiers two years ago.
Two years later, the overall strength of the Chinese team has been qualitatively strengthened, but the Korean team has stagnated.
Comparison between the two,
It's obvious.
It's not that the Chinese media and fans don't want to encounter the host in the quarter-finals, but that encountering the host too early will bring some trouble to the Chinese team.
After all, the host's natural advantages cannot be ignored.
South Korea and Australia, who had two consecutive wins in the group, were thinking of themselves after qualifying early. According to the situation in Group B, the Chinese team will definitely qualify first in the group, while South Korea and Australia are only ranked differently based on different goal differences.
The host Australia won both games, scored eight goals and conceded one, and ranked first in the group with seven goal differences. South Korea won both group matches 1:0 and had no advantage in goal difference, so it ranked third. two.
If we look at the current standings, the South Korean team will definitely face the Chinese team in the quarter-finals, so the South Korean team's head coach Stillik is thinking that he must beat Australia in the last round and win the game.
Instead of meeting the Chinese team in the quarter-finals, Stillik hopes to meet Uzbekistan or Saudi Arabia.
Australian head coach Poskoglu is also wondering whether he should try his best to stay first in the group?
Compared to the Chinese team, he would rather play in Uzbekistan or Saudi Arabia.
The current Chinese team is not the soft persimmon that could be manipulated by others.
※※※
The next day, the attention of the world's media shifted, including the Asian media focusing on the Asian Cup, to Zurich, Switzerland.
Because the winner of the FIFA Ballon d'Or, which is attracting worldwide attention, will be decided there, and the same is true for Tang Zheng.
However, in order to prepare for the Asian Cup group stage, he did not have time to go to Zurich to attend the 2014 FIFA Annual Awards Ceremony, so he could only follow the FIFA Annual Awards Ceremony in Zurich through live TV.
In the past 2013-2014 season, Tang Zheng's performance can be said to be very outstanding. At the club level, he helped Real Madrid win the league runner-up, King's Cup championship and Champions League championship. At the national team level, he also led the Chinese team to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, and even At one point, it was possible to defeat the Dutch team and advance to the semi-finals, becoming the biggest dark horse in last year's World Cup.
However, 2014 is the year of the World Cup, and Neuer, the goalkeeper of the champion German team, is very popular, so Tang Zheng is not confident. In addition, he is unable to attend the Asian Cup in person, which further reduces the possibility of defending the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
Teammate Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in the World Cup was not satisfactory, but his performance in the club was eye-catching. In the past 2013-2014 season, he was a double scorer in La Liga and the Champions League. The Champions League broke the long-standing single-season scoring record. record, a lot of extra points.
Halfway through this season's schedule, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a lot of goals. Under this situation, Tang Zheng has much less scoring pressure, and in more games, head coach Carlo Ancelotti wants to ensure that the midfield and backcourt The safety placed Tang Zheng in the defensive midfield position, so he was at a disadvantage in the heavier game.
It is worth mentioning that Messi, who has entered the top three of the World Footballer/FIFA Golden Globe Award for seven consecutive years, failed to break the record. He narrowly lost to Neuer and ranked fourth. He has missed the FIFA Golden Globe Award.
Generally speaking, mainstream European media still believe that Tang Zheng is more likely to defend his title.
Real Madrid won the Champions League not because of Cristiano Ronaldo's goals, but because of Tang Zheng's stability in normal games and his ability to step forward at critical moments. Without Tang Zheng, how would Real Madrid have won the 10th title in team history? Champions League winner?
Of course, there are also many media who are optimistic about Cristiano Ronaldo and Neuer, especially Cristiano Ronaldo.
Tang Zheng is indeed the biggest contributor to Real Madrid's victory in the Champions League, but Cristiano Ronaldo also made a lot of contributions. The key is that Cristiano Ronaldo's personal glory also has the Champions League championship, and there is also a single season of the Champions League that Tang Zheng does not have. and you to record.
Neuer's voice is not low either, but unfortunately his playing position is greatly restricted.
Compared to offensive players, the chances of a goalkeeper being elected are really low.
In addition to the optimistic German media, many mainstream media are optimistic about Real Madrid's two superstars being elected to the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
The first award to be announced is the World Professional Footballers Association's best team. Real Madrid has three players selected, namely Tang Zheng, Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo. The goalkeeper is undoubtedly Neuer.
In addition to Ramos, the four defenders include David Luiz, Thiago Silva and Lahm, the three midfielders except Tang Zheng include Toni Kroos and Iniesta, and the three forwards include Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Robben.
The next award is the FIFA President's Award, which was won by Japan Football Association Chairman Yushi Kagawa.
The Puskas Award was won by Colombian international James Rodriguez, who joined Real Madrid last year. The winning goal was the stunning half-turn left-foot volley he scored against Uruguay in the 1/8 finals. .
The best women's football coach was Ralf Kellermann, and the best men's football coach was won by Loew, who led the German team to the World Cup championship.
The Fair Play Award is special and was won by volunteers of the 2014 Brazil World Cup.
By this time, the atmosphere at the Zurich Opera House became a little tense, even for Tang Zheng, who was sitting in front of the TV.
There is a saying that is very true, a soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier.
This sentence is also applicable to the FIFA Golden Globe Award, so Tang Zheng also wants to defend the FIFA Golden Globe Award.
