Chapter 281 Asian Cup Grouping, China's National Football Team Enters the Death Group After the Iraqi team was eliminated, the West Asian media immediately wrote articles expressing regret for the Iraqi team's elimination while secretly implying that this was a conspiracy by the East Asian team against the West Asian team. In their view, it was the collusion between the Chinese team and the Singaporean team that led to the Iraqi team's elimination. Faced with the conspiracy theories of West Asians, Chinese fans scoffed: "What a joke! How did we fix the match? Not losing to the Iraqi team as they expected is called fixing the match, right?" "According to what they said, we can't win!" "Haha, if you want me to say that you shouldn't play if you can't afford to lose, they said we teamed up with Singapore to set up this game, but in the end it was the West Asian teams themselves that were not doing well. Otherwise, how come the two East Asian teams won, but the two West Asian teams lost?" “The Iraqi team is weak, but they still want to blame others. If they had not lost to Singapore and lost points to Palestine, they would not have been forced into a desperate situation. Singapore is indeed not as strong as Iraq, but at least they are stable. They won all the games they should have won, and they deserve to advance!” In fact, the West Asian media criticized not the last two games, but the two games in which the Chinese national team fought against Singapore. The powerful Chinese national football team only achieved one win and one draw against the weak team Singapore, and only scored one goal! But they won both games against the Iraqi team, and both were big wins! If it weren't for the Chinese national football team, Iraq's goal difference wouldn't be so bad. In two games, the Chinese national football team scored 8 goals against Iraq, leaving them with a 6-goal deficit in their goal difference. If the Chinese national football team had scored a few more goals against the Singapore team, the only team that would have advanced would have been the Iraqi team.
But how the Chinese national football team deploys its troops is its own business. As the second strongest team in the group, Iraq should not have pinned its hopes on its opponents from the beginning, but should have taken the initiative into its own hands. If they had played better in the first two games and won both matches against Singapore, the results of the matches between the Chinese national team and Singapore would not have mattered to them at all. So, in the final analysis, it is their own fault for not seizing the opportunity, and others have no obligation to help them. As for the argument that because Singapore's main population is Chinese, the Chinese team deliberately went easy on Singapore and didn't score against them, that is all nonsense. Is there a possibility that the Chinese national football team had difficulty scoring goals in those two games because the Chinese team is weak? …… After the Asian Cup qualifiers ended, the AFC immediately held the Asian Cup group draw ceremony. As rumored by the outside world, the AFC finally adopted the FIFA points system to divide the levels. As a result, the Chinese team was divided into the second tier, and the four seeded teams in the first tier were: Japan, Australia, South Korea and Iran. In the draw, the Chinese national football team was placed in Group C, where Iran was located. Seeing this result, many fans felt a little worried. Iran plays a tough style of play and is particularly good at physical confrontation. Teams with this style are opponents that the Chinese team is more afraid of. In the past matches between the two teams, the Chinese team lost more than they won! However, compared with Japan, South Korea and other bitter rivals, China's record against Iran is still somewhat respectable. In the Asian Cup two years ago, China eliminated Iran in a penalty shootout and entered the final. This is also the last time the two teams meet in the finals, so after seeing the draw results, many Iranian fans expressed their desire for revenge against the Chinese team. However, for the Chinese team, in addition to Iran, the number one seed, which is an opponent that must be taken seriously, another opponent that deserves attention, or even the most attention-grabbing, is the third-tier team in this group. Although the Iraqi team was eliminated, there are still tough teams like the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan in the third tier. If you accidentally draw these teams, it will be very uncomfortable for the second-tier or even first-tier teams. Unfortunately, the team drawn into Group C is Uzbekistan, the strongest team among the third-tier teams! The moment they were placed in Group C, the first group of death of this Asian Cup appeared. "Alas, the Chinese national football team's luck..."
