Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 448 The Well-Fed Australian Team
The next day, Valentina was returning to Japan; her studies in Tokyo were proving quite demanding.

Shan Yongzhuo also went to the airport to see her off, and the two exchanged contact information.

"So, does that mean I have a girlfriend?"

Thinking this way, Shan Yongzhuo didn't feel there was anything he was dissatisfied with.

The only problem is that I need to recover as soon as possible.

Then he worked even harder in training, which impressed the whole team.

At least, they have never seen Shan Yongzhuo work this hard in the past few seasons.

Then, the date quickly came to December 26th.

After Christmas, the Premier League resumed, with Manchester City traveling to Sunderland for an away game.

The first match after Christmas marks the start of the second half of the season, and many media outlets are paying close attention to the form of Manchester City and Shan Yongzhuo.

Moreover, their opponent, Sunderland, had previously defeated Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium during the regular season, making this match a revenge game for Manchester City this season.

Manchester City's performance did not disappoint.

In the first half, Dzeko scored the first goal.

Then Shan Yongzhuo scored the second and third goals, giving Manchester City a 3-0 lead early on.

In the second half, Shan Yongzhuo scored two more goals.

0:5.

Manchester City secured a resounding away victory, giving the second half of the Premier League season a good start.

After finishing the match against Sunderland, Shan Yongzhuo happily returned to Manchester. After packing up, he prepared to go back to China.

Because the first match of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers is about to begin.

Returning to the top ten competition after many years, Gao Hongbo dared not relax in the slightest. He recruited domestic players early on to prepare for the competition.

Meanwhile, players who were abroad, such as Shan Yongzhuo, Deng Zhuoxiang, and Feng Xiaoting, also returned to China to compete.

Deng Zhuoxiang and Feng Xiaoting are doing alright, as it's currently the winter break for the Bundesliga and La Liga, so they don't have much schedule pressure.

Shan Yongzhuo will then have to face the situation of conflict with the club during the match.

But there was no other way. The final round of 10 was crucial for qualifying for the World Cup. Only the top two teams in each group could directly qualify, so there was no room for carelessness.

Shan Yongzhuo went directly to the national team's training base in Chongming, Shanghai. In the first match of the top ten qualifiers, they will face their old rival, Jordan, here.

Despite having defeated the same opponent twice in the group stage, Jordan was still placed in the same group as China in the final round of 10, which was quite disheartening for the Jordanian team.

However, the Chinese team did not let their guard down, and Gao Hongbo attached great importance to this match.

However, the result of the competition a few days later made Gao Hongbo breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the Jordanian team played very hard, they still couldn't stop the unstoppable Shan Yongzhuo.

This match completely turned into a game where Shan Yongzhuo was trying his best to score goals.

He scored 6 goals in the first and second halves, helping the national team to a 7-1 victory over Jordan and a winning start to the World Cup qualifiers.

Such a performance can only be described as perfect.

Domestic media outlets unanimously praised the Chinese national football team, and as for Shan Yongzhuo's performance, there's no need for further praise. Any further exaggeration would seem inadequate; he is already the greatest footballer in Chinese history and the world's number one goal-scoring machine.

However, the national team players did not slack off at all. They continued to train at the Chongming training base because they would be traveling to Australia for an away game in a few days.

After concluding their training camp in Shanghai, the Chinese team departed for Sydney. At the airport, many fans spontaneously came to see them off.

Soon, the team arrived in Sydney and checked into a hotel.

The news of the Chinese team's arrival in Australia immediately became the most talked-about news in the country.

At the hotel entrance, the Chinese national football team players encountered more Australian reporters than Chinese ones, demonstrating just how much attention this match was receiving from Australia.

In the first leg, China defeated Jordan, Japan beat Oman, and Australia received a bye.

Now, in their first match, Australia has to face the Chinese team, which is quite frustrating for them.

In the 2011 Asian Cup, they suffered a crushing defeat to the Chinese team, or rather, a crushing defeat to Shan Yongzhuo.

Now, Shan Yongzhuo is right there in the opposing team's ranks, which makes Australia extremely cautious.

At least, Australian head coach Osik is having a huge headache.

In Australia, the most watched player is number 4, Cahill, a legendary Australian star. Although Cahill has now left Everton in the Premier League and joined the New York Red Bulls in the United States in the summer.

However, in the somewhat transitional Australian team, Cahill remains the anchor.

Cahill, who had faced Shan Yongzhuo in the Premier League a few seasons ago, naturally knew how formidable his opponent was.

In an interview, Cahill expressed deep apprehension about Shan Yongzhuo: "If Australia wants to win, it has to face Shan Yongzhuo."

"Unfortunately, it's just too difficult. At least for the Australian team, stopping Shan Yongzhuo is extremely challenging..."

"Of course, we will do our best. This is our home ground, and we will defend it."

Cahill's words sounded confident, but they actually lacked conviction.

Two days later, the big battle between China and Australia is about to begin.

In Australia, even though it's still the height of summer, the Sydney Olympic Stadium is already packed to capacity.

This large stadium, which can hold 11 people, was the main venue for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

There were also many Chinese fans at the scene, and their cheers even surpassed those of the more numerous Australian fans to some extent.

Meanwhile, in China, countless fans were already waiting in front of their televisions, and the TV stations were not idle either. They started live broadcasts from 5 p.m., and the guests began their discussions.

Aside from being the first match in the final round of qualifying, this is also the first tough opponent the Chinese team will face in the final round: Australia.

Since joining the Asian Football Confederation, Australia has arguably changed the landscape of Asian football.

In the past, in Oceania, they had to compete with strong South American teams for a spot through a playoff, which was quite difficult.

However, after joining Asia, facing competition from Asian teams, Australia's football strength made it easy for them to qualify. They qualified directly in both 2006 and 2010.

It's fair to say that Australia, having joined the Asian region, is living a very comfortable life.

Facing such a strong team, this is why the live broadcast lineup is so powerful. Against an opponent like Jordan, even at home, the live broadcast lineup is not this strong, and it does not receive as much attention.

(End of this chapter)