At the end of March, Zhu Guanghu led Jianlibao to India to participate in the 15th Nehru Gold Cup. Li Weifeng and Sui Dongliang, who were in Beijing, also took a flight together and went to India to meet Zhu Guanghu. After the Nehru Gold Cup, Jianlibao will return to China for the second time.

This time, all domestic fans are watching to see if Jianlibao will succeed. And Jianlibao generals also vowed to use a championship trophy to present a generous gift to the big brothers of the national team who are about to go out.

After 11 days of campaigning, although there were 5 fewer main players in the absolute main force, Jianlibao finally defeated the host India 2-1 in the third and fourth finals and won the third place.

The third place result barely passed, and while the fans applauded, the Chinese team officially began the preparation for the World Cup qualifiers under the guidance of "going all out, paying full attention, and devoting all one".

In this intensive training, the Chinese team chose the site of the Beijing Military Region's physical engineering team located at the Eighth Division in Xishan, Beijing, and adopted a completely closed training style. The number of international players participating in the training camp is still 25, and the only change is that Han Wenhai is replaced by Fu Bing on the waiting list.

The national football coaching staff and advisory group were also expanded at the same time, and Jin Zhiyang, the head coach of the Beijing Guoan team, joined to assist Qi Wusheng together with Gu Mingchang and Chen Xirong. In addition to Baxxton and Rimmer, IMG also hired FIFA lecturer Bobby for the national football team. Horton will coach for three weeks, and he will focus on improving the defensive capabilities of the national team.

During this period, the Chinese team played 3 warm-up matches with Myanmar, South Korea and Iran in Beijing Gongti, and won 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss respectively.

Not only did Gao Hongbo return to the national team after a lapse of three years, but the late bloomer Mao Yijun also made his national team debut.

In the third warm-up match against Iran, Ladd put Fu Bing in place of Ou Chuliang. Although Ali Daei, the star of the Iranian team, did not come, he still won the national football team 2-0 in the end. After this battle, whether it is the people or the "court", there is no longer the slightest excuse for the young Ou Chuliang to become the main national gate.

As the days passed, on the morning of April 28 before the trip, Wu Shaozu, director of the National Sports Commission, and Yuan Weimin, chairman of the Football Association, came to the Xishan Hotel, where the national football team is stationed, to make a grand trip for the national football team that is about to go to the first round of away matches in the World Cup qualifiers. After listening to the summary of the three warm-up matches of the national football team, Wu Shaozu put forward five requirements: first, make up your mind and be full of confidence; Second, tenacious struggle, play the level; 3. Meticulously carved and kept improving; Fourth, unity and discipline, civilized behavior; 5. Pay attention to safety and prevent injuries and diseases.

In the afternoon, the national football team held a press conference. With the help of an interpreter, Ladd introduced the situation of the three warm-up matches of the national football team, and believed that the players are gradually regaining the form of winning the Asian Cup, and the midfield has also been strengthened. When talking about his understanding of Turkmenistan, the first opponent of the world preliminaries, Ladd also felt helpless, saying that he can only rely on the video tapes of three games to study the opponent's style of play.

Prior to this, Chen Chengda and Chen Xirong flew from Beijing to Moscow on April 24, then to Almaty and then to Ashgabat, and arrived in Turkmenistan on April 25. There were three transfers on the way, and if the team also went to the competition venue like this, the fatigue of the road can be imagined.

The main task of Chen Chengda and Chen Xirong is to watch the friendly match between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, and further inspect the venue to prepare for the team.

Reports from the front indicate that the weather in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, is very hot, with a temperature of about 40 degrees Celsius in the sun at 5 p.m., which is extremely dry. It doesn't get dark until 8 p.m., and heatstroke protection and medication should be a must. Secondly, the field is extremely poor, 1/4 has no turf, the ground is hard and uneven, and the ball is difficult to control.

In addition, the Turkish team beat Azerbaijan 2-0, Bulgaria 1-0 and Estonia 2-2, which is a very strong opponent and should not be taken lightly.

On April 29, Yang Yimin and Jin Zhiyang flew from Beijing to Almaty, and then took another flight to Dushanbe to watch the match between Tajikistan and Vietnam. On May 5, he traveled from Dushanbe to Ashgabat to watch Turkmenistan's match against Vietnam.

The purpose of the two of them is also very clear, one is to watch the game and collect intelligence; The second is to inform the Chinese embassies in Turkey and Tajikistan of the kick-off time, financial conditions, and the specific content and terms of the flight to pick up and drop off the delegation.

After a series of front-line news was transmitted back to China, Pan Richun, who was in charge of the logistics support of the national team, approached Wang Ziguang, the chef of the National Sports Commission Training Bureau, hoping to invite him to go to the front line with the national football team to solve the food worries of the Chinese players.

The prince was just a young man, and he immediately agreed without saying a word. Before boarding the plane, with the help of the staff of the Football Association, they were responsible for hundreds of tons of various goods, including mineral water and freezers, and randomly went to Dushanbe.

Everything is ready, only the east wind is owed.

