BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- "Keep your love, keep your anger", after the national football team did not "decently" lose to Oman, thus ending the Qatar World Cup Asian qualifier Round of 12, a fan left such a sentence.
Image source: Screenshot of Weibo comment.
In the midst of the accusations that erupted after the game, such expressions were already mild. More people are just venting their inner anger, and this anger buried in their hearts has been suppressed for a long time.
But who can remember, 20 years ago, how many people were full of blood for the national football team because of love, and the sound of shouting came out of the chest cavity, which was so deafening.
From 2002 to 2022, the long time is like a dream, but this dream is very real and cruel. Now if we want to wake up from our dreams, we must also wake up.
On October 7, 2001, as the referee blew the final whistle, the Chinese men's football team held the World Cup finals ticket in its hands for the first time. As soon as the camera turned, the national football spectators in front of the TV set waved their hands with the Chinese flag and cheered endlessly, and many people who loved Chinese football were excited all night.
Image source: CCTV video screenshot.
At the Wulihe Stadium in Shenyang, which witnessed history, the national football team members threw coach Milu high. The score on the big screen of the scene was fixed at 1:0, and in this game that entered the history of Chinese football, the national football team won against Oman.
On the clothes of the players, the words were written: "Chinese football has never felt so good." ”
Sun Jihai, Ma Mingyu, Li Tie, Zhao Junzhe, Su Maozhen, Li Xiaopeng, Li Weifeng... How many old fans, even if they can no longer often pay attention to the national football game now, but when it comes to that year, they can still count these familiar names. These players are known as the "Golden Generation".
"The Chinese football team, hundreds of millions of people are concerned, generations of predecessors and successors, green silk turned white hair." In the spring evening of CCTV in 2002, the scene praising the national football team in the sketch was praised continuously.
Data chart: The Chinese team plays against the world's powerhouse Brazil at the Seogwipo World Cup Stadium in South Korea. Photo by Mao Jianjun, reporter of China News Service
In the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, the national football team fell in the group stage. He failed to score in three games and ended his first World Cup trip with nine goals conceded and 0 points.
But at that time, almost everyone believed that after experiencing the "difficulty at the beginning of everything", the national football team would portray a beautiful dream about football in the love and cheers of fans. All this seems to be just the beginning.
However, in today's view, the scene 20 years ago is the pinnacle of the perishable.
Infographic: National footballer.
The dream soon began to become cruel, so fast that people were caught off guard. In the following 10 years, Chinese football suffered a trough that could not be shaken off.
In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the Asian qualifier group stage, as long as the draw with Kuwait can advance to the next stage, the national football team ended in defeat, and finally suffered elimination due to the disadvantage of goal difference; in the 2010 South African World Cup Asian Qualifier Round 20, the national football team was eliminated in the first round...
During that time, due to repeated setbacks in the international arena, the self-confidence of the national football players was gradually exhausted. And in the fan base, there are more questions and accusations, and they don't know when the team that once made hundreds of millions of nationals proud will get back on track.
In the group stage of the 2015 Asian Cup, the Chinese men's football team defeated Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and North Korea successively, ending the embarrassing record of 18 years of no win over Saudi Arabia, 14 years of official competitions without winning Uzbekistan, and 10 consecutive years of losing to North Korea in the competition. At that time, this national football team with an average age of 24.4 years old was eye-catching. But now it seems that this beauty is still fleeting.
Infographic: Milu.
After that, the performance of the national football team in the World Cup qualifiers was still lackluster. With the change of coach, the change of players, and the addition of naturalized players, Chinese football has always sought change and sought ways to win back the hearts of fans. However, the Qatar World Cup qualifiers once again gave fans a roller coaster ride.
The top 40 brings hope, the performance of the top 12 is sluggish, and the defeat to Vietnam on the first day of the Chinese New Year has completely ignited the anger of the fans. In the early morning of the 30th Beijing time, the national football team, which had few opportunities for the whole game, lost 0:2 to Oman, ending the world preliminary round journey.
The Chinese men's football team once again missed the World Cup.
From defeating Oman in 2002 to early world cup, to facing the same opponent today, there is no way to fight back. The picture of the crowded alleys due to the national football team in those years has not appeared again in these years.
Many people want to know, what happened to Chinese football?
For 20 years, the opponent has continued to improve its strength, and we seem to be stuck in the same place. If you use one word to describe it, "quick success" may have some reasonableness. After constantly experiencing the dead cycle of "losing- reflecting - losing again", the fans have changed from the passion of the year to today's discouragement.
In competitive sports arenas, the improvement of strength cannot be achieved overnight. Defeat is not the end of the world, how to get the due vigilance from it is the source of progress.
Before the national football team's match against Oman, in the U23 men's "Dubai Cup" competition, the Chinese U23 men's football team lost 0:3 to the United Arab Emirates and won the fourth place. Although they did not have a chance with the podium, the spirit of the young players who were full of fighting spirit on the field brought a breeze to Chinese football.
Due to the epidemic, the U23 men's football team has not been able to participate in international competitions for a long time. High-level competition is crucial for the growth of young players, after all, in the future, Chinese football needs to rely on these young people.
Image source: Chinese football team official blog.
Judging from the game, the team's progress in recent years has been significantly slower than that of the same age players in the UAE and Thailand. How to catch up in the next time to puncture today's "nightmare" bubble, Chinese football can no longer make a car behind closed doors. Perhaps how to ensure the growth of these young people is an important issue that relevant departments should consider.
Indeed, the performance of competitive sports is the yardstick of success or failure, and when the national team is not doing well, it is inevitable to be criticized. However, going against the law and trying to improve the performance of the battle in a short period of time through the change of coach and other means is also a "dead end".
Chinese football is temporarily in a difficult situation, starting the next four years of the journey, they need to regain self-confidence, and this motivation comes from the youth training, preparation system and mental outlook changes, but also from the understanding of all sectors of society.
At least for now, Chinese football is lucky because there are still a lot of fans waiting in front of the screen late at night. For Chinese football, after a sigh, we also need to be calm. (End)