Reverse

Chapter 238 Take it for granted
Farhan Sadeghi, as the head coach of the Iranian national team, prepared for this match very seriously.

He has been under immense pressure since the last home defeat to Australia.

For the Chinese team, the match against Iran is the "final battle" that will determine whether they can advance to the next round with one game to spare.

The same applies to the Iranian national team.
If they lose this match to China, and Australia also defeats Qatar away from home, Iran will not even be able to hold onto second place in the group, and will fall to third place, being replaced by Australia.

Therefore, Iran must win this match.

He also knew that several key players on the Chinese team had been in good form recently, such as Wang Lie and Chi Zhen.

Therefore, he made very detailed arrangements for both of them.

But he still didn't expect that his team's goal would be breached just six minutes into the game.

The goal and assist were both scored by the two players he specifically assigned to defend against before the match.

The ball was like a slap in the face, landing hard on him...

After smoking, she even mocked him:

Is this your targeted plan?

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"To be honest, Lao He, even though we've practiced it in training, I still didn't expect them to get into match mode so quickly..."

After celebrating the goal, assistant coach Cai Bokang remarked to head coach He Zhenyong.

He Zhenyong asked him, "Have you noticed that Chi Zhen's mental state has changed a lot since he returned to the national team?"

Cai Bokang nodded: "Of course, he seems to have become much more cheerful. Before, whether he replaced Wang Lie as the core of the team or Wang Lie took back the core, he seemed very conflicted. But this time when he came back, he was completely different."

"Are you no longer fixated on competing with Wang Lie for the core position?"

Cai Bokang recalled Chi Zhen's words to him when he said he still wanted to compete with Wang Lie, and shook his head, saying, "It doesn't seem like it. If it were Chi Zhen two years ago, it might be possible. But today's Chi Zhen would never give up."

"Hmm..." He Zhenyong nodded slightly upon hearing this. "But who cares why? Anyway, his current state is a good thing for the team..."

Just like his reaction after Wang Lie's performance suddenly improved.

Without delving into the reasons behind it.

He doesn't care about anything else as long as it helps him win.

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Although Iran's head coach Farhan Sadeghi did make many targeted arrangements.

It can be said that he did a very thorough job of preparation, but unfortunately he ran into Wang Lie and Chi Zhen, who were in top form.

In their last encounter, his team did indeed defeat the Chinese team 3-2.

However, at that time, the Chinese team was in the midst of a conflict between the old and new core players, and Wang Lie was not in good form, which affected the national team as a result.

Therefore, the Chinese team performed poorly in that match, which allowed the Iranian team to exploit their weaknesses.

Nowadays, putting everything else aside, just the fact that Wang Lie is a god descended to earth is enough to make Iran suffer.

After Wang Lie opened the scoring for the team, China extended their lead in the 40th minute of the first half.

This time, it wasn't Wang Lie who scored the goal; he provided the assist.

The goal scorer was Chi Zhen.

Previously, Chi Zhen assisted Wang Lie, and now Wang Lie is returning the favor by assisting Chi Zhen.

China leads Iran by two goals.

At the end of the first half, many Chinese fans had one thought:
Steady!

It's not because they were leading Iran by two goals; after all, even teams that led by three goals in the first half could be overturned.

Rather, it was because of the dominance shown by the Chinese team in the first half that the Iranian team basically didn't get many opportunities and was completely suppressed by the Chinese team.

It could even be argued that the 2-0 scoreline doesn't accurately reflect the first half; the Chinese team should have led by much more goals.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances in the second half, Chinese fans will be able to celebrate their national team's seventh consecutive appearance in the World Cup finals at home.

Some fans are also worried that He Zhenyong might pull some tricks during halftime, such as making substitutions or changing formations.

If Iran manages to capitalize on an opportunity and score, turning their two-goal lead into a one-goal one, their hearts will be in their throats again.

Fortunately, He Zhenyong did not make any substitutions during halftime.

The Chinese team continued their performance from the first half into the second half.

In the 61st minute, Qin An broke through to the byline and cut the ball back to Wang Lie.

As a result, the ball was deflected into the Iranian team's own goal by a defender!

Own goal!
China leads 3-0!

Luck also seemed to be on the Chinese team's side.

As soon as the ball went in, the Chinese fans in the stands couldn't wait to start celebrating.

They are not unaware that there have been precedents in world football of teams taking a three-goal lead in a single match only to have their opponents come back and win.

But at times like these, don't dwell on things that will spoil your mood.

Besides, we have Wang Lie!
How could we possibly allow Iran to pull off a dramatic comeback on our home turf?

It's always Wang Lie who turns the tables on others!
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After taking a three-goal lead, He Zhenyong finally began making substitutions.

He replaced Song You with Tan Xingchang, putting him at the very front.

Wang Lie and Chi Zhen stood behind him, like shadow strikers or attacking midfielders.

