Chapter Eighty: The Super League Kicks Off
Racing for the top of the chart, seeking recommendation votes and member clicks ^_^
The Japanese football world, and even the Japanese people who were not interested in football before, were greatly shocked by this defeat. A small number of radical fans even questioned Kawabuchi Saburo's "Japan Football Hundred Years Plan" set up years ago. If it weren't for the fact that most people in the Japanese football industry expressed their support for Kawabuchi Saburo, Japanese football might have gone astray again...
However, Japan's new coach Osieck has been widely questioned since taking the stage, and it was only during the quarterfinals that he was able to continue proving himself due to the difficulty of finding a replacement. Another point is that Yokohama F. Marinos' head coach Takashi Okada mentioned before the match that "don't play counter-attacks with China when Hao Haidong is on the field" was taken seriously by the Japanese Football Association. Indeed, Hao Haidong's power in counter-attacks was too great, and his good understanding with players like Fan Zhiyi and Yu Hai made them a speedy and technically skilled trio that Japan's slow defense line could not withstand. If the Japanese national team adopted a pragmatic defensive strategy, they could limit China's advantage to a large extent, and even if Japan did not press forward, there was still a chance of scoring against China's habitually fragile defense line.
However, if the Japanese team falls behind in the game, they will still have to press forward with an attack, at which time the counter-attacking power of the Chinese team will still be highlighted, and the Japanese team can only seek good fortune. Therefore, "never concede a goal when playing against China" has also become a consensus in the Japanese football community, just like "cannot play a counter-attack against China".
Although unexpectedly defeating the Japanese team with a big score, which made domestic fans cheer and celebrate, China's team, relying on its net win advantage, surpassed Japan to rank second in Group B of the quarterfinals after this match. Iran, who won both matches, topped the list with 6 points, while North Korea, who lost both matches, was at the bottom. And it is also China's opponent five days later...
Although the North Korean team has not scored a single point so far, they only lost by one goal in their previous matches against Iran and Japan, and they also scored goals themselves, obviously not a true rookie. In addition, the national football team has a "glorious history" of being upset by "weak teams" countless times in the past, so from the head coach to the players, no one dares to be complacent.
However, the North Korean team has been on a downward spiral since its own demise from the top of Asia that year, and the Chinese team has always had the upper hand in their historical encounters. So everyone's confidence is still very sufficient. The process and result of the game also proved this point, the Chinese team completely controlled the situation on the field in the third match of the quarterfinals, and finally relied on Gao Lin's two goals to win 2-0 away from North Korea, coincidentally, the other match in Group B's third round was also this score...
Iran team has always been a technical team, so they lost 0:2 to Japan's team in the away game, although it was unexpected by Chinese fans, but after careful consideration, it is also reasonable. In this way, Iran, Japan and China are all 6 points in Group B. The Chinese team ranked first in the group with a net win of 3 goals, while Iran ranked second with a net win of 1 goal, and Japan continued to rank third in the group. North Korea, which has not yet scored a point, has actually lost hope of promotion...
After the first three rounds of the quarterfinals, it temporarily came to an end. The last three rounds will not resume until summer, but the three young men from Dongfang team returned to the club and immediately started preparing for new matches. Because just three days after China's match against North Korea, the 2005 Super League has already kicked off, and on the second day of the opening, Dongfang team will challenge Chongqing Lifan in Chongqing...
Due to the three people consuming a lot of physical strength in the national team match and the subsequent boat and car journey, including Gao Jun, these three young internationals were all sitting on the substitute bench at the beginning. However, relying on Ribery's personal breakthrough to create and personally take the penalty kick, and Corneille's powerful shot on the edge of the large penalty area, the Oriental team still scored two goals in the first half. Nevertheless, Chongqing team later grasped an opportunity to counterattack, stubbornly equalizing one goal, prolonging the suspense of this match into the second half.
In the second half, substitute Gao Jun came on and immediately caused trouble for the Chongqing team's defense. He had been observing their weaknesses from the bench for nearly 50 minutes and quickly took advantage of them, intercepting a pass and creating a scoring opportunity. The resulting corner kick was perfectly placed, causing chaos in the Chongqing penalty area. Gao Jun reacted quickly and scored with a precise shot, increasing his team's lead. Less than five minutes later, he received a well-timed through ball from Korinek and scored again, effectively ending the game as a contest. The remaining time became garbage time for the opposing team, and two other national players on the Eastern team lost their chance to participate in the match, watching from the bench until the end of the game.
Three national team players were sent out, only one of whom was a substitute, and yet they still performed so well. The Eastern team's youthful storm has become the most beautiful scenery line in the 2005 Super League. However, Gao Jun knew that many young players in the team had not yet reached the standard of main players, but because foreign aid was too strong, they took them to play, and their performance was okay. In the Super League, if a team has only one super foreign aid, it is likely to be dragged down by the poor performance of many inexperienced players and cannot exert much effect. But if there are two, the power is generally quite impressive. Especially Ribery and Kornei are those players with extremely strong personal abilities, which are particularly useful in the low-level Super League. The fact that they come from the same country has also allowed them to quickly form a good tacit understanding in the past six months, and the power of 1+1 is far greater than 2. Teams like Chongqing Lifan are really hard to resist...
Note 1: Due to the post-war Japanese government's emphasis on sports and economic takeoff, Japanese football actually reached the top level in Asia very early on, even winning Olympic medals. However, later on, there was a period when the Japanese learned from Germany's power-based playing style at the time, but without excellent physical quality, they couldn't exert their strength, resulting in a decline in performance to second-tier in Asia, almost being crushed by China. Nevertheless, Japan has a well-established campus league system, and when the JFA (Japan Football Association) came to its senses and returned to technical football, Japanese football regained its top-level status in Asia within less than ten years. In contrast, China lacks such a foundation, making it extremely difficult to revive now...