"Why does it feel like the Chinese national football team always ends up in the group of death?" "It's because the Chinese national football team is neither too strong nor too weak. It feels like it can play against anyone, but it also feels like it can't beat anyone!" "Yes, yes, that's the feeling. Every time I watch the Chinese national football team play, I feel nervous and I don't feel safe at all!" "It's okay? From last year to now, isn't the national football team's record pretty good?" "Haha, that's the result from a friendly match. Why don't you look at it in the real game? The Chinese national football team is known as the king of friendly matches!" "Yes, the results of friendly matches are only for reference and have no practical significance. The real test lies in international or continental competitions. Next year's Asian Cup is the perfect touchstone. If the Chinese national football team can get through this level, then we can look forward to the World Cup three years later. If the Chinese national football team plays terribly in the Asian Cup next year, then I feel that the next World Cup may be in jeopardy again!" When it comes to the results of major competitions, Chinese football fans remain silent. Although reason tells them that the strength of the current Chinese national football team is no longer what it used to be. However, the Chinese national football team's consistently poor performance in the past has made it difficult for them to build up confidence. So all the answers can only be revealed after next year’s Asian Cup! …… Lin Feng’s unexpected injury made Inter Milan coach Mancini feel very uncomfortable. If possible, he even wanted to talk to the head coach of the Chinese team and ask if he could not call up Lin Feng for those games that were not particularly important! He was made to travel a long way just to play an unimportant game, and he got injured during the game. What a sin he committed! "How is Lin's injury?" Because he did not trust the medical level in China, after Lin Feng returned to the club, Mancini immediately arranged for Inter Milan's team doctor to conduct a detailed examination on him. "It's a soft tissue contusion. It's not serious. Just rest for a week or two and it will be fine!" The answer given by the team doctor was similar to the result from China, and the result given by the other side was even more conservative. This result finally made Mancini breathe a sigh of relief. Now it is mid-November and they have three league games and one Champions League game to play in the next two weeks. Among these four games, two are more important. One is the Champions League match against Sporting Lisbon at home on November 11. The other game is the league top battle against Palermo away on November 11. If estimated based on two weeks, Lin Feng would not be able to make it to either of these two games. Considering his importance to the team, his absence will obviously have a very negative impact on the team. But now that things have come to this, Mancini has no choice but to try his best to eliminate the adverse effects of Lin Feng's absence. On November 11, in the twelfth round of Serie A, Inter Milan faced the challenge of Reggina, who was last in the table, at home. The leader against the second-placed team should be a one-sided victory. Before the game, almost no one was optimistic about Reggina. Even the bookmakers offered a handicap of at least two goals for the home team, which clearly favored Inter Milan to win at home. However, the course of the game and the final result were surprising. Inter Milan played very badly at home, especially the offensive system in the frontcourt. It felt like they couldn't find the backbone, and the players were trapped in the dilemma of fighting on their own. Stankovic, who was highly expected by Mancini, did not perform well in the attacking midfielder position. He cannot use his broad vision and accurate passes to provide various passes to his teammates like Lin Feng does. He also cannot be like Lin Feng, who can be by his teammates' side at any time to counterattack and resolve the opponent's offensive when the opponent counterattacks. Stankovic actually knows a little bit of these, but the effect he displays on the field is far not as good as Lin Feng's. But his teammates have not yet adjusted themselves and often mistake him for Lin Feng, which creates this extremely contrasting effect.
