“…… Because Syria defeated Qatar 3-1 at home in the penultimate round of 12, the situation of the Chinese team is still not optimistic, they will not only have to win Qatar in the final round, but also pray that neither Uzbekistan nor Syria can win, or that Syria will not win by a large margin even if they win. It looks like it will be difficult for both Uzbekistan and Syria to beat their respective opponents, especially Syria, who last round against Iran away from home......"

“…… However, Iran has already qualified early, and their performance after early qualification is really difficult to give them any hope, and from the perspective of the attitude of the game, Iran who qualified early has obviously relaxed. And Iran and Syria are both West Asian teams, who knows if there will be some underground deals? Never underestimate how dirty and dark West Asian football can be. In order to kill the Chinese team, the Iranian team may really dare to lose to Syria on their home turf. And it is also to stare at the game between the Chinese team and Qatar, no more, no less, to ensure that Syria has one more goal difference than the Chinese team......"

"At present, in terms of goal difference, China has two goal difference, and Syria has zero. A two-goal lead on goal difference, but it wasn't enough. I think if the Chinese team plays Qatar in the last game, they should try to win as many games as possible...... I don't believe that Iran really dared to lose to Syria by a big score on their home turf! ”

Although the Chinese team defeated Uzbekistan, the dark clouds hanging over the hearts of all Chinese fans have not dissipated.

At this time, everyone didn't care much about the results of the South Korean team and Uzbekistan, and they were more concerned about the results of the matches between Syria and Iran.

At the same time, the Korean media and fans also began to pay attention to this match.

Because if they lose to Uzbekistan away and Syria win against Iran, South Korea, China and Syria have 14 points and a better goal difference.

China now has two goal difference, Syria has zero goal difference, and South Korea loses one.

As long as South Korea loses, the goal difference will only get less and less, definitely not more.

In this way, as long as the South Korean team can lose to Uzbekistan, it will definitely be eliminated from the tournament and will not even qualify for the play-offs.

The South Korean team, which was originally thought to be easy to qualify for the World Cup and would definitely be able to participate in the World Cup, was also forced to the edge of the cliff, which was really unexpected by many Korean media and fans.

In the final round of the round of 12, the situation in this group is complicated.

※※※

After the match with Uzbekistan, the next day, the Chinese team flew to Doha to prepare for the last round of 12 match with Qatar.

In an interview at the airport, Gao Zheng appeared very confident: "I don't care about the situation of the other two games, because the situation is more favorable for us now. ”

Unlike the worries of the media, Gao Zheng believes that the situation is more powerful for the Chinese team: "Because it's very simple, we just need to score as many goals as possible and win, as long as we can win by a big score, then no matter what the other two games are, it doesn't matter who wins or loses, we will all qualify for the play-offs." ”

A reporter wanted to remind Gao Zheng that the road ahead was dangerous: "But it's difficult to win the opponent by a big score away from home......"

"We do our best." Gao Zheng smiled and waved his hand, waved goodbye to the reporters, and turned around and entered the security checkpoint.

※※※

After the last acclimatization training at the Khalifa Stadium, the Chinese team returned to their hotel for dinner.

In order to prepare for this game, the Chinese Football Association specially stayed from China with a full team of chefs, and they also brought a lot of Chinese ingredients, just to ensure that the players of the Chinese team can get used to eating during the few days here.

There will be no problems with eating.

Of course, these things do not necessarily meet the healthy standards of the athlete's diet.

But it is too cruel to ask athletes to eat nothing like boiled chicken breast all the time.

While paying attention to nutrition, we should also pay attention to psychology. After all, the eating habits of Chinese people from childhood to adulthood are more Chinese, and forcing Chinese players to eat exactly according to the Western style will cause players to have no appetite at all and do not want to eat.

As a result, when eating a main meal in the restaurant, everyone pretended to eat casually, and when they returned to their room, they began to boil instant noodles......

It is said that instant noodles are junk food, but China's Olympic champions have not eaten less of this "junk food", which has not prevented them from competing for gold and silver.

