King of the Zone

For the Hua Guo team, if they win this game, they will accumulate 6 points from two games and two games, and join hands with Uzbekistan to qualify ahead of schedule.

Therefore, Cheng Hai, who scored the lead, also seemed very excited and celebrated warmly with his teammates.

Of course, Qatar, who fell behind, didn't look so good.

If they lose this game, they will be out of the group early just like Kuwait, and the last round of the group stage will become a tasteless battle of honor.

As a host, this is simply unacceptable.

Therefore, the celebration by Cheng Hai and others lasted only more than 20 seconds before they were protested by the Qatari players, and then the referee intervened, telling them to end the celebration quickly and return to their own half, allowing Qatar to open the middle circle and continue the game.

Amidst the boos of the Qatari fans, Cheng Hai and others happily returned to their own half.

After the game restarted, the Hua Guo team's defensive counterattack became more resolute.As for Qatar, which was driven to a dead end, it had no choice but to continue to attack aggressively.

Qatar, who was cornered, played well. Although the offensive efficiency was not as high as that of Cheng Hai, they played against the Huaguo team and shot more times. After all, they could still score goals.

In the 26th minute, Qatar got a corner kick.After the corner kick was sent, the Qatari players failed to grab the first point, and were pushed out of the penalty area by Zhao Xuri, the midfielder of the Huaguo team, to clear the siege.

As a result, when trying to grab the second spot outside the penalty area, the two midfielders of the Huaguo team were too active and did not notice their teammates. The two collided with each other, and the ball did not hit the ground.

Originally, after the ball was pushed out of the penalty area, the people who went to grab the second landing point were also their own people, so the players of the Huaguo team ran out one after another, preparing to counterattack.

Unexpectedly, the two of them would bump into each other, and it was a bargain for the Qataris.

The Qatari midfielder Janim who got the ball did not hesitate, and directly pushed the ball and sent the ball to the Hua Guo team's penalty area.

Qatar striker Sebastian, who was still in the penalty area and hadn't run out, immediately turned around and made an anti-offside, and ran behind the Hua Guo team's back line.

Then he successfully received a pass from Janim in the penalty area, and then swept the ball into the far corner of the Huaguo team without stopping the ball.

Although Yang Zhi made a save, it was too late.After all, the ball was shot near the penalty spot in the penalty area, which was too close.

The host Qatar finally scored a goal and tied the score to 1-1. The Qatari fans in the stands fell into a sea of ​​carnival. Sebastian, who scored the goal, ran for more than 50 meters all the way, rushed to the bench on the sidelines, and hugged the coaches to celebrate.

This time, Qatar celebrated for more than half a minute, and the Hua Guo players did not protest to the referee.

Because, a draw is useless against Qatar, they are still at a disadvantage.

Even if the game is a tie, Hua Guo team lost to Uzbekistan in the last round and Qatar won to Kuwait. The two teams have 4 points, but the goal difference advantage established by Hua Guo team's 5-0 victory over Kuwait in the first game is still very large.

Even if the score is the same, there is a high probability that the Hua Guo team will advance, not Qatar.

Therefore, the Chinese team doesn't care about the draw. Since Qatar wants to celebrate a little longer and waste a little more time, let them waste it!

Out of tolerance for the host, the referee has never stepped forward to interfere.

After celebrating for nearly a minute, the Qatari players seemed to finally recover from the excitement of the goal, remembering that even though the score was equalized, the situation was still very unfavorable to them.

They finally finished celebrating and returned to the court, waiting for the Hua Guo team to hit the ball.

After the game restarted, Qatar, which was still unfavorable, still had to continue their aggressive attacks, while the Huaguo team continued to play defensive counterattacks.

With Cheng Hai on the field, the Hua Guo team's defensive counterattack was very handy and extremely efficient.

Even though Qatar has paid great attention to the defense of Cheng Hai, and even resorted to tactics of tactical fouls, taking the initiative to foul and take cards, they failed to stop Cheng Hai's goal.

In the 34th minute, less than 10 minutes after Qatar scored, the Huaguo team scored again and took the lead.

But this time, it wasn't Cheng Hai who scored the goal single-handedly, but it was Cheng Hai who used the counterattack to create a corner kick, and then went in by himself.

