Chapter 022: 1/4 Finals against South Korea
The Chinese team finally defeated Uzbekistan 3-0 at the Brisbane Stadium, won two consecutive wins in the group to qualify for the group, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup in advance.
Of course, even if the Chinese team does not have five goal difference, it is certain that they will win the group, because the last group opponent of the Chinese team is the fish belly team Palestine.
As long as the Chinese team does not take the initiative to die, even if it can't 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 dare to think that their national team could play so smoothly in the Asian Cup?
Not to mention the 2004 local Asian Cup, the 2007 Southeast Asian Cup started very smoothly, defeating one of the hosts, Malaysia, 5:1, and then drawing 2:2 with Iran.
Four years later, in the Qatar Asian Cup, the Chinese team also made a good start in the first round, but lost 0:2 to the host Qatar in the second round, and drew 2:2 with Uzbekistan in the third round when it had to win, and was eliminated again.
Four years later, a hearty victory in Uzbekistan and then qualified from the group ahead of schedule also 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 1/4 finals arrangement, the opponent of the Chinese team is either the South Korean team or the Australian team, but no matter which team it faces, the Chinese team has a fight.
In the 2014 Brazil World Cup Asian Top 10 Qualifiers, the Chinese team was in the same group as Australia and South Korea.
But don't forget, the run-in of the Chinese team in the World Cup qualifiers two years ago was still very high, and the head coach at that time was not Lippi.
Today is different from the past, the Chinese team led by Lippi has entered the quarterfinals of the World Cup, and the two group games of this Asian Cup have also played a great technical and tactical content, and people who know a little about the game know that as long as the Chinese team does not take the initiative to make mistakes, it is really difficult for other Asian teams to beat the Chinese team.
Qualifying from the group ahead of schedule, the Chinese media and fans hope that the Chinese team's opponent in the quarterfinals is the South Korean team, because the Chinese team sent the South Korean team to the play-offs in the Asian qualifiers of the World Cup two years ago.
In the past two years, the overall strength of the Chinese team has been qualitatively strengthened, but the South Korean team has stopped.
The comparison between the two is obvious.
It's not that the Chinese media and fans don't want to meet the host in the quarterfinals, but that the early encounter with the host will cause some trouble for the Chinese team.
After all, the natural advantages of the host cannot be ignored.
South Korea and Australia, who have won two consecutive games in the group, are playing a little ninety-nine in their hearts in the case of early qualification, and according to the situation of Group B, the Chinese team will inevitably qualify first in the group, while South Korea and Australia are only ranked differently according to the difference in goal difference.
Hosts Australia won all two games, scored eight goals and conceded one, and finished first in the group with seven goal differences, while South Korea won both group games 1-0 and had no advantage on goal difference, so they finished second.
According to the current points matchup, the South Korean team is determined to meet the Chinese team in the quarterfinals, so the head coach of the South Korean team, Stillik, is thinking that he must fight Australia in the last round and win the game.
Rather than meet China in the quarter-finals, Stillik would prefer to meet Uzbekistan or Saudi Arabia.
Australia's head coach Boskotglu is also wondering if he should do his best to keep the top spot in the group?
He prefers to play in Uzbekistan or Saudi Arabia than in China.
The current Chinese team is not the soft persimmon that was kneaded by others before.
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The next day, the attention of the world's media shifted, including those who followed the Asian Cup, to Zurich, Switzerland.
Because there will be the FIFA Golden Ball winner who has attracted the attention of the whole world, and Tang Zheng is no different.
However, he did not have time to travel to Zurich to attend the 2014 FIFA Annual Awards Ceremony in order to prepare for the group stage of the Asian Cup, so he could only follow the FIFA Annual Awards Ceremony in Zurich on live TV.
In the past 2013-2014 season, Tang Zheng's performance can be said to be very good, helping Real Madrid win the league runner-up, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League at the club level, and also led the Chinese team to the quarterfinals of the World Cup at the national team level, and even once may beat the Dutch team to advance to the semifinals, becoming the biggest dark horse in last year's World Cup without suspense.