Gao Zheng had just sat down with a dinner plate, ready to eat, when he saw the captain Zheng Zhi also walking over with a dinner plate, and then asked him, "Is there anyone next to you?" ”

Gao Zheng shook his head: "No." ”

"Can I sit down, then?" Zheng Zhi asked again.

"Okay."

Zheng Zhi put down the plate and sat down opposite Gao Zheng.

"Thank you." The first thing he said when he sat down was this.

"Captain, you're here again......"

"I just don't think it's enough to say it once."

"Then you don't know how to tell me two or three times. It's not necessary, you're so polite, the World Cup is the goal of all of us, and I'm doing it for myself. Gao Zheng said.

"Then I want to thank you too."

"We haven't played the last game yet, and even if we qualify for the play-offs, we'll have to play two games against Australia or Saudi Arabia, and then we'll have to play against teams from North and Central America...... The eight characters have not been skimmed yet. Gao Zheng waved his hand.

"Regardless of whether you can make it to the World Cup or not, I want to thank you. At least this time we fought until the last minute. It's the first time I've had this experience since I joined the national team. Zheng Zhi said with a smile.

Gao Zheng couldn't laugh.

The captain rose to prominence in 2002 and won the Chinese Footballer of the Year, but he was unlucky, and his brilliance was in the second half of the year, and he failed to catch the last train of the World Cup.

At that time, the captain may have thought that it was nothing, he was so young, he won the Chinese Footballer of the Year at the age of twenty-two, and his career had just begun. The Chinese team has historically entered the World Cup, and the football boom in the whole society is surging, and Chinese football will definitely get better and better, and he is just in time for the golden age of Chinese football, and his future will definitely be able to show his ambitions.

I didn't participate in the World Cup this time, so I will participate in it next time.

Who would have thought that he caught up not with the golden age of Chinese football, but with the dark age.

Since the Chinese team defeated Syria 3-1 in the Bahrain Four Nations Tournament on December 7, 2002, Zheng Zhi has played 97 games for the national team so far, and is only three games away from the 100-game mark, including the next match against Qatar, that is, only two.

But none of these 97 matches were World Cup matches, and none of them were matches in the round of 12 in the final stage of the World Cup Asian qualifiers.

Not only did he not make it to the World Cup, he didn't even play in the round of 12.

An iconic figure of national football, a well-deserved core and captain, has never even played in the top 12.

It's incredible.

In the darkest time of Chinese football, it can even be said that Zheng Zhi is the only face of Chinese football, and he won the honor of Asian Footballer of the Year when Chinese football was at its worst. This is the first Chinese player to have Fan Zhiyi win the award in 2001.

Many people scolded him for "kicking" Cisse and breaking his leg. There are also many people who scolded him for kicking the penalty against Hongkang, which caused the Chinese team to fail to reach the top 10.

But so many people who scolded him stopped scolding later, because they found that only Zheng Zhi was left in Chinese football......

They are scolding the only pillar.

The captain, who was born in 1980, has just celebrated his thirty-seventh birthday.

Before that, which Chinese professional player could still play for the country at the age of 37? Who can still become the core of the Chinese team's midfield at this age?

Until he found a successor, he was struggling to support himself.

In this arduous trek, he still has the dream of participating in the World Cup in his heart.

Not for Chinese football, but for himself, to give an explanation to his young self.

So why did Gao Zheng rush back to China to participate in the top 12 match against the South Korean team just after recovering from injury? Why do you have to go against the team doctor at Atletico Madrid?

Because he knows that he has the dreams of many people, including Zhao Ju, the old man, and the captain.

"Don't worry, captain, we're going to the World Cup for sure. You can't afford to mess up your 100 national team games. Gao Zheng said.

If all goes well, the final game of the Chinese team in the Asian play-offs will be the captain's 100th game.

That match will determine whether China can qualify for the final World Cup spot with the North and Central American teams.

"Thank you." Zheng Zhi said with a smile.

This time, Gao Zheng was not polite.