Chapter 67 It's time to calculate the score again The surge in domestic football fans' enthusiasm for watching games is not only reflected in the men's football matches, but even the women's football matches, which have usually received little attention, have attracted a lot of fans. On August 8, the Chinese women's football team played against the Japanese women's football team. Thousands of spectators came to the stadium, most of whom were Chinese fans. It’s a pity that compared with the outstanding performance of the Chinese national football team, the performance of the women’s football team is a bit poor. After losing 0:2 to South Korea in the first game, the women's football team fought hard for 90 minutes in this match against Japan, but still failed to beat their opponent and the two sides ended in a 0:0 draw. As a result, after two rounds of competition, the women's football team only got 1 point and missed the championship one round in advance. The South Korean women's football team secured the championship one round in advance after two consecutive victories. Women's football matches originally had little to do with men's football, but in this East Asian Cup, the organizing committee added awards for mixed men's and women's football champions. Participating countries will be awarded points based on the combined men's and women's championship awards. The points for each country's men's and women's teams will be accumulated separately according to the system of adding 3 points and 1 point for a win and a draw respectively. The country with the highest points is named the winner and receives a prize of $10. If the two countries have the same points, the goal difference, number of goals and win-loss record will be compared in turn.
$10 is nothing for the men's football team. After all, the salaries that men's football players receive in the club on a daily basis are relatively high. Moreover, the East Asian Cup champion prize for the men's football team has reached 50 US dollars, which is five times higher than the 10 US dollars prize. But for women's football, this is really not a small amount of money. Because the commercial value of women's football is very low, there are almost no sponsors willing to provide sponsorship for them. Therefore, the daily salary of women's football players is not high, and is basically subsidized by the state's financial subsidies. The money for this subsidy is mainly drawn from the income of the men's football league. So it is not an exaggeration to say that the men's football team supports the women's football team. However, every time the women's football team achieves results, it is always the men's football team that gets scolded. It's ridiculous. The prize money for the East Asian Cup women's football team is only 5 US dollars, only one-tenth of that for the men's football team. With the current performance of the women's football team, they can only rank last, which means they will get a consolation prize of fourth place, which is only 1 US dollars. The 23 participating female football players plus the coaching staff may only get one or two thousand yuan per person on average, and that's in RMB, so the prize money is pitifully small. But if the women's football team can get this mixed bonus, the bonus income will increase tenfold! By then, it will not be a problem for the main players of the women's football team to get 30,000 or 40,000 yuan each. In 2005, to RMB was definitely not a small sum of money and could significantly improve a family's living standards. So when the Football Association proposed that the men's and women's football teams work together to win the bonus, the men's football team readily agreed. It’s just that the performance of the women’s football team was indeed a bit poor, making it a bit difficult for the men’s football team to help the women’s football team get the bonus. "We have won two games so far, earning six points, while the women's team lost one game and drew one game, earning one point, so the total is seven points. The South Korean men's football team had one draw and one loss, while the women's football team won both games, also with 7 points. However, in terms of goal difference, the South Korean men's football team lost by 3 goals, while the women's football team gained by 3 goals, which just offset each other. On our side, the men's football team scored 5 goals, the women's football team lost 2 goals, and there was a 3-goal difference, so we are leading in goal difference." "Don't forget there is a North Korean team. Their men's and women's football teams have two wins, one draw and one loss, and they have also got 7 points. They have one more goal difference than the South Korean team, and they are catching up very closely behind us!" The women's football coach Pei Encai and the men's football coach Zhu Guanghu discussed the matter together, their faces looking somewhat solemn.