First, his shot from outside the penalty area failed to hit the desired angle under the interference of the opponent's defender, and was saved by the goalkeeper to the bottom line, resulting in a corner kick.

Then, in the corner kick attack, Cheng Hai used his 19 jumping ability, full physique and point-grabbing ability to grab the first spot in the penalty area, jumped up, and smashed the ball into Qatar's goal with a flick of his head when he won the ball.

Cheng Haiyan scored twice and once again helped the Hua Guo team take the lead.

Now, it was the turn of Hua Guo players and fans to celebrate again.

However, Qatar, as the host, is indeed very tenacious.

After falling behind again, they were not discouraged, but continued to attack vigorously, carrying out their tactics to the end.

Finally, in the 45th minute, when stoppage time had already entered, they took advantage of an opportunity of a frontcourt throw-in and directly and vigorously threw the throw-in to the front of the Hua Guo team's big penalty area.

Forward Sebastian's fight for the top attracted the attention of most Hua Guo players. As a result, instead of heading the ball towards the goal, he headed back and sent the ball to the players behind.

Qatar's midfielder Ahmed received Sebastian's header on the left side of the top of the penalty area, and a spike flashed past the Chinese defender who was grabbing up, and then kicked a volley.

The angle of the ball was very tricky, and it went straight to the back point.

Goalkeeper Yang Zhi was blocked by a figure in the penalty area, so he was a little slow to make a save. In the end, he was beyond his reach and could only watch the ball hit the net.

Qatar evened the score before the end of the first half, and the score became 2-2.

This time, the Qatari players, realizing that the draw was not the desired outcome, did not celebrate and restarted the game quickly.

However, when Qatar scored a goal, it was already injury time.

Therefore, after the start of the game, the two sides were still fighting in the midfield, and before a shot was formed, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the first half, and the two sides entered the intermission with a score of 2-2.

When they left the field, the players of the Huaguo team didn't look very good.

After all, being equalized by the opponent at the last moment of the first half, changing from a lead to a draw and entering the intermission, no one can be in a good mood.

But Qatar, who equalized the score in stoppage time, was not happy, because the draw was not beneficial to them, and it was not a happy moment yet.

After a 15-minute break, the two sides continued in the second half.

Cheng Hai, who recovered his physical fitness with dream training during the intermission, surprised Qatar at the beginning of the second half, and took advantage of the kick-off in the middle circle to suddenly dribble towards Qatar's penalty area.

Because of the full speed and dribbling, and Matthews' fake moves, Cheng Hai's unconventional actions caught the Qatari players by surprise, and Cheng Hai killed three of them to the front of the penalty area.

If it wasn't for the last central defender, Cazorla, who made a decisive decision and left Cheng Hai outside the penalty area with a flying shovel, he might have been killed by Cheng Hai at the beginning of the second half and scored a goal.

Although Carraso's flying shovel earned him a yellow card, it still ended Cheng Hai's sudden attack, and the Qatari fans in the stands breathed a sigh of relief.

Otherwise, it will be even more difficult for Cheng Hai to score a goal at the beginning of the second half.

Next, Qatar seemed to be frightened by Cheng Hai's opening attack. Not only the two central defenders, but also a midfielder and a full-back who took turns staying behind did not dare to step forward to participate in assists. Four people were left in the backcourt for a long time to guard against Cheng Hai's counterattack.

However, this approach has led to insufficient offensive power in Qatar, and has not been able to achieve any effective threat to attack.

Moreover, with Qatar focusing on defending Cheng Hai, other players of the Huaguo team also got opportunities to counterattack from other directions.

Cheng Hai is not the only one who can score goals in the Huaguo team.

In the 58th minute, the Hua Guo team played a collective counterattack. Deng Zhuoxiang, Yu Hai, and Qu Bo participated in the counterattack one after another. While Cheng Hai attracted the attention of at least three defensive players, Deng Zhuoxiang and others did not pass through Cheng Hai. The three played a good pass and cut cooperation. Finally, Qu Bo received a wonderful pass from Deng Zhuoxiang in the penalty area and scored without any interference.

The Huaguo team scored again and took a 3-2 lead.

All of a sudden, the Qatari players finally came to their senses, they had to attack, and it was impossible not to attack.

Next, Qatar replaced a vigorous new force on the field, and then launched a desperate attack.

