In the 9th round of Group B of the World Preliminary Round, with Zhu Chenjie's point shot at the end of the game, the national football team finally drew with Saudi Arabia with a score of 1-1. Although the national football team still failed to qualify for the World Cup, this game is of great significance to the national football team, especially in the case of the national football team constantly being pushed to the forefront of public opinion, this draw is even more precious.
In the Asian region of this World Preliminary Tournament, Saudi Arabia showed strong offensive aggression. In the first eight rounds, Saudi Arabia scored 10 goals and conceded five goals. Before the showdown with the national football team, Saudi Arabia ranked first in Group B, while the national football team previously ranked only 5th in the group, only winning over Vietnam at the bottom of the group.
So the question is, there is actually a big gap in the strength of the two sides, why can the national football team force Saudi Arabia? In fact, all this is traceable, and the Japanese men's football team has also played some role in it. It turned out that before the national football team and Saudi Arabia began to compete, Japan and Australia (Australia) had already divided the winners and losses, and finally Japan defeated Australia by a score of 2-0 to lock in a World Cup seat in advance.
For the national football team, Japan's victory over Australia is an indirect assist. There was also a lot of fans discussing one thing before, that is, if Australia beat Japan, then both sides would reach 18 points. Under such preconditions, if Saudi Arabia cannot beat the national football team, then Saudi Arabia's points will be 19 points (losing the national football team) or 20 points (draw with the national football team), and the final round of the World Preliminary Round may also be variable.
In this way, Saudi Arabia will do its best to defeat the Chinese men's football team, after all, only by winning the game can Saudi Arabia lock up the World Cup seat in advance. However, Japan cleared the way for Saudi Arabia in advance, when Japan defeated Australia, Japan's points rose to 21 points, Australia's points maintained 15 points, and Saudi Arabia, which originally had 19 points, locked up the World Cup seat in advance.
For Saudi Arabia, the victory or defeat of the last 2 World Preliminary Rounds is not so important, and Saudi Arabia's early promotion is insufficient, which also paves the way for the national football team to force Saudi Arabia to draw. Equivalent to the situation in Saudi Arabia, the national football team needs a game to improve morale, try to win the game as much as possible, and fight for a draw at worst, which can give the domestic fans an explanation and comfort.
On the one hand, Saudi Arabia, which advanced to the World Cup, on the other hand, the national football team that wants to save face, although Saudi Arabia's strength is indeed stronger, but the national football team's combat strength is obviously more sufficient, blocking Saudi Arabia's shots again and again. When the score was behind, the national football team did not hang its head as it did before, but constantly looked for opportunities to break the goal.
Towards the end of the game, a cross from the national football team caused a Saudi player to handball and won a valuable penalty opportunity. Zhu Chenjie, who then took the penalty, stepped forward and helped the national football team equalize and maintain it until the end of the game. The two sides drew a 1-1 draw and won 1 point each. When the referee blew the final whistle, the national football players collectively pointed to the sky, and this scene was indeed moving!
Now the national football team is forced to draw with Saudi Arabia, although the national football team is also missing the stage of the World Cup, but this game the national football team showed the team's resilience to the fans, which also made many fans feel very pleased. In fact, domestic fans do not hate the national football team, before everyone may have been vicious to the national football team, but basically they are holding the idea of "hating iron is not steel", after all, everyone hopes that the national football team can get better and better.
According to the schedule, the opponent of the last world preliminary match of the national football team is Oman. Previously, the two sides were tied by a score of 1-1, and it is expected that the national football team can have a better performance in the second game! Come on national football!