Chapter 628
: China Qualifies for the World Cup, Lin Feng Accepts CCTV Interview
The Australians' thinking isn't wrong. While it's embarrassing to score zero goals, it would be even more embarrassing to score six or seven.
At least now they have the Japanese team below them to keep them in the bottom tier. Both teams lost to the Chinese team, so it's not too shameful for the Australian team to lose by three fewer goals.
After all, these days, which strong team in Asia hasn't been slapped in the face by the Chinese team?
The Australian team, sticking to their defensive strategy, conceded only two goals in the second half.
In addition to Gao Lin's goal, Lin Feng scored directly from a free kick in the 67th minute of the second half, bringing the score to 5-0.
After scoring this goal, Lin Feng was quickly substituted.
With Lin Feng absent and the Chinese team practicing tactics in the second half, substituting many key players early, the Chinese team's offensive firepower was weakened.
The Australians finally didn't concede another goal.
The moment the final whistle blew, the Australians seemed to have been given a second chance at life, collapsing onto the grass, panting heavily.
On the other side, the Chinese national football team seemed to be enjoying themselves more.
Although their offensive remained fierce in the second half, they really lacked the opportunity for a fatal blow when Lin Feng was off the field.
Although Chen Tao and Zheng Zhi's passing is also very sharp, their ability to protect the ball and pass forward under high-pressure pressing from the defense is much weaker than Lin Feng's, making it difficult for them to find opportunities in high-intensity confrontations.
If Lin Feng continues to stay on the field, there is a real possibility that they could suffer an even bigger defeat than they did against the Japanese team.
Even if the Australians defend with all their might, they may not be able to hold on.
However, the Australian team has no grudge against the Chinese team, so there's no need to go to such lengths against them.
Scoring five goals and securing a resounding victory to perfectly conclude their World Cup qualifiers campaign was enough.
After the match, led by their new captain Lin Feng, the Chinese national football team circled the field to thank the fans who came to support them.
Although the game had ended, the excited fans lingered, many waving their national flags and singing the national anthem, bringing the atmosphere to a climax once again.
Outside the stadium, fans across the country were already in a frenzy as the Chinese team made it back into the World Cup.
With the rapid development of the Internet era, especially the mobile Internet era.
Compared to when the Chinese national football team first qualified for the World Cup in 2001, this time their journey to the World Cup has garnered unprecedented attention thanks to joint coverage from both traditional and online media.
Its popularity was so high that it truly garnered nationwide attention and drew huge crowds.
It is said that on the night the Chinese national football team achieved its goal of qualifying for the World Cup, fireworks and firecrackers shops across the country sold out, with sales comparable to those during the Chinese New Year!
I never imagined I'd live to see the Chinese national football team qualify for the World Cup again!
Yes, after the chaos following the 02 World Cup, and the precipitous decline of the domestic league and national team after 04, I thought Chinese football had fallen into an abyss. But unexpectedly, it has miraculously revived and is experiencing a second life!
Given the trajectory of Chinese football at the time, it was indeed sliding step by step into the abyss. But who could have imagined that the 85 National Youth Team would emerge out of nowhere, winning a World Youth Championship and supplying a group of talented players to the national team, thus reversing the decline of Chinese football!
[Thank you Lin Feng, thank you Chen Tao, thank you Gao Lin, thank you Coach Klaus Toppmöller, thank you to the 85 National Youth Team, this super-golden generation, you saved Chinese football!]
New fans who are just starting to watch football may not be able to understand the complex feelings of these veteran fans.
New fans, drawn in by the younger generation like Lin Feng, watched the national team's performance begin to improve as soon as they started watching. The team not only put up a good fight in friendly matches against traditional international powerhouses like France, Germany, and Brazil.
Their record in Asia has also undergone a complete transformation, not only ending their long-standing losing streak against South Korea, but also defeating Iran and Australia.
They also avenged their defeat against their old rivals, Japan, by winning China's first-ever Asian Cup title and reaching the pinnacle of Asian football!
