Just two days after Atletico Madrid were eliminated from the Copa del Rey, the Chinese team welcomed their final match of the Asian Cup.

Third and fourth place finalists, opponents UAE.

As a West Asian team, the UAE is one of the few West Asian teams that can dominate the history of the Chinese team.

After all, Saudi Arabia and Iran, the traditional strong teams in West Asia, are the bitter masters of Chinese football.

However, in the United Arab Emirates, the Chinese team is still a little confident.

In history, the Chinese senior national team has played against the United Arab Emirates 11 times, with a record of five wins, four draws and two losses.

The last time China played the UAE was in a friendly in 2011, when they beat the UAE 2-1.

The last time the Chinese team lost to the United Arab Emirates was in a friendly match in 1993, when the Chinese team lost 1:2.

Aside from the nature of the friendly match, in the official competition, the Chinese team and the United Arab Emirates have played each other a total of six times, and the Chinese team has four wins, one draw and one loss, occupying an absolute advantage.

In addition, it is not the first time that the Chinese team has played the UAE in the Asian Cup.

The last time the two teams met in the Asian Cup was exactly the same as it is now, in the third and fourth place finals.

It was still in the 1992 Asian Cup in Japan, the Chinese team and the United Arab Emirates met in the third and fourth place finals, and finally after a penalty shootout, the Chinese team defeated the United Arab Emirates and won the third place in the Asian Cup.

Thirteen years later, the two teams met again.

Today's Chinese team has Gao Zheng, and at the same time, Cai Hui and Zheng Zhi, who were previously suspended, have also returned to the lineup, and the Chinese team is full of main players, striving to win the third place.

Although the third place is not the best result of the Chinese team in the Asian Cup, since the 2004 Asian Cup on its home soil, the Chinese team has not even been able to pass the first round of the knockout round, let alone win a third place.

For today's Chinese football, winning the third place in the Asian Cup is already a great achievement.

Although they have Gao Zheng, no matter how strong Gao Zheng is, it is impossible for him to turn the Chinese team into the top team in Asia.

Just like Portugal has a superstar like Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal has not even won the European Championship until now, and the right to qualify for the World Cup has to play a play-off with Sweden.

So superstars aren't everything.

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There are still many people watching the match between the Chinese team and the United Arab Emirates, and the attention is very high, but the game itself is not as exciting as the game between the Chinese team and the South Korean team.

The Chinese team took the lead in the 16th minute, and it was Gao Zheng who scored for the Chinese team.

It was his eighth goal of the tournament and although he is sure to be the top scorer of the tournament, there is no one on the scorer list to threaten him, but he has not stopped.

Although the UAE equalised in the 28th minute.

But the second half completely entered Gao Zheng's performance time.

He scored twice in the 51st minute to help the Chinese team overtake the score again.

assisted Gao Lin in the 57th minute to rewrite the score to 3:1.

The score remained there until halftime.

When the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, He Ping shouted: "The game is over!" The Chinese team defeated the United Arab Emirates in the third and fourth place finals 3:1 and won the third place in this Asian Cup. In any case, this achievement is already the only honor that Chinese football has won in the darkest era! ”

Then the TV broadcast was given a close-up of Gao Zheng, looking at Gao Zheng who appeared in the close-up, He Ping sighed: "The reason why the Chinese team can have such achievements is due to Gao Zheng's contributions. And after playing the three or four semifinals, he will say goodbye to the national team early tomorrow morning and fly back to Spain alone. Atletico Madrid had just been knocked out of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, highlighting the importance of Gao Zheng. As an important player who is inseparable from both the club and the national team, I hope Gao Zheng can rest well, not have injuries, and be healthy. After all, starting in June, the Chinese team's 2018 Russia World Cup Asian qualifiers will begin, and we need a healthy Gao Zheng to take care of your body! ”

Xu Yang said with a smile: "In fact, since the Asian Cup, Gao Zheng has already contributed to the World Cup qualifiers - we finally won the third place in the Asian Cup, and the Chinese team can participate in the draw of the top 40 of the World Preliminary Tournament as a seeded team." ”

He Ping and Xu Yang glanced at each other on the commentary seat, and they both knew what the other party meant, but they didn't say what they said in their hearts, because they were afraid that these words would not work.

That is, with the performance of the Chinese team in the Asian Cup this time, the rest of the time will be run in well, come up with a more mature set of tactics, and firmly take Gao Zheng as the core, and there may be surprises in the World Cup qualifiers.

Maybe we can really make it to the World Cup finals again this time?

They were so longing, but they didn't dare to talk about it.

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Although they did not make it to the final, they finished third in the end, and together with the victory against South Korea, the third-place Chinese team was warmly greeted by thousands of fans at the airport when they returned to Beijing.

In addition to the fans, there are countless media and leaders.

This scene is often seen on the news after the Olympic competitions have ended, when the Olympic champions return home.

How can Chinese football enjoy such treatment?

So almost every player of the Chinese team was a little obviously uncomfortable when they first saw this scene.

Someone even whispered: "They're here to welcome Gao Zheng, right?" ”

Wu Lei, who was next to him, didn't look at who was saying this, but this sentence made him lose his mind.

In fact, the media has long reported that Gao Zheng will not return to China with the team, because he has to rush back to the "savior", without him, Atletico Madrid has just been eliminated in the Copa del Rey, and then he will face the Madrid city derby.

So the whole team and Gao Zheng broke up at the airport in Australia, Gao Zheng flew back to Spain alone, and they took a collective flight back to China.

When they were at the airport, Gao Zheng went first, and they left later, so they also gave Gao Zheng a ride.

In the terminal, everyone collectively said goodbye to Gao Zheng, Gao Zheng waved at them, turned around and walked into the security channel with his suitcase.

Wu Lei still remembers that scene clearly: beside him, the teammates of the national team were laughing and discussing how to play after returning home, it was very lively, and everyone was very happy when they won the third place. But Wu Lei looked at Gao Zheng's back, but suddenly felt that the figure was very lonely.

He went to Europe alone, and what awaited him was not a holiday, but a fiercely competitive and brutal La Liga.

I couldn't rest at all, and I was tired.

But Wu Lei was a little envious of Gao Zheng.

Because he went to a new world that is completely different from domestic football, where there are the best players in the world, there are the most technical games in the world, there is a huge pressure, but there is also a huge room for improvement, and there is glory.

Who wouldn't want to play in Europe if they could?

Maybe except for those who are not good at their own strength, they will feel that it is better to stay in China and play football, after all, they earn a lot more than they make in Europe.

But as long as there is still a pursuit of football, you should go to Europe.

He thought of what Gao Zheng said to himself before he left - he once again emphasized that he hoped that Wu Lei would play in Europe because "at least he has a companion".

Not to mention, if he also went to Europe to play football, now the two of them are flying to Europe together, and they really have a companion.

If you go to Europe, you will miss the grand welcome ceremony at the Capital International Airport today, and see these enthusiastic fans and reporters, as well as the leaders with smiles on their faces...... What a rarity.

But if you can really play in Europe, miss it.

Wu Lei had such an idea in his heart.

He wanted to go to Europe, and he never thought so much about it now.