But 2014 is a World Cup year, and the goalkeeper of the champion German team, Neuer, is very loud, so Tang Zheng has no bottom in his heart, and he can't come to the end of the Asian Cup in preparation, which further reduces the possibility of defending the FIFA Golden Ball.
Team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo's performance at the World Cup has not been satisfactory, but he has been an eye-catcher at the club, and the past 2013-2014 season was a double scorer in La Liga and the Champions League, which broke the long-standing single-season scoring record.
More than halfway through this season's schedule, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored an endless stream of goals, in this case, Tang Zheng has a lot less pressure on his body, and in more games, coach Ancelotti puts Tang Zheng in a defensive midfield position in order to ensure the safety of the midfield, so he is at a disadvantage in the comparison.
It is worth mentioning that Messi, who has entered the top three of the World Footballer of the Year/FIFA Golden Ball Award for seven consecutive years, failed to break the record, lost to Neuer by a narrow margin, ranked fourth, and has missed the FIFA Golden Ball Award.
In general, the mainstream media in Europe still believes that Tang Zheng is more likely to defend his title.
Real Madrid can win the Champions League, not relying on Cristiano Ronaldo's goals, but Tang Zheng's steadiness in the usual game and standing up at critical times, if there is no Tang Zheng, where would Real Madrid win the tenth Champions League title in team history?
Of course, there are also many media outlets that are optimistic about Cristiano Ronaldo and Neuer, especially Cristiano Ronaldo.
Tang Zheng is indeed the biggest contributor to Real Madrid's winning the Champions League, but Cristiano Ronaldo has also contributed a lot, the key is that Cristiano Ronaldo's personal glory also has the Champions League champion, and there is also a Champions League single season that Tang Zheng does not have and you to record.
Neuer is not low in his voice, but unfortunately his playing position is very limited.
Compared to offensive players, the odds of a goalkeeper being elected are simply too low.
In addition to the German media, which is more optimistic, many mainstream media are more optimistic about Real Madrid's two superstars winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
The first award to be announced is the best team of the World Professional Players Union, Real Madrid has three players selected, namely Tang Zheng, Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo, the goalkeeper is no suspense, it is Neuer.
In addition to Ramos, the back four are David Luiz, Thiago Silva and Lahm, the three midfielders are Toni Kroos and Iniesta in addition to Tang Zheng, and the three forwards are Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi and Robben.
The next award was the FIFA President's Award, which was won by Hiroshi Kagawa, president of the Japan Football Association.
The Puskas Prize was won by Colombian international James Rodriguez, who joined Real Madrid last year, and the winner was the stunning left-footed volley he scored against Uruguay in the quarter-finals.
The best women's coach was Ralph Kellerman, and the best men's coach was won by Loew, who led Germany to the World Cup.
The Fair Play Award was a special award for volunteers from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
By this time, the atmosphere at the Zurich Opera House had become 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 also works for the FIFA Golden Globe Awards, so Tang Zheng also wants to defend the FIFA Golden Globe Award.
If he can be there in person, Tang Zheng has more than 50% confidence to defend his title, but ...... Now, it's a bit of a suspense.
From ancient times to the present, there has not been a single case of an elected player not being present at the FIFA Ballon d'Or and the predecessor FIFA Ballon d'Or......
Miss World Football was won by German player Kessler, and finally ...... It's the turn of the finale to win the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
All eyes are on former Arsenal star Thierry Henry with a sealed card, to be precise...... It was the sealed card in Henry's hand.
Inside the sealed card is the name of the 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or winner.
I don't know that Henry has learned the atmosphere from the management, including Tang Zheng, who is sitting in front of the TV, feels more and more nervous.
Tang Zheng and his national team teammates sitting in front of the TV can hear the anticipation of CCTV 5 commentator He Wei: "I think every Chinese fan sitting in front of the TV is looking forward to Tang Zheng defending the second FIFA Golden Ball award of his career......"
