Godfather of national football

Chapter 226 The Final Battle of the Group Stage

He won both games and advanced ahead of schedule. Li Guo knew that this result was the same as the Asian Cup in Australia later.

Chinese public opinion is like this. When the national football team achieves good results, they don’t necessarily praise them, but when they do not perform well, they immediately criticize them. It’s no wonder that football is the world’s largest sport. There is a saying that with great ability comes great responsibility.

This time is similar, the national football team has won two consecutive victories, but the country is very peaceful, it seems that such a result is a matter of course.

The third opponent of the Chinese team is Uzbekistan. Central Asian football has three major cavalry - Uzbekistan, Iran, and Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan went to UEFA, and the remaining two teams have always been top-notch in Asia. Their biggest capital is their bodies. It can be said that they are the European teams in Asia, and their player composition is similar to that of European players.

Like the Chinese team, Uzbekistan had two consecutive victories in the first two rounds of the group stage, and has already qualified ahead of schedule. In the third round, it competed with the Chinese team for the first place in the group. This is actually quite critical. The first place in Group B is likely to be the Japanese team. The first place in the group means that it can avoid the favorite to win the championship.

Although the current Chinese team is not afraid of any opponents in Asia, there is no need to let the cooked duck fly.

Before the game, Uzbekistan's head coach Kasimov and Jeparov attended the press conference.

Kasimov said: "I am very happy that we have qualified. Our third opponent, the Chinese team, is very strong, but we have never been afraid of the Chinese team in history. We will play against the Chinese team in this game and will not be conservative."

Li Guo said: "I remember the World Cup qualifiers in the Milu era. The only loss for the Chinese team was at home in Uzbekistan."

Kasimov thought that Li Guo was being polite, but Li Guo immediately changed the subject, "Uzbekistan is the fourth strongest team in Central Asia after Iran, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Their strength is still good."

Kasimov almost fainted from anger, because the Uzbek people always thought he was the bully of Central Asia, but according to Li Guo, he suddenly fell to the fourth place, which was really unbearable.

"Li Guo, I won't blame you for your ignorance and arrogance. After all, you have only been back in Asia for a short time. Maybe your mind is still full of European superiority. Why don't you just bleach your skin like Michael Jackson."

Kasimov was really angry, especially when Li Guo said that his team was not as good as Kyrgyzstan, which made him intolerable.

In Europe, the head coaches of the two teams sometimes talk or even do things, such as Mourinho and Wenger, but Li Guo is obviously in a good mood today. He replied with a smile: "I don't want to quarrel today, and I don't want to fight. The most important thing in football is the performance on the pitch. You will see tomorrow."

A reporter asked, "Then how many goals does the Chinese team aim to win tomorrow?"

"How many balls are there in a table tennis game?"

"11."

Li Guo shrugged, "I'm just joking."

The press conference broke up badly. Kasimov later said bluntly when he was interviewed by the official reporter of the AFC: "Some people think that it is great to enter the World Cup, so they can disrespect their opponents. I think this is ridiculous. Provocations can only make Uzbekistan stronger. We will make our opponents remember us."

Li Guo often provokes the opponent before the game, not to show off, but for tactical purposes. This is like Mourinho and Van Gaal, who put all the pressure on themselves and put pressure on the opponent.

*****
The game was held at the Al-Jarafah Stadium, which is the stadium where the Chinese team played their first match. The strange thing is that the audience for this game was only 3000 people, which is half of that in Kuwait.

The starting lineup of the Chinese team has changed again.

Goalkeeper - Wang Dalei.

Defense line - Lin Zhijian, Zhou Dun, Yin Di, Geng Chong.

Back midfielders——Chen Deng, Li Weifeng.

Avant-garde line - Qu Bo, Pu Shuang, Shao Jiayi.

Single striker - Ji Ke.

For Li Guo, the group match was like a friendly match. He sent out different players and practiced different tactics to his heart's content. This was the young player Chen Deng's first start. Li Guo was still very cautious in the position of the midfielder. Although he was very optimistic about Chen Deng, Li Guo still used Fang Suo in the first two games.

The game was not one-sided, perhaps to prove that they are not the "fourth" in Central Asia. The Uzbek players worked very hard after the opening. With the speed and stature of European standards, the Chinese team did not take advantage of the opening 15 minutes.

Ahmedov and Jeparov created two very threatening shots respectively, one was high and the other was confiscated by Wang Dalei.

But soon, the technical advantages of Chinese players were revealed. Lin Zhijian's one-stop breakthrough from the wing and Park Shuang's invincible ball in front of the penalty area made the Uzbek players helpless.

The Chinese team's middle and back courts are like ducks in water, but Ji Ke is a little depressed, because in the first two games, Ji Ke was a head higher than the opponent's central defender in the opponent's penalty area, but in front of Uzbekistan, Ji Ke's height advantage disappeared.

At this time, the Chinese fans may be missing Chen Gelin, the sharp penalty zone killer. If he is there, the Uzbek Gao Guy defender will definitely be turned over by the people he disturbs.

"Ji Ke, don't stand there stupidly, go back to the midfield and get the ball," Li Guo shouted and gestured.

Li Guo knows that future high center forwards will be like Ibrahimovic, Lewandowski, and Icardi. If your teammates don't give you the ball, you will come back to get the ball yourself, or even come back to grab the ball by yourself.

Ji Ke retreated, and the chances of getting the ball increased all of a sudden, but the effect was still not good. Ji Ke was still a more traditional type of high center forward.

In the second half, Li Guo simply replaced Yu Dabao. Although Yu Dabao is not as good as Chen Gelin, his characteristics are similar.

Finally, in the 25th minute of the second half, Shao Jiayi assisted Yu Dabao to score, and the Chinese team led 1-0.

1 to 0 is also the final final score. The Chinese team won the first place in the group, and Uzbekistan kept its dignity.

After the game, Li Guo took the initiative to shake hands with Kasimov, but the little Uzbek old man didn't like Li Guo at all. It seemed that he was very worried about what Li Guo said before the game.

In this way, the next opponent of the Chinese team is also released, that is Saudi Arabia. Li Guo accepted a brief interview after the game. At this time, he appeared very humble and praised the opponent's defense.

"This game reminds me of Chen Gelin. When facing a strong team, the Chinese team's striker selection is still too thin."

As for the next opponent?
Li Guo didn't want to say more, "You know, I don't think about tomorrow's affairs when I'm victorious, leave tomorrow's affairs to tomorrow's Li Guo."

(End of this chapter)