In the 6th round of the World Preliminary Round of 12 in Asia, with Wu Lei's penalty, the national football team forced the draw with Australia, which fought for the qualification, and saved the last glimmer of hope.
Compared with this point that has nothing to do with qualifying or not, Wu Lei's resoluteness and calmness at key moments will leave a strong mark in the history of Chinese football, and he has achieved a height that many predecessors cannot achieve.
The penalty nightmare of Chinese football
In fact, if Chinese football had not repeatedly pulled its crotch on penalties, it would never have only one experience in entering the World Cup.
In the 7th round of the 1997 Top Ten, before the national football team visited Riyadh against Saudi Arabia, perhaps it was not expected at all that the Iranian team would overturn the ship, and the national football team thought that there was little hope of qualifying before the game, and even "humblely" set the goal of winning the peace, and the final result was also as desired, they got 1 point from Saudi Arabia.
It was only when the final score was counted that people found that if Fan Zhiyi's penalty hit the goal of Deya Yeya, the national football team could surpass Iran by beating Saudi Arabia and qualify for a play-off match with Japan.
At that time, Japanese football was far from reaching the peak of Asia, and the style of the national football team was even more complete with the Japanese team. Just in March 1998, the Japanese team with all the main forces played in the East Asian Final Four lost to the national football team, they had no power to fight back under the high-altitude bombardment of Li Bing, if this showdown appeared in the play-offs, the winning rate of the national football team was undoubtedly higher, and Chinese fans could realize their dream of the World Cup 4 years in advance.
Eight years later, a similar scene reappeared, this time even more breathtaking. In the final round of the German World Cup Qualifiers in the Asian Round of 32, the national football team welcomed Hong Kong, China at home, and although the national football team won 7 goals, with Kuwait as the same 13 goal differences, it was finally eliminated with the disadvantage of 1 goal.
After the match, the relevant aspects of the Football Association were widely criticized by public opinion due to the lag in calculating points and transmitting information, and more fans turned their attention to Zheng Zhi, who missed the penalty, and his shot was rejected by The Goalkeeper Fan Junye of Hong Kong, China, if this ball can be scored, the national football team will qualify with the advantage of goal difference.
Considering that the national football team was at its peak, having just won the runner-up of the Asian Cup in 2004, and the format at that time was extremely friendly, with 8 teams competing for 4.5 qualifying places, for the national football team, it is not a fool's dream to continue the 2002 trend to enter the World Cup in Germany. If the result of that time was different, perhaps Chinese football would not have fallen into trouble, and it is still struggling at the bottom to this day.
It is said that there are no more than three things, but such a law does not seem to apply to the national football team. In 2008, the pace of the national football team to impact the World Cup in South Africa was also stopped early because of a penalty. Against Australia, which has just escaped into Asia, the national football team will set its home stadium in The Plateau Kunming, hoping to drag down the kangaroo army's physical strength.
In fact, this move almost worked, in the 87th minute of the game, Qu Bo received a long pass and used his speed to tear open the opponent's defense and win a penalty opportunity for the team that could have killed the game, but Shao Jiayi's shot was blocked by Schwarzer, and the national football team had to accept the result of the draw at home.
Australia at that time was in the stage of alternating between the old and the new, the team's combat strength decreased significantly, if the national football team can gain an advantage in the opening stage, do not have to take the pressure of victory at home to face qatar and Iraq (0-1, 1-2 defeat, respectively), successfully entered the top 10, South Africa in 2010, perhaps we have the opportunity to see the Chinese team has the opportunity to gallop.
It is worth mentioning that in the second leg of the match with Australia, Zheng Zhi once again lost a penalty.
Wu Lei's firmness was not easy
In fact, missing a penalty at a key moment in the World Cup seems to be a worldwide problem, just a few days ago, Jorginho, who was shortlisted for this year's Ballon d'Or, missed in the final moments of the game, causing Italy to have to enter a brutal play-off, and this is the third time this year that Wakukori has missed a key penalty.
At the same time, after seeing the "glorious history" of the national football team, you must also be able to appreciate how difficult it is for Wu Lei to withstand the pressure to score a penalty at such a critical moment, after all, such a situation is rare in the national football team.
Facing Matthew Ryan, who has already made a name for himself in the Premier League, it is indeed gratifying that Wu Lei did not repeat Shao Jiayi's mistakes, and this is also wu Lei's sixth penalty in the national team.
In this World Preliminary Tournament, Wu Lei was criticized for single knife balls and goal kicks, but in fact, Wu Lei's static shooting ability and calmness are not as useless as described by the outside world.
Scoring a penalty into Australia seems to be the goalkeeper's favorite semi-high ball, and the angle is also unremarkable, but if you look closely at Wu Lei's whole set of actions, you will find that he has deceived the goalkeeper through the hints of physical movements and the tempo of the change in rhythm before the shot, Ryan fell to the left side of the goal, and Wu Lei calmly kicked the ball to the right, which was the same as the penalty scored in the previous game against the Philippines.
For the way of penalty, different players have different views, Barty, C Ronaldo represented by the players seem to like to be mainly me, to win with ball speed and strength, do not consider the performance of the goalkeeper, which is of course based on their own footwork and self-confidence, and Wu Lei is just the opposite, dexterity is reflected in him, he is better at shooting the ball in the opposite direction after the goalkeeper "eats and shakes", perhaps this is the reason why Wu Lei has a higher penalty shooting rate, big data can not summarize a certain rule here.
What is more commendable is that at such a critical moment, Wu Lei dared to stand in front of the penalty spot to bear huge pressure, if this battle is lost, the prospect of the national football team is almost hopeless, which Wu Lei also revealed in an interview after the game, "The pressure from the outside world before the game, the current situation, there is no way back." ”
In fact, in the East Asian team, Wu Lei was the team's number one penalty shooter, from the spoon penalty in the Middle League period to the elimination of Shandong in the 2009 National Games men's semi-final penalty shootout, Wu Lei's big heart has always been there for all to see.
However, after SIPG joined the team, the team's penalty rights were often in the hands of Oscar, Axon and Hulk, and Wu Lei did not have many opportunities to perform.
Deservedly the first person in Chinese football
Wu Lei's ability to resist pressure is not an innate talent, in fact, Wu Lei has also lost his hand under heavy pressure. The most famous one was undoubtedly at the Shanghai derby, when Wu Lei conceded a penalty in the face of great pressure from home fans.
In the 2018 season against Tianjin Quanjian, facing the opportunity to surpass Han Peng as the historical top scorer king of the Chinese Super League, Wu Lei's mentality was unbalanced and he kicked the ball away. Years of ups and downs, the huge pressure he faced has made Wu Lei mature, and he has done his best to retain the last glimmer of hope for Chinese football.
No matter what the outcome of this World Preliminary Tournament, whether the naturalization model can continue or not, Chinese football must continue.
The match with Australia is not only the last battle of the national football team in 2021, but also the last battle of Wu Lei's 29-year-old. Over the years, no matter how much questioning and insults he has endured, Wu Lei has always moved forward. In this round of 12, Wu Lei scored 5 goals, and the current 5 points of the national football team were all exchanged for Wu Lei's goals.
In the history of Chinese football, Wu Lei may not be the best, but he is the unique star player in Chinese football in our era.
With the Chinese Super League chicken feathers, the failure of the naturalization model ended, the youth training results still seem to be far away, Wu Lei may be like Zheng Zhi, in his career, missed the World Cup, but this does not prevent him from becoming the first person in Chinese football. (Supine Braces/zz)
This article was first published in Understand Ball Emperor