Time flies, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye.

The opening ceremony of the 2007 Asian Cup was held in Bangkok, Thailand, and it was very embarrassing that heavy rain ruined the festive atmosphere on this day, first of all, the heavy rain affected the attendance, and the stadium with a capacity of 65,000 spectators had less than 20,000 fans; Secondly, due to the sudden rainstorm, the opening ceremony was postponed by 20 minutes and shortened by 30 minutes, with the result that the opening ceremony, which was originally scheduled to be 70 minutes, was shortened to 40 minutes.

At the opening ceremony, the only highlight was the wonderful singing of Thai diva Tata Young, and her passionate Asian Cup theme song "I Believe" conquered the audience.

After the opening ceremony, it was the opening battle,

Thailand's home game against Iraq was the focus of all the media.

Just six minutes into the game, Thailand had a penalty and Susunkit converted it easily. The backward Iraqi team counterattacked vigorously, and the goalkeeper of the Thai team, Kosin, performed eye-catchingly, and defused the opponent's attacks many times.

It wasn't until the 33rd minute that the Iraqi captain crossed into the penalty area, and Younis jumped high to head the ball back to equalize the score.

In the second half, the Thai team gradually gained the advantage, but in the face of a physically strong opponent, they could not change the score in the end, and the score remained 1:1 until the end.

The first opening match of Group A came to an end, with Thailand drawing with Iraq.

This result is very beneficial for the other two teams, Australia and Hong Kong, and whoever can get the three points will be in a good position when they meet each other.

They also played against Australia on the same pitch, but Hong Kong were not favoured, they were considered 'sure to lose' from the start because they were the last team in Asia, while Australia were the top team, the gap between the two teams is difficult to calculate, just look at the line-up, Australia are in the 23-man squad. A total of 19 players are from overseas leagues, including seven players from the Premier League, enough to form most of the main squad.

Among the seven Premier League players, Viduka, Colwill, Cahill and goalkeeper Schwarzer are the absolute main force of the Australian team, in a sense, the current Australian team is a "second England team" composed of Premier League players.

And what about the Hong Kong team?

Except for the head coach Wan Sheng, who is very famous, almost all the players are unknown.

Gap...... It's too big!

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In the media coverage of the first day of the event, the second day also came quickly, before the match between Australia and Hong Kong. Wansheng attended the press conference.

At the press conference, reporters gathered.

This is due to Wansheng's status, as one of the top managers of European clubs, Wansheng has a lot of appeal to the media, and he is stronger than Australian coach Alexander-Arnold in this regard.

However, Arnold is more confident, because he is the coach of Australia, Australia has a lot of outstanding stars, and their strength is not much better than the Hong Kong team, so even if the opponent is Wansheng. He didn't pay attention to the game at all.

"Our goal is to win the championship!" Arnold has always said, "We are very serious about this Asian Cup, we have done a lot of preparation and preparation, and now this team is the best in Australia. We will continue to push all the way to the championship! ”

Arnold has always stressed the title, as if they had reached the final.

Wan Sheng sneered in his heart, when did he suffer this kind of anger at the press conference?

Australia and Hong Kong are about to compete. As a result, the Australian head coach kept talking about the championship, not talking about the group stage at all, nor about the game. This is really not taking yourself and the Hong Kong team seriously in your eyes at all!

Wan Sheng held back the fire in his belly and said directly to the media, "If I want to say, let alone Australia, let alone the champion, it will be difficult to qualify from the group!" ”

"I've seen a lot of media reports on the situation in Group A, and those are completely different from my opinion, I think the best chance of qualifying in Group A is Hong Kong, followed by Iraq, and then Australia, and this ranking should be rearranged according to what I said!"

"So don't say they're champions, let's think about how to appear in the group first!"

Hearing these words, the media reporters in the audience immediately wanted to refute, and they now know why those European media used words such as 'arrogant' and "arrogant" to evaluate this Chinese, it turns out that this is really the case, what is the big deal about the Hong Kong team? An Asian last stream! Dare to say that there is the best hope of qualifying in Group A? I'm not afraid to flash my tongue!

But Wan Sheng didn't give them a chance to refute at all, "I know what you're going to say, but I'll use the game to prove everything!" ”

He said confidently, and then left the venue, leaving behind a group of media who looked at each other incredibly.

――――

Wan Sheng is not just talking, he is very confident.

