Champion’s Heart

Chapter 63 Preparations for the World Cup begin

On the training ground of the Chinese team, Sun Pan and Zhou Yi fully demonstrated their friendship in front of the media.

Sun Pan pinched Zhou Yi's neck and shouted, Damn it! If you win, you win, and you whip the corpse!

Zhou Yi shouted: I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!

As a result, no one of the surrounding teammates came forward to help, and everyone just stood around laughing and watching the fun.

This scene fell into the eyes of the reporters. Everyone knew that they were all joking, whether it was the limerick or the strangulation now. Nothing to be surprised about.

The fact that Sun Pan could make such a move also shows that he was not angry at all because of Zhou Yi's limericks. If you were really angry, how could you do such an embarrassing thing in public?

This is actually just a daily fight between them.

At the same time, this detail also shows that the current atmosphere within the national team is very relaxed - the players can watch jokes and fight in such a relaxed manner without factionalism, so the atmosphere is certainly good.

This atmosphere makes the Chinese media and fans very happy. Since Gao Hongbo came to power and purged the original old players in the team, he also quickly cleaned up all the original factions. As for the newly added players, the most powerful ones to form a faction are of course the Five Little Dragons who have returned from overseas.

The five of them really have a good relationship and like to play together. It's okay to say that they are a small group.

But this small group is not above the head coach, nor does it intend to control the locker room. They have fun playing together on their own and don't mind playing with others.

Therefore, such a small team cannot rely on the definition of ball dominance no matter what.

What everyone hopes most now is that this harmonious and loving atmosphere can be maintained until next year's World Cup in Brazil.

This is the second time that the Chinese national men's football team has participated in the World Cup. The first time was a shameful memory for many people, and many people gave up on Chinese football after that.

And this time, of course, everyone has reason and should have more hopes for them.

Hopefully this national team can achieve some historic breakthroughs in Brazil. They don't expect the team to win the World Cup. This is too arrogant. They feel that if the Chinese team can reach the knockout rounds, they will be happy for a whole year. If they can go one step further in the knockout rounds and reach the quarterfinals, it will be simply one of the best memories of their lives for the fans.

※※※

The opponents of the Chinese team's two warm-up matches were teams from Southeast Asia. On September 6, they first played Singapore in Tianjin. On September 10, they also played in Tianjin, and their opponent was replaced by Malaysia.

Because the World Cup qualifiers around the world have not yet ended, it is still uncertain which teams can advance to the finals. The results of the World Cup group draw are even more out of the question, so the Chinese team now has no way to choose warm-up opponents for the opponents they encounter in the World Cup.

This time the national team training and warm-up is mainly to regroup the team after the World Cup qualifiers, run in the team, let the team find a feeling, and slowly get into the rhythm of World Cup preparations.

Therefore, although they were two very ordinary warm-up matches and the opponents were not strong, they still attracted the attention of the national media and fans.

Because this means that the Chinese national men's football team has officially begun preparations for the 2014 Brazil World Cup.

This is a starting point, and how you go from the starting point will determine the distance to the end point.

In the East Asian Cup that just ended in July this year, the Chinese team, which was composed of domestic players, performed well and finished second in the East Asian Cup. Like the Japanese team that won the championship, it remained undefeated in three games. They drew with Japan and the host South Korea, and defeated Australia in the last game.

This performance makes the Chinese media and fans very happy, because they all know that returnees cannot always be counted on in the World Cup. Chinese domestic players must also serve as strong supplements and be able to stand up at critical moments. The performance of the national team in the East Asian Cup gave everyone hope.

In fact, at this time in previous years, the scene of the Chinese team was completely different.

If there are no World Cup qualifiers to play, not only the East Asian Cup is a very important competition, but also the Asian Cup qualifiers, which are even more important than the East Asian Cup by several orders of magnitude.

This year, the Chinese team does not even have an Asian Cup qualifier to play. Otherwise, the last three games of the Chinese team in October and October this year will all be Asian Cup qualifiers.

