Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 172 First Match of the Asian Cup

After a long flight, on January 2, 2011, Shan Yongzhuo arrived in Doha, Qatar alone and reported to the hotel where the national team was staying.

The Chinese national football team has already begun its preparations here.

As the highest-level national tournament in Asia, the Asian Cup receives a great deal of attention.

Of course, this only applies within Asia. In the world, although the Asian Cup has a long history, its level is actually not among the best.

However, all eyes in Chinese football right now are on the national team, which is currently preparing for the World Cup.

Despite the continuous disappointments that have left every fan with mixed feelings of love and hate for the national football team, this year's national team has still received widespread support.

The reason is Shan Yongzhuo.

Without a doubt, he is the absolute ace of the national team.

Moreover, the national team did not call up veterans such as Shao Jiayi and Zheng Zhi for this Asian Cup. Instead, the team was dominated by young players, with only Shan Yongzhuo and Hao Junmin being overseas returnees.

In this situation, Shan Yongzhuo immediately became the person whose words carried the most weight.

In fact, these players had only participated in a warm-up match against France with Shan Yongzhuo, but it was that one match that made them truly admire Shan Yongzhuo.

When Shan Yongzhuo arrived at the training base, they all immediately surrounded him.

Shan Yongzhuo trained with the national team for a few days and will soon face Kuwait, his opponent in the first group stage match.

However, Shan Yongzhuo had no synergy with the team and remained an outsider to the tactical system.

This gave Gao Hongbo a bit of a headache. He hoped that Shan Yongzhuo could integrate into the team, lead the whole team, and thus improve the overall level of the team.

After all, it was evident from the warm-up matches that with Shan Yongzhuo on the team, they could even defeat an opponent like France, but without him, they suffered a crushing defeat against Iran.

When Shan Yongzhuo, as the core player, can play a tacit understanding with the team, it will naturally greatly improve the performance of the entire frontcourt.

Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it!
That afternoon, after training ended, Gao Hongbo approached Shan Yongzhuo and discussed the issue of team coordination.

"no problem."

Dan Yongzhuo didn't take teamwork seriously at all; all he could think about was scoring goals. "It doesn't matter, because I'll definitely be heavily marked, and they'll definitely find a way to limit me."

"So, I'll just play my own game, and my teammates can just play according to their usual tactics. They don't need to worry about me."

Upon hearing this, Gao Hongbo thought about it and realized that it made sense.

"What if the other party isn't targeting you?"

Shan Yongzhuo laughed and said, "That's a good thing. That way, I can score goals easily and win effortlessly."

Gao Hongbo breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Shan Yongzhuo's words. He realized that considering the issue of cooperation was pointless.

Shan Yongzhuo is the nuclear weapon of the national team.

If the other side doesn't block this point, they won't even know how they died.

Finally, Shan Yongzhuo said, "Of course, when I need the ball during the game, I will tell them, and they will pass the ball to me."

"Ok."

Gao Hongbo nodded, his worries subsided, and he began to look forward to the competition.

China's group stage opponents are Kuwait, Uzbekistan, and host country Qatar.

"Uzbekistan, Kuwait, and Qatar."

"Hopefully we can advance from the group stage. If we can advance from the group stage, then we've accomplished our mission."

Gao Hongbo sighed; he was under considerable pressure as well.

In this Asian Cup, he is under tremendous pressure leading a very young squad. If he doesn't achieve any results, his position as head coach may be coming to an end.

……

On the evening of January 8th, the first round of group stage matches in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup continued.

In the opening match, Uzbekistan defeated the host country Qatar 2-0 in the same group.

Next up is the match between the Chinese national football team and Kuwait.

Kuwait, currently the best-performing West Asian team, has won both the West Asian Championship and the Gulf Cup. This Asian Cup features a lineup that combines veterans and newcomers, led by veteran Mutawa.

On the Chinese national football team's side, Shan Yongzhuo wore the captain's armband.

Before the match, Kuwait's Serbian coach, Goran, felt a headache coming on.

Because the Chinese team has a super striker, Shan Yongzhuo, who plays for Manchester City and scored 60 league goals in Serie A last season. This season, he has been dominating the Premier League.

This is absolutely a nuclear-level player; it would be absolutely unfair to even place him in a competition of the Asian Cup level.

Hearing this name made Golan feel very distressed.

Although Kuwait has Asian stars like Mutawa, he is simply no match for Shan Yongzhuo.

The opponent is widely recognized as the world's number one striker.

Mutawa?
They're not even the best striker in Asia; there's no comparison at all.

He can only hope that Kuwaiti defender Hussein Fatil can contain Shan Yongzhuo, although that hope is slim.

The Chinese national football team, on the other hand, had a very relaxed experience.

This is one of the advantages of having a large number of young players. Among this group of players, Qu Bo is the oldest, and most of the others have not participated in many national team matches.

Although they were nervous facing a long-time rival like Kuwait, they didn't actually have much of a psychological burden.

Of course, most importantly, they share a common understanding: "So what if it's Kuwait? We have Shan Yongzhuo!"

……

Al-Agaraf Stadium, Doha.

The first round of Group A matches in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, Kuwait vs. China, is about to begin.

Both teams have entered the stadium.

Although the match was held in West Asia, a large number of Chinese football fans still came to the stadium, beating drums, holding banners, and shouting loudly.

Since Shan Yongzhuo joined the national team and defeated France in a warm-up match, the national team's support rate has risen significantly.

This Asian Cup is Shan Yongzhuo's first major tournament since joining the Chinese national team, attracting many fans to Qatar to watch the games.

"Go, Shan Yongzhuo!"

"Shan Yongzhuo, goal!"

"Go China!"

Many fans were organized, and some scattered fans also joined in the cheering, making the stadium seem like a home game.

What's even more interesting is that the chants cheering for Shan Yongzhuo even overshadowed those for the national team.

Even the commentators during the live match couldn't help but say, "The fans are cheering for Shan Yongzhuo. This shows his influence; he is a representative of Chinese football."

We have high expectations for Shan Yongzhuo's performance. China certainly needs Shan Yongzhuo's goals; his performance will determine how far China can go in the Asian Cup..."

Looking around at the stands, listening to the cheers of the fans, and hearing the national anthem, Shan Yongzhuo felt even more excited for the game.

This was his first official match for the national team. Although Shan Yongzhuo was a critic of the national team in his previous life, his feelings were different now that he was actually standing on the field.

Boost your goal tally and national honors.

For Shan Yongzhuo, this was a match with double benefits.

(End of this chapter)