The strength of the Hong Kong team is indeed very poor, and the ability of each player is not very good, but after half a month of training, the players in the team still have some improvements, coupled with the attribute bonus of the football training master system, the current Hong Kong team can not be said to be first-class in Asia when it comes to the individual ability of players, but it is also second-rate after all.

In addition, the improvement of the team is not only the individual ability of the players, but also the improvement of tactical application has given Wansheng enough confidence.

It's not easy to beat Australia in this game, but it's hard for Australia to win!

Before the game, Wan Sheng gave the final encouragement to the players in the locker room, "We have persisted in training for half a month, and each of you can know the hard work!" But you persevered! ”

"You've been doing it so far, you've all done a great job! Before, some of you asked me why we didn't arrange a warm-up game, and I didn't answer, but now I tell you, that's not necessary, we don't need to prove anything with a warm-up, without a warm-up, no team knows about us, so we are mysterious, and now, the other side doesn't know anything about us, so we have a better chance! ”

"This game is the first 'warm-up game' for us!"

"The other party looks down on us and thinks we are the last in Asia! But I think we're one of the best teams in Asia! We're the favourites to qualify in Group A, that's what I told the media, I don't want to be seen as arrogant after the game, you know? ”

"It's time to play. Don't think that the other side is a star, don't think that the other side is Australia, a strong team, how much better than us, that doesn't make sense. Play to the level you did in training and I'm sure we'll be the winners! ”

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"Before the game, Hong Kong coach Wan Sheng said wildly, he said that the Hong Kong team in Group A has the best chance of qualifying, while the Australian team is worried about qualifying from the group, which is simply the biggest joke in this year's Asian Cup!"

Japan's NTV TV commentator Itsunori Onodera said in a very disdainful tone. "Australia is the strongest team in this Asian Cup, their squad is even more gorgeous than the Japanese football team, and the Australian team supported by big stars such as Cahill and Viduka is simply a European powerhouse, and they are the strongest contenders for the Asian Cup title. But Wan Sheng thinks that Hong Kong has the best chance, which is really funny, even if he is a world famous handsome, such self-confidence is arrogant. ”

At the same time as the commentary, a close-up shot of Wan Sheng happened to appear in the TV screen. Wan Sheng in the camera stood on the sidelines solemnly watching the game.

Onodera Gonori knew Mansheng very well, he knew that Mansheng was very successful in coaching English football, but he had a lot of imperial Japanese thinking in his heart, and he was very jealous of such a successful Chinese. He thinks the Japanese should be successful in football, and now he seized the opportunity and said, "If he is just so arrogant, probably his success is due to luck." Otherwise it would be difficult to explain how he could be so ignorant! ”

This is tantamount to openly expressing disdain for Wansheng.

The game seemed to be going according to his mind, and from the opening to the present, Australia has been suppressing the Hong Kong team's attack. The Hong Kong team was a little out of breath when attacked, and they kept defending and defending, giving people the feeling that they had no power to resist at all.

What he didn't realise, however, was that the Australian players were playing very depressed.

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In this game, Australia sent a 352 formation, veterans Viduka and Strijowski at the front, the midfield five were Emerton, Bresciano, Colwill, Wilkshire and Guerrera, defenders Neil, Kisnobo and Chulina, goalkeeper Schwarzer.

Apart from Cahill on the bench, this is almost the strongest squad Australia can put out.

Australia takes the game very seriously.

This is Australia's first time participating in the Asian Cup, and after they were placed in the Asian zone, they are hoping to win the Asian Cup to establish Australia's position among the Asian teams and make them worthy of the name of 'Asian No. 1', and the team's head coach Arnold, including all the players, also took the first game very seriously.

There is a saying in China that "a good start is half the battle", and with the first win, the first team can take the first step towards success, and their goal is to beat Hong Kong to announce the arrival of Australia.

As a representative player of Australia, the importance that Vimac Viduka attaches to this Asian Cup can be seen.

Viduka was born in Melbourne in 1975 to a family of Croatian descent. As a teenager, he attended the prestigious Australian Sports Academy and showed exceptional talent, especially his strong body and amazing explosiveness and strength. At that time, his classmate at the Sports Academy and later tennis star "Australian Cannon" Philippousis took the initiative to challenge Viduka to save a penalty kick because he was of Greek descent. Philippousis saved the penalty, but his arm was broken because the shot was too powerful.

