The 1988 Olympics were not outstanding for the Chinese sports delegation, which won only five gold medals. But for Chinese football, it was a memorable Olympic Games, when The strength of Chinese football was still very strong, at the first-class level in Asia, much higher than now.
Why, because at that time, the Olympics were participating in the national team, and there was no age limit. At that Olympic Games, the Chinese team broke into the final stage of the competition through its own strength, especially the away victory over the Japanese team in the qualifiers, which is still unforgettable. Moreover, the Chinese team drew one game in the Olympic group stage and did not lose all three games. Although the fans at that time were not satisfied with the performance of the national football team, but 33 years later, people suddenly looked back and found that Chinese football was still very strong at that time, and even in the away game to defeat the Japanese team, against Iran, Saudi Arabia and other strong teams did not fall behind.
In that national team, Tianjin football star Huo Jianting was among them. Referring to the experience of participating in that Olympic Games, Huo Jianting told reporters: "We were not the national Olympic team at that time, or the national team. In 1987, I represented the Tianjin team in the Guangdong National Games, was selected by the then head coach Gao Fengwen, entered the national team, and began to prepare for the Olympic Games. ”
In that National Games, Guangdong won the championship, Liaoning team and the Liberation Army won two or three places, Tianjin team was not a strong team at that time, but Huo Jianting's performance conquered head coach Gao Fengwen, who was selected by Gao Fengwen as a forward, together with Ma Lin, Liu Haiguang, Wang Baoshan and other players, and began to prepare for the game from the end of 1987 until the end of the Olympic Games.
Although the Olympics were held in Seoul at that time, the Chinese football team played in Busan, "We went directly to Busan, and there were three opponents in the group stage, west Germany, Sweden and Tunisia. Huo Jianting told reporters that the most impressive thing at that time was that the West German team had Klinsmann, "Klinsmann was not particularly famous at that time, but the strength was indeed much stronger than us." In the end, Klinsmann led the West German team to victory over Italy in the bronze medal battle, winning the bronze medal, and the championship was won by the Soviet team.
Unfortunately, in the competition, Huo Jianting did not appear, but he told reporters: "To represent China in the Olympic Games is a very proud thing in this life." After all, except for that Olympic Games, the Chinese men's football team only participated as a host at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and many other Olympic Games have not been able to enter the main competition. Watching the Chinese delegation win gold and silver in the Olympic games, the lack of football projects is very eye-catching.
"After the competition, the whole team came to Seoul and stayed with the whole delegation for two days to cheer on the athletes who participated in other sports." Huo Jianting still remembered the scene at that time, after all, that Olympic Games was the second time that the Chinese sports delegation participated in the Olympic Games, and the Olympic spirit dominated by the spirit of the women's volleyball team was also very deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Looking at his own photos at that time, Huo Jianting couldn't help but sigh, "I was really young at that time." Indeed, Huo Jianting, who was born in 1963, was only 25 years old at the time, the year of Dangda. He did not retire until the age of 36, and his sports life is very long, also because he laid a good foundation when he was young. Until now, Huo Jianting is still participating in the competition of tianjin veteran football team. Some time ago, Huo Jianting also led the Tianjin women's football team to participate in the competition of the mass group of the National Games.
At 19:30 Beijing time on August 7, the men's football final of the Tokyo Olympic Games will be held between Brazil and Spain, which can currently represent the peak of South American football and European football. Speaking of the current football, Huo Jianting also had a lot of feelings, "The basic skills of our players at that time were very solid, and I really hope that today's young people can also practice the basic skills." For the men's football final of the Olympic Games, Huo Jianting admitted that he could not predict, after all, these two teams are the world's strongest teams, and they are also the peaks that are difficult to reach in Chinese football at present.
Jinyun news reporter Xie Liqiang