About five seconds later, Henry opened the sealed card, smiled, and faced the camera with the name of the FIFA Ballon d'Or winner, while shouting, "Cristiano Ronaldo!"
The close-up of the live broadcast was given to Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time, and he took a long breath and showed his trademark smile when he appeared on the broadcast screen, and he was really worried that his teammate Tang Zheng could defend the FIFA Golden Ball Award before seeing his name......
In terms of contribution to the team, Cristiano Ronaldo is a little ashamed.
It is really not easy to win the FIFA Golden Ball Award with Tang Zheng as a big hit!
He Wei, the commentator of Yang 5, was stunned for a few seconds after seeing the result, and then shook his head and said: "It seems that Tang Zheng represented the Chinese team in the Asian Cup and missed the scene to lose a lot of points, and the FIFA Golden Ball Awards, jointly founded by FIFA and "French Football", will not allow the winner to be absent......
Of course, Horvy's statement is more like self-comfort.
But the Chinese fans in front of the TV have no doubts, because in their hearts, Tang Zheng is the most qualified to be elected to the 2014 FIFA Golden Ball Award!
Instead, Tang Zheng, who was sitting in front of the TV, shrugged his shoulders, turned his head to look at his teammates who didn't know what to say and said with a smile: "Don't think about it, I'm lucky to lose my life, it's not a big deal, our top priority is the Asian Cup, not the FIFA annual awards ceremony." ”
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In the blink of an eye, the second round of the group stage of the Asian Cup has come to an end, 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 games in Group A, Australia drew 1:1 with South Korea, which means that in the final round of Group B, as long as the Chinese team does not lose to Palestine, which lost all the first two rounds, the first place in the group is a certainty.
The South Korean team, which has worked hard, can only pin their hopes on Palestine, who are out of the tournament early, but this hope can be said to be infinitely close to zero.
Not to mention that Palestine is out of the game early, the international ranking of Palestine alone basically means the result.
The final round of Group B of the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia started at the same time, and the Chinese team moved to the Canberra Stadium to face Palestine, who were eliminated early.
Due to the huge difference in the overall strength of the two sides in the game, the head coach of the Chinese team, Lippi, made most of the rotations in the lineup, including the goalkeeper.
Of course, Tang Zheng, as the core of the midfield, is not in the scope of rotation.
It's not that Lippi doesn't want Tang Zheng to rest, but Tang Zheng's desire to fight.
missed the FIFA Golden Ball Award two days ago, and Lippi, as the head coach, knew that Tang Zheng was very aggrieved, so he was ready to give Tang Zheng some game time to vent in this unsuspenseful game.
In the third minute of the game, Tang Zheng contributed his fourth goal in this Asian Cup, and he hit a shocking world wave from 35 meters from the goal, helping the Chinese team lead Palestine 1:0.
At this time, the South Korean fans sitting in front of the TV were extremely disappointed, and they hoped that Palestine would beat the Chinese team in an upset.
Four minutes later, China scored again, Tang Zheng found Sun Ke who ran into the box from the right side of the attack with a penetrating through ball, who entered the box and shook off the goalkeeper to score an empty goal.
The Chinese team, which led by two goals, did not gain momentum, but controlled the pace of the game under the leadership of Tang Zheng.
Palestine, which has already qualified from the group, seems to recognize the gap between them and no longer wants to save face or anything.
In the face of absolute strength, fighting spirit is no longer so important.
The score of 2:0 continued until the end of the game, and the Chinese team finally won the first place in Group B with three consecutive wins in the group, facing the South Korean team in the quarterfinals.
In the other group stage played at the same time, Uzbekistan withstood the pressure and won 3-0 against Saudi Arabia to advance to the quarterfinals as the second place in the group.
So the other three quarter-finals are Australia vs. Uzbekistan, Japan vs. the United Arab Emirates, and Iran vs. Iraq.
Tang Zheng did not win the FIFA Ballon d'Or as he hoped, but he contributed four goals in three group games in the Asian Cup and rose to the top 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 any further, because they miss Tang Zheng so much......