Reporter Xiao Liangzhi reported
On the evening of August 31, the Chinese national team faced Uzbekistan at home in Wuhan, which was another life-and-death battle. Playing on the cliff between life and death is no stranger to the Chinese team. Earlier, we invited Gao Feng to recall the scene of the 1997 national football team impacting the World Cup. Today, we have invited Du Zhenyu and Wang Xiao, who participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in South Africa and the battle of life and death in Iraq, to tell the story of that time.
Reminiscing about the past: Internal instability led to the defeat of the army
"In fact, the hope is even slimmer now than we were then. However, regardless of the final result, I hope that the current international footballers will strive for two consecutive wins and leave no regrets. Du Zhenyu, who experienced the defeat of Tianjin first-hand, said that he obviously still regretted the loss of the good situation that year.
In the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in South Africa, the Asian Top 20, China, Australia, Qatar and Iraq competed for two places in the group stage to advance to the Top 10. In the first round of the national football team, it has drawn Iraq away, Australia at home and Qatar away. In the fourth round at home, Australia scored 7 points, Qatar 4 points, the national football team 3 points, and Iraq 1 point. It can be said that as long as the national football team grasps the two home stadiums in Tianjin, it can advance to the final top 10 matches.
Recalling the situation at that time, Wang Xiao, who personally experienced that game, is still full of regrets: "On June 7, 2008, we played Qatar at home in Tianjin, as long as we defeat Qatar, the initiative will be in our hands, and there is absolutely no problem in entering the top ten. He even said somewhat fatally, "Oh... In 2008 we played the group stage and now we play the round of 12, the stages of the game are different, but the situation is roughly similar. The previous game of this national team, that is, a very important game away to Syria, got 3 points and had the initiative in hand. Unfortunately, in the final moments, Syria scored a free kick, and the two sides drew 2-2, giving the national team no initiative. It's very similar to the one we played against Qatar. ”
The situation is similar, but the situation is different. On June 7, 2008, the battle between China and Qatar was hit by the confident national football team at the beginning. In the 13th minute, Gao Lin, who was actively defending, brought down the opposing player in the penalty area. Sebastian hit a penalty and Qatar opened the scoring in a passive situation. Wang Xiao recalled: "Many times, it is really the day that does not go according to people's wishes. This penalty suddenly disrupted our deployment, we were too eager to win, and the result was that our mentality was greatly affected! In the end, it lost 0-1. I hope that the current international footballers can prepare for various special situations in advance, even if there is an accident in the Battle of China and Uzbekistan, they must stabilize their mentality to face it! ”
The national football team defeated Qatar at home, and then the match against Iraq became a life-and-death battle. "According to the original plan of our national team, we will win these two games, and even if we lose the last game against Australia (China's 1-0 away victory), we should be able to qualify. However, we lost 1-0 at home to Qatar on June 7, and by the time we faced Iraq on June 14, it was a veritable life-and-death battle. Du Zhenyu said.
Wang Xiao said: "In fact, now think about it, as long as we defeat Iraq, our chances of promotion are still very large." But unfortunately, our mentality is still not adjusted to the best. At that time, the opponents of the group were Australia, Iraq, Qatar, Australia played the World Preliminary Tournament for the first time in Asia, Iraq was the 2007 Asian Cup champion, plus Qatar, indeed the ancestor of death. Even so, the chances of qualifying are also great, and the key is that we did not grasp it ourselves. ”
The "mentality" that Wang Xiao said became the lifeblood of the national football team in that game. Although Zhou Haibin used a set-piece to open the record for the national football team in the 31st minute, Iraq scored two goals in the 40th and 65th minutes. In the end, the national football team lost 1-2 and completely lost the opportunity to enter the top 10.
In fact, the national team at that time had already begun to collapse from the inside before the war. At that time, under the dual-headed system of Duy and Forado, Duy's prestige had been reduced to the freezing point. "At the time, we were under a lot of pressure. The leaders of the Football Association are also under pressure, and the pressure on the manager is great. Everyone is under pressure. From the internal environment, At that time, Duy was the manager of the national Olympic team and also the head coach of the national team, these two identities made the national team not very stable, I think, at that time, the loss should be related to these factors..." Du Zhenyu said.
Advice: Don't think about it, let it go!
The past is hard to look back on, but in the eyes of those who witnessed the defeat of the 2008 soldiers such as Du Zhenyu and Wang Xiao, although the chances of national football promotion are now more slim than at that time, the internal environment of the team is far better than it was then. They also encourage today's internationals not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to do everything they can to create miracles.
Du Zhenyu said: "I think the internal environment of this national team is very stable now, and the external environment is also very good. Therefore, everyone should hold a serious and responsible attitude towards the country, fans, and individuals, and strive for two consecutive wins, even if there is no hope and opportunity, at least it can boost the morale of Chinese football, enhance the confidence of Chinese football, and bring hope to Chinese football. In this life-and-death battle on August 31, there may be no chance of victory, but without victory, there will be no chance. Therefore, no matter how much pressure there is, no matter what the result, victory is the best dedication to the motherland and to the fans. He also told the junior international: "For some players, how many more years can you play? In the heart of every professional player, there is a dream of the World Cup. This World Cup may be the last of some players, under such a premise, no matter what the result is, you must make your career a successful end, do not leave any regrets. ”
Wang Xiao said: "The national team is in a life-and-death battle again, and we will do our best to cheer for them." The national team was able to reach the round of 12, which in itself is not easy. The current national team, whether it is the mental outlook or the guarantee of the national team, has undergone great changes, which must be praised. The battle of life and death is won, and the initiative is not in our hands, but for the players, even if there is only 1% hope, they cannot give up, and they must pay 100% of the effort. ”
Combined with the lessons of the past, Wang Xiao also contributed to the current international: "The mentality of playing Uzbekistan on August 31 is very important, I think it does not matter how big the chances of entering the play-offs are, we must first do our best, before announcing death, we must go all out to win Uzbekistan." Personally, I think that the pressure on the current national team players is not as great as imagined, and they will not be overwhelmed by the pressure. We are home, regardless of whether there will eventually be a chance to play-offs, winning, it is good for Chinese football. Therefore, don't look ahead, don't think too much, let go of the fight! ”