Compared to veteran fans, new fans have never experienced hardship or the national team's low points. They have never witnessed the suffering, heartache, and despair that veteran fans endured.
Perhaps it is because they have suffered so much in the past that veteran fans cherish the current achievements of the national football team.
While many young fans are fantasizing about the Chinese team dominating the World Cup, they are content with China's return to the World Cup, perhaps even hoping for a favorable draw and some breakthroughs.
Despite being thrashed by the Chinese team away from home, the Australians managed to salvage some pride against the Japanese team when they returned to their home ground.
On June 17, the final match of the Asian World Cup qualifiers kicked off.
Australia hosted Japan and, thanks to a crucial goal from Cahill, secured a dramatic victory in this highly anticipated match.
With a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, accumulating 17 points, they secured the second direct ticket to the World Cup from Group A.
As for the Japanese team, after playing all eight group stage matches, their record was a dismal 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses, with only 11 points, failing to qualify directly.
The match between Australia and Japan had no impact on the Chinese team, which had already qualified for the next round.
After defeating Australia, the Chinese team secured first place in the group with a record of 7 wins, 1 draw, 22 points, 33 goals scored and only 1 goal conceded.
Australia and Japan fought tooth and nail, but it was all just a battle for second place in their group!
However, because Japan had conceded 13 goals to China in the previous two matches, the final match was unfair to Japan from the start.
They are too far behind in goal difference. Even if they beat Australia, it would only be a tie, but they would still be eliminated due to their inferior goal difference.
Therefore, in the final match, the Japanese team not only needs to win, but also needs to win by a large margin, scoring at least five goals against the Australian team to advance.
This was incredibly difficult. Not only did the Japanese team fail to complete the task, but their eagerness to score also led to them conceding an early goal on a counter-attack, completely extinguishing their hopes of advancing.
So from a certain perspective, the Japanese team was eliminated by the Chinese team.
Compared to Group A, the situation in Group B is more complex.
Before the final round of matches began, apart from South Korea, who had already secured first place in the group, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea all had a chance to advance directly.
However, the two draws left Iran and Saudi Arabia, two West Asian teams, heartbroken, handing over their two World Cup tickets from Group B to their North Korean brothers.
Saudi Arabia is in a better position; they can still compete with Japan from Group A for the 0.5 World Cup spot as the third-placed team in their group.
Iran's situation was dire. Although they were only one point behind, that one point meant they didn't even qualify for the playoffs and had to go home early, missing out on this World Cup.
With the conclusion of the final round of qualifying, the four direct qualification spots for the South Africa World Cup from the Asian region have been decided. Aside from Australia, an outsider, three of the four East Asian teams have secured World Cup berths. If Japan defeats Saudi Arabia in the playoffs, even the final 0.5 spot will be claimed by an East Asian team.
This result has sparked strong dissatisfaction in West Asia, where calls to break away from the AFC and operate independently are growing louder.
From the perspective of West Asians, the Japanese and South Korean teams were already very strong.
They always take two of the four tickets without fail, leaving little for the West Asian teams.
Now, with the addition of Australia as a new player, coupled with the rise of Chinese football, the space for West Asian football to survive has been further compressed.
The most critical issue is that North Korea unexpectedly emerged as a major obstacle in this World Cup.
Although North Korea is not a regular participant in the World Cup, this World Cup qualifying campaign is likely to be short-lived.
Even if North Korea is removed, the four East Asian teams occupy three spots, forcing all West Asian teams to compete with Australia for the last 1.5 spots, which is extremely unfair to them!
However, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) did not tolerate the antics of the West Asian countries. It not only took strong measures to deal with those countries that were making a big fuss, but also sent people to FIFA headquarters to complain to the FIFA president about the drawbacks of allowing the AFC to split.
If this precedent is set, football federations in Africa, Europe, and even the Americas could split as a result.
Even FIFA cannot afford the consequences.
Therefore, theoretically, such a thing is unlikely to happen.
However, things are different in the real world. FIFA is not an absolutely rational organization, and West Asians are simply too wealthy. It is not entirely impossible for them to spend a lot of money to bribe high-ranking FIFA officials.