Except for the two central defenders who stayed in the backcourt to defend against Cheng Hai's counterattack, everyone else was involved in the attack.

However, they seemed to have no luck in the first half.

No matter how many people participated in the attack, they still couldn't break the Hua Guo team's goal. Even if Cheng Hai was replaced in the 71st minute, Qatar pressed forward and attacked with all their strength in the remaining time, but until the end of the game, they failed to break the Hua Guo team's goal again.

Of course, after Cheng Hai left the field, the Huaguo team's offense was also somewhat lacking, and they failed to score another goal.

After 4 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game. All Qatari players collapsed to the ground, and the fans covered their faces and cried bitterly.

All Huaguo fans at the scene and in front of the TV fell into a sea of ​​carnival.

At the scene, the Huaguo CCTV-5 commentator on the commentary booth shouted excitedly:
"It's over, the game is over!"

"The referee finally blew the whistle for the end of the game!"

"The Huaguo team defeated the host Qatar 3-2 in the second group match and won two consecutive victories in the Asian Cup group match."

"Cheng Hai scored twice again, which became the key factor for the Hua Guo team to win."

"Scoring 5 goals in two games, Cheng Hai has almost locked the top scorer in the Asian Cup."

"After the end of this round, the Hua Guo team and Uzbekistan both won two games and accumulated 6 points, and they have already qualified ahead of schedule."

"The hosts, Qatar and Kuwait, both lost two games and scored 0 points, and have already been eliminated from the group stage ahead of schedule."

"The last round of the group stage turned into a battle of honor between Qatar and Kuwait."

"As for the Hua Guo team and Uzbekistan, the Hua Guo team temporarily ranks first in the standings because of their goal difference advantage."

"As long as we don't lose in the final round against Uzbekistan, even if it is a draw, we can qualify first in the group and occupy a relatively favorable position in the knockout round."

"However, no matter what happens in the final round, anyway, we have already qualified ahead of schedule, and everyone can celebrate to their heart's content!"

Indeed, no matter whether they qualified first in the group or second in the group, they have already qualified ahead of schedule anyway, and all Chinese people can celebrate to their heart's content.

The teammates interacted and celebrated with the Chinese and overseas Chinese fans watching the game for more than half an hour on the court, and then returned to the locker room to take a shower, change clothes, and leave.

Cheng Hai simply thanked the fans, and then went to the post-match press conference with Gao Hongbo.

At the post-match press conference, all the reporters congratulated the Hua Guo team, and then asked Cheng Hai's team's feelings about qualifying ahead of schedule and the goal of this Asian Cup.

Reporter: "Cheng Hai, before the game, did you expect that this Asian Cup will qualify for the first two games in a row in the group stage?"

Cheng Hai: "To be honest, I thought about it, but I'm not sure. Everyone has seen this game. As the host, Qatar played very hard and played at a very high level. The score of 3-2 was a bit of a fluke. We were able to qualify ahead of time. There is an element of luck."

Reporter: "Do you have any further goals for the Hua Guo team, which has already qualified and entered the knockout rounds in this Asian Cup?"

Cheng Hai: "Uh, well, from my personal point of view, my goal of participating in the Asian Cup is the same as the Asian Games, it is for the championship!"

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the audience.

Although Cheng Hai's speech is in line with his identity, status, and strength, as a member of the Huaguo team, when will the Huaguo team dare to shout the slogan "for the championship" before the game is over?
In this Asian Cup, the Chinese Football Association's public goal is only the semi-finals.

Even in private, under the leadership of Cheng Hai, the Football Association did not dare to aim at the championship.

In fact, after 2004, Huaguo football went from bad to worse, and everyone didn't dare to chant slogans and set goals randomly, for fear that the results would be too far apart and they would be slapped severely in the face.

Now, Cheng Hai publicly yelled out before the group stage was over, so it's no wonder that he attracted attention.

Cheng Hai is the captain of the Huaguo team, the number one star of the Huaguo team, and can still represent the Huaguo team to a certain extent.

Not only the reporters were surprised and excited, even the head coach Gao Hongbo was caught off guard.

But he couldn't help it.

As a local coach, Gao Hongbo's power in the national team is actually not as great as the outside world imagines. Many formations are interfered by the team leader and assistant coaches.