Fu Xiaofeng, who was originally in this position, moved back to form a defensive midfield pairing with Su Ju.

As for Lu Changqing and Qin An, they are still in the positions of Border Guard.

The three defenders remained stationary.

As a result, the Chinese team's formation changed from the initial 3-5-2 to 3-4-2-1. The formation changed, the players changed, and the tactics also changed.

Tan Xingchang clearly served as the bridgehead of the attack, leveraging his height, strength, ball control, and playmaking abilities to enrich the Chinese team's attacking strategies.

The Chinese team's attacking strategy has also changed from the 3-5-2 formation. In some attacking opportunities, they have adopted a simpler approach, such as making long passes directly to Tan Xingchang in the attacking third or crossing from the wing to find him.

Make full use of his role as an offensive focal point to create opportunities for Wang Lie, Chi Zhen, or other Chinese players.

Wang Lie and Chi Zhen will also occasionally play as attacking midfielders during matches, connecting the front and back lines.

Their deeper positioning gives them more room to maneuver. At the same time, for these two players who can receive the ball, shoot from long range, and have extremely high individual combat capabilities, leaving the penalty area is tantamount to "a tiger returning to the forest".

With Tan Xingchang acting as a meat shield in front, they can unleash their full potential outside.

He Zhenyong's idea for this adjustment was actually quite good, but the actual results did not achieve the effect he desired.

Of course, he wasn't surprised or disappointed. Because he knew this was normal.

After all, they haven't even fully mastered one tactic yet, and now another one comes along.

His players aren't pre-programmed robots that can perfectly execute different tactical requirements with just a switch button.

Therefore, after the substitutions, the Chinese team's performance was significantly worse than before the substitutions, and they made some basic mistakes, even allowing the Iranian team to threaten their goal.

Seeing this, Luo Jin couldn't help but say, "Coach He is doing experiments again..."

Zhao Chuanfeng said with a smile, "When you're leading by three goals at home, it's understandable to try out some new things."

As He Zhenyong continued to make substitutions, the Iranian team's offensive became increasingly fierce.

Finally, in the 82nd minute, the Iranian team managed to break through the Chinese team's goal with a corner kick.

If this goal had occurred ten minutes earlier in the seventy-second minute, the Chinese fans in the stadium would have been on edge.

But since the goal was only scored now, many Chinese fans only experienced a brief moment of disappointment before starting to sing again.

Even online, there aren't many Chinese fans criticizing He Zhenyong and the Chinese team.

After all, time is running out for the Iranian team.

The Iranian players did not celebrate after scoring; instead, they rushed into the goal, grabbed the ball, and ran back.

They clearly knew they had limited time and needed to get the Chinese team to kick off as quickly as possible.

It cannot be denied that there were indeed instances where two goals were scored in the final ten minutes to equalize the score.

However, since even a draw against Iran would secure China's qualification for the next round, Chinese fans are relaxed and won't experience extreme emotional swings or feel like they're on a rollercoaster just because of a single goal conceded.

The Chinese players were relaxed and did not panic after conceding a goal, thus giving the Iranian team more opportunities.

After the match entered stoppage time, the score was still 3-1, with the Chinese team leading by two goals at home.

Both the fans in the stands and those online have already started celebrating.

Five minutes of stoppage time followed, and the referee from Thailand blew the final whistle to end the match.

The cheers from the stands reached their peak!

Amidst deafening cheers, Luo Jin reflexively shouted at the top of his lungs, "The match is over! We've qualified! Qualified again! This is China's seventh consecutive appearance in the World Cup finals! And barring any unforeseen circumstances, this will also be Wang Lie's sixth World Cup appearance! He has become the first player in world football history to participate in six World Cups! At thirty-eight years old, he is still making history and writing a legend!"

Instead of celebrating their victory on the field, the Chinese players ran to the sidelines and changed into commemorative T-shirts that they had prepared beforehand.

It was modified from the away jersey of the Chinese national team.

The front is printed with the words: "We're back for the World Cup!", while the back features a uniform number.
8
This is the total number of times the Chinese team has participated in the World Cup finals.

There will be a total of eight times – the first time was in 2006, and the next seven times will be from 2014 to 2038.

It's a real shame that the Chinese team missed out on qualifying in 2010. Otherwise, they would have qualified for the World Cup nine times in a row.

However, it was precisely that failed attempt to qualify for the World Cup that served as a wake-up call for everyone involved in Chinese football. It made them realize that the professionalization reforms of Chinese football, which began in the 1990s, did not mean that qualifying for the 2006 World Cup was a success.

They've only just begun.

It was precisely because making it to the World Cup finals was considered a success that people became impatient for quick results and complacent, ultimately leading to the Chinese team, on which high hopes were placed, failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

Fortunately, this defeat forced Chinese football to lower their heads, humble themselves, and continue to deepen reforms, cultivate youth training, promote school football, and strengthen football infrastructure...

