“… In fact, not only us, but also South Korea, France and other countries will also take this way to motivate the players before the game, and it works very well. ”

Speaking of failure, Wang Junsheng sighed: "When our women's football girls took the oath under the red flag, everyone was in tears and moved, but I didn't expect..."

Wang Junsheng didn't say anything further, but everyone knew what he was going to say.

Is it that the men's football players are not patriotic?

No one thought of it that way.

And Wang Junsheng didn't mean that.

But now there are only two paths left in front of the Chinese team, either desperately or resign to fate.

Three wins and one draw to two consecutive losses, such a high start and low walk, it is really unacceptable for some ordinary fans.

"There are only two games left, if the Chinese team loses again..."

After losing two games in a row, most of the opportunities created in the first half of the top 10 were handed over. If you lose again, you may not even have a chance to qualify.

Everyone knows that the Chinese team has reached the juncture of "critical survival". Every game that follows is very important, and if you take one wrong step, you risk falling into an endless abyss.

Four years and four years, how many more four years are there in life?

Eight years ago, the fans were full of confidence; Eight years later, the confident fans waited for gray hair.

Will we have to wait another four years this time?

On November 1, the national football team took a charter flight again and flew directly from Dalian to Saudi Arabia. In the early morning of the next day, after an 11-hour flight, the national football team arrived in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The Chinese ambassador to Saudi Arabia and officials of the Saudi Football Association greeted them at the airport, and the national football team was arranged to stay at the five-star Regent Hotel.

On November 4, the ambassador to Saudi Arabia held a grand buffet luncheon for the national football team, and the ambassador said before the banquet: "We once won the country Saudi Arabia, but in fact, the opponent is afraid of us!" Although there are many difficulties now, I hope that everyone will continue to work hard, show great enthusiasm and fighting spirit, and strive to break through Asia in one fell swoop! ”

For these ambassadors who live abroad all year round, being able to see teams from home at a sporting event is like meeting a family member.

They live here all year round, but they represent the motherland behind them. Now that the same team representing the Motherland is visiting, how can they not care?

Seeing their national team conquer and win in a foreign country is what these ambassadors look forward to the most.

In terms of points in the top 10 matches, the Chinese team played 8 games and Saudi Arabia played 7 games. The Chinese team temporarily topped the list with 10 points, followed by Saudi Arabia with 9 points.

It can be said that if this game loses to Saudi Arabia again, then the Chinese team will hardly want to win the first place with Saudi Arabia.

That's the way it is, and everyone is mentally prepared.

On November 5, at the press conference before the game, a reporter asked Li Legend, the leader of the Chinese team. "Before the game, some people said that the goal of the Chinese team in the face of Saudi Arabia was to win the draw, is this news true?"

"Of course not!" Li Legend said firmly, "The top 10 matches have been played so far, not only us, but also many players in Saudi Arabia have yellow cards on their backs. So at this point, the conditions and status of the two sides are equal. ”

"As for home and away games, we've already won at home against Saudi Arabia, so it's not difficult to beat them again in this game!"

"As for what you reporters have heard, it is probably a misunderstanding. We're not talking about a tie and winning, but that as long as we defend well, we can win this game. These are two completely different concepts. ”

'We conceded too many goals in the first few games, so our focus was on defending in this game, but that doesn't mean we won't attack.

"On the contrary, when we need players to attack, we will take any opportunity and give the opponent the fatal blow."

Li Legend's words made the fans feel at ease, at least let the fans know that the current Chinese team is not without a plan.

According to past experience, after losing two games in a row, the Chinese team is not only the players, but sometimes even the coaching staff. Think of two consecutive black three-minutes in previous years to see how much of an impact a loss can have on a team.

On the morning of November 6, the national football team held a preparatory meeting in the conference room of the Regent Hotel as usual.

At the meeting, Wang Junsheng learned the lessons of the last game, did not put pressure on the players before the game, but simply stated the instructions just sent from the capital: "No matter what tactics are used, you must be proactive." Have no scruples, let go of your baggage, and look forward! No matter whether you win or lose, you must fight with your spirit, and you must not bow your head in the face of any difficulties. Don't give up even if there's one minute left in the game! ”

"Don't give up!" The team members shouted in unison.

At 7:45 p.m., the Chinese team played the seventh match of the final round of the World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.

The "battle for the top of the table" in Group A of the top 10 tournament attracted more than 70,000 fans, and not only Chinese fans are paying attention to this game, but also Saudi Arabia's own fans are also very important.

If the Chinese team wins, the appearance of the world preliminaries is basically a certainty!

In this game, compared with the previous game, the Chinese team put a defender in advance and put it in the midfield position.

The goalkeeper is still Fu Bing, and the four defenders are Sun Jihai, Zhang Jihua, General Fan and Mao Yijun. Compared with Wu Chengying, who was suspended for two yellows, Mao Yijun, a veteran, although his performance was not very outstanding, his victory was stable. So far, there has not been a single yellow card.

