When Gao Zheng arrived in Xi'an, China, Sampdoria also lost 1-2 away to Fiorentina and dropped to 10th in the league standings.

But it's still quite far from the relegation zone, and the three teams in the relegation zone are still in single digits in league points.

Gao Zheng was warmly welcomed by the fans at the airport in Xi'an.

By the time he walked out of the exit, hundreds of fans from all over the country had gathered in the reception hall outside.

It was a Sunday and many people didn't have to go to work.

They gave Gao Zheng enthusiastic cheers and applause.

After the last match against Indonesia, Gao Zheng has become a hero in the hearts of Chinese fans.

Just as many years ago, when he won the national best award in the AC Milan junior team, the Italian media commented on him, he is a player who "can change the future of Chinese football".

It's just that after going around and around for so many years, it has only been rematched with such a title now, which can only make people more embarrassed.

After the last match between the Chinese team and Indonesia, a football author "Lin Hai Tingtao" lamented that Gao Zheng and Chinese football had wasted too much time. He believes that if Gao Zheng had not suffered that serious injury and continued his form until now, Gao Zheng would not have been a budding newcomer in Europe at least, and the Chinese team should not have missed the upcoming 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

However, his point of view has also been opposed by some netizens, some people feel that in terms of the virtue of Chinese football, Gao Zheng alone cannot lead it, and it is impossible for Chinese football to change qualitatively without one more Gao Zheng. They even think that Chinese football will drag Gao Zheng down in turn, fearing that the Football Association will squeeze Gao Zheng like an animal, and even some inconsequential friendly matches will make Gao Zheng fly back from Italy to play.

Think about how Yang Chen, who was in Frankfurt, was abolished by Chinese football? Why didn't Magath use Yang Chen later? Who wants to use a player who has to go home and play some inconsequential friendly and therefore waste their energy and energy on the road?

After all, it is the Frankfurt club that pays the salary, and the Chinese Football Association, which does not give a penny, is not polite at all to use Frankfurt's players.

Because of all the bad things in the Chinese Football Association for so many years, it is normal for Chinese fans to have such a mentality towards them.

But whether it is the hope that Gao Zheng will change the future of Chinese football, or the pessimistic fear that Gao Zheng will be abolished by the big dye vat of Chinese football, it is out of concern for Gao Zheng himself.

It can also reflect Gao Zheng's status in the minds of Chinese fans.

After Gao Zheng arrived in Xi'an to join the national team, every time the national team trained, the stadium was surrounded by fans, and there were crowds of people.

Xi'an fans are famous for their enthusiasm for football, but there is no professional team in the top league in the local area, and everyone's football enthusiasm has nowhere to vent.

Judging from the training, the Xi'an fans did not disappoint the national team.

But the Xi'an fans are so enthusiastic, and the pressure on the team is also a lot - in front of such enthusiastic fans, if you can't even win Indonesia, is it reasonable?

Chinese players generally have poor psychological quality, and in the face of huge pressure, they will really behave abnormally.

Before the game, Fu Bo repeatedly emphasized to his players that "don't underestimate the enemy".

Because in the last game, the Chinese team easily defeated Indonesia away, which will definitely lead some people to have contemptuous thoughts about Indonesia as an opponent, which is very fatal.

Even if there is Gao Zheng, if the other players don't give their best, the game will be difficult to play.

To this end, Fu Bo also took out the example of the Chinese team's match with the Maldives in the World Cup qualifiers that year, telling everyone the importance and necessity of not underestimating the enemy.

On April 22, 2001, the Chinese team led by Milutinovic ushered in the first game of the World Cup in Xi'an. China's opponent is the amateur Maldives.

Everyone was very optimistic before the game, there was no suspense about the outcome of this game, and the suspense was that the Chinese team could win a few goals at home. Some fans simply wrote the score he expected on themselves: 18:0.

Others predicted that the score would be 20:0.

Although the Chinese team scored three goals in the first half, the fans were not satisfied. There were also some boos at the scene. Because in the hearts of Chinese fans, their goals are all 18 goals or 20 goals, and only three goals were scored in the first half, so how to achieve the goals of 18 goals and 20 goals?

Not to mention that in the second half, the Maldives seized the opportunity of the Chinese team's backline to lose concentration and used the only counterattack opportunity of the game to break through the Chinese team's goal.

Although China defeated the Maldives 10-1 in the end, the conceded goal was like a fishbone stuck in the throats of all Chinese fans.