Because of these efforts, wave after wave of talent has been cultivated, enabling Chinese football to participate in the World Cup seven times in a row.

People rarely mention the professionalization reform of Chinese football now, not because the reform is complete, but because it has become commonplace. In fact, the reform has always been ongoing, never stopped, and should not stop.

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"I forgot where I saw this, but it said that the hype surrounding something online only lasts three to seven days. As for our World Cup qualification, the hype has already died down after just three days..."

After finishing training today, Su Ju was scrolling through Weibo on his phone in his room. The feed of information related to the Chinese team qualifying for the World Cup finals on the pages he followed had decreased significantly and was not as lively as it had been a couple of days ago.

The first day was particularly lively, with the entire Weibo platform filled with discussions about the Chinese team qualifying for the World Cup. Although Su Ju is a player, most of the people he follows on Weibo aren't really related to football. After all, as a professional player, his work is related to football, and he doesn't want his life to be filled with football-related things. Therefore, most of the people he follows on Weibo aren't actually from the football circle.

Entertainment bloggers, science bloggers, comedy bloggers, tech bloggers, military bloggers...

As a result, on the night the Chinese team defeated the Iranian team 3-1 at home and secured their ticket to next year's World Cup with one round to spare, his homepage was almost entirely filled with topics about qualifying for the World Cup for the next 24 hours.

Bloggers, regardless of whether they are related to football or not, are all talking about this.

It truly embodies what it means to be the "world's number one sport".

However, this popularity only lasted for one day. By the next day, there were far fewer people talking about football on his homepage.

Today, the bloggers he follows are still doing what they were doing, and only about 30% of them are still talking about the World Cup.

Of that 30%, probably half are people from the football circle, such as football journalists and sports media accounts that follow him.

Lying in bed scrolling through his phone, Yue Hang said, "It's normal. After all, this is our eighth time qualifying for the World Cup. Everyone's used to it, so of course we're not as excited. Why don't you go watch the documentary about our first time qualifying for the World Cup and get a feel for it? That was when the whole country was in an uproar, and the whole nation was shaken..."

The Chinese team first qualified for the World Cup finals in 2005, a year in which he, Su Ju, and Chi Zhen were not even born yet.

Not only those three, but in this national team now, only Wang Lie and Chu Yu, the captain and vice-captain, were born.

They wanted to know how everyone reacted after the Chinese team made it to the World Cup finals for the first time, and all they could find out was the documentary from 31 years ago called "We've Qualified".

Chi Zhen said, "So Captain Wang is right."

"Huh?" Su Ju was surprised, wondering how the topic had turned to Captain Wang.

“We’ve become accustomed to participating in the World Cup, but we don’t know why we’re participating. Participating in the World Cup shouldn’t be our team’s goal,” Chi Zhen said.

Yue Hang was the first to react.

Isn't this exactly what Captain Wang said at the meeting when he announced that the goal for next year's World Cup was to win the championship?
He used the fact that everyone is used to participating in the World Cup as a starting point to introduce what he wanted to express next.

While his two friends seemed lost in thought, Chi Zhen continued, "...If Captain Wang hadn't mentioned winning the championship next year, we should all be completely relaxed by now, right? We should all be completely at ease, right? Anyway, after qualifying for the last World Cup, I remember being very happy and feeling a huge sense of relief, as if we had already achieved our goal. But now, we... at least I am."

He pointed to himself.

"At least when I think about our goal in next year's World Cup, I tell myself not to slack off and to keep working hard. Because we are going to win the World Cup."

Yue Hang nodded in agreement: "That's right, qualifying for the World Cup is just the beginning."

Although he did not personally experience the historic moment when the Chinese team made it to the World Cup finals for the first time, he participated in the World Cup qualifiers four years ago—although he was only the third goalkeeper for the national team at that time, it did not prevent him from having the same feelings as Chi Zhen.

It really gives you that liberating feeling of being able to relax and have fun after completing a very important task.

Now, he no longer has that thought.

All he could think about was our upcoming World Cup campaign to win the championship.

We've only gone halfway through the Long March, how can we possibly let our guard down?
Su Ju understood why Chi Zhen had said those things earlier: "To be honest, when Captain Wang said that back then, I actually thought he was just trying to show off, forcing a 'dad-like' lecturing. But now it's really true. Having a clear goal is different from not having one. Indeed, he truly lives up to his reputation as Captain Wang... his level is just high!"

Chi Zhen said, "I don't know how Coach He will arrange the starting lineup for our match against Australia the day after tomorrow. But whether I start or come off the bench, I will take this match seriously. People outside are saying that this match has lost its meaning for us, but I disagree."

He shook his head and said.

"For me, the World Cup has already begun."

(End of this chapter)