Chapter 668: Become a regular member
Hu Lai used his first goal in the top 12 to help the Chinese team seal the victory.
Although the UAE continued to counterattack in the next game, they were unable to score even a single goal until the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game.
After the final whistle, the Chinese players on the bench rushed onto the court and hugged their teammates to celebrate.
Teammates on the field were also hugging.
Everyone has a happy smile on their face.
Head coaches Shi Wuyuan and Li Zhifei on the sidelines looked at each other and smiled, feeling that the stones in their hearts had dropped to the ground.
Team leader Hong Renjie was jumping up and down beside him, appearing more excited than the two coaches.
When he gambled on his future in the Football Association, the pressure was no less than that of Shi Wuyin.
What the leader told him was that at least he had to win one game. If he won, he could consider making Shi Wuyuan a full-time official. If he couldn't win, he would be dismissed.
Now I really won!
We won, and we won cleanly, beautifully and with dignity!
The bet was won!
"The game is over! The Chinese team defeated the United Arab Emirates 2:0 in the away game and scored a crucial three points!" He Feng shouted excitedly. "On the road to the World Cup in the United States and Canada, the Chinese team has not been eliminated yet!"
He Feng is right, these three points are indeed crucial to the Chinese team, because in the same round of the top 12, Qatar drew with the South Korean team 2:2 at home, and Saudi Arabia drew 1:1 away from home. Draw with Australia.
None of the four competitors won, and only the Chinese team won.
The Chinese team's path to qualifying for the World Cup suddenly regained hope.
The current situation of this group is:
Although the Korean team tied with Qatar, it still ranked first with 12 points.
In second place is Australia with ten points.
Third-placed Saudi Arabia is tied with ten points, but is temporarily ranked third due to a lower goal difference.
Qatar ranks fourth with seven points after drawing with South Korea.
The Chinese team, which originally only had four points, rose to seven points due to this victory. Although it is still in fifth place, it has the same points as Qatar. The points gap between the second and third place teams in the group is only three points.
Next, the Chinese team will face Saudi Arabia, which is third in the group, at home.
Not only that, they also have the opportunity to directly compete with Australia, South Korea, and Qatar.
These are the kind of games where a win can directly narrow the point gap with the opponent, and a draw can still hold on to the opponent without a win.
This makes today's victory against the UAE crucial - if the Chinese team fails to defeat the UAE on the road, or even draws with the UAE, the point difference between them and their opponents will be widened to more than one game.
It would be difficult to make a comeback in that way.
Moreover, the victory in this game gave the Chinese team hope and confidence.
This is also a positive impact brought by winning this game.
If it's just to win a game and get three points, it's a one-and-done deal.
The confidence of the entire team has been improved as a result, which is the result that everyone hopes to see most. After all, every next game will be difficult to play and requires appropriate tactics, courage and confidence.
At the same time, after this game, some voices began to appear on the Internet.
Call on the Chinese Football Association to make Shi Wuyuan a regular player and remove the word "agent" in front of the head coach.
Anyway, the current global coach selection can't find a suitable candidate. Shi Wuyin's tactical arrangements, personnel selection and on-the-spot command in this game are also quite promising. Why not just let Shi Wuyin lead the team through the twelve games? What about the strong game?
From the Chinese team's victory over the United Arab Emirates, it can also be seen that the Chinese team has gradually adapted to the new head coach Shi Wuyin. If there is another change at that time, no matter how good the new head coach is, he will have to adapt to the team again, and the team will also have to adapt to him again.
After all this trouble, there is not much time left for the Chinese team, and those who originally had a chance may not have a chance.
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"Just a victory in a game, the attitude of those outside towards Director Shi has made a 180-degree turn..."
In the restaurant of the hotel where he was staying, Gao Ruimin sighed with emotion to several other former Olympic team teammates at the same table.
After the match against the United Arab Emirates, they returned to China as soon as possible and were preparing for the next match against Saudi Arabia in Xingtan City, Kinsan Province.
"It's normal, the winner is king." Guo Junfu said.
"Lao Guo, do you think Director Shi can become a regular employee?" Gao Ruimin asked.
Guo Junfu shook his head: "I don't know, but I hope that Director Shi can become a permanent member. His becoming a permanent member will be of great benefit to us."
"Me too..." Gao Ruimin quickly expressed his stance.
In the 81st minute of the last game when the Chinese team defeated the United Arab Emirates, he was substituted by Shi Shi, making his first appearance in the national team - although he had previously participated in the East Asian Cup and was considered to represent the national team. Participating in the competition, but in the minds of all the National Olympic team players who participated in the East Asian Cup, they did not regard the East Asian Cup as a national team competition, but as a National Olympic team event.
It’s hard to imagine how long I would have to wait to be selected for the national team if the national team was still coached by an old-school coach like Wilson, and how long I would have to wait to play in the national team.
A person as awesome as Hu Lai, after being recruited into the national team, sat on the bench for four games. He didn't come on as a substitute in the fifth game and made his debut in the top 12. This was still in The team's performance is not good and the outside world is furious.
So why can they have a better fate than Hu Lai?
Although Chen Xingyi, Luo Kai, Wang Guangwei, and Liu Yan at the same table did not speak, they all nodded, indicating that they, Guo Junfu, and Gao Ruimin were of the same mind.
This time six of them were selected into the national team. Although Wang Guangwei, Liu Yan and Guo Junfu have not played yet, they all see hope. I feel that Coach Yi Shi understands them well and as long as they train hard, they will be put on the field one day.