At 12 noon on April 30, 1997, the Chinese national men's football team led by the head of the regiment, Wang Junsheng, and the team leader, Li Legend, boarded the Boeing 767 passenger plane of Air China at the capital airport and flew to Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan.

After waving goodbye to the airport send-off staff, three domestic newspapers and more than 10 reporters also boarded the plane and embarked on the journey of the 16th World Cup Asian group stage, which has attracted much attention.

All 25 Chinese players went to Central Asia, and the list of 18 players will be reported before the start of the competition.

......

"If you lose this time, I'm sorry for this special plane!" On the plane, Qi Miaosheng touched the seat on the left and the windshield on the right, and couldn't help sighing. "I've been an athlete to a coach for more than 30 years, and this is the first time I've been on a connecting plane to the field!"

"This is all a policy of reform and opening up!" Wang Junsheng, who was originally thinking about his thoughts on the side, couldn't help but open the conversation when he heard Qi Miaosheng's emotion.

From the professionalization of football in 94 years, to today's participation in the World Preliminaries. In just over three years, the Chinese football community has relied on its own strength to create a precedent - a single competitive sport to participate in world-class competitions by special plane!

In the history of Chinese sports, only the Asian Games and Olympic delegations have ever taken a special plane, and it is indeed unprecedented for a single sport and only the group stage to take a special plane.

If there was no reform and opening up policy, and there was no national appreciation for taking football as a breakthrough in the reform of sports physique, we would not have taken such a special plane today.

Wang Junsheng sighed lightly and recalled: "I heard from my football predecessors that at that time, the first national team did not even have a place to live, and the team could only take a hard-barked train and a fourth-class ship to all parts of the country to "practice" games. At that time, a player named Xiao Ziwen accidentally fell into the water while passing through the Yangtze River, and almost killed him at that time! But in the end, he was lucky to be rescued and escaped. ”

"In 1957, when I participated in the Jakarta World Cup qualifiers, I couldn't live in a good hotel because of the lack of funds, and the local heat was unbearable, so many players couldn't sleep at night!"

"The conditions in 81 were not good, when we participated in the World Cup qualifiers, we trained in Guangzhou Ershatou, and the only request made by the team to the local area was to be able to take a hot bath!"

"Now that I think about it, it was not easy in the past! However, the past has become a thing of the past, and our conditions have also changed fundamentally with the prosperity of the country, and in the future, our players will no longer worry about these trivial matters, and they can play well with all their hearts! ”

After listening to Wang Junsheng's memories, the surrounding staff and reporters were full of emotion.

Many sensual female reporters secretly wiped the corners of their eyes, moved by the dedication and fearlessness of their predecessors.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the cabin was a little gloomy, Wang Junsheng immediately stopped and started another topic: "Speaking of which, our people can take this special plane, and our young general Ou Chuliang also has a lot of credit!" ”

"Oh? Ou Chuliang also has credit? What's going on? ”

"Could it be that Ou Chuliang spent money to sponsor it?"

The FA's special plane was almost transparent, and the Civil Aviation of China and the Football Association reached an agreement to send a special plane to complete the mission. During this period, there were six flights, with a total flight time of 35 hours and 20 minutes***, and a fee of 400W RMB was charged.

That's not a small amount of money!

Wang Junsheng looked around, and saw that everyone's eyes, including Qi Missheng, were focused on him, and after whetting everyone's appetite, Wang Junsheng said proudly: "After we won the Asian Cup, Adi found the Football Association and asked for the renewal of the endorsement contract for the national team's equipment. In addition, goalkeeper Acchulian must play enough games in the World Preliminary Tournament and wear equipment specially designed for him by Adidas, including goalkeeper jerseys, shoes and gloves. If the Chinese team enters the World Cup, in addition to irresistible factors, Ou Chuliang must wear Adi's products to appear on the World Cup field. Now you know how important Ou Chuliang is, right? Hahaha! ”

Everyone was also smacked after hearing this "secret news", Adi put forward so many hard requirements, and the price paid will definitely be not small. It seems that this time everyone can fly from the capital to Turkmenistan so easily, and Ou Chuliang's contribution is really not small!

"I don't know what the players are thinking right now. If they knew about it..."

Wang Junsheng waved his hand, "Chu Liang knows about this, and if it doesn't have his consent, our Football Association will not overstep its bounds." As for the other players, they have experienced more, and they have a wider range of social contacts, and they will also understand the weight of the special plane, I hope they will do it and cherish it! ”

When Wang Junsheng said this, the words changed: "However, it is still necessary to educate them, and let them really understand that the National Sports Commission agrees to such a huge investment, not just for the sake of winning one or two games, you know?" ”

Qi Weisheng nodded vigorously.

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PS: Recommend a football text of Oracle Feather: I'm Robben!

Seeing the title of this book, you should also guess what is written, at present, Luo Ben is still a teenager, you can go to his comment area to see the appearance of blonde hair.

The author is also an old writer, and there are manuscripts and football essays.

The Orange Legion Luo Laohan, the absolute uncrowned king! Still not paying attention to a wave?