Recently, in the fourth round of the World Cup Qualifiers In the Asian Round of 12, the Chinese team lost 2:3 away to the West Asian Eagles Saudi Arabia, falling fifth in the group at the same time, and the World Cup is also gradually drifting away. The poor record has completely reduced the naturalization policy of the Chinese Football Association to the laughing stock of the fans, and it can't help but make Tiger Dad recall the video "China Team Won the World Cup" that was popular all over the Internet, and now it seems that not only is there no hope of winning the World Cup, but also entering the World Cup seems to have become a luxury!
On the other hand, our opponent, Saudi Arabia, has been ranked first in the group with 12 points while winning four consecutive games, and half a foot has stepped into the threshold of the World Cup. What makes Chinese fans envious and hateful is that as early as 32 years ago, in 1989, Saudi Arabia had won the World Cup and became the world champion. And what kind of a story is this? Let Tiger Daddy come slowly.
Since the 1950s, a large amount of oil has been discovered in the Middle East, and while European and American companies have made a lot of money, various Arab countries have also quickly acquired a lot of wealth! And these robed Middle Eastern princes and rich people, in addition to falconry and hunting, their favorite is a sport brought by the British - football! Among them, the most powerful is Saudi Arabia!
As a result, the Saudi Arabian national team joined FIFA in 1959 and made rapid progress in the next three decades, winning the third and second places in the Asian Games football tournament in 1982 and 1986, winning the Asian Cup for the first time in 1984, and successfully defending the title in the 1988 Asian Cup four years later! In the same year, the Saudi U16 youth team also beat Bahrain 2:0 in the U16 Asian Cup and successfully won the championship! Saudi Arabia has won both the Asian Cup senior team championship and the youth team championship, which is a great achievement in world football!
However, this is not the climax of today's story! In 1989, Saudi Arabia as the Asian champion and Bahrain team, China team! Well, that's right, it's our Chinese team! As a representative of Asia, they traveled to Scotland to participate in the third U17 World Cup of the National Football Federation.
First of all, let's talk about the results, this World Youth Championship is an unpopular event. But anyone with a clear head will not bet that Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Portugal and Scotland will be the final four, and even Saudi Arabia will win the final championship! If there is such a person, then he must be very rich today! Now, let's activate the God perspective to see what kind of miracles the Saudi team has created!
In the group stage, Saudi Arabia fell into the death group, which had European champions Portugal, African runners-up Guinea, and South American powerhouse Colombia!
In the first game, the Saudi team fell behind Portugal 0:2 in the first 30 minutes, but then the Saudi team burst out of strong tenacity, and in the second half, they scored two goals in a row, equalizing the score, shocking the world! Oh, yes, the player who scored for Portugal, named Luis. Figo!
In the second match, the Saudi Youth Army met the African runner-up Guinea. The game was very dramatic, the first three goals were all completed by Guinean players, but the score was 1:2, and saudi arabia was behind. Two consecutive goals conceded, the Saudi team's defense can not be regarded as solid, but fortunately, the Saudi players are full of ability to play against the wind, equalizing in the 71st minute and winning the second 2:2 draw;
In the third game against Colombia, the Saudi team has no way back! In the end, with a goal in the 81st minute, he defeated his opponent 1:0 and got out of the way!
At the same time, two other Asian teams also did a great job of their group stage journey! In Group C, our Chinese Youth Army is grouped with Nigeria, Argentina and Canada. China's first 0-0 draw with the championship-winning favorite Argentina, then 1-0 defeat to Canada, the last round of draws that is, the qualifying match, 0-3 loss to Nigeria, and finally regrettably ranked third in the group; while on the other side, Bahrain performed strongly, the first two games, respectively, 3:0 defeated Cuba, 1:0 defeated Ghana, the third game with the host 1:1 into a draw, the first strong team in the group!
In the quarter-finals, Saudi Arabia met the inaugural champion Nigeria, and after a tough 0-0 match, Saudi Arabia eliminated the opponent through a penalty shootout to advance to the semi-finals for the first time! And just when the world's media is printing front-page headlines, the bigger unpopular is coming! Bahrain also eliminated Brazil, the biggest favourite of the tournament, 4:1 through a penalty shootout, creating an even bigger upset!
The Asian Champions League runner-up reached the final four of the U17 World Cup at the same time, and I believe that the mood of the AFC in that session was quite happy! And in the semi-finals, two dark horses meet in a narrow way! Still a small 1-goal victory, the Saudi team laughed again to the end. In another European infighting, the young Figo drank bitter liquor! In the end, the Saudi team appeared in the final of the U17 World Cup in a cry of surprise from the world!
On the day of the final, the entire Arab world went crazy! Fans waved their headscarves in front of the TV and radio, silently praying and wishing the green eagles in Glasgow a miracle! ultimately! The Saudi Arabian youth team, supported by fans across the Arab world, drew 0-0 with Scotland and won the third U17 FIFA World Cup in 1989 with a 5-4 defeat on penalties! This is the first and only World Cup title in the history of Saudi Arabian football! It was also the first World Cup winner in Asian football!
Time flies, 32 years go by! The miracle created by that Saudi team has gradually faded from the memory of fans, and the Saudi players have gradually disappeared from the public! However, god pity to see! Many years later, in the far East, a handsome-looking, hard-working football UP owner named "Tiger Daddy Football Encyclopedia" recounted the miracle of Saudi football with words and videos! While envying and hating, I also sincerely hope that in the next year, that dancing red jersey can also hug the Hercules Cup tightly!