Former international player Li Yi has always been obsessed with the defeat in the 2004 Asian Cup, and he has said more than once in the media that in the 2004 Asian Cup, if we can seize the opportunity to defeat the Japanese team in the final, then I think the environment of Chinese football will definitely not be like this, in fact, Li Yi's point of view has also been recognized by some fans!
In addition to the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, the Asian Cup held in China in 2004 is also a rare peak game of the national football team, in this Asian Cup, the national football team performed very well, especially in the semi-finals with the "nemesis" Iran, before facing Iran is basically more losses and less wins, but in this game, the national football team defeated Iran.
Facing the opponent of the finals, the Japanese team, the outside world was full of hope of winning the championship, because the Japanese team was not their strongest lineup at that time, but due to our mistakes and the referee's misjudgment, the final 1:3 regret lost the championship, and it was also after this Asian Cup that Chinese football entered a period of rapid decline.
For example, in the 1999 Women's World Cup, our women's football team lost to the host United States on penalties in the final and won the final runner-up, and in the 2011 Women's World Cup, Japan successfully won the championship.
After the Japanese women's football team won the championship, there were many girls who chose to play football, and the number of them increased exponentially, and the runner-up we got did not significantly increase the number of people who played football, this is the reality, assuming that the national football team won the championship in 2004, it is certain that the number of people engaged in playing football will also rise in a straight line, not as it is now, the number of registered football players is not even 10,000, and this number is not as good as Vietnam.
In addition, winning the championship will also make our relevant practitioners have a clearer goal, and will not be tossing blindly, why has the national football performance become worse and worse over the years? It is related to the football policy that will change for a while, tossing and turning, I don't know how to develop, and finally I can only stand still, look at Qatar, they are after winning the Asian Cup, the development goal of the team is clear, and then continue to work hard along this goal, so their progress in the past two years is visible to the naked eye.