Chapter 445: First round of play-offs, Australia!
There are still 4 hours until the game starts. Sydney Olympic Stadium
Click, click, click, click!Mourinho walked into the press room under the gaze of hundreds of reporters. Looking down, he roughly estimated that there were more than 200 people.
Because the entire press room was packed!
crunch--
The chairs were moved aside, and Mourinho and Brown sat down naturally. Before the reporter asked any questions, Mourinho had already started talking.
"Well, today's scene shocked me. I have never seen such a scene when I was at Chelsea before, even in the derby against Tottenham and Arsenal..."
Mourinho spoke, and the entire press conference room fell silent: "I saw many Chinese faces at the scene. I have also seen many reporters at previous home games. Today is an away game, but we still have a lot of people here..."
“About half of the journalists are from China? Well, I guess so.”
"This is my first year in the Chinese national football team. I don't know much about the Chinese team, but I go online and I've seen comments saying that China is a desert for football. This comment puzzled me because it's a different story."
Mourinho gestured as he spoke, moving his head left and right and blinking from time to time. As he said, he saw many familiar Chinese reporters.
"It's very strange, very strange. When I live in China, I really don't see any football atmosphere. But when it comes to such large-scale competitions, our national team can still get a lot of attention and support. This makes me feel that China is not a football desert in the strict sense. We do have soil, but the soil is not that fertile."
"And I think what we need to do now is to start with the national team. We have to show results. Why did Portuguese football suddenly rise in the 21st century? That's because we have produced many, many stars and have performed well in intercontinental competitions. China is a big country, much bigger than Portugal, but China can replicate Portugal's achievements. This is why I came here."
“I’m here to get my grades.”
Mourinho stared at the camera: "Before the game, many fans and reporters asked me if we could win this game, or what the probability was that we could win. My opinion was that if I didn't win this game, I might not come here."
"Wow!"
The reporters in the audience, who had been silent, suddenly started to make a noise.
Mourinho is making harsh remarks!
"Mr. Jose, we generally believe that Australia's overall strength is stronger"
The Australian reporter in the audience reminded him, and Mourinho turned around and asked: "Which comprehensive strength do you mean?"
Being stared at like this by Mourinho, the reporter was a little nervous, but he didn't show it: "In terms of player strength, Australian players are generally stronger"
"Comparing players?"
Mourinho laughed: "Your starting lineup is worth less than one-fifth of ours, how can you say that?"
"Hahahaha!"
"Nonono, I mean the overall strength. China has very strong stars, but that is limited to Jiang alone."
Mourinho turned his head away: "You said that as if Jiang is not a starter"
"..."
The reporter didn't know what to say.
……
At 7:45, 45 minutes before the game started, there was silence in the visiting team's locker room.
The players sat on the benches in a daze, Mourinho leaned against the wall with his hands on his chest, and he also did not speak.
“You need to say something”
Brown reminded.
If the coach doesn't say anything, the players will only feel more pressure.
Gurgling.
Mourinho swallowed and spoke hurriedly.
In fact, it was not what he wanted to say, but he was also adjusting the pressure. He was afraid that his voice would be unstable when he spoke, which would directly affect the confidence of the players in the locker room.
Mourinho thought about it carefully, then raised his eyebrows at Jiang Yuan.
I?
Jiang Yuan pointed at his nose.
Damn, it seems like I have no pressure at all.
I am under the greatest pressure, okay?
Jiang Yuan's tactical pressure in the national team is only 70%-80% of that in the club, but the psychological pressure he needs to bear is at least twice that of the club.
Walking with teammates and carrying teammates, the feeling of these two ways of playing football are completely different!
go!
Mourinho continued to urge with his eyes.
He can speak, too, but not now.
He still needs to adjust it again!
Fine……
"Clap!"
Jiang Yuan clapped his hands, attracting the attention of his teammates in the locker room.
then……
Pointing at Mourinho: "The coach wants to say a few words, everyone listen carefully"
Everyone looked at Mourinho.
