Chapter Forty-Four: The Magic of Hats

  Rushed to the top on Monday, urgently seeking recommendation votes and member clicks, hoping for everyone's support ^_^

  If the game can be won with this score, it doesn't matter. However, after Shao's substitution, China's midfield completely lost control, and Bahrain took advantage of the opportunity to launch a massive counterattack. In the end, they seized on China's extremely low-level defensive mistake near injury time and equalized the score through Ali, who had just come off the bench, causing China to miss a great opportunity!

  Gao Jun was so angry that he could only sit on the bench and watch the game, but he finally restrained his dissatisfaction. As a traverser, he was quite familiar with Ali Han's personality. This guy was not as easy to talk to as Liu Chunming. Once there was a conflict with him, unless Ali Han apologized, he would definitely not be allowed to enter the national team.

  Moreover, although Ali Han has many shortcomings, in the history before Gao Lin took over, several national football coaches after Ali Han were much worse than him. Therefore, for Chinese football, Gao Lin also does not want Ali Han to be dismissed early like in history, especially since Ali Han is a growing coach, as long as he is given enough time, he will become more and more excellent.

  Historically, the runner-up of 2004 Asian Cup had a great deal of luck, but later Arihan led Tianjin Teda to an unprecedented second place in the Chinese Super League, and their playing style was quite beautiful (in the domestic scope), which fully demonstrated his coaching ability. Moreover, Arihan's habit of selecting players based on tactics is actually more suitable for the national team than club teams...

  Luckily for Gao Lin, he didn't have to wait too long on the bench. In China's second match against Indonesia, although China took a two-goal lead in the first half, just before halftime, the team's attacking core Hao Haidong suddenly fell to the ground. The initial diagnosis by the team doctor at halftime was a detached bone fragment in his ankle, and unless a miracle occurred, he would have to say goodbye to this Asian Cup...

  In this case, Ali Han, after careful consideration, did not choose the more famous and physically superior Li Yi, but instead made what seemed like a somewhat adventurous decision to let young Gao Jun replace the injured Hao Haidong on the field. In his view, the national team had an overwhelming advantage over Indonesia in terms of strength, so the striker's ability to seize opportunities was far more important than their ability to create them...

  Although Hou Junmin has the glory of Bayern, Ali Han still relies more on 33-year-old veteran Li Ming. Li Ming also proved the coach's wisdom with his outstanding performance. In the first half, he was already very active, and in the second half, not long after it started, he scored a goal directly from a corner kick, expanding the score to 3:0!

  In the 57th minute, Xiao Zhi's precise through ball in midfield allowed Gao Lin to face the goalkeeper one-on-one. Against Hendro, who had come out of his goal, Gao Lin once again showed off his shooting skills and easily scored. The only pity is that the Indonesian goalkeeper's short stature greatly reduced the difficulty of the shot, and China's current lead meant that this goal was just icing on the cake...

  However, Ali Han was still delighted to see this goal, because the game had no suspense at all by now. He could finally replace those old generals who were not in good physical condition or injured for the next game to reserve energy. And Gao Jun's goal did not disappoint his expectations, fully demonstrating his ability to grasp opportunities...

  In the 79th minute, club teammate Yu Hai made a high pass from the side road, and Gao Jun, who had already judged the ball route, jumped forward in advance, pressing the Indonesian defender who was about 10cm taller than him. With a beautiful lion's header, he headed the ball into the top right corner of the goal. As a newcomer to the national team, Gao Jun scored his second goal in less than 40 minutes, expanding the score to 5-0!

  "What a beautiful goal! Our Gao Lin has managed to head the ball in despite the height difference. Coach Zhang, I wonder what you think of this goal?" exclaimed Huang Jianxiang, commentator for CCTV5.

  "Heh heh, this goal reflects Gao Jun's excellent judgment and jumping ability, but the opponent being too weak is also a factor... even among domestic teams, there aren't many center-backs who are only 1.78 meters tall and don't have great jumping power..."

  In the 42nd minute of the second half, Yu Hai, who had a great performance in both offense and defense, intercepted Indonesia's pass in the front court and immediately passed the ball to Gao Lin, who was in a better position. Gao Lin shot with his right foot and kicked the ball into the top right corner of the goal, completing his first hat-trick in an international match for the national team and expanding the score to 6-0!

  Although secretly delighted with Gao Jun's brilliant performance beyond imagination, Alihan did not lavish excessive praise on Gao Jun, who was named the best player of the game, but instead attributed the credit to his teammates who passed the ball to him. However, this approach inadvertently prevented Gao Jun from becoming the target of criticism, otherwise those big shots would have thought that Gao Jun had stolen their thunder and refused to pass the ball to him in future games, rendering even the formidable Gao Jun useless as a forward player.

  This 6-0 victory has greatly improved the qualifying situation for the Chinese team, and after the game, a good news came from the team doctor's side. Hao Dapao's injury is not as serious as they initially estimated, and if he is lucky, he may be able to play in the semi-finals. This is not necessarily a good thing for Gao Jun, who has just managed to get on the court, but in his view, there are still two games left, and the opponents are not weak teams like Indonesia, which is enough for him to prove his worth...

  Beijing time on July 25 evening, the last round of the 2004 Asian Cup Group A preliminary match kicked off. The Chinese team played against Qatar at the Workers' Stadium, which has always been a headache for them. Arihan did not let Gao Lin start due to protection purposes and instead used Li Yi and Da Wei as the two starting forwards.

  As Iranian referee Masoud Moradi blew the whistle, China, wearing white jerseys, kicked off first. In the 6th minute, Yu Hai used his speed to beat Qatar's No. 5 Jadoua on the left flank, causing a foul. After China's free kick in the front court, Li Yi headed the ball to Zheng Zhi, who followed up in the middle and shot high from near the penalty spot.

  In the 10th minute, Li Yi broke through and was tripped by Qatar's No. 6, Hatem, from behind. Shaoha kicked a high-arcing in-swinging ball that caused chaos inside the opponent's penalty area. In the chaos, Zheng Zhi's eye was kicked by Qatar's No. 19, Mesbeh, with his heel, but this small action escaped the referee's attention...