In a friendly match in 2013, China lost 1-5 to Thailand. After that game, former national football captain Fan Zhiyi angrily scolded the national football team for "going down to lose Vietnam". After 9 years, the prophecy came true. After losing 1-3 away to Vietnam, the Chinese team theoretically completely lost hope of qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. At this time, no one paid attention to whether the national football team could rush into the World Cup. On the first day of the Year of the Tiger in the Lunar Calendar, Chinese football once again refreshed the lower limit.
The Sino-Vietnamese battle coincided with the first day of the Chinese New Year, and in fact, no one would expect the Chinese team to rush into the Qatar World Cup at this time. Winning a game on the road without adding to the blockage is the expectation of the outside world for the national football team. The Chinese players before the game were also confident that they could get three points from their opponents. After all, the Vietnamese team has lost all 7 games in the group stage, and the Chinese team's previous historical record against the Vietnamese team is ten consecutive wins. However, in the face of the opponent's defensive counterattack tactics, the Chinese team's attack did not improve, and there were loopholes in the defense. Just 16 minutes into the game, the Chinese team's goal was pierced twice by the opponent. Among them, the first goal was a header from the Vietnamese team. The second goal was scored by Vietnam near the bottom line of the national football team through cooperation. These two balls seem to make it clear: even against the Vietnamese team, the Chinese team has neither physical advantages nor technical advantages.
In the second half of the game, although the Chinese team successively replaced offensive players such as Zhang Yuning, Wei Shihao, Yu Dabao and Liu Binbin, the attack in front of the opponent's iron barrel formation was still disorderly. Instead, vietnam scored another goal on the counter-attack, this time not a header nor a combination in the penalty area, but a long-range shot with a sharp angle.
Although Xu Xin pulled back a goal for the Chinese team before the final, it did not help. When the score is fixed at 1-3, this not only means that the Chinese team missed the Qatar World Cup, but also represents the first time that the Chinese team lost to Vietnam in the A-class competition. It was also the first victory in Vietnam's history in the final stages of the World Cup Asian qualifiers.
This is another milestone for Vietnamese football, which has developed rapidly in recent years. For Chinese football, this game is another pillar of shame. This "prophecy come true" on the first day of the Chinese New Year will be like "5.19", "black three minutes", "1-5 loss to thai team", etc., into the history of Chinese football.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Thiem sent Red Envelopes to the players after the game
After the Sino-Vietnamese War, Fan Zhiyi, whose prediction came true, delivered a testimonial on Weibo. This time, he did not taunt or complain, but was more calm.
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Football has no borders, but football needs a sense of ceremony, cohesion, and inheritance. The more critical question now is whether we can re-establish the legacy of football and allow others to step on our shoulders. If through our youth training work, there are a group of children who can know how to treat people and things, know how to observe the rapidly changing situation on the pitch, know how to make more reasonable decisions under pressure, or even just know how to treat winning and losing more reasonably, let them know that winning is the goal, losing to accept, and the process to enjoy, then the meaning of football is enough. If those of us can't put ourselves in the right position, then Chinese football will really be out of play; only if we take the lead in starting from the small environment to make changes, Chinese football can get back on track. The most important thing is that Chinese football must not be able to divide you, me and him anymore.
——Fan Zhiyi, former Chinese men's football team captain
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At the post-match press conference of the Sino-Vietnamese battle, the national football coach Li Xiaopeng once again apologized to the Chinese fans. Li Xiaopeng said that the loss was mainly due to design problems before the game, which could not be remedied in the follow-up, and the 1-3 score was unacceptable. During the game, the players tried their best, and the excessive pre-game motivation caused the players to be very nervous. Li Xiaopeng finally said: "The rise of Chinese football is sooner or later, but it needs the efforts of generations. ”
Whether it is li xiaopeng, the coach of the national football team, or Fan Zhiyi, the former captain of the national football team, after the tragic defeat of Chinese football, they will invariably focus on the future. Chinese football also really needs to look forward. Lost to Vietnam and missed out of the round of 12. On the first day of the second month of 2022, the Chinese team lost its goal for the year. In the days after this year, some teams will continue to fight for the World Cup quota, and some teams will begin to prepare for the World Cup at the end of the year. The national football team suddenly found that this year was "over". 2022 has become the "year of chicken ribs" for the Chinese team.
The national football team, which has just changed coaches and played two games, how will it spend this year of chicken ribs? Judging from the starting lineup of the national football team in this game, the average age of the whole team is 29 years old. The average age of the entire Chinese team is 29.3 years old, while the average age of the Vietnamese team is only 25.4 years old. In fact, since the 2019 Asian Cup, the average age of the Chinese team has remained high. Although Zheng Zhi has now entered the coaching staff, young people in their early twenties like Dai Weijun and Zhu Chenjie have more opportunities, most of the players in the Chinese team are still over thirty years old. In the coming year, the Chinese team must alternate between the old and the new.
The reason why the average age of Chinese football has remained high in recent years is obviously for the sake of achievement. When Lippi was the head coach of the Chinese team, he first attacked the World Cup in Russia, and then competed in the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and the purpose of the Chinese Football Association to invite big-name foreign coaches is self-evident, that is, to produce results. At the same time, the national football team not only continued to use veterans, but also began to naturalize. Former Chinese Super League foreign aides such as Axon, Luo Guofu, Alain, Fernando and Gaulat have become Chinese nationals. However, when the national football team reached the point where it was defeated by the Vietnamese team and officially missed the World Cup, it was found that only two non-blood naturalized players, Luo Guofu and Alain, were left, and their physical strength could only support half a game...
Whether non-blood naturalized players can be used is not discussed. In fact, even if the naturalization work continues to be carried out, we must not forget the development of local young players. However, the U23 policy implemented by the Chinese Super League since the 2017 season does not seem to have allowed too many young players to appear in the Chinese squad. Players such as Huang Zichang and Huang Zhengyu, who were once very popular with the U23 policy, are now unable to enter the national football roster. In other words, many players are beneficiaries of U23 policy, but once they reach the age of 24, they may become victims of U23 policy. A temporary injury or sluggishness may make the opportunities they had previously given up immediately, giving way to new U23 players and foreign players. After that, a new batch of U23 players may fall into this cycle again...
It is true that the strength of the new generation of players is generally inferior to that of Zheng Zhi's era, which can be seen from their achievements in the competition of national brands in all ages. Chinese football is also to avoid the painful period of achievements caused by this group of players, and to think of various methods such as the old will continue to support, naturalized foreign players and other methods to cure the symptoms and causes. Today, all kinds of "painkillers" have been ineffective, but Chinese football has found that the wound has worsened. The next big competition for the Chinese team will be the 2023 Asian Cup in China. Before the local Asian Cup, is it to let more young people take the lead, or continue to grit their teeth to pursue results? Has the Chinese Football Association figured it out?
Icebergs floating on the surface of the water are often only a small part of the entire iceberg. The defeat of Chinese football is also the outbreak of the league and youth training in recent years. After this game, how many people still think that Chinese football is still the second-rate level in Asia? Is this humiliating defeat a node in the continued decline of Chinese football, or is it a historical moment when Chinese football is painfully thinking about it and changing its course? These are all questions facing Chinese football practitioners...