So why is there no Asian Cup to play in? Are you not eligible to participate in the Asian Cup?

of course not.

This also starts with the unique qualifying rules of the Asian Cup...

According to the rules of the 2015 Australian Asian Cup qualifiers formulated by the AFC.

The 20 teams are divided into five groups in the qualifiers. The top two teams in each group and the third-place team with the best results in all groups will qualify, and then compete with the host Australia, the top three teams in the previous Asian Cup, and The 2012 Asian Challenge Cup champion North Korea and the 2014 Asian Challenge Cup champion (to be decided) together form the 16 teams participating in the Asian Cup finals.

Some people will say, don’t bully us for not being good at math... No matter how you count these, there are not 16 teams - 11 teams came out of the group stage, plus 12 from the host country, the top three in the last Asian Cup, this is There are fifteen teams, plus the two-time Asian Challenge Cup champions, isn’t that seventeen teams?

In fact, this is the case. Among the top three teams in the last Asian Cup, the third ranked team was Australia, the host of this Asian Cup, so they overlap, so there are exactly 16 teams.

Because the Chinese team was second in the last Asian Cup, they did not need to participate in the qualifiers and directly qualified for the Asian Cup finals.

So they can use the match days of the Asian Cup qualifiers to arrange warm-up matches before the World Cup.

This time, lessons must be learned from the messy warm-up arrangements before the last World Cup.

※※※

On the first day of training for the Chinese team, Gao Hongbo and the entire coaching staff gave a brief but solemn speech to the players.

...I know that many people must have had a good time in the summer that just passed. Qualifying for the World Cup helped everyone make a lot of money.

Some of the players lowered their heads and laughed.

After the World Cup, almost all national team players, even substitute players, received advertising sponsorship contracts. There were more main players and fewer substitute players.

There is quite a feeling of when one person attains enlightenment, chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

“But did any of you see my ad on TV?”

The players looked at each other in confusion. Thinking about it carefully, they really didn’t see Director Gao accepting any commercials or becoming the spokesperson for any products...

It's not that I don't want to make money, I just know what the more important task is than this. When I became your head coach, my original goal was to lead the Chinese team to the World Cup. But it's not just as simple as getting the right to qualify for the World Cup. I I hope we can achieve a historic breakthrough for Chinese football in the World Cup. I know this is difficult, so I have to work harder and take this matter seriously. Please remember, our goal is not to get the right to participate in the World Cup. It’s about performing better in the World Cup. To this end, I hope that from now on, each of you will realize this. Those who cannot realize it and do not have this determination, it doesn’t matter, we still have half a year. , it is normal for personnel to change in and out during this process. No one can guarantee that if you perform well in the World Cup qualifiers, you will definitely be able to participate in the World Cup finals!

Gao Hongbo said these words with a straight face, with a serious expression and a serious tone. Many people in the national team stopped joking and their expressions became tense.

Having led the Chinese team to second place in the Asian Cup and the right to qualify for the World Cup, Gao Hongbo has accumulated a lot of prestige in this team. Few people dare not listen to what he says.

And more importantly, with such a head coach, he has the support of the core players of the national team.

Zhou Yi is definitely on Gao Hongbo's side.

I thought I gave you a holiday before. Some players were called up to the team after the East Asian Cup. I know you are tired and busy. But from now on, each of you must get into the rhythm of preparing for the World Cup!

After speaking, he waved back, and assistant coach Fu Bo placed a countdown sign beside the training ground that read: There are 283 days until the opening of the 2014 Brazil World Cup!

Zhou Yi, the only person present who had gone to high school, suddenly felt like the college entrance examination was approaching...

There are still two hundred and eighty-three days! Those who can't keep up with the rhythm will be eliminated! You all know who I am. I don't talk about favors and I don't care about anyone's face. Moreover, the leaders of the Football Association and the General Administration have also given Strong support. Our national team’s affairs are very simple this time! Just six words!

Gao Hongbo raised six fingers: The capable ones go up, the mediocre ones go down!

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