On December 5, 1992, the national football team, which had just finished third in the Asian Cup, traveled to Singapore to participate in the sixth Merlion Cup football tournament under the leadership of German coach Schlapner.
The last Merlion Cup dates back to 1986, when the national football team was also invited to participate and finally won the championship, about the experience of the national football team participating in the fifth Merlion Cup, interested friends can check out this article: 1986 Fifth Merlion Cup, the national football team 7 wins 6 wins and 1 draw, and finally lifted the championship trophy.
A total of eight teams in this year's Merlion Cup are divided into two groups for group stage, and after the draw, the national football team is divided into Group B with The Czechoslovak Nitra, the Polish U19 national team and the South Korean National Reserve Team, and the competition adopts a single round robin points system, and the top two in each group advance to the semi-finals.
On December 9, the national football team welcomed the first opponent of the group stage at the Kallang National Stadium in Singapore, Czechoslovakia Nitra. Because Fu Yubin, Dong Liqiang and Li Bing wanted to follow the Liaoning Dongyao team to participate in the Asian Club Cup, they could not follow the national football team to Singapore, and Schlapner temporarily added Jiang Jin and Li Hongbing to enter the national football team.
Just ten minutes into the first half, Nitra took advantage of a back-court break to quickly counter-attack and break through the gate guarded by Chu Liang. It was not until 3 minutes before the end of the game that the national football team was scored by Fan Zhiyi with a long-range shot from outside the penalty area to help the national football team draw 1-1 with the opponent.
On December 12, the national football team played against the South Korean national reserve team, which is mainly composed of Olympic-age players.
In the 28th minute of the first half, Park Nam-yeol scored a powerful shot from outside the box to give South Korea a 1-0 lead. After conceding the goal, Uncle Shi quickly made personnel adjustments, replaced Feng Zhigang with Gao Hongbo, and strengthened the attack, and this substitution quickly took effect. In the 35th minute, Wu Qunli took advantage of the opponent's defender's pass mistake to break the ball and send a straight plug, Gao Hongbo received the ball and glanced at the opposing goalkeeper, and directly got up at a distance of nearly 30 meters from the goal, and the ball flew into the net nest with the turf.
Yi Bian fought again, in the 49th minute, the South Korean team got another chance in front of the national football team, Yoon Sang-zhe wrapped up in the middle of the road to push and push the goal, and the South Korean team once again led. At the crucial moment, it was Gao Hongbo again, who received Cai Sheng's header from the penalty area just two minutes after the South Korean team scored.
In the end, the national football team drew 2-2 with the South Korean reserve team.
On December 14, the national football team faced the last opponent in the group stage, the Polish U19 national team. The Polish U19 team was formed for the Olympic Games in Atlanta four years later. In the first two rounds, the Polish U19 team had a record of one loss and one win against the South Korean reserve team and the Nitra team. If the national football team, which has been drawn twice in a row, wants to qualify, there is only one way to win.
Although the opening was less than five minutes, the national football team suffered a blow, and Xie Yuxin was replaced by Li Xiao. However, in the following game, the national football team completely controlled the situation on the field, and Fan Zhiyi, Gao Hongbo and Li Xiao scored goals successively, and finally won 5-1 against the opponent, ranking first in the group with a record of one win and two draws, and advanced to the semifinals.
On December 17, the semi-final of the 6th Merlion Cup, the national football team played against Lokomotiv Moscow, the second place in Group A.
Heavy rain suddenly arrived, missing wu Qunli, Xie Yuxin and Zhu Bo, the three main players of the national football team, but played the highest level of this competition, and defeated the opponent 3-1 to advance to the final. However, the national football team also paid the price of Cheng Yaodong and Peng Weiguo's injury.
On December 19, the national football team ushered in the final of this year's Merlion Cup, against the South Korean reserve team, which had previously drawn 2-2 in the group stage.
In this game, the national football team full of injuries and illnesses has managed to put together a starting lineup.
In the 34th minute of the first half, the South Korean team used the national football backline to create an offside mistake, and Lee Ki-hyun single-handedly scored the goal.
Yi Bian fought again, in the 52nd minute, the national football team threw the ball on the sideline, and Wu Qunli, who was injured, directly volleyed in the left corner of the penalty area, and the ball hung straight into the dead corner into the net, and the score was 1-1.
In the following matches, the South Korean team, which had one more day of rest than the national football team, began to gradually show its physical advantage, and Yoon Sang-zhe and Park Nam-yeol scored another goal each. In the end, the national football team lost 1-3 to the South Korean reserve team, and was the runner-up of the sixth Merlion Cup.
After the Merlion Cup, Schlapner returned to Germany for a sabbatical. A month later, Schlapner took Fan Zhiyi and others to the Spring Festival Gala, and Uncle Shi, whose hair was worth thousands of gold, became popular all over the country overnight.
Unfortunately, this good times did not last long. In 1993, the defeat of Irbid eventually caused Uncle Shi to fall off the altar. The first foreign teacher in the history of national football, after a short sweet period, finally ended in failure.
Attached is a list of those who participated in the Merlion Cup in the 1992 national football team:
Head coach: Schlapner
Assistant coaches: Xu Genbao, Qi Wusheng
Team members: Ou Chuliang, Jiang Jin, Zhu Bo, Feng Zhigang, Fan Zhiyi, Zhao Lin, Xu Hong, Peng Weiguo, Li Ming, Wu Qunli, Gao Hongbo, Li Hongbing, Xie Yuxin, Li Xiao, Cheng Yaodong, Gao Zhongxun, Cai Sheng