"No, what did you say?"
……
Time will pass more slowly under nervous emotions, but no matter what, time is not completely motionless. Mourinho and Jiang Yuan said a few words to each other, and then gathered all the players together.
"It's almost time. This is the most crucial game of the year. I hope you all cheer up, and so do I. Ok, Jiang, you shout."
"arrow"
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
“Come on! Come on, come on, come on!”
……
"This is the first leg of the FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. Now, please invite the players from both teams to enter the field."
"wowww!"
Jiang Yuan grabbed the caddy's hand and walked out of the passage first, with Zeng Cheng following behind him.
"I'm nervous..."
The caddy spoke to Jiang Yuan in English, and Jiang Yuan pressed his shoulder with his right hand: "It's okay, we are all the same, it will be over soon"
"River!"
"River!"
"woww!!!1"
The live commentary continued, the male voice was in English and the female voice was in Chinese. The two commentators first introduced the players of the home team Australia, and then the visiting team China.
Australian fans also put enough pressure on the team. Every time the commentator mentioned the name of a Chinese player, there was booing from the home team stands.
All 9 seats were filled, which was an extremely exaggerated scene.
But when Jiang Yuan's name was called, a strange scene appeared in the home team's stands. Some people were applauding and some were booing. Those who were applauding and booing looked at each other, and after they realized what was happening, everyone booed together.
Although I usually like watching the Premier League and the Champions League, this is a national team match after all.
Even if you are Jiang Yuan we will boo you!
"Please all audience members and staff stand up. Now, we will play the national anthem of the Commonwealth of Australia, Advance Australia Fair."
During the national anthem, the home team fans finally quieted down, and the players from both teams seized this opportunity to take a deep breath and adjust their mindset.
"Now, Kanade..."
"Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump."
“Thump, thump, thump! thump!”
"…" "wow!"
clap clap clap!
"come on! Come on!"
……
"China Media Group, China Media Group, good evening, dear audience friends!"
"Here is the live broadcast of the first round of the Asian qualifying play-offs, the Australian men's football team vs. the Chinese men's football team!"
"This game will be commented on by He Wei and Zhang Lu"
"Now let me introduce the starting lineups for both teams in this match. First up is the home team Australia! Wearing yellow jerseys, attack from the left side of the screen to the right side!"
Australia (3-2-2-3)
Goalkeeper: Matthew Ryan
Defenders: Ullman, Sainsbury, Risdon
Midfielders: Milligan, Degenek, Mooy, Kruse
Forwards: Biic, Juric, Matthew Leckie
Head coach: Postecoglu
"The total value of Australia's starting players is 1985 million euros, close to 2000 million euros! This is very exaggerated when looking at the entire Asian region."
"Then the visiting Chinese men's football team attacked from the right side of the screen to the left side!"
China (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Zeng Cheng
Defenders: Deng Hanwen, Zhang Linpeng, Feng Xiaoting, Li Xuepeng
Midfielders: Zheng Zhi, Hao Junmin, Liao Lisheng
Forwards: Wu Lei, Gao Lin, Jiang Yuan
Head coach: Mourinho
"The total value of Chinese men's football players is 1 million euros, an increase of 4650 million euros compared to three months ago."
[Here it comes, Australia doesn’t play Goodwin? I still want to watch Goodwin]
Goodwin substitute
[No, the gap is so big, the total value of Australia is not as much as the increase of the Chinese national football team, I haven't watched football for 4 years...]
[ million and 650 million euros, that's fine, the total value of the other 10 players in the national football team is just 650 million euros, and Jiang Yuan alone is million]
[It's incredible, the increase is 2025 million euros. Our national football team is still improving fast]
[It’s the first time I’ve watched football in so many years. Chinese football has taken off. million is higher than Messi and Ronaldo, right? ]
[He has long been higher than Messi and Ronaldo. Now Jiang Yuan is the player in the football world, one level higher than Hazard and Neymar]
[Damn, I was wondering why they were suddenly going to enter the World Cup. With a market value of over million, they are stronger than Japan and South Korea. Damn, I should have started watching the Asian qualifiers earlier.]
