There were two matches on July 12, in addition to Hong Kong's 1-0 win over Thailand, and a 1-1 draw with Vietnam by Qatar, the latter game was quite tenacious as the hosts, but it was not much to watch compared to the previous game.

The media had nothing else to say except that "Vietnam is doing well", so almost all of the news reports that night were about Hong Kong, China's early qualification.

In the group stage of the Asian Cup, two wins in two games, and the qualifying places were locked in advance, which was put on Australia, South Korea, Japan and other first-line teams, which were quite remarkable results, and it was very strange to put it in Hong Kong, China, such a 'Asian last stream', almost all fans who paid attention to the Asian Cup paid attention to Hong Kong, China.

How did Hong Kong, China, defeat Australia?

How did you beat Thailand?

Why did they manage to win two games in a row?

As the bottom team, what is the basis for Hong Kong, China to create miracles? How can they do it?

These are all topics that the media and fans are concerned about.

The media analyzed the two games in Hong Kong, China in detail, and came to two conclusions, one is Wansheng's coaching, which must be talked about, a weak team, outstanding performance in the competition, is definitely inseparable from the ability of the head coach, with these two games, Wansheng's ability has been recognized by almost all fans who pay attention to the Asian Cup.

In the past, many people who didn't know thought that this 30-year-old Chinese coach, although he had some ability, was more lucky, otherwise it was difficult to explain how he was able to win the Premier League three times in a row and achieve such brilliant achievements in English football and European football.

But now it's different.

Wan Sheng has only been in charge of Hong Kong, China for less than a month, of which only half a month to prepare, and then began to lead the team to participate in the competition, in such a short period of time, Hong Kong, China's strength and performance have changed a lot, it is this change. Let them have the capital to 'create miracles'.

The second point is the means by which Hong Kong, China wins-defense, which is a tactical style that Hong Kong, China cannot avoid in the two games.

Against Australia, Hong Kong, China defended the whole game; Against Thailand, Hong Kong also tried to defend in the second half, and it was with their solid defense that they did not concede a goal in both games, and even if they did not score, they would not lose both games, and it would still be quite an excellent result.

Therefore, defense is the foundation of Hong Kong's victory.

"There's a saying in football. Hong Kong, China, led by Wan Sheng, explained this truth for the fans, their strength is certainly not up to Australia and difficult to compare with the Thai team, but they are defense-oriented and did not concede a single goal, so they won the game with two 1:0! This is the 'victory of defense', and some people may criticize the phrase 'utilitarian'. But for the Hong Kong team, which is 'the last in Asia', it is also a miracle that it can win with utilitarian football......"

This is a comment from football expert Dong Lu in the Asian Cup feature of "Xinlang Sports".

Other media outlets and commentators have also expressed their views. Praise Hong Kong, China for two consecutive wins to lock in the qualifying places in advance, the content of the report is basically the same, anyway, it is Hong Kong, China, Wansheng. Praise for the Hong Kong players all the way.

There are also 'imaginative' ones in China.

For example, "Whoosh Sports" 'imagined' that the Chinese team could also lock in the qualification place in advance with two consecutive wins, and taking a step back, it is acceptable to qualify normally. After meeting Hong Kong, China in the semi-finals or finals, it was really a big event in Chinese football -

There are two teams from China in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup!

But apparently in China, there are many people who support Chinese football, and there are even more people who are desperate for Chinese football, after this news, many netizens made comments, and the 'mutual spraying war' also began, and one faction believes that it is difficult for Hong Kong, China to enter the top four.

Netizens of this faction think that it is enough for Hong Kong, China to win two consecutive victories and defeat Australia and Thailand in a row.

The quarter-finals are different from the group stage, when the teams have adapted to the Thai climate and are fully in shape, and it will be very difficult to go further and pull off miracles.

In addition, an important reason is that when it comes to the quarterfinals, Hong Kong, China is likely to meet Japan.

Chinese are very resistant to Japan, but it is undeniable that the Japanese team, with stars such as Shunsuke Nakamura and Naoyasu Takahara, is definitely the favorite to win the Asian Cup.

It is a little too difficult for Hong Kong, China to beat the Japanese team.

