Chapter 1128 You can’t reach a thousand miles without taking small steps
Zhou Zijing's goal completely destroyed Mexico's will to resist.
After all, this is an international football invitational tournament, not the World Cup.
There is still a difference in the players' level of commitment compared to the World Cup.
So it can be said that Zhou Zijing killed the suspense of the outcome of the game.
After the game restarted, although there were still a few minutes, Mexico's performance was completely different from that after conceding the previous goal.
They don't have any deep grudge against the Chinese team, and they can't afford to fight against the Chinese team when they are two goals behind.
So amidst the singing and cheering of the Chinese fans, the Mexican players gradually slowed down their pace and were not as hardworking as before...
Dillon also took the opportunity to make substitution adjustments.
Replace Hu Lai with Gao Chen.
Give Hu Lai a chance to enjoy the applause and cheers of the fans alone here.
After all, this is the Andong Provincial Sports Center and the home stadium of the Anton Shining Stars.
Hu Lai has played here for two and a half seasons, helping Anton Shining Star win the Chinese Super League championship and the Football Association Cup.
His status in the hearts of Star Flash fans is different.
Almost all the fans here can be said to be Hu Lai's fans.
Giving him such an opportunity can also be said to be a "goodwill" move by Dillon to Hu Lai.
Who dares to say "the generals are at odds"?
When Hu Lai was replaced, all the Chinese fans in the stands of the Provincial Sports Center stood up from their seats and applauded Hu Lai.
For a moment, there was a roar of applause.
Amidst the applause, He Feng said: "Hu Lai was substituted in the 88th minute of the game. His 'China Cup' ends here. In this 'China Cup', he scored a total of three goals, which is the best score for the Chinese team." An important contributor to winning the game...and here, the Andong Provincial Sports Center, is his 'home'. His performance repays the fans who support him and love him... Maybe Hu Lai will never return to Anton Flash Star again, but he can still return to this stadium to play as a Chinese team player... And every time I come back, I feel like I’m going home... Welcome home, Hu Lai!”
Amidst the applause, Hu Lai walked to the sidelines and completed the handover with Gao Chen. He did not leave in a hurry, but turned to all directions in turn and waved to the fans in the stands on all sides.
The applause was even louder.
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The fact that Hu Lai was replaced meant that the competition for the championship in this game was completely over.
After all, keeping Hulay on the court means that the Chinese team still wants to score goals, or is still wary of Mexico. If Mexico scores a goal, then with Hulay on the court, the Chinese team still has the possibility of scoring.
Once Hu Lai is replaced, it means that Dillon also feels that there is no suspense in this game and the Chinese team is sure to win - only in this case will Hu Lai be replaced in advance.
The fourth official held up a sign indicating three minutes of injury time.
A decent stoppage time did not leave any chance for Mexico to make a comeback.
These three minutes of injury time were basically spent amidst the singing and cheering of Chinese fans.
The substitute players of the Chinese team also stood on the sidelines, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle for the end of the game, so that they could rush into the court to celebrate with their teammates.
This is a friendly match, but it becomes different because of the "China Cup".
The Chinese team is about to win a rare international championship in their team's history - before this, except for the East Asian Cup, the Chinese team has never won a championship in an official competition at the adult level since the founding of New China.
Of course, there are Chinese teams that are champions of various informal international invitational tournaments, but those invitational tournaments are not considered formal competitions because the standards of opponents are not uniform. In addition to the national team, there are also club teams, national youth teams, Selection team etc. Even if you win such an event, the gold content is actually not enough.
Not to mention that even this kind of competition with insufficient gold content was a long time ago - the last time the Chinese team won an informal invitational tournament was back in 1997.
In addition, the Chinese team has not even won an official competition championship.
After entering the 21st century, the Chinese team has only won two championships in official competitions, namely the 2005 East Asian Cup and the 2023 East Asian Cup.
These two championships are the only two championships that the Chinese team has after entering the new century.
Moreover, the East Asian Cup is still participated by the National Olympic team. Although it is a national team competition in name, it is actually at the National Olympic level.
If we really pick out the words very strictly, the Chinese team actually does not have a single adult-level official competition championship.
Today's "China Cup" is actually their first official competition championship!
When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, the cheers at the Provincial Sports Center reached the climax of the game.
He Feng, who was commentating on the game at the scene, had to shout at the top of his lungs: "The game is over! The game is over! Congratulations to the Chinese team! They defeated the powerful Mexico 3:1 in the final and won the championship of the first 'China Cup'!!" < br>
"The important thing is actually not this championship, but what we have shown in this China Cup! It gives us hope! The road to the 2030 World Cup... starts now!"
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Amidst huge cheers, the substitute players of the Chinese team rushed into the court and hugged and celebrated with their teammates on the court.
Head coach Jorge Dillon walked towards the Mexican team's coaching bench. They were still several meters apart, so he took the initiative to extend his hand and shake hands with Alfonso Ledes.
Although he lost the game, Leders still maintained a polite smile on his face. He held Dillon's hand and said to him: "When I heard that you left Europe and went to coach a club in China, I thought You're ready to retire, Jorge..."
Dillon smiled and said: "In fact, I am indeed ready to retire, Alfonso. After coaching the Chinese team..."
Leders was a little surprised, but then he suddenly realized: "It would be appropriate to make this team the last team you coach..."
Dillon once coached in La Liga's dominant Madrid Kings, and Ledes also coached in La Liga, leading another team Sevilla Navigators.
