Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 454 You're in charge of defense, I'm in charge of support.
The Australian team now has no way out; trailing by two goals, they can only launch a full-scale attack.

But they only had ten minutes left.

In the following period, Australia launched a relentless attack on the Chinese team, but the Chinese team completely withstood Australia's offensive.

Ultimately, the score remained unchanged.

2:4.

The home team is in front, and the away team is behind.

The Chinese team achieved a very meaningful victory at the Sydney Olympic Stadium.

This not only gave the Chinese team two consecutive wins in the final round of qualifying, giving them a significant advantage, but also made it crucial that their opponent, Australia, was one of their two biggest rivals for qualification. Winning against them away from home was of great strategic significance.

On the other hand, Australia seemed very frustrated.

This was their first match in the top ten qualifiers, and it was at home, yet they suffered a complete defeat.

Actually, it can't be said that they performed poorly. At least in the second half, they played with great flair and even scored two goals.

However, they still lost the crucial home game.

This is a bit upsetting.

The Chinese team was different. Shan Yongzhuo and his teammates, led by captain Li Weifeng, stood hand in hand in a row and bowed to the fans who came to the scene.

Back at the hotel, the whole team had a very enthusiastic celebration.

However, now is not the time to be happy.

Five days later, there is another tough battle to be fought.

The final round of qualifiers will be held in three rounds in early January, with Australia receiving a bye in one round and China playing all three rounds.

Their opponent in this final round is another formidable team in the group, Japan.

Currently, both the Japanese and Chinese teams have achieved two consecutive victories.

The Chinese team defeated Jordan and Australia, while the Japanese team defeated Oman and Jordan.

Because of goal difference, the Chinese team is ranked first.

Whoever wins this third round will have a huge advantage in the group.

After a brief celebration that evening, the national team players boarded a plane back to China early the next morning.

The match against Japan will be held at Shenyang Wulihe Stadium.

This is considered a long-established home ground for the Chinese national team, and Liaoning has always been one of the provinces with the best football atmosphere in China.

When the national football team's plane arrived in Shenyang, the entire team received a very warm welcome from the Shenyang fans. Even Shan Yongzhuo had never experienced such a warm welcome before.

Shan Yongzhuo received the warmest welcome, which put a lot of pressure on him. If he lost the match, it would be quite embarrassing.

After checking into the hotel, the Chinese team began training against the Japanese team the very next day.

The coaching staff also showed the team several video recordings of the Japanese team's matches to help them understand and analyze their opponents.

The reporters also paid close attention to the Chinese team's training.

Unfortunately, the Chinese team only opens each training session to the public for 15 minutes. In those 15 minutes, they can only do some unimportant warm-up exercises, without doing anything substantial.

The internal training matches were also completely closed off, with virtually no visibility. Gao Hongbo even instructed staff to surround the training ground with curtains. With such tight security, reporters could obtain virtually nothing. It's no wonder that the Chinese media has never been particularly friendly towards Gao Hongbo; he genuinely isn't very media-friendly, treating them almost like thieves.

Fortunately, Gao Hongbo's team has consistently achieved excellent results; otherwise, he would probably have been heavily criticized by the media long ago.

To be honest, Shan Yongzhuo didn't think there was anything to keep secret about the team's training. In fact, everyone knew the Chinese team's tactics.

To put it bluntly, it's the same tactic as against Australia: defense and counter-attack.

Subsequently, the Japanese team also arrived in Shenyang.

This time, Japan is also taking the competition very seriously, and their lineup can truly be described as full of talent.

Nagatomo Yuto, Yoshida Maya, Uchida Atsuhito, Hasebe Makoto, Kagawa Shinji, Honda Keisuke, Okazaki Shinji...

They were all very famous generals.

When the Japanese team arrived in Shenyang, the media immediately flocked to them, demonstrating the immense attention this match garnered.

The Chinese and Japanese teams are definitely arch-rivals. Putting aside the animosity caused by historical reasons, the issue of the 2004 Asian Cup final alone makes the two teams practically irreconcilable.

Japan also harbors a strong grudge against China, especially after the 2011 Asian Cup, where Japan suffered a crushing defeat to China in the final, losing the Asian Cup title. This instilled a sense of crisis throughout Japan, making them regard China as Asia's number one rival.

However, the Japanese team knows how difficult it is to defeat the Chinese team, mainly because of Shan Yongzhuo.

Japan's head coach, Zaccheroni, was deeply troubled. He racked his brains for many days but still couldn't find any way to deal with Shan Yongzhuo.

During the 2011 World Cup, Zaccheroni's Japanese team suffered a crushing defeat to China in the final, and the most profound reason at the time was their inability to defend against Shan Yongzhuo.

Neither Maya Yoshida, nor Yasuyuki Konno, nor Yuto Nagatomo could cause any trouble for Shan Yongzhuo.

Now, facing Shan Yongzhuo again, and even more formidable than the Shan Yongzhuo of 2011, Zaccheroni is truly at a loss.

Japanese media also paid close attention to Shan Yongzhuo, using honorifics when referring to him, unlike other Chinese players who did not receive the same treatment.

The two sides were already on edge before the match, but Shan Yongzhuo was relatively polite to the Japanese team in his interview.

"Japan is a top-tier team in Asia. They have many excellent players. In terms of overall strength, there is still a certain gap between us and them."

"However, we are playing at home, and with the support of our home fans, we will not lose to anyone. We will definitely go all out to bring a satisfactory result to our fans!"

Shan Yongzhuo didn't adopt a very high-handed attitude, but the more he said that, the more frightened the Japanese team felt, as if Shan Yongzhuo was holding back a big move.

This pressure puts the greatest strain on Japan's key center-backs, Maya Yoshida and Yasuyuki Konno.

After all, they were the two most important players in defending against Shan Yongzhuo, and most of the time, it was the two of them who had to face Shan Yongzhuo.

"Yoshida-senpai, what should we do?!"

Konno Yasuyuki was genuinely panicked; the thought of his disheveled appearance during the Asian Cup sent chills down his spine.

Yoshida Maya nodded seriously and said, "Konno-kun, I believe you can do it. Good luck!"

He patted Konno Yasuyuki on the shoulder trustingly, then turned and left.

Konno Yasuyuki was excited about Yoshida Maya's affirmation, but then he thought about it again and realized that something seemed off.

"It seems like you're the main defender, and I'm the support!"

I'm sorry, I spent the whole day traveling and just got back to my hometown, so the update is late. Please forgive me.


(End of this chapter)