After the Maldives scored at that time, there were applause and cheers from Chinese fans, which was not a tribute from the Chinese fans to the Maldives team, but an irony of the Chinese team's poor backline.

Although the game was won, the performance of the national team after the game was criticized by fans and the media, and doubts about Milutinovic followed, and some people even scolded the old Serbian man as a "liar".

There are also people who say that a national team that can be scored by the Maldives has zero hope of hitting the World Cup, and does not deserve to appear in the World Cup in Japan and South Korea at all.

Later, the Chinese team challenged the Maldives away, and the game was even more ugly, and finally won only 1:0.

There was also a rift within the national team, with Hao Haidong publicly blasting Milutinovic at the time, questioning his ability as the head coach of the national team. At that time, everyone thought that Milutinovic was going to get out, and the Chinese team would once again be defeated on the road to the World Cup.

But the rest of the story is known to everyone.

Milutinovic and Hao Haidong have been released from the ice, and the old man, once known as the "liar", led the Chinese team to the World Cup finals for the first time in history.

Returning to the game between the Chinese team and the Maldives team itself, although the Chinese team won both games, it was not satisfactory, and even the dissatisfied people stood in the majority.

Because in the minds of many people, with the difference in strength between the Maldives and the Chinese team, it is normal for the Chinese team to win, and winning beautiful is everyone's pursuit. As a result, because of pride, the Chinese team made mistakes in both games.

Now the overall strength of the Chinese team is not as good as the Chinese team 12 years ago, and the strength of the opponent Indonesia is also stronger than that of the Maldives. If the Chinese team does not pay attention to the opponent, it will have a feeling of contempt for the enemy. Then once the situation is delayed in their own home stadium, the enthusiastic support of the home fans will in turn turn turn into huge pressure and crush the Chinese team.

This is not alarmist, in the past history of the Chinese team, there are countless such examples.

Fu Bo didn't want to have a good situation, because of such a thing as pride and underestimating the enemy, and make a big deal worse.

So he repeatedly emphasized this.

Looking at the head coach's serious and bitter look, Gao Zheng said: "Don't worry, coach, I guarantee to win the game." ”

Gao Zheng is not the captain, and he is a bit overstepping his responsibilities when he says this.

However, no one came out to express their dissatisfaction with Gao Zheng.

What's there to be dissatisfied with? People are young and promising, with outstanding strength, and their status is still very detached, so they don't have to compete with everyone at home, and one person has won so much respect in Europe...... If you are dissatisfied with him, it will not be Gao Zheng's loss when the time comes, but the scandal of the dissatisfied.

※※※

Before the game, the Chinese team had a pre-match press conference.

This time, along with head coach Fu Bo, it was Gao Zheng who was the most popular.

As the head coach of the team, Fu Bo first introduced the team's preparations, and then the press conference entered the part of reporters' questions.

The first question was asked to the head coach, and after Fu Bo answered two questions, the reporters began to ask Gao Zheng questions - in fact, they wanted to interview Gao Zheng from the beginning, but considering Fu Bo's face and dignity as the head coach, they still held back.

You must know that the biggest name of the national team is Gao Zheng now.

After Gao Zheng answered two questions, a male reporter raised his hand: "I am a reporter from Fox Sports, I want to ask ......"

But before he finished speaking, he saw Gao Zheng make a "stop" gesture: "What's your name?" ”

The male reporter was stunned, and everyone was stunned. When everyone got up to interview before, they introduced themselves and said, "I'm a reporter from a certain unit", and I didn't see Gao Zheng ask for someone's name, but this time he suddenly asked for the name of the questioner.

Some people who know the identity of this male reporter have realized something, including the reporter himself, so he did not answer Gao Zheng's question, but said: "My name does not affect my work ......"

Obviously reluctant to say.

Gao Zheng shook his head: "No, no, no, your name affects your work very much, I want to confirm, is your name Xu Jiang?" ”

This person remained silent in the face of Gao Zheng's question.

But Gao Zheng didn't find anyone to confirm this matter because the other party didn't speak, he turned his head and asked the press officer of the national team: "Teacher Li, is this person Xu Jiang?" ”

The job of Li Qiang, the information officer of the national team, is to deal with these reporters all day long, and every reporter who covers the national team can be called by name and recognized, and there is no possibility of "not knowing".

Li Qiang hesitated, nodded and said, "He is Xu Jiang." ”

Then the reporters saw Gao Zheng turn his head, stare at Xu Jiang, and say word by word: "Sorry, I am a Chinese, and I do not accept interviews with the second devil." ”