Soon after the match between the national football team and the Singapore team, several main leaders of the Chinese Football Association who went to watch the game happily walked into the locker room of the Chinese team and sent blessings and encouragement to the whole team. The result of the national team's 4-1 victory over the Singapore team was comparable to "timely rain", which not only allowed the team to rise to the second place in the Group C standings of the round of 36, so as to firmly grasp the initiative to qualify, but also helped the new coach Ivankovic, who had just taken over the team, to be relieved, and actually "relieved" the Chinese football that was in a trough and was riddled with scandals.
On the 26th, that is, on the morning of the round of 36 and the new rematch, Chen Xuyuan, the former chairman of the Chinese Football Association, and other former officials of the association were sentenced by the court for being involved in a corruption scandal and committing a crime, which appeared on the Internet hot search list. At this moment, the Chinese team is under heavy pressure because it has just experienced the embarrassment of drawing with the Singapore team. In the context of Chinese football continuing to be plagued by "low technical level" and "scandal-ridden", the game on the evening of the 26th is of extraordinary significance to the national football team. If the Chinese team fails to win, it will not only face a huge competition crisis at the technical level, but also put itself and the entire Chinese football community into a more unfavorable public opinion situation.
Fortunately, the Chinese team, which appeared in the rematch between China and China, did not bow to difficulties and pressure. From the very beginning of the game, the whole team showed a strong desire to win and fighting spirit. In the 16th minute, Zhang Yuning, who received Wang Dalei's big kick, was put down by the opposing player in the front court, and Wu Lei, who was the captain of the national football team in this round of the game, quickly stepped forward for his teammates, and there were many other players who rushed forward with the captain. In the 90th minute, when Wu Lei assisted Wei Shihao to score the fourth goal of the national football team to lock the win, not only Wei Shihao took the initiative to reach out to the captain, but Jiang Guangtai also rushed over to take the two into his arms. Like the victory, such a scene also gave people a long-lost feeling, and the unity of the Chinese team made the 42,000 spectators at the scene excited.
It has to be said that the process of this game is thrilling. Midway through the first half, Singapore equalised just one minute after China's Wu Lei opened the scoring. Technically, the goal was caused by the distraction of left-back Liu Yang's defensive disposition, but at that time, Liu Yang and his teammates on the field were still immersed in the joy of scoring goals, which was very rare for the international players who had been under pressure and depression for a long time, so at halftime, coach Ivan did not criticize Liu Yang, but insisted that he stay on the field to help him regain his strength.
It has to be said that Fernando's penalty shot in the 65th minute became a real turning point in the game. Although Li Yuanyi was sent off for a reckless foul shortly thereafter, which caused the national football team to play with one less man in the remaining 10 minutes of the game, the Chinese team, which led the score, did not shrink its defense. While the Singapore team focused on counterattacking, the Chinese team gradually counterattacked. Wu Lei's shot and pass in the final stage of the game, Wei Shihao's icing on the cake, presented the national football team with a successful result of "spending a good moon".
When the UAE referee Ali blew the final whistle of the game, the fans at the scene "sang the motherland" with the sound of pleasant music. Seeing the head coach of the national football team, Ivankovic and the international players around the field, many fans sang and danced in unison, and some of them were embarrassed and left tears of excitement. "This situation is as if the Chinese team has already qualified in the world preliminaries. Victory didn't come easily. A media reporter said.
After the game, the internationals walked to the dressing room one by one, laughing and laughing. Wu Lei, who was elected the best player of the game, was also "stopped" by an old leader of the Tianjin Sports Bureau for a group photo. Just before head coach Ivankovic and Wu Lei went to the venue of the post-match press conference, several main leaders of the Chinese Football Association walked out of the team lounge with smiles. It is understood that they deliberately walked to the middle of the team after the game to congratulate the whole team on a big victory, and also encouraged the whole team to make persistent efforts and play well in the following games.
Ivankovic won the "first victory" in the second game he led the team to, thus completing an important assessment in the "probationary period" with a record of 1 draw and 1 loss. Through the two games of leading the team, Ivan's coaching team has become more familiar with the team, especially the players, which has laid the foundation for him to further improve his coaching.
It is worth noting that half an hour after the end of the match between China and Singapore, the South Korean team defeated the Thai team 3-0 away from home. As a result, the Chinese team beat the Thai team and rose to the second place in Group C of the round of 36. However, it is precisely because the difference between the two teams is only 3 points, and the difference in goal difference is only 3 goals, so the Chinese team will play Thailand at home in the next round, and there is still no reason to take it lightly, and winning is still the primary goal. For the Chinese team, the difficulties and pressures faced in the next round of the game are only a lot more than this game. In the case of Wu Lei and Li Yuanyi's confirmation of both suspensions, Ivankovic must design a response plan.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Xiao Yun
Editor/Xu Zhao