At the age of 17, Viduka began playing for the Croatian-born Melbourne Knights, who won two NSL titles and was named the top scorer several times.

However, the Australian league was very unorganised at the time, and it was difficult for Viduka to improve here.

In 1995, Croatia's first president since the independence of the former Yugoslavia, Vranio Tudjman, visited Australia. He admired Viduka's footballing talent and invited him to join Croatian powerhouse Croatia Zagreb (now Dinamo Zagreb). Over the next three years, he scored more than 50 goals in the league, helped Dinamo Zagreb win three domestic league and cup titles, and also excelled in European competitions. However, as the introduction of Viduka was Tudjman's personal idea, the head coach was not consulted. When Viduka is out of form, fans will pull him by the dreadlocks of his associates, and sometimes he has even become the target of political battles. And life in Croatia, which had not yet fully emerged from the shadow of war at that time, also made Viduka often worried. The attacks from the fans and the psychological pressure made it difficult for Viduka to go out to eat at one point. Even after he moved to the Soviet Super League giants Celtic in 1998, he was plagued by psychological problems and ran away from the club without playing a game.

However, once the psychological problem is solved. Viduka reveals his true nature as a goal-scoring machine.

Shortly after the start of the 99-00 season, Celtic's top scorer, Swedish star Henrik Larsson, suffered a serious leg injury, and Viduka picked up the burden of scoring for the team.

This season, Viduka has shown his all-round qualities, and at 1.88m, he can not only use his body and height to steal points, but also have a strong air advantage. What's more valuable is that his foot skills are not bad, and he also has a strong ability to protect the ball and create opportunities for his teammates. He scored 27 league goals this season and was crowned the top scorer in the Premier League.

In 2000, he moved to Leeds United for £6 million.

Under O'Leary, Viduka and compatriot Colwill and players such as Bridges, Alan Smith and Robbie Keane formed a formidable attacking line for the Young Guard. This season, the Blancos have made great achievements in breaking into the Champions League semi-finals.

Viduka scored 22 goals in all competitions in the 00/01 season, including a solo quadruple against Liverpool. In the years that followed, Viduka managed to run double-digit league goals every season, but the club's finances and results deteriorated.

Leeds United suffered relegation in the 03-04 season, and Viduka moved to Middlesbrough in the summer of 04 as one of the last stars to be sold.

Viduka's first season at Riverside was plagued by injuries, after all, a player like him who relies on his body to eat and often carries the ball at his feet is not without being black-footed by defenders.

However, since 2005 he has regained a consistent goalscoring rate and at one point helped Myburgh reach the final of the UEFA Cup in 2006.

At the age of the same year, Viduka played his first World Cup with the Australian national team, captaining him in all four matches. Unfortunately, there was no goal.

"Yes, we are favourites to win the Asian Cup, but just because we are hot doesn't mean we can let our guard down."

Although they scored twice in the warm-up match against Singapore on June 30, they helped Australia win 3-0. But for Viduka, Australia's first trip to the Asian Cup will only be a success if they lift the trophy.

As the captain of Australia's team at last year's World Cup in Germany, the 32-year-old is undoubtedly still an iconic figure in Australian football. But. Just before the start of the Asian Cup, manager Trent Alexander-Arnold almost lost the powerful striker from Newcastle United in the English Premier League.

In the early morning of June 15, Viduka issued a statement. He said that he would retire from the national team and concentrate on playing at the club. However, also on June 15, after persuasion from all sides, including Arnold, Viduka retracted his national team retirement statement and expressed his willingness to represent the national team in this Asian Cup.

Coach Arnold is undoubtedly the happiest one for Viduka's "reversal", because in his tactical system, Viduka, who has the advantage of body and experience, is a well-deserved core player in the front of the Australian team, "Viduka first decided to retire, but after a period of consideration, he has decided to wear the national team shirt again. I didn't say anything to him, it was completely his personal decision and of course I'm very happy about that and I welcome him back to the national team. ”

According to Arnold, the reason why Viduka had the idea of retiring is not unrelated to the fact that he has just joined Newcastle, "Joining Newcastle has made Viduka face a series of problems, which is what he has always been worried about. But Viduka has been loyal to his national team and when he knew Australia needed him to make a difference at this year's Asian Cup, he chose to stay with us. ”

Viduka continued to stay in the Australian team, undoubtedly aiming for the championship, but for the first group game, like an Australian teammate, Viduka did not pay much attention.

