September 16, Mid-Autumn Festival.

That night, at the Mid-Autumn Festival party held inside the Oriental Building, 500 employees of the building put up a huge banner on the sixth floor, which was densely filled with everyone's names and a few big words on the front: "Come on the Chinese team, we will always support you"

In the temporary restaurant in the conference room, Chen Baiqiang's "Love You Deeply" was played on a loop.

At 20 o'clock in the evening, the Mid-Autumn Festival party officially began.

The deputy secretary of the Dalian Municipal Party Committee and the deputy mayor of Dalian presented a box of "Good Luck" mooncakes to everyone present, and personally sang the song "Evening on the outskirts of Moscow" on stage.

The Football Association did not show weakness, and Wang Junsheng personally took the stage and sang a song "March to France" in Korean, expressing the voice of the whole Chinese team.

After singing a song, it won the applause of everyone in the audience.

"It's old, it's old, it's not good, it's not good." After Wang Junsheng stepped down, he saw Vice Chairman Xu and others coaxing in the audience, and waved his hands again and again and said modestly.

"Lao Wang, I didn't expect you to have this hand!" Vice Chairman Xu said happily, "I have been a colleague with you for so many years, and this is the first time I have heard you sing. ”

"What time is that?" Wang Junsheng pouted, "When I was young, I would have been a goalkeeper, and it has been decades now, if it wasn't for the lyrics sent by the secretary, I would have forgotten it a long time ago." ”

"That's not easy, if you want me to sing, I'll sing two tigers."

"You didn't learn to sing in the production team when you went to the countryside? I don't believe it! ”

"The chorus is a chorus, let me go on stage alone and play solo, I can't do this job."

The two joked for a while, and then talked about work.

"Lao Wang, how did the team members go to Qatar this time?"

The match against Qatar will take place on September 26 in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Starting from this game, the Chinese team will enter the West Asian continent three times for four games, traveling more than 36,300 kilometers and flying for more than 72 hours.

After the grouping, Villapan said to Wang Junsheng in private: "It's a pity that the Chinese team was assigned to such a group to compete, and it really suffered a big loss." If there is any need for the AFC to help, just ask..."

Wang Junsheng nodded silently and was speechless.

He knows very well that in such a major game, any small contradiction and detail can be mishandled and may cause the game to be lost. The difficulties caused by the long distance are enormous, and to qualify, the Chinese team will have to pay more than the other four opponents.

Regarding this trip, the Football Association has long discussed countermeasures.

In the beginning, the Football Association wanted to transport the players on a charter flight, just like in the group stage.

However, the person in charge of G Airlines said that the route to West Asia requires large passenger planes, and according to the flight provided by the Football Association, the cost is estimated to be about 10 million to 12 million, and the Football Association cannot come up with this money. The sponsorship fees of well-known sports companies such as Adi and Nike could not even reach half of the voyage.

In the end, after discussion, the Football Association adopted the method of "adding and dropping" for the rest of the games, except for the away challenge to Saudi Arabia to outsource the machine.

(Since there are no direct flights to West Asia in China, in the process of flying to Europe, I will land in West Asia more often, so that I can arrive on time and save money)

"Don't mention it, the 'plus drop' was also rejected two days ago!" Wang Junsheng said helplessly.

"What's going on? Isn't that a good point? Didn't Air G agree? ”

"Do you agree, Air G agrees, and passengers agree?" Wang Junsheng rolled his eyes, "There are many complaints from passengers, and as a result, this plan is aborted." ”

"That's... So what to do? Hearing such news, Vice Chairman Xu was also shocked. Do you have to be like before, turning around, reversing, and the players can only come to the game after a series of tosses?

"But nothing is absolute." Wang Junsheng looked like he wanted to speak and stopped, his eyes moved up, as if he remembered something.

"What are you selling with me, what kind of turn is there, hurry up!" Vice Chairman Xu urged on the side.

"Lao Xu, do you remember Liaozu?" Wang Junsheng said suddenly.

"Liaozu? What happened to Liaozu? "A few days ago, A B changed hands, and the capital has also heard about it." Has the mysterious buyer appeared? Which group is it? Or which business? ”

Hearing Vice Chairman Xu's inquiry, Wang Junsheng pursed his lips, "I didn't show up, but when we ordered them to rectify, the result... As a result, the next day, they directly helped the national team charter all the round-trip flights for the away team's trip, and then the matter was put there and stranded..."

Hearing this, Vice Chairman Xu also showed a clear expression.

Since people don't want to show their faces, let's not force them, right?