Hope is a good thing. If you have hope, you can stick to it.
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"Xiao Shi, congratulations. You are now the head coach of the national team, no longer the acting head coach." In Shi Wuyuan's room, team leader Hong Renjie conveyed the Football Association's appointment decision to Shi Wuyin. "Formal information will be released later through the official channels of the Football Association."
"Thank you, Lao Hong." Shi Wuyuan expressed his gratitude. But the whole person was relatively calm and not very excited.
After leading the team to defeat the United Arab Emirates, he more or less guessed this result.
Hong Renjie waved his hand: "Why are you thanking me? You earned this with your own ability. You will be the head coach of the Chinese team until the end of the top 12. But you also have a heavy task - the superiors hope that you can lead the Chinese team into the World Cup. I know it’s not easy, but if it’s easy, why bother?”
Shi Wuyuan nodded to express his understanding.
In fact, he led this team for this goal.
If you can't qualify for the World Cup, there's no need to talk about what will happen in the future - there will be no future!
He and Li Zhifei had already realized that this was an adventure like a soldier crossing a river. They had no choice but to move forward.
Either create the most glorious chapter in the history of Chinese football, or like their predecessors, become one of the losers, buried, rotting in the soil, and no one will miss them.
"Don't worry, Lao Hong. I will do my best. But I may make adjustments to the staffing..."
Hong Renjie waved his hand: "You are now the official head coach and have the power to make any adjustments to the lineup. The superiors originally said they would not interfere with the coach's selection and employment. This is true for Wilson and it is true for you."
After receiving the promise, Shi Wuyuan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "Okay. Then I will follow my own ideas."
"You decide what to do. After all, a dead horse is a live doctor. The top twelve competitions have been played like this, and you are not qualified to point fingers and be picky... Do you want to recruit anyone else now?"
Shi Wuyin shook his head: "Not yet. But after the game against Saudi Arabia, isn't there still time? I plan to continue to inspect the players with Lao Li. When we play Australia away from home next time, I will make a decision based on the players' performance in the league. Make lineup adjustments based on performance.”
"That's how it should be." Hong Renjie had no objection. "Don't have any scruples, just go ahead and do it."
After speaking, Hong Renjie laughed again: "I'm really curious to see where your young people can take Chinese football..."
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Before the team started training in the afternoon, team leader Hong Renjie stood next to Shi Wuyin and said to the assembled Chinese team players: "Let me introduce you again, Shi Wuyin, your head coach in the next top 12 matches."< br>
The team members looked at Shi Wuyin, surprised at first, and then many cheered.
Someone whistled, someone clapped.
Most of them are young players.
Director Shi has been able to lead the team to the top 12, which means that not only will they not be kicked out of the national team, but they will also have the opportunity to play in the national team.
Shi Wuyin raised his hands, and the commotion among the players gradually subsided.
After everyone calmed down, he said: "I won't say more. Anyway, everyone already knows me, and I know everyone. Next, we have one goal, and that is the right to qualify for the World Cup. Whether it is to advance in the group If you qualify for the second place, you still need to get third place to play in the play-offs... In short, you have to go to the World Cup.”
Hearing Shi Wuyuan's words, some people in the team looked at each other.
"I know this is difficult, so we have to go all out for this goal. I hope to work with everyone to write my name forever in the history of Chinese football!"
It was as if there was an electric current flowing through the body. After Shi Wuyuan said these words, many people felt goosebumps all over their bodies.
"Start training now!"
After Shi Wuyuan finished speaking, he, Li Zhifei, and other coaches took the players to start the warm-up before training.
Hong Renjie walked out of the football field and gave the field to the players and coaches. He stood on the red plastic track on the sidelines and watched the Chinese team's training session intently.
It seems like he is trying to see the future of Chinese football from this training session.
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When Shi Wuyin led the national team to train on the court, the Chinese Football Association issued a statement on its official website, announcing that Shi Wuyin had officially become a regular player, removing the word "agent".
At the same time, the Chinese team’s official Weibo also announced the news.
For a time, all major news media reported, publicized, analyzed and commented on this matter.
"Shi Wuyin officially takes over! Can he, who once led the National Olympic team to achieve a breakthrough in Chinese football in the Olympics, continue his glory with the national team?"
"...Shi Wuyin will lead the Chinese team through the top 12. It is reported that his goal is to help the Chinese team get the right to participate in the 2026 World Cup in the United States and Canada... At this point, the coaching selection after Wilson's dismissal has come to an end. In the absence of a better choice, Shi Wuyin is indeed the most suitable candidate for the national team in our country..."
"I personally think this is a helpless move, so everyone should not put too much pressure on Shi Wuyuan. Under the current situation, it is too difficult to qualify for the World Cup. We should not put too much pressure on this team. expectations, a normal heart..."
"...The most important thing is not whether they can finally participate in the World Cup, but that these young players, under the leadership of Shi Wuyin, can learn experience and grow in this top 12 competition. In this way, when we participate in the top 10 again four years later, In the semi-finals, we can benefit from this top 12 competition. I think this is Shi Wuyin’s historical mission in the national team..."
“I still remember how touched I was by Director Shi’s leadership of the Chinese Olympic team in the Olympics. I will always remember that when no one was willing to take over the mess of the Chinese team, it was Director Shi who stepped forward and bet on himself. Therefore, even if the Chinese team does not break out of Asia and enter the World Cup, no matter how the Chinese team performs, I will not say anything bad about Director Shi and Chinese football!”
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PS, I wish everyone a happy Chinese New Year! (End of chapter)