In Viduka's view, the only thing that should be taken seriously by the Hong Kong team is their head coach Wan Sheng, who has been playing in England and is no stranger to Wan Sheng, who knows how good Wan Sheng's coaching ability is.

Despite this, Viduka does not think that Wan Sheng has been coaching Hong Kong for half a month. What surprising changes can be brought to the Hong Kong team, even if the strength of the Hong Kong team has improved in the past half a month, it is ...... Elevated to the second tier in Asia?

It's already horrifying!

However, the second-rate Asian teams still cannot threaten the Australian team, they are an international team, not comparable to the average Asian team.

That's Viduka's idea and that's what all the Australian players think. However, after 30 minutes of the game, Viduka felt differently.

He was playing depressed.

From the beginning of the game until now, Viduka has been heavily defended. Every time he gets the ball in the front court, he will always face at least two players, even if the Hong Kong team players are poor, it is still a little difficult to get rid of two players, and as a result, he has not found a good opportunity in front of goal until now.

The rest of the Australian team-mates were no better.

Just like Gao Jixian, the online live commentator of Super Sports S Channel, said, "In the first 30 minutes, Australia achieved an all-round advantage, and they had a great advantage in ball control, passing and receiving. But so far they have yet to score, with only one of their five shots on goal being on target. ”

"Hong Kong have put a lot of effort into defending and their efforts have made it difficult for Australia to find good chances up front. Viduka was heavily defended and the Australian star was in a bit of trouble and it was difficult for him to get out of that targeted defence. ”

While the commentator commented on the game, Australian coach Alexander-Arnold was also surprised by the situation.

30 minutes without a goal. Actually, it's not much.

Football matches are 90 minutes long, and often a single goal in a game can be the difference between winning and losing. Australia didn't score, but the situation was under control, football was always at the feet of Australia, but the problem was that Australia didn't find many good chances up front.

Arnold noted that Hong Kong had shown a first-class quality defensively.

If it's just an ordinary Asian team, every player tries to play the game, works defense, tries to prevent Australia from scoring, it's actually nothing, but the Hong Kong team has also done it to make it difficult for Australia to find opportunities in the front court, which is completely different, they have not only played hard, they have also done quite well in terms of defensive tactics and play.

If you just look at the team on the field that is trying to defend, no one would have thought that they are just the last in Asia.

Arnold couldn't help but look at the young Chinese on one side, half a month, to be able to bring an Asian team to this level, it is absolutely a bit incredible.

Quite professional defense, so that the Hong Kong team even if the level of players and the Australian team has a big gap, but still bring a lot of resistance to Australia's attack, often they have to be careful to deal with the pass in the front, because the Hong Kong team players run very frequently, and the players on the field have a clear division of labor, in addition, most of their energy is invested in defense, any team wants to break through this orderly dense defense, it is not easy.

What now?

Arnold was already frowning.

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On the other hand, Wansheng is quite satisfied with the current situation.

Although the Hong Kong team did not fight back, the offense was a bit chaotic, but after only half a month of training, it is quite good to be able to do this, after all, Hong Kong is only the last in Asia, and the strength of the players is generally low, and Australia cannot be compared at all.

He hopes that the team can continue to persevere, and as long as the results of training are played, he believes that this game will still have a fight.

At the same time, those media who were dissatisfied with Wan Sheng or the game also began to comment on the game, and their dissatisfaction was with the passive defense of the Hong Kong team.

If it's just a passive defense, it's actually nothing, no one would think that the Hong Kong team can launch a big offensive around the Australian half, but the key is that the Hong Kong team's defense hinders Australia's attack, which seriously affects the 'spectacle' of the game.

"Before the game, Wan Sheng said that the Hong Kong team is the most promising team in Group A, and he seemed very confident, but we didn't see what he said in the game, we only saw the Hong Kong team constantly defending and defending!"

"Do they want to rely on defense to win?"

"A lot of European media commented on Wan Sheng, saying that he was a very utilitarian manager, just because of the attacking football he played, so he couldn't stand out, but now we see this in the Hong Kong team."

"But he is obviously too arrogant, and he actually thinks that the Hong Kong team has a chance to qualify from the group, which is completely whimsical!"

"In this game, Australia is using constant offensive to tell him: it is simply wishful thinking!"

'The result was predestined and Australia would have won, they were just one goal away......

"In such a passive game, the Hong Kong team will not have any hope at all." (To be continued.) )