The two have played against each other many times in the league. Leders' Sevilla Navigators often caused trouble for Dillon's Madrid Kings, and the Madrid Kings also beat the Navigators hard.
These two were rivals before, and they are still rivals now.
But times have changed, and now they are no longer on the center stage of world football, and the smell of gunpowder between them has naturally disappeared over time.
When Dillon heard Ledes say this, he laughed: "How is it? Is my team okay? You guys played against the Chinese team last year."
The Mexican national team played against the Chinese team in a warm-up match last September, but at that time the head coach of the Chinese team was Dong Jianhai, not Dillon.
The result of that game was that Mexico defeated the Chinese team 2:1. Dong Jianhai's adjustment to the national team's formation did not have any effect. It was also that game that made Dong Jianhai give up the idea of making changes, and continued the tactics and staffing left by Shi Wuyin until the 2027 Asian Cup quarter-finals against Japan...
The Chinese team lost to Mexico at that time, but now the Chinese team defeated Mexico 3:1.
In just seven months, the Chinese team has undergone earth-shaking changes.
Ledes shrugged: "Sorry, Jorge. I was not the head coach of Mexico at that time. So I can't answer your question..."
But that was an excuse, he just didn't want to give Dillon a chance to be proud.
After saying that, he planned to wave and leave: "Goodbye, Jorge. I hope we can meet again at the next World Cup."
"Ah, then you have to be careful not to capsize in the CONCACAF qualifiers." Dillon joked.
"You should worry about the Asian qualifiers!"
The two people said goodbye to each other, and then walked towards their respective teams.
Dillon, who won the victory, went to celebrate with his players, while Ryders, who lost the championship, went to comfort his players.
In every football game, there are winners and losers. Sometimes, the end result is actually not the most important thing.
Mexico lost the game and a championship. But to them, it is just a business competition champion who paid them to come, and it has no gold content. Although losing makes them sad, it will not remain in their memory for long. Maybe tomorrow this failure will disappear from their lives.
But for the Chinese team, what they won was more than just a championship.
The "China Cup", an emerging event, may be nothing more than a profitable commercial competition for other participating teams. But with the name "XX Cup", it looks different from ordinary commercial competitions. But in essence it is still a commercial competition, which is completely different from the real Asian Cup, European Cup and World Cup.
The Chinese team also knows this. To put it bluntly, the Chinese Football Association and Chinese companies spend their own money to find high-level warm-up match opponents for the Chinese team. In order to attract these teams, it is natural to spend more money. Are those opponents here to compete for this championship? It’s mostly for the appearance fee...
But the Chinese team was still excited after winning the championship.
Not only them, Chinese fans are also very excited.
Is it because they don't know what level of competition the "China Cup" is?
No.
They know.
But they are still so happy because they see something positive from this win, this championship.
For Chinese football, the championship of a senior warm-up match is actually not important - many people have not realized at this moment that this is a rare official competition championship for the Chinese team...
What matters is what they put in to win this championship.
This is the real reason why Chinese fans are elated.
This championship is insignificant, so what?
You can't reach a thousand miles without taking small steps.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Now this insignificant, low-valued commercial competition championship is the "first step" for the Chinese team to compete in the 2030 World Cup.
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The award ceremony was relatively simple. After all, it was just a "cup match" in which four teams participated and only played two games.
The podium was simply set up, and players from both teams came on stage to receive their awards.
Mexico went up first, and each of them received a silver medal and a panda doll.
The Mexican players have recovered from the pain of losing the game. They all had smiles on their faces when they came to the stage to receive their awards, especially after seeing the panda dolls. They also raised the dolls in their hands and showed them to the camera. With...
From the perspective of this group of Mexican players, they had a wonderful vacation in Jincheng, Anton Province, China.
If the championship is gone, it will be gone...
Even Nuno Alvarez is relieved now and is not holding on to the grudge between himself and Hulay.
When it was the turn of the Chinese team players to take the stage to receive the award, excited voices came from the live broadcast:
"Let us welcome...the champions of the first China Cup...the Chinese national men's football team!!"
The scene was filled with cheers.
Amid cheers, the Chinese team players stepped onto the podium one after another and happily received the medals. Finally, captain Hao De won the first "China Cup" trophy on behalf of the team.
The music started and ribbons fell from the sky.
After the award ceremony, the Chinese team players came to the sidelines, held the trophy, interacted with the fans in the stands, and thanked the fans for their support.
The fans in the stands gave them a thumbs up and shouted: "The Chinese team is awesome!"
“Come on Team China!!”
Reporters gathered outside the Chinese team players and recorded the scene with their cameras and video cameras.
At this moment, a familiar melody sounded on the live radio.
The Chinese fans cheered loudly.
Then... they collectively sang along with this melody:
"The five-star red flag is fluttering in the wind——!!"
"How loud the victory song is!!!"
Hearing the singing, Dilong happily said to Jin Tao: "Listen, Yu! The song of victory is ringing again!"
Yu Jintao smiled and nodded: "Yes... I hope we can hear it more often in the future..."
"It will definitely happen, Yu. It will definitely happen." Dillon looked at the people in the distance and murmured.
The singing soared over the Provincial Sports Center and echoed in everyone's hearts.
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PS, I’m very sorry. From today until the 8th, there will only be single updates. Please allow me to save my manuscript...m（_._）m
(End of chapter)