Faced with Cheng Hai, a superstar who is favored by the General Administration of Sports, not to mention the Football Association, Gao Hongbo has no choice but to laugh when reporters ask him questions, expressing that his national football team will strive for the championship.

But I dare not say that the goal is to win the championship like Cheng Hai, as if the failure to win the championship proves that this Asian Cup has failed.

After Cheng Hai shouted the slogan "champion" at the post-match press conference and it was transmitted back to China, it caused quite a bit of controversy.

On the one hand, because of the historical record and reputation of the national football team, as well as the modest and moderate character of the Chinese people, shouting such slogans before the group stage is over, in the eyes of many media and fans, is a bit arrogant or inappropriate.

On the other hand, shouting such a slogan too early will easily attract the attention of the opponent, which is not conducive to the next game of the national football team.

Of course, those who hold this view are a minority.

Because of Cheng Hai's personal achievements, popularity, and prestige, as well as his two-game winning streak in the national football group stage, Cheng Hai's slogan has won the support of many media and fans. Everyone even thinks that Cheng Hai has confidence and domineering, which is a good thing.

How long has the national football team dared to shout the slogan of the championship like this?

Cheng Hai's words boosted everyone's morale.

Inside the national football team, although everyone did not discuss this topic much, the atmosphere has obviously become a little tense, and the relaxed atmosphere of qualifying for the two-game winning streak has become a little urgent.

During the training, everyone became more serious and active.

Seeing this situation, the coaching staff suddenly felt that Cheng Hai's slogan was not without benefits, at least it could force the players to temporarily put aside the joy of qualifying early and actively devote themselves to preparing for the knockout round.

Soon, the time came to January 1, and the last round of the two group matches started at the same time, Qatar VS Kuwait, Hua Guo VS Uzbekistan.

Because the two teams have already qualified ahead of schedule, in order to save enough strength to deal with the opponents in the knockout round, both the Huaguo team and Uzbekistan have carried out a substantial rotation to allow the main players to recover their physical fitness.

Of course, Cheng Hai, who is unique in resilience, is not in the rotation. He still starts the game wearing the captain's armband.

Although most of the players on the field are substitute teammates and the cooperation is not very familiar, Cheng Hai's personal strength is too strong.

Coupled with the fact that most of the opponents Uzbekistan sent were substitutes, Cheng Hai appeared to be more comfortable and handy in such a game.

In the 8th minute, Cheng Hai received a pass from his teammate in the penalty area and used his dribbling skills to sway left and right. Finally, he successfully tricked the defenders around him to get a chance to turn around and shoot. The ball went into the opponent's lower right corner.

In the 29th minute, Cheng Hai grabbed the first point in a corner kick attack from the side of the front field, and a free kick that hoisted Qu Bo into the penalty area headed into Uzbekistan's goal.

In the 35th minute, Uzbekistan played a wave of good offensive cooperation, and striker Ahmedov kicked the goal from the corner of the penalty area.

Originally, this shot was not a big threat, but it happened to hit the defender Li Weifeng who wanted to stretch his foot to clear the siege. He changed the line to avoid the goalkeeper's save and flew into the Hua Guo team's goal.

Uzbekistan pulled back a point and the score became 2-1.

However, before the end of the first half, in the 43rd minute, Cheng Hai withdrew from the penalty area and took the ball to break through. After attracting the attention of three defensive players, he sent the ball to the space on the right side of the penalty area.

Cheng Hai assisted Zhang Linpeng to score a goal, expanding the score to 3-1, and the Huaguo team led by two goals.

After a 15-minute intermission, in the 62nd minute of the second half, Cheng Hai ran out of space in the ribs of Uzbekistan's big penalty area by running without the ball, and then received a pass from teammate Wang Song and scored with a low shot.

Cheng Hai scored a hat-trick and helped the Huaguo team expand the score to 4-1, basically securing the victory ahead of schedule.

In the 71st minute, Cheng Hai was replaced by Gao Lin, and Uzbekistan could finally attack with confidence.

They pulled one back in the 83rd minute to make it 4-2.

However, this is also the final score.

After 3 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game. The Hua Guo team defeated Uzbekistan 4-2 in the final match of the Asian Cup group stage and advanced to the knockout round with a record of 9 points in all three group matches.