If he could attend the event in person, Tang Zheng would be more than 50% confident in defending his title, but... right now, there is some suspense.
From ancient times to the present, the FIFA Ballon d'Or and its predecessor FIFA Ballon d'Or have never seen a single elected player not present...
Miss World Football was won by German player Kessler, and finally... it was the turn of the final award, the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
Everyone's focus is on former Arsenal star Henry who is holding a sealed card. To be more precise...it's the sealed card surface in Henry's hand.
Inside the sealed card is the name of the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or winner.
Tang Zheng, who was sitting in front of the TV, felt more and more nervous even without knowing the atmosphere creation that Henry had learned from management.
Sitting in front of the TV, Tang Zheng and his national team teammates could hear the expectations of CC5 commentator He Wei: "I think every Chinese fan sitting in front of the TV is looking forward to Tang Zheng defending his personal career title." The second FIFA Ballon d'Or of my career..."
About five seconds later, Henry opened the sealed card, smiled, faced the camera with the card with the name of the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner on it, and shouted: "Cristiano Ronaldo!"
The live director's close-up shot immediately showed Cristiano Ronaldo. He took a long breath and showed his iconic smile when he appeared on the broadcast screen. Before he saw his name, he was really worried about his teammate Tang Zheng's ability to defend the FIFA gold medal. Ball award...
In terms of his contribution to the team, Cristiano Ronaldo is somewhat ashamed of himself.
It is really not easy to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or when Tang Zheng is the favorite!
CCTV 5 commentator He Wei was stunned for a few seconds after seeing the result, then shook his head and said: "It seems that Tang Zheng represented the Chinese team in the Asian Cup and he lost a lot of points because he failed to qualify. Jointly organized by FIFA and "France Football" The FIFA Ballon d'Or Awards created by the organization will not allow the winner to be absent from the scene..."
Of course, Howie's statement is more like self-consolation.
But the Chinese fans in front of the TV have no doubts, because in their hearts, Tang Zheng is the most qualified to be selected for the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or!
Instead, Tang Zheng, who was sitting in front of the TV, shrugged his shoulders, turned to look at his teammates who didn't know what to say, and said with a smile: "Don't think too much about it, I gained it but lost my life, it's not a big deal, our top priority is It’s the Asian Cup, not the annual FIFA awards ceremony.”
※※※
In the blink of an eye, the second round of the Asian Cup group stage is over, and the qualifying situation of each group is basically clear, except for a few places that need to wait for the final round of the group to be announced.
In the first two group matches in Group A, Australia finally drew with South Korea 1:1, which means that in the last round of Group B, as long as the Chinese team loses by a small margin to Palestine, which lost all the first two rounds, it will be ranked first in the group. It's a sure thing.
The Korean team, which has worked hard, can only pin its hopes on Palestine, which was eliminated early, but this hope can be said to be infinitely close to zero.
Putting aside Palestine’s early elimination, Palestine’s international ranking alone basically means the outcome.
The final round of Group B of the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia started at the same time. The Chinese team moved to Canberra Stadium to face Palestine, which was eliminated early.
Due to the huge difference in overall strength between the two sides, Chinese team coach Lippi made most rotations in the lineup, including goalkeeper.
Of course, Tang Zheng, who is the core of the midfield, is not included in the rotation.
It wasn't that Lippi didn't want Tang Zheng to rest, but that Tang Zheng was eager to fight.
Two days ago, he missed the FIFA Ballon d'Or. As the head coach, Lippi knew that Tang Zheng was feeling aggrieved, so he planned to give Tang Zheng some game time to vent his emotions in this unsuspicious game.
In the third minute of the game, Tang Zheng scored his fourth goal of this Asian Cup. He hit a stunning kick from 35 meters away from the goal, helping the Chinese team 1: 0 ahead of Palestine.
At this time, the Korean fans sitting in front of the TV were extremely disappointed. They hoped that Palestine would defeat the Chinese team in an upset.
Four minutes later, the Chinese team scored again. Tang Zheng made a penetrating through ball and found Sun Ke who ran into the penalty area from the right side of the attack. The latter entered the penalty area and shook the goalkeeper to score an empty goal.
The Chinese team, which was leading by two goals, did not take advantage of the situation, but controlled the rhythm of the game under the leadership of Tang Zheng.
Palestine, which has already qualified for the group stage in advance, seems to have realized the gap between them and has no more attempts to save face.
In the face of absolute strength, fighting spirit becomes no longer so important.
The 2:0 score continued until the end of the game. The Chinese team finally won the first place in Group B with three consecutive victories in the group and faced the South Korean team in the quarter-finals.
In another group match held at the same time, Uzbekistan withstood the pressure and defeated Saudi Arabia 3:0, advancing to the quarterfinals as the second place in the group.
So the other three quarter-finals are Australia VS Uzbekistan, Japan VS United Arab Emirates, and Iran VS Iraq.
Tang Zheng did not win the FIFA Ballon d'Or as he wished, but he contributed four goals in the three group matches of the Asian Cup and topped the scorer list.
As long as he can continue his form in the group stage, it is very possible to lead the Chinese team to win the final championship!
But... Real Madrid fans don't want the Chinese team to go further, because they miss Tang Zheng very much...