The second group of netizens is purely 'national football black', perhaps because of the recent achievements of the national football team, it is really disappointing again and again, so the number of 'national football black' has gradually increased, they love Chinese football very much, but the love is deep and responsible, so they say 'the national football team is not good', in fact, they all hope that Chinese football can cheer up and play well in the world arena.

The 'national football blacks' are not just 'pure black', they just think that the Chinese team is difficult to pass the threshold of the 'quarterfinals', and what they say is reasonable, because the Chinese team will almost certainly meet one of South Korea or Saudi Arabia in Group D in the quarterfinals.

Since December 16, 1978 in Bangkok, Thailand, the Chinese team lost 0:1 to South Korea, and since then, until now, for 29 years, the Chinese team has been 'invincible in South Korea' in international A-level competitions.

This is the pain of Chinese football.

So now that it meets South Korea, will the Chinese team be able to win?

The 'national football blacks' are pessimistic.

Even if you don't meet South Korea, meet Saudi Arabia, it is difficult for the Chinese team to win, "desert camel" Saudi Arabia is the flag team of Arab countries, Saudi Arabia has won the Gulf Cup 3 times, since 1984 to 2000 has never missed the Asian Cup finals, these five finals, Saudi Arabia won the cup three times and won silver twice, such brilliant results, coupled with 1994, 1998 and 2002 consecutive World Cup finals, Saudi Arabia is a well-deserved first-class team in Asian football.

Since the 2002 World Cup, Saudi football has been in a bit of a slump, but after a few years of slump, Saudi Arabia has re-emerged, and in the warm-up and group stage, they are also one of the favorites to win the Asian Cup, even higher than South Korea.

Against such a team. Can the Chinese team win?

The 'national football blacks' are pessimistic again.

The third group of netizens finally has 'hope', they are like the report of "Whoop Sports", a little 'idealistic', they think that Hong Kong, China led by Wan Sheng, has a good chance of entering the top four, because Wan Sheng is a head coach who can create miracles.

At the same time, they believe that the Chinese team also has hope of entering the top four, as long as they "work hard", this 'Zhu Jiajun' is still very strong.

So the semi-finals of the Asian Cup. China VS Hong Kong, China, made it possible.

No matter what the media reports and what fans say, after all, the game has not yet started, and the second round of the Asian Cup group stage has just started, saying that these are too early, and this night is a crazy night for Hong Kong, China.

Before the start of the Asian Cup. There are almost no players from Hong Kong, who dare to imagine that the team can qualify for Group A in the fierce competition!

Even though the Hong Kong Football Association put forward the slogan of 'qualifying' and invited Wan Sheng to coach in practice, the strength of Hong Kong, China is there. The players know the team better than the fans, and they all feel that it is very unrealistic.

But now they do.

Half a month of hard preparation, and two games with all their might, this is a deep experience for them. Now that the group has successfully qualified, they are even more excited.

On this night, Wansheng did not prohibit anything. The players cheered and celebrated at will, and they made a fuss for half the night.

In the middle of the celebration, the chairman of the Hong Kong Football Association, Leung Kam Tak, and several Hong Kong dignitaries also came to celebrate with the team, encouraging everyone to continue to work hard and strive to go further in the Asian Cup.

"Now every step we take is a miracle!"

In front of everyone, Wan Sheng said seriously, "But don't be proud of it, it just shows that we are still a weak team in the eyes of others." I hope to see that in the next Asian Cup, when you achieve these results, people will say, 'Hong Kong, China is a strong team, it's normal to win', and then we will really become a strong team!" ”

Wan Sheng's statement was unanimously applauded.

Just like South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia and other teams, they won two games in a row in the group, and the fans will not say much, but take it for granted, that is the real strong team, and Hong Kong football, they still have a long way to go.

————

The whole Hong Kong team celebrated one night, and the next day Wan Sheng gave the whole team a holiday.

It was the first day of free movement after the training session and everyone felt relaxed, some of the players went around Thailand in pairs and threes, while others went to watch other teams play.

Related to Hong Kong, China, is still the Group A match, on this day the second game of the second round of Group A, the match between Iraq and Australia, attracted a lot of attention.

This game is a do-or-die battle for both sides.

Whichever team loses this one, it will be extremely difficult to qualify from the group, and there may be a glimmer of hope for Iraq to get a point, but Australia will definitely be out of the group if they lose.