Except for the Japanese team which only got 1 point and ranked last, China, North Korea and South Korea have the same points, differing only in goal difference. This means that in the final round, China, North Korea and South Korea all have the opportunity to win this prize. "Old Pei, the women's football team can't lose the next game!" "If the women's football team loses again, even if our men's football team defeats North Korea, the $10 prize money will be in jeopardy." Pei Encai nodded heavily: "I know, I will lead the women's football team well and fight well in the last battle, but Lao Zhu, you guys can't let down the team either. You must win the last game and don't lose to the North Korean team!" …… The third round of the women's football match was held the day before the men's football match. Since both teams were playing at the Daegu World Cup Stadium in Daegu, on August 8, the entire men's football team came to the scene to cheer for the women's football team up close. The arrival of the men's football team made the women's football players on the field very excited. The women's football team's goalkeeper Zhang Yanru turned into a fanatical star chaser and ran over to ask Lin Feng for his autograph and a photo. This action attracted the attention and excitement of the fans and male football team at the scene. The girl was shy and her face turned red. After getting the autograph, she ran away. Zhang Yanru is only 18 years old this year and is the youngest player in the women's football team. Coincidentally, Lin Feng is the same, even one year younger than her. Perhaps inspired by the support from the men's football team, the women's football team played very actively and proactively against the North Korean women's football team, which is ranked first in Asia. The game was very intense. In the first half, the Chinese team posed a considerable threat to the North Korean team's goal with several shots from Han Duan and Pan Lina. But the North Korean team's counterattack should not be underestimated, as they threatened the Chinese team's goal many times. In the second half, as the physical fitness of the women's football players continued to decline, the Chinese team began to fall into a passive position. In the 55th minute, the North Korean team broke through on the left and Zhao Yinmei headed the ball. The goalkeeper saved it, but the defenders of the women's football team failed to clear it in time, allowing Zhao Yinmei to score the goal herself. The Chinese team was trailing the North Korean team 0:1. Although Pei Encai kept making substitutions and trying to continue attacking, the women's football players were completely unable to run due to lack of physical strength. In the end, at the end of the game, the women's football team lost 0:1 to North Korea, with 2 losses and 1 draw in three games, ranking last, creating the worst result of the women's football team since participating in the East Asian Cup. Head coach Pei Encai directly stated in an interview with reporters after the game that the Chinese women's football team has hit rock bottom. "It's not unfair to lose this game. We are not as good as our opponents in terms of physical fitness and willpower. We may lose nine out of ten games!" After watching the entire game, the most intuitive feeling of the men's football team was that the North Koreans were too good at running. His fighting spirit is incredibly strong, and the key is that his physical fitness is also so good. The North Koreans' footwork may not be as good as the Chinese team's, but they can run, and their defense is very aggressive, which makes the Chinese players very uncomfortable. "From this match, we have a rough idea of what kind of opponent we will face in the next game!" …… "It's time for the familiar scoring phase again. Is there any data expert who can calculate for everyone what conditions are required for us to get the $10 bonus?"
The women's football team's loss made the fans very disappointed, but fortunately the men's football team helped everyone retain a glimmer of hope. "Before this match, the total score of the South Korean team and the North Korean team was the same as ours, but the loss of the women's football team allowed the North Korean team, which won this match, to surpass the Chinese team in points. In the next game, the men’s football team must defeat North Korea in order to overtake them.” The conditions for surpassing the North Korean team are clear at a glance, as long as the men's football team wins. "But if we want to suppress the South Korean team, the situation is a bit complicated." "The Korean team still has two games to play. Theoretically, they can get 2 points, but the opponent in the last game is Japan. Both the men's and women's teams of Japan are strong. It will be very difficult for the Korean team to win all the games." "If the South Korean team explodes and both the men's and women's teams win, then there's nothing much to say. Their total points will surpass China's, and the $10 will belong to them." "If the South Korean team loses, then the Chinese national team only needs to beat the North Korean team, and the $10 will be ours!" "But what we are most afraid of is that the South Korean team will win one and draw one. In that case, their points will still be one point higher than ours, and the $10 will still be theirs!" "I hope the Japanese can give some help and give the Koreans some strength!" (End of this chapter)