The Mid-Autumn Festival Gala was a great success, except for Ou Chuliang, who flew back to Italy early, almost all the staff were there.

Finally, in the "True Heroes" chorus of the players, the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala was announced to be a successful conclusion. The team members and participants signed the banner of "Together, hard work, and march into France". Under the flashing lights of reporters and the media, I hope that the moon will come true.

From the end of the game to the 19th, the national football team trained in Dalian for 5 days, and then went to the capital and stayed at the airport hotel.

The match between Qatar and Kuwait took place that night, and the players watched intently in front of the TV, and in the end, Kuwait comfortably won Qatar 2-0.

"Qatar can't do it, even Kuwait can't win!"

"yes, I thought Kuwait was the worst in our group! I didn't expect Qatar to kick these balls so softly! ”

"Tut-tut, a weak team is a weak team, and this time we must take Qatar. Our opponents are only Iran and Saudi Arabia! ”

The defeat in Qatar left a "weaker" impression in the hearts of the players and coaches, and subconsciously underestimated the players' underestimation of the enemy.

On September 20, the Chinese team departed from Beijing and took a chartered flight to Doha. If it follows the original plan, it will have to go to Urumqi and then transfer to Sharjah, where the latter will rest for a night before heading to Doha. With charter flights, the team members only need to sleep on the plane.

On the morning of September 21, the Chinese team arrived in Doha. Warmly welcomed by the embassy officials of the local embassy, he met with Chen Xirong and others, who had arrived in Qatar to watch the game in advance, and settled in the Hilton Hotel.

On September 23, Ou Chuliang rushed from Italy to Doha to join the national football team.

As soon as I got off the plane, I was greeted by a wave of heat. Before Ou Chuliang adjusted his senses to adapt to such weather, he hugged Li Jinyu and others who came to pick him up.

"Brother Ou, it's better to come early than to come by chance, if it weren't for you, I would have to have a meeting in the conference room like an iron now."

"Yes, Brother Ou, I'm most annoyed by the meeting!" The discussion also responded to the side and said, "There is no air conditioning in the room, and the thief is bored!" ”

In fact, Qi Missheng and Ladd held a cadre meeting. Players can choose to sit in on the meeting or sleep in their room.

“... I don't think Qatar is weak. At the meeting, Chen Xirong and others, who came to watch the game in advance, had the most right to speak, "Although Qatar lost to Kuwait, it is one-sided to evaluate a team by the outcome of a game, and it is easy to make yourself go wrong." ”

"Qatar has strength, No. 9 and No. 14 have a certain breakthrough ability, and the technique at the feet is not bad. Of course, the basic style of play adopted by the card team exposes the gaps in the two wings, which I think the Chinese team can take advantage of. ”

Next, Qi Caosheng explained the basic lineup, formation and playing style against Qatar again, and took out the game plan jointly studied by the two coaching staff for a summary report.

After everything was done, Wang Junsheng stepped onto the stage.

"Please come in."

Hearing the knock on the door, Wang Junsheng temporarily stopped speaking.

The door was left and right, and Ou Chuliang's figure appeared in front of everyone.

Looking at Ou Chuliang, who was still pulling his suitcase, Wang Junsheng's eyes were full of relief.

"Chu Liang, come in, who, who, help Chu Liang take the luggage back to the room!"

Wang Junsheng could see at a glance that Ou Chuliang had just come over after getting off the plane. As for Ou Chuliang's heart, he naturally did not politely "push" him back to the dormitory. In view of this party spirit and consciousness, all the officials and cadres present here praised Ou Chuliang.

"Next, I'm going to talk about 'how to deal with setbacks.'" With Golden State's equaliser at the hands of Iran, there were many in-depth discussions about how to play the winning and equalising goals. A thought counseling before the game has also become an indispensable topic.

discussed drooping his little head and sitting down with Ou Chuliang, while Li Jinyu took the opportunity to pull his suitcase back to the bedroom to sleep. Under the cover of the body of the person in front of him, he lay on the table, watched Ou Chuliang take out a pen and notebook, and recorded it carefully.

"Brother Ou is good at everything, but he is too serious about doing things." Deliberation pouted, drawing circles with his fingers on the table full of wormholes.

On the stage, Wang Junsheng was still talking.

“... I've been told that there are three big things in football this year. ”

"The return of Hong Kong, the convening of the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the World Preliminaries."