The process and the result were unexpected.

In the 21st minute, Iraq took the lead with a free kick from Akram.

Australia equalised two minutes into the second half, but in the 59th and 85th minutes, Iraq took advantage of Australia's defensive mistakes to score twice in a row, and Iraq won 3-1 against Australia.

The Australian team has lost both games, has no points, and has already been confirmed to be out.

Australia's fiasco made head coach Arnold almost certain to step down, Australia is recognized as a strong team, but also the team with the greatest hope of winning the championship, when Australia entered the Asian zone, many Asian media said that 'wolf', because Australia's record in the World Cup is too brilliant, Asian teams are difficult to compare.

But after two rounds of the group stage of the Asian Cup, Australia was humiliated by 'early exit', which made it difficult for Australian fans to accept.

At present, Hong Kong, China has 6 points, locking a qualifying place in advance, Iraq has 4 points in two battles, ranking second, and there is a lot of hope, the host Thailand only has 1 point for a draw, and the hope of qualifying is only in theory, Australia has 0 points, and it is determined in advance.

Australia lost two games, first to Hong Kong, China, which is a miracle for Hong Kong, China, and now to Iraq. Many media outlets also considered it a 'miracle', but Iraq's head coach Patrick Vieira did not see it that way, saying he was not surprised by such a scoreline.

"Before the game, I told a lot of people that Iraq would be the winner, and no one believed me. Now look, the victory is still ours. ”

Vieira said proudly.

'I know my players and I know what they're capable of. We have proven to the world that we are strong. My job is to lead the team to victory, we never play to lose. ”

Quite a few people heard Vieira's words. I can't help but think of Wansheng.

Wan Sheng led Hong Kong to play against Australia, and said the same, then Hong Kong beat Australia, and now it was Vieira's turn, and the Brazilian coach said the same thing, and then he won against Australia.

Australia is nothing short of a tragedy......

The Australians never imagined that they would be eliminated in the two rounds of the group stage in the Asian Cup, which they went to with a winning attitude, and it was already annoyed to be beaten by Hong Kong in the first game. Then the outbreak of Iraq has made the favourites even more confused.

After the game, Australia boss Alexander-Arnold said the team was disappointing.

Amid the boos and dismissals, Arnold struggled to contain his anger while facing pressure from the fans. "My biggest problem with the players is the attitude! That's why we're doing so badly. ”

The Australian fans who showed up at the game shouted for Arnold to be sacked, and there was no doubt that Australia was already facing a back-to-back battle. Alexander-Arnold's frustration was palpable, having warned his players in the last game against Hong Kong. "If you want to stay, you have to behave better. They said it was a bit uncomfortable in the first game, so I didn't make too many changes to the starting line-up and I wanted to give them a chance to prove themselves. ”

However, the match against Iraq was still disappointing for him, "There was no improvement, to be honest I was really disappointed. ”

Regarding the hot and humid climate on the field, Arnold said that those objective reasons are excuses, because the attitude of the players determines everything. Arnold also singled out defender Neil, who was sent off for two yellow cards in the final moments of the game, another senseless sacrifice that annoyed Arnold.

But it's too late to say anything now, the Australians are out.

At the beginning, the Australian team joined the AFC once caused Asian teams to be uneasy, and some people even used the "wolf into the flock" to describe it, but now some football commentators believe that "from the first two games of the Asian Cup group stage, Australia is more like a sheep in wolf's clothing, Hong Kong won 1:0, Iraq won 3:1, all have set an example for Asian brothers, Australia is not terrible, as long as it is full of loopholes." ”

Due to Australia's good performance in the World Cup, especially in the group stage, they beat the Asian hegemon Japan team to the fullest, for a while, for the addition of Australian football, Asian countries were all terrified, worried and exclaimed, 'The wolf is coming', among which the loudest and loudest shouting is the Chinese media.

In a warm-up match with China at the beginning of the year, after the Australian team, which played almost as the "second team", won easily 2:0, the Chinese touted the strength of the Australians.

As a result, Hong Kong, China, won, and Iraq won.

Australia 'made it out', and almost all Asian teams, media, and fans were dumbfounded by this result.