The five midfielders are Ma Mingyu, Peng Weiguo, Zhang Xiaorui, Li Ming and Gao Feng, and Xie Hui plays as a single arrow.

In fact, letting Gao Feng kick the front midfield is also a clear attitude, as long as the opportunity arises, Gao Feng will immediately turn into an invincible sharp knife and pierce the chest of the Saudi team.

No one expected that the situation after the opening game was very similar to the away game against Iran, and the national football team lost the opening three minutes.

Saudi No. 14 suddenly came out of the crowd and before General Fan and Zhang Jihua could react, he made up for the saved header of his teammates into the net.

Fu Bing fell to the ground with a helpless expression.

He tried his best but conceded the goal.

Although the score on the field has become 1-0, fortunately, the Chinese team has not been affected by the opponent's blitzkrieg.

The players calmed down and forgot about the score for a while. Gradually, with the cooperation of Ma Mingyu and Zhang Xiaorui, they began to organize an effective attack in the middle. And defensively, he takes a high pressing approach in midfield.

Coupled with Sun Jihai's powerful run on the right flank, the Chinese team played a series of beautiful counterattacks after falling behind.

In the 9th minute, Sun Jihai made a cross at high speed, Xie Hui arrived at the ball, and under the bag of two Saudi defenders, he took advantage of the gap between the opponent's positions to leap to the top and equalize the score.

Because he rushed too fast, Xie Hui even rolled directly into the goal after landing on the ground, and also used this to interfere with the opponent's goalkeeper's save.

After that, the Chinese team still performed well.

In the 42nd minute, Gao Feng suddenly interjected from the crowd. Just when everyone thought he could pass the ball, he saw the opportunity with a sharp eye and dribbled out of the crowd.

Seeing that Gao Feng who broke into the penalty area was about to form a single knife, the Saudi defender was in a hurry to pull Gao Feng down in the penalty area, and the referee immediately awarded a penalty to the Chinese team.

It's a pity that General Fan's penalty shot too right, and Saudi goalkeeper Diayea played bravely and saved the penalty. In a sigh, the national football team missed the opportunity to overtake and end the first half.

In the second half, it was easy to fight again, and with the help of home advantage, Saudi Arabia launched a fierce attack as soon as it kicked off. The Chinese team learned the lesson of being blitzkrieg by the opponent in the first half, and began to shrink the defensive line and defend it tightly.

However, I don't know what kind of "ecstasy soup" the opposing coach poured into the players in the midfield, and Saudi Arabia actually showed a strong offensive in the positional battle, and the Chinese team completely fell into a passive beating situation for a while.

Seeing this, De immediately replaced Li Tie on the field to improve the passive defensive situation.

"Is there no other way for Rad? Why do you change Li Tie as soon as the defense is difficult? Can't you come up with some new tricks? In the stands, a fan asked, puzzled.

"It's not new, it works." A friend on the side replied casually, "Li Tie can improve the current situation, why don't you replace him?" We are seeking stability now, and the Chinese team can't afford to toss! ”

Soon, Li Tie's appearance played a role.

In the past, the Chinese team cleared the siege as soon as there was a ball, and after Li Tie came on the field, at least one person could protect the ball.

Although Li Tie's long pass accuracy is a little worse, under Zhang Xiaorui's constant retreat, Li Tie will find the passing target at the first time every time the ball is broken in the backcourt.

However, the high-intensity scramble after the opening of the second half caused some veterans to be substituted again due to physical exhaustion.

In the 62nd minute, Gao Feng had cramps in both legs and was replaced by Li Bing.

In the 65th minute, Zhang Jihua, who was unable to catch up after being broken through, brought down the No. 9 of the Saudi team while making a behind-the-back tackle on the right side, and the No. 14, who took the lead for the Saudi team, went to the penalty spot.

This time, it was Fu Bing's turn to wield power.

He pounced sideways to the right to save the opponent's penalty kick from the bottom line, winning a series of cheers from the fans.

"This goalkeeper is okay!"

"It's kind of making up for it! This penalty kick is beautiful, and even has a little Ou Chuliang's meaning. ”

"Alas! Don't mention it, don't mention Ou Chuliang. If he was here, we wouldn't have lost our first goal! ”

Hearing someone say Ou Chuliang's name, the fans in the stands stopped squeaking.

The heroic play of the goalkeepers of both teams defended the penalty for their side, and the Chinese team did not improve much in the second half of the second half, except for the simple deployment of troops, whether it was Xie Hui's header or Li Bing's grabbing point, it seemed that it was a little bit worse.

Zhang Xiaorui was watched dead in the second half of the game, and Ladd had to send Li Jinyu, who was more agile in the off-ball running position, to grab points.

However, after Zhang Xiaorui came off the field, except for Sun Jihai, who occasionally delivered a beautiful cross, few people in the Chinese team were able to break through the Saudi team's defense and provide an assist.

Four minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle blew, and the two teams finally fought to a 1-1 draw.

Seeing this score, Ladd frowned and didn't say a word.

Li Legend sighed, "I finally understand why Vice Chairman Wang sent me to lead the team this time..."