However, these things are irrelevant to Lin Feng and the Chinese team, at least until the start of the next World Cup qualifiers, they will not focus their energy on these matters.
After the World Cup qualifiers concluded, the General Administration of Sport held a celebration banquet for the national football team to commend the players, coaches, and football association officials who made outstanding contributions to the national team and Chinese football during the qualifying stage.
As the current captain of the Chinese national football team and the number one contributor to the team's qualification for the World Cup, Lin Feng naturally received special recognition.
The leaders of the General Administration of Sport personally met with the national football team members and encouraged them to remain humble, continue their efforts, strive for excellence, and continue to win glory for the country.
That wasn't all. After the commendation ceremony, many official media outlets, including CCTV and Xinhua News Agency, approached Lin Feng, hoping to conduct an exclusive interview with him. They even invited him to be a guest on the Focus Interview program and to produce a special report on Chinese football.
This is an attempt to take advantage of the momentum of the Chinese national football team qualifying for the World Cup to help promote the sport of football and contribute to its development in China.
This is a good thing, and Lin Feng has no reason to refuse.
Although the performance of Chinese football has indeed improved in recent years.
During the Jia-A era, the league was so popular that the streets were packed with fans who couldn't get tickets. Many fans even climbed walls and trees, risking injury, just to watch the games.
But with the national team's performance declining, many of them never stepped onto the field again.
Now that the national team's performance has improved and even achieved new breakthroughs, the atmosphere in Chinese football has also returned to clarity.
Therefore, it's time to restore the reputation of Chinese football and reverse its terrible image in the public eye.
On June 19, Lin Feng arrived at CCTV headquarters as scheduled and went to the recording site of the Focus Interview program.
"Hello Lin Feng, welcome to Focus Interview!"
The host, Jing Yidan, reached out her hand and greeted Lin Feng with a smile.
Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief after recognizing who the host was who greeted him.
As long as it's not that guy with a strong fatherly attitude.
"Hello, Teacher Jing! Our whole family watches your programs frequently and are your loyal fans. Seeing you in person is even better than hearing about you! You have even more charisma than you do on TV!"
Jing Yidan was amused by Lin Feng's words and joked:
"Our whole family often watches you play football. My wife and several children are all your fans. Could you please sign an autograph for me later?"
"Of course, no problem!"
This kind of small request, which could be easily fulfilled, was not difficult for Lin Feng, so he readily agreed.
As soon as he agreed, he noticed that the way the other staff members looked at him had changed.
Lin Feng was feeling puzzled when he immediately heard the photographer's request:
"Hey, Mr. Lin, my son really likes you and is a big fan. Could you please give me a couple of autographs later?"
"Uh, no problem!"
Lin Feng didn't ask the other party why they needed two autographs for his son, and casually agreed.
The other staff members were initially too shy to ask, but seeing that the host and cameraman had gotten Lin Feng's autograph, they gradually became bolder. Taking advantage of the break before the recording of the program started, they all took out the paper and pens they had prepared and went to Lin Feng to ask him for his autograph.
This scene not only surprised Lin Feng, but also surprised Teacher Jing Yidan.
She has hosted Focus Interview for so many years and interviewed so many people.
When have I ever seen a Focus Interview program recording session turn into a fan meeting?
This made her re-evaluate the person she was interviewing today; their influence seemed to be much greater than she had imagined.
"Ahem, gentlemen, it's almost time. Can we leave the autographs for after the show's recording? Shall we start recording the show now?"
Lin Feng was starting to feel overwhelmed. At first, it was just staff from the Focus Interview program asking him for autographs, but soon, people from other programs came over.
Moreover, these people not only asked for autographs for themselves and their children, but also for their extended family members.
Lin Feng thought it would only take a few minutes to finish, but he didn't expect to end up signing more and more.
We can't sign them all, we really can't!
If you don't call a stop soon, we won't get anything else done today; we'll just be signing autographs here. (End of Chapter)