The same goes for Wansheng.

Hong Kong, China's win over Australia, in fact, with a solid defense, and a lot of luck, even if Australia scored a goal in the middle, the result of the game was definitely not like this, Australia is a real strong team.

He didn't expect Australia to be out.

Even in his memory, Iraq did perform very well in this Asian Cup, but he has long been impressed with the group stage, and he does not think that after his arrival, Australia will be eliminated in the group.

What I didn't expect was that Hong Kong, China came in, and Australia went out.

That's the impact he brings.

However, after sighing, Wan Sheng also felt that it was nothing, after all, it was already like this, whether it was the Asian Cup, the European Cup, or even the World Cup, it was actually very cruel, and the two games were not good, and many things could be decided.

In an interview. Wan Sheng also only said, "I wish Australia a better performance in the next Asian Cup." ”

How much sarcasm there is in it is up to the media to analyze.

Wan Sheng's work is very busy, and on this day, the whole team of Hong Kong, China is on holiday, but he is still busy with the work of Manchester City FC.

In the afternoon, Wan Sheng got the news that Manchester City and Chelsea have reached an agreement, Glen Johnson will move to Manchester City for £8 million, while Nicola Anelka will join Chelsea FC for £31 million.

These are two deals. It seems that it is only an agreement reached between the two clubs, but in fact, the deal also involves Alger Robben, who previously switched to Real Madrid, making the deal between the two clubs add a Real Madrid, and the negotiation becomes very complicated.

Jose Mourinho's departure made Robben also want to leave and transfer to other clubs, Real Madrid was the first choice, Chelsea and Real Madrid have been negotiating, and then Robben moved to Real Madrid for a high price, but there is also a news that has not been made public - Chelsea Football Club has bought out Real Madrid's 'right of first refusal' for Manchester City star Nicola Anelka.

Chelsea then embarked on a series of moves. Naturally, the deal between Chelsea and Real Madrid for the 'right of first refusal' of the Manchester City player to acquire Nicola Anelka could not bypass Manchester City, and then the three parties began to negotiate the transfer of Anelka.

Anelka is definitely leaving Manchester City. Manchester City FC are interested in selling to Real Madrid as Chelsea are Manchester City's league rivals, but at the same time, Manchester City FC are also interested in acquiring Chelsea youngster Glenn Johnson.

So the three parties began to negotiate continuously. In the end, the results have only now been achieved – Robben's move to Real Madrid has been finalised, Manchester City have acquired Glen Johnson and Chelsea have gotten their wish for last season's Premier League goalscorer Nicola Anelka.

For Wansheng. It doesn't matter if the deal is complicated or not, what matters is the result, and it is enough for Glen Johnson to transfer to Manchester City, plus Martin Petrov, who has been finalized a few days ago, the team has brought in two wide players, so the personnel crisis on the side has also eased a lot.

After that, Wansheng was concerned about Reyes and Ljungberg.

Wan Sheng wanted to pack them from Arsenal to Manchester City, he first called Wenger, the two have a good personal relationship, although there is competition in the league, but Arsenal has not been able to compete for the league title recently, and the real competition is not big, so Wenger is still very easy to speak, "As long as the club agrees, the player himself agrees, I have no opinion." ”

Arsene Wenger then spoke about Manchester City youngsters Mesut Ozil and Boateng, who he hopes to bring in for Arsenal.

Of course, Wansheng politely refused.

If last season, Wenger wanted Ozil or Boateng, Wan Sheng may still think about it, although the two are very talented, but after all, talent also has to grow to play a role, there are many young people with good talent, not necessarily these two players, but now it is different, both have adapted to Manchester City for a season, and they can take on heavy responsibilities next season, even if they choose to sell those powerful players, they will not sell the young talents who have just been cultivated, after all, the former can still be sold for a good price and get a high return on funds, And the latter is only worth a few million pounds, which means that he has helped cultivate for a season in vain, and Wansheng can't do it at a loss.

After that, Wan Sheng asked Manchester City to contact Reyes and Ljungberg's agents directly, but unfortunately, Reyes did not have the idea of staying in the Premier League.

