Asian Cup observation: The neglected national football team is too lazy to scold

After the second round of the Asian Cup group stage Chinese men's football team VS Lebanon team, Gu Jiangmin, the national football interpreter, refused to translate at the press conference for coach Jankovic's long speech, which attracted widespread attention from the outside world. And this also clearly presents a cold reality - the presence of the national football team in this Asian Cup is obviously insufficient, so that the media and fans have shifted their focus from inside the stadium to outside the stadium.

After the draw with the Lebanese team, the national football team took a day off on the 18th local time. However, on this very day, an episode of the press conference that took place a day earlier after the match between China and Lebanon redirected attention to the Chinese team, because the Chinese team interpreter refused to translate coach Jankovic's tirade into Chinese at the press conference.

In fact, the Organizing Committee of the Asian Cup has prepared simultaneous interpretation equipment for various press conferences of this event. Strictly speaking, Gu Jiangmin is not obliged to do Chinese translation at the press conference. However, in the context of the team's lackluster preparation and lack of bright performances, Gu Jiangmin's move was easily captured in the public opinion environment of "traffic is king", and then amplified into a "slot".

In any case, this unexpected episode still reflects from one side that it is difficult for the weak Chinese team to arouse the attention of the outside world at the competitive level, but the side-to-field voice is easier to focus on at this time.

In Doha, a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily found through more than a week of observation that the Chinese team's presence during this Asian Cup is indeed not strong. At 10 a.m. local time on January 20, when the Chinese team conducted pre-match training with the Qatar team in the group stage, only 9 media people, including local reporters, were present for interviews. The national football team, which is far away from the excessive attention of the media, can indeed prepare quietly, but they are actually not popular with the outside world due to their poor results.

Beijing Youth Daily reporters have recently gone to Tumama, Education City, Bin Khalifa, and Jassim bin Ahmed Stadium to report on the Asian Cup, and the outer area of the stadium sells official fan souvenirs of various events according to the conventions of the competition, and including game balls, mascots, commemorative badges, and fan uniforms, almost all official exclusive souvenirs are produced in China. However, products with the Chinese team are not common in these venues, while the fan uniforms of teams such as South Korea, Japan, Iraq, Qatar and other teams are more popular with audiences.

Although the Chinese team still attracts a considerable number of fans to watch the game, in Doha, few fans go to the team's stadium to "besiege" the players. It is understood that the Le Méridien Doha, where the Chinese team is stationed, has been relatively quiet for a period of time. In addition to cheering for the national football team on the day of the game, most of the veteran fans choose to travel in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other countries, and cheering for the national football team is not the only option for their journey.

On the afternoon of the 19th, when the Iraqi team led the favorite Japan by two goals at halftime, an excited Iraqi reporter walked to the media channel and hugged a Chinese media reporter excitedly, but his subsequent words embarrassed the few Chinese reporters on the scene. The Iraqi journalist excitedly said: "Today we will definitely beat you (the Japanese team), the Iraqi team played fantastic...... and the hugged Chinese reporter replied with a little embarrassment: "We are not Japanese journalists, we are from China." ”

For a team that is about to face a life-or-death battle, it may be more beneficial to prepare for a game away from the hustle and bustle. But losing sense of presence in such an important tournament is not something to be happy about.

Text/Beijing Youth Daily, Doha, Qatar Special correspondent Xiao Yun