Although the Australian team launched a fierce attack on the South Korean team in the final stage of the game, it is clear to the discerning person that the reason why they did so is nothing more than a gesture under pressure from the team's supporters, and the fundamental purpose of the team in this game is to lose and "seek" to maximize the benefits in the first round of knockouts.

Although it is understandable for Australia to use the rules to select opponents with a higher winning probability in terms of final results, as the host of this Asian Cup, such a blatant approach is somewhat unacceptable to local fans and media.

Therefore, at the press conference after the match between Australia and South Korea, reporters from local Australian media did not shy away from expressing their dissatisfaction with the team's "negative game" approach.

Australia's head coach, Ange Postecoglou, doesn't see his side as having a negative game problem.

"Everyone knows that if you want to win the Asian Cup, you need to play six games in a row over 23 days, which means that the players have to play one game in less than four days on average. With such an intensity of play, players are prone to injuries. ”

"It is in preparation for the upcoming knockout rounds that I will send a large number of substitutes in the match against South Korea when the team has already qualified for the group in advance, so that the main players in the team can recover as much as possible. It also gives the substitutes a sense of the atmosphere of the game and keeps them from feeling nervous when they need to contribute. ”

Postecoglou's words made some sense at first glance, but the reporters present did not buy it.

"Mr. Anger, there's nothing wrong with the fact that the team qualified early and sent substitutes to deal with inconsequential games. But the way the players played on the pitch made me suspect that the team was deliberately losing. A middle-aged reporter with slightly thinning hair spoke after listening to his defense.

Hearing this, Postecoglou immediately said with a look of displeasure: "Mr. Reporter, no professional player wants to taste the taste of losing a game, so please don't question the professional ethics of my players." ”

'Yes, they did show a lot of courage in the last 20 minutes. But for the rest of the time, they acted like they were coping with the game. The middle-aged reporter sneered.

Originally, Postecoglou wanted to continue to quibble, but after seeing that many reporters in the audience were nodding their heads in agreement with the middle-aged reporter's point of view, he immediately forced a smile and said: "I know very well that everyone is a little unacceptable to the result of the team losing the game, after all, as the host, we aim to win the championship." However, isn't it too harsh to ask the players to give their all in an inconsequential game when the team has already qualified for the group ahead of schedule? ”

Worried that the local reporter would continue to pull Postecoglou's pigtails, the host specially selected a reporter from Japan to ask questions. But to the host's surprise, the Japanese reporter's questions were more direct than those of the Australian reporter.

"Mr. Anger, none of us are stupid, you have a good chance of losing to South Korea in the knockout round against a Chinese team that has never beaten Australia in a continental tournament, and this is the real reason why you choose to play negatively, right?"

Hearing this, Postecoglou was silent for a few seconds before nodding and saying: "That's right, I really hope to meet the Chinese team in the knockout round, after all, compared to Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, we have a greater probability of defeating the Chinese team." Perhaps, if it were your country's team, it would be more willing to meet the Chinese team in the same situation. ”

"I don't think you made a smart decision, the Chinese team, which has the ace player Feng Quan, is no longer an opponent that can be easily defeated." The Japanese reporter said with a sneering face.

'However, their ace players are suffering from injuries and ideally won't be back until the semi-finals. After a pause, Postecoglou continued with a smug face: "It's a pity that by the time that guy comes back, the Chinese team's Asian Cup journey has ended early. ”

…………

The powerful effect of [Rehabilitation Materia Medica] made Feng Quan, who should have been recuperating for at least half a month, recover the day before the final group game against North Korea in China.

However, in order to better stimulate the fighting spirit of his teammates, and also to paralyze the opponents in the first round of elimination, except for the Chinese team coach Lippi and the team doctor, no one knows the news that Feng Quan has recovered.

At first, when Feng Quan told Lippi that his injury had healed, the old Italian man was still a little unconvinced, but when the team doctor took Feng Quan to secretly conduct a series of relevant examinations, and then confirmed this situation, even Lippi, a world-class coach who had long been pampered, was full of incredulity.

Although Lippi is not good at rehabilitation, with years of coaching experience, he also knows very well that it will take at least two weeks for Feng Quan's previous ankle sprain to fully recover. However, although it is a little unbelievable, I can't help but believe the test results of the medical instrument in front of my eyes.

But on second thought, Feng Quan had previously broken the world record in the 100m and decathlon events in track and field; Isn't the many ungodly achievements created in just two years after switching to professional football also seem to most people to be miraculous performances?

Thinking of this, it may not be a miracle that Feng Quan was able to recover in such a short time.

…………

Since the news that he had recovered was kept secret, Feng Quan first settled his dinner in the hotel's cafeteria after saying goodbye to Lippi, and then went straight back to his room.

In order to pass the boring time, Feng Quan turned on the LCD TV in the room.

As soon as the TV was turned on, the post-match press conferences of Australia and South Korea began to play, and it happened to be the end of the press conference.

“…… It's a pity that by the time that guy came back, the Chinese team's Asian Cup journey had ended early. Postecoglou said with a grimace.

Although Postecoglou only mentioned "that guy", Feng Quan knew very well that "that guy" was referring to himself.

"Hehe, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you." As he spoke, a trace of disdain appeared on Feng Quan's face.

Immediately afterwards, Feng Quan picked up his mobile phone and got in touch with Zhao Shijie who was far away in China.

"Brother Zhao, after the group stage is over, you can help me mobilize 5 million euros, and then wait until the knockout round is determined, and then use it to buy the Chinese team to win."

"Daquan, if you can play, even if you ask me to use 100 million, I will never object, but now that you are injured, can our national football team still have a play in the knockout round?" Zhao Shijie said with a worried face.

"Brother Zhao, tell you a secret, my injuries have healed, but I didn't announce this news to the public just for the sake of secrecy, now you should rest assured, right?" Feng Quan smiled.

"In that case, how about I suggest that we simply take out 10 million to play a big one?" Zhao Shijie said quite arrogantly.