Throughout the first half, Inter Milan had the upper hand but could not score. They fired 12 shots in the first half and had over 70% ball possession, but just couldn't score. What's worse, the more the forwards missed their shots, the more impatient they became. Mancini on the sidelines couldn't bear to watch it anymore. In the 72nd minute of the second half, he replaced the substitute striker Cruz and let Figo play as attacking midfielder. Figo can adapt to multiple positions in the frontcourt. Although he is not a professional midfielder, he can also play the position of attacking midfielder. Although Figo always ran to the wing out of habit while playing the game. But at least he can deliver high-quality crosses, and that's enough! In the 82nd minute of the second half, Figo kicked the ball from the wing, Cruz at the front point touched it, and Torres, who was lurking at the back point, jumped high, turned his head and looked at the moon, and headed the ball into the goal. Thanks to Torres' goal, Inter Milan defeated their opponent with difficulty at home. Although the game was won, the process of this victory was really heartbreaking. So much so that after the game, many Inter Milan fans began to worry whether the team could win the next game against Sporting Lisbon. Maybe it was because they drew with the powerful Bayern Munich in the last away game, or maybe it was because they saw Inter Milan's sluggish form. The sky cleared up and the rain stopped, and Sporting Lisbon felt that they were able to do it again. At the pre-match press conference, their head coach publicly stated that they came to win. The head coach didn't really act arrogantly when he said this. But for Sporting Lisbon, they must win this game to have any hope of qualifying. They currently have only 3 points, 7 points behind Inter Milan at the top of the list. With two games left in the group stage, they are destined to be unable to threaten Inter Milan's position, so they can only compete with Bayern Munich for the last qualifying spot. Thanks to the draw in the last game, Bayern currently has only 7 points. If Bayern fails to beat Spartak Moscow away from home, as long as Sporting Lisbon beats Inter Milan away from home, the two teams will be back to the same starting line. Even Sporting Lisbon will have an advantage, because Bayern's opponent in the last round is Inter Milan, while their opponent is Spartak Moscow, the weakest team in the group. Therefore, for Sporting Lisbon, this battle against Inter Milan is really crucial, and it is a battle that will completely determine their fate. Compared with the opponents' situation, Inter Milan's situation is much better. Although the team is in a bit of a downturn now, Inter Milan has a solid foundation and can withstand the storm. Even if they fail to win this game, they can still go away to compete with Bayern for the first place in the group. Anyway, they have already qualified no matter what, and the worst result is to advance as the second in the group. And this worst outcome was ruled out before the game started. Due to the time difference, the match between Bayern and Spartak Moscow will start more than two hours earlier than Inter Milan's match. This also means that before their game starts, the opponent's game has already ended. Therefore, during the pre-match mobilization session, both sides' attention drifted thousands of miles away.
Finally, when the players from both teams left the locker room and stood in the player tunnel preparing to enter the field, the result of another game came out - Bayern Munich, playing away, fell in the snow and ice in Moscow. The Bundesliga giants, who were leading by two goals in the first half, were even scored twice by the home team in the second half, turning their 3 points into 1 point! This news is undoubtedly good news for Inter Milan and Sporting Lisbon. For Inter Milan, due to their huge advantage in goal difference, as long as this game is tied, they can almost lock in the first place in the group in advance. As long as they don't lose by a big score in the next game, Bayern will not be able to shake their first place in the group. For Sporting Lisbon, Bayern's unexpected loss of points made their ideal scenario a reality. Now as long as they can beat Inter Milan, their situation will get better! As a result, Sporting Lisbon, with its morale boosted, took the initiative at Inter Milan's home court and launched a fierce attack on Inter Milan. The Inter players, who were a little nervous, immediately calmed down when they thought that they only needed a draw to secure first place in the group and that there was still room for error in one game. Compared with the previous game, the players' performance in this game was much better. This made Mancini, who was watching the game on the sidelines, feel relieved: it seems that the poor performance in the last game, in addition to Lin Feng's absence, was also largely related to the fact that the players had just returned from the national team and were physically and mentally exhausted. Now after sufficient adjustment and rest, their form is back. Although Lin Feng's absence still brought some negative impact, it is not as big as in the previous game. In view of the good performances of Figo and Cruz in the last game, Mancini simply let Cruz start in this game and put Figo in the attacking midfielder position. This arrangement achieved miraculous results shortly after the opening! In the fifth minute of the first half, Inter Milan launched a quick counterattack taking advantage of the opponent's massive counterattack. Figo passed the ball from the wing, and Cruz fell to the ground and shot the ball into the goal in the penalty area. No one expected that Inter Milan's first shot would go in. (End of this chapter)