"Some people will ask, aren't Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the 15 th National Congress a major event in the country? How can it be a big deal in football? ”

"I think everyone should be aware of how important social stability is to promote these two major events. If we can successfully obtain the right to qualify, how much benefit and help will it have for these two major events! “

"There are also a lot of people here who have played in the previous group stage and know what is going on in Tajikistan."

"It is a very happy thing that our country can be prosperous and strong today, and that we can play football in such a stable environment."

"Therefore, we must take practical actions to set a precedent for the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China with the excellent results of the qualifiers, and add new luster to Hong Kong's return to China."

"Anyone should make it clear that this kind of breaking of our promises will motivate us to play well, and not turn him into a mental baggage that wants to win and is afraid of losing."

"I only have two requirements for the next races, one is to overcome the 40 degrees heat, and the other is not to underestimate the enemy. The mental state is good or bad, Jiang Zhijie determines the outcome of this game! ”

Wang Junsheng's speech was resounding, and on September 26, the Chinese team was in Doha. Root. Hamad Stadium and Qatar play the second match of the final round of World Cup qualifying.

There were about 10,000 spectators, including more than 1,000 fans who came all the way from China to cheer for the Chinese team, and CCTV also broadcast the game.

In order to play well in the top 10 tournaments, Qatar continues to recruit and attract foreign players who have not represented the national team of their country in official international competitions to join Qatari nationality. Following the two Nigerian players, one defender from Senegal and one from Mali was successfully naturalized two days before the national football match, and the strength continued to be strengthened.

The race was played in high temperatures of more than 38 degrees Celsius.

In the opening stages, the energetic Chinese team had a good chance to open the scoring, but Xie Hui wasted a solo shot in the fourth minute.

Five minutes later, Mao Yijun threw a throw-in directly at the opponent's feet. The Qatari team quickly launched a counterattack, and the Nigerian naturalized striker No. 14 pushed left and right, and the ball passed General Fan, and faced Ou Chuliang on the left side of the penalty area and shot into the corner.

Qatar seized the only chance in the first half to score and then put their positions on defense, and the Chinese team was unable to come out of a one-goal deficit for a long time after that.

It wasn't until the 35th minute that Ladd finally chose to replace Li Tie, who was obviously a little unaccustomed to high temperatures, with Peng Weiguo, who had recovered from injury, and the chaotic situation in the midfield began to show signs of improvement.

Yibian fought again, and the Chinese team moved again. Zhang Xiaorui was replaced, and Li Ming took over the midfield.

Just 2 minutes later, Peng Weiguo received a yellow card.

In the 54th minute, Li Jinyu came on as a substitute and stood in the forward position.

After a series of lineup restructurings, the Chinese team slowly took control of the situation on the field. Lee Kim Woo was lively, hitting the post with his first shot after five minutes on the pitch. In the 75th minute, Li Ming broke the ball in the backfield for the first time and made a long pass to the side, Ma Mingyu crossed from the left side, and Li Jinyu jumped to the top and broke the net to equalize the score.

Since then, although the national football team has once again created opportunities to overtake the score, they have not grasped it. Ma Mingyu missed a single knife because he was not the usual left-footed shot, and he was yellowed in the 87th minute.

The two teams ended up in a 1-1 draw, with one point each.

At the press conference after the game, the media was somewhat "dissatisfied" with the Chinese team that only scored 1 point. Obviously, Qatar is the "weakest" team in this group, and even Kuwait can easily win, why can't the Chinese team play?

Hearing that the media avoided the important and trivialized, grabbing the "pigtails" and holding on, Qi Zhaosheng, who was sitting behind the speaking table, said bitterly: "Judging from the results of the game, I know that it is a bit far-fetched, and it is far from the big victory that everyone expected." ”

"But if you look at the game, I think everyone will understand."

"During the whole game, the players worked hard, and in such a high temperature, all the players fought hard according to the requirements of the coaching staff. In such a hot weather, everyone sat in the shade to watch the game, while the players played against the sun. ”

"Especially when we conceded a goal first, we fought back tenaciously and no one showed slackness, which is a commendable spirit. And also equalized at the end and scored a valuable point away from home. ”

"You may not know that Li Jinyu, who scored the equalizer, had a high fever before the game, and the highest fever reached 38 degrees Celsius."

"It's rare for young players to fight like this and get a point away from home. Although the game was a draw and a different win than expected, I would like to say that I am proud of my players. ”

Looking at Qi Miaosheng's firm expression, the reporters in the audience looked at each other. Many people want to open their mouths to refute two sentences, but they are stuck in their throats. In the end, everyone unanimously chose to hang their heads and did not squeak again.