Maybe it's a few seasons of Premier League experience that has completely disappointed the Spanish genius, he just wants to return to Spain, any club can do it, he just doesn't want to stay in the Premier League, in the face of the player's mentality, Wan Sheng can't do anything, all his promises are meaningless, the other party doesn't want to stay in England at all.

So Wan Sheng could only regretfully give up Reyes.

The good thing is that Ljungberg is interested in Manchester City.

Ljungberg is a player with the 'Arsenal logo', in 1998, he joined the Premier League Arsenal Football Club for a transfer fee of 3 million pounds, in the early years mainly as a substitute for individual attacking players, until 2000 after Arsenal acquired Henry, Pire, he and another star Vieira, became Arsenal's main attacking force.

Ljungberg has scored 45 goals for the club so far, won two Premier League titles, and has a solid understanding with Thierry Henry and other attacking players.

However, since the departure of Patrick Vieira, the signing of Bergkamp for Manchester City, and the departure of Thierry Henry in the summer, the 30-year-old Ljungberg has known that he will definitely lose his place at Arsenal.

So he was ready to leave.

Arsenal FC did not stand in the way of Ljungberg's departure, as Ljungberg did not have a place in the team.

So Manchester City FC easily opened transfer negotiations with Ljungberg, this transfer has no competition, Arsenal wants to sell, Manchester City wants to sell, Ljungberg also wants to go to Manchester City, when all three parties agree, transfer negotiations are almost a matter of price and contract.

Wan Sheng is also almost certain that Ljungberg will transfer to Manchester City.

In doing so, the City club has completed four transfers, with striker Fernando Torres, wide Glen Johnson, Martin Petrov and Ljungberg who can play in all positions up front.

The team is left with only two goals.

One is Elano Brummer, who plays for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, the Brazilian player started his career with Santos in Brazil, and then, unlike other Brazilian players who have landed in Europe's first choice leagues such as Portugal and Spain, Elano's first stop was to choose Ukraine and join Shakhtar Donetsk.

Although his performance in the Ukrainian league is quite outstanding, but after all, it is only a Ukrainian league, and Elano Brummer's performance has not attracted much attention from European giants, so Manchester City's negotiations to bring in Elano Brummer have not been hindered much.

Shakhtar Donetsk wants a big transfer fee, and Elano Brummer himself wants to make a run in the Premier League to join Manchester City, the reigning champions of the league for the second time in a row.

Therefore, there is basically no problem with this negotiation.

Wansheng's second target is Robert Carlos, and he is a little anxious to sign Carlos, because Carlos is already a free agent, many clubs want to bring him in, and Manchester City FC has also been in contact with Carlos's agent, but Carlos is still considering which club to join.

Wansheng also found Carlos's agent, but the agent's reply was that Carlos only wanted to think about it himself, and he didn't want to be influenced by the coaches of various teams.

Wansheng didn't have a good way to do it.

He can only pin his hopes on Ronaldo and hope to find a breakthrough from Ronaldo.

————

Wan Sheng has been anxious to sign Carlos, but his current job is to lead the Hong Kong team to the Asian Cup, and when he met Ronaldo in daily training, Wan Sheng did not show much anxiety, because he knew that if Carlos had a decision, he would definitely tell Ronaldo, then Ronaldo would definitely tell him.

Ronaldo's attitude towards Wansheng was a little uncertain, "Doesn't this guy want to sign Robert?" Why aren't you in a hurry? Don't come to ask yourself? ”

He didn't understand, so he just did his own training.

Beckham has gone to Hong Kong, Ronaldo can only train on his own, and he has been using the excuse of 'betting' to persuade himself to continue to persevere, but in reality, he really can't believe the effect of these trainings.

After the day's training, Ronaldo sighed and returned to the dressing room.

He was much earlier than the other players.

The training of the two sides is also different, Ronaldo only needs to finish his own training, there is no one in the dressing room, Ronaldo stripped naked and took a shower, and stood in a corner of the room with a bath towel.

There's an electronic scale there.

Ronaldo took a deep breath and stood on his feet.

In fact, Ronaldo has not measured his weight since he came here to train, and he feels that even if the training is effective, it will take a while to show it, and his own body, which he knows very well, is simply not enough for a few days.

But when standing on the scale and looking at the values displayed on it, Ronaldo was directly stunned.

“89.6？” (To be continued.) )