“…… In the second leg of the just-concluded Champions League quarterfinals, Atletico Madrid played 0:0 at home to Bayer Leverkusen. However, although Gao Zheng entered the squad in this game, he did not get a chance to play. It was the first time he had been on the roster since a serious injury. Before the game, everyone was expecting him to return to the game, but now it seems that his return may still be delayed......"

Sports news in China is broadcasting the latest news about Gao Zheng.

With the match against South Korea approaching, Chinese fans are now paying close attention to this – when will Gao Zheng be able to play, and will he be able to match South Korea in time?

Although Gao Zheng has resumed training since late January, he has been training alone for a long time.

It wasn't until the end of February that I started training with the team.

And he has played in the team game.

But in the official game, he didn't even play a minute.

In the middle, even if Atletico Madrid lost 1:2 at home to Barcelona, it didn't let Simeone put Gao Zheng into the game lineup.

Atletico Madrid have slipped to fourth place in the league this season after losing Gao Zheng, a position that would allow them to qualify for next season's Champions League, but compared to three consecutive seasons of winning titles, this fourth place is not enough.

The results are like this, Simeone still didn't let Gao Zheng play, which has to make many Chinese fans worried.

They are worried that Gao Zheng's recovery is not as good as the outside world says, and Simeone is worried that letting Gao Zheng play will lead to the recurrence of old injuries, so he delayed letting Gao Zheng play.

Others believe that the root cause of Gao Zheng's inability to play lies in Gao Zheng himself, Gao Zheng's body may be fine, but Gao Zheng's psychology has a big problem, after suffering two serious injuries in his career, Gao Zheng has lost confidence, for fear of being injured again, so he is so resistant to playing again.

Thinking about the German genius Deisler, who retired early due to injury, this statement does not seem to be entirely unreasonable.

Frequent injuries can affect the psychology of players and even cause them to suffer from depression.

So Gao Zheng is probably not a physical problem now, but a psychological problem.

There are still eight days to go before the big game between China and South Korea, one more day a week, and there is one league game ahead.

Atletico Madrid host Sevilla.

If Gao Zheng can't play in this game, it is estimated that his participation in the game against the South Korean team will really be in suspense.

It can be said that Gao Zheng's ability to participate in the match with the South Korean team is now the biggest force supporting Chinese fans to pay attention to the national team's games.

If Gao Zheng can't participate in this game, there will naturally be no way to talk about revenge.

Not only can Gao Zheng not be able to take revenge, but the Chinese team may also add new shame.

After losing to South Korea, the World Cup qualification will say goodbye to the Chinese team completely.

Even if the Chinese team is coached by Lippi, it is weak.

The draw at home to Qatar speaks volumes about the problem.

※※※

"Gao, the Chinese Football Association has sent us a letter to recruit you to return to China to participate in the competition. I'd like to hear your opinion. Diego Simeone said to Gao Zheng.

"Then I'll go back." Gao Zheng's answer was categorical and very crisp.

This came as a surprise to Simeone.

He always thought that Gao Zheng was a very calm and rational person, and with his current physical condition, there was no need to go back to participate in that World Cup qualifier.

He certainly knows what the match against South Korea means to Chinese football.

But the problem is that the Chinese team has now basically lost hope of qualifying for the World Cup, and what if the Chinese team wins against South Korea at home?

Will they be able to win all the qualifiers that follow?

Even if they can keep winning all of them, they will have to expect their opponents to lose the other games.

That hope is too slim.

Last time, when the Chinese team wanted to recruit Gao Zheng to participate in the Asian Cup in advance, Gao Zheng also stood with the club, saying that he listened to the head coach's arrangement, and he would do whatever Simeone said.

So Simeone always thought that Gao Zheng was very clear.

Who would have thought that Gao Zheng gave them such a neat answer today.

"Your body isn't ready, high." Simeone persuaded.

"Maybe I'm not ready for it, but I have to go back for this game, boss."

"Why? Forgive me for being blunt, I don't think even if you win against South Korea, you won't be able to qualify for the World Cup. ”

"There's hope, boss. As long as we can win against South Korea. ”

"You haven't played in almost seven months, and even if you're in good shape, you're not in good shape...... Don't look at me, I can't decide if you can play against Sevilla, that's the responsibility of the medical team. ”

For injured players, if they want to return to the court again, the most important thing is to get the consent of the medical team, if the team doctors believe that Gao Zheng's body is not up to standard, then he will not be able to play.

Before the last game against Bayer Leverkusen, the team doctors examined Gao Zheng's body and believed that his physical condition had not returned to his best condition, and if he was allowed to play, there was a risk of continuing to be injured.

But Simeone still insisted on putting Gao Zheng in the squad for the game, he just wanted to add insurance to the team.

In the last ten minutes, Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen were still 0-0, but Bayer Leverkusen's attack was fierce. During that time, Simeone had been at war with heaven and man in his heart, and he hesitated to let Gao Zheng play, but in the end he decided not to risk letting Gao Zheng play.

After all, in the first leg, Atletico Madrid defeated Bayer Leverkusen 4:2 away, and in the last ten minutes, even if Leverkusen broke out and scored two goals in a row to equalize the aggregate score, Atletico Madrid can still use the advantage of more away goals to advance to the quarterfinals.

There's no need to risk this guaranteed place in the quarterfinals.

Gao Zheng was silent for a few seconds before saying: "Then if I am not selected for the competition squad, I hope that the boss will agree to let me leave early and return to China to prepare for the game, so that I can rest for a few more days and the burden on my body will be less." ”

Simone looked at Gao Zheng dumbfounded, he didn't expect Gao Zheng to be so resolute.

Before the Chinese team wanted him to return to China early to prepare for the Asian Cup, he didn't cooperate, and today he took the initiative to go back early......

He sighed: "If you can get the approval of the team doctor, then I will let you play against Sevilla, it won't be too long, but it will help you get back into some game." ”

He knew that once Gao Zheng decided on something, it would be useless for anyone to persuade him. So at this time, it is better to sell a favor to Gao Zheng and let him remember his good.

"Thank you, Boss." Gao Zheng laughed.