The game started at 8:30 Beijing time, which is a perfect time for Chinese fans to watch the game. With the publicity among fans and the hype from the media, the popularity of this game has exceeded the previous Olympic game between China and Japan.
With CCTV-5 as the leader, the number of real-time online users on various platforms across the country has exceeded 6700 million!
On the playing field!
After Zhang Linpeng got the ball in the backcourt, the first thing he did was to look for Jiang Yuan. Degenek and Kruse were also not idle. They ran up to interfere as soon as they found an opportunity.
"Zhang Linpeng, the position of this long pass is good, but the speed of the ball seems a bit fast. It may be difficult for Jiang Yuan to handle it."
[The Chinese national football team doesn’t know how to stop the ball. If they can’t stop the ball, what’s the point of playing long passes?]
In the camera, Jiang Yuan found the landing point of the ball, stretched out his right foot, and hooked the ball back to his feet with the instep.
"woww!"
There were screams from the stands, and Jiang Yuan looked back.
Remember the positions of Kruse and Degenek, flick the ball behind yourself, and then start accelerating.
"Beautiful! The man and the ball passed!"
"Kreuzer probably didn't expect Jiang Yuan to get away like this. He was a little slow to react."
"Reach out and pull, Jiang Yuan wants to fight back!"
Feeling a strange force coming from behind, Jiang Yuan knew that he was being grabbed. He wanted to speed up and try to get rid of it, but unfortunately Cruze's hand had grabbed a large handful of Jiang Yuan's clothes, so that the latter had no chance of breaking free!
Beep!
Referee Fagani blows the whistle!
"Grass!"
Jiang Yuan shook his hands, feeling a little angry at Cruze's foul.
To be honest, if Cruze hadn't pulled back just now, he would definitely have been able to launch the attack!
Kruse received a yellow card for a defensive foul. The Australian players knew that this yellow card was inevitable, so they did not argue with the referee.
The Chinese team got a free kick opportunity on the edge of the center line of the field and gave it to Zhang Linpeng to handle.
The other outfield players started to move forward. Zhang Linpeng observed and then kicked the ball with a "pop".
Wu Lei reacted quickly and found that the ball was flying towards him, so he immediately observed the position of his teammates.
"Here here!"
Wu Lei and Milligan confronted each other, but neither of them gained any advantage and they both fell to the ground.
There was no one taking the first point, the ball bounced on the ground, and Hao Junmin, who ran up from behind, stopped the ball.
Give it to Gao Lin!
"Gao Lin runs to the baseline, Wu Lei goes to the back to support, Jiang Yuan, Jiang Yuan is still on the left!"
"Jiang Yuan reached out! Do you want the ball directly from this position?"
Jiang Yuan did raise his hand to ask for the ball, but before raising his hand, Jiang Yuan deliberately pointed in the direction of the goal, signaling Gao Lin to give a larger lead time.
I don’t know whether Gao Lin didn’t understand Jiang Yuan’s meaning or his passing technique was not good enough, but his cross flew directly over Jiang Yuan’s head.
"It's a bit difficult to handle. Jiang Yuan can choose to do it again..."
"Hey, chest stop, Jiang Yuan is very smart, he chooses..."
"Shoot directly! Stop the ball with your chest and then kick it with the outside of your foot!"
"The ball is in!"
"The Australian goalkeeper didn't react at all! Haha!"
After confirming that the ball entered the net, Jiang Yuan raised his arms high, but he did not rush out to celebrate.
Before this goal was scored, Wu Lei and Milligan collided with each other. It is not yet certain whether Wu Lei committed a foul.
See what the referee says...
Finger middle circle.
"The goal is valid! Beautiful!"
"In the 11th minute of the game, the Chinese team scored the first goal!"
Jiang Yuan ran out of the penalty area and ran towards the visiting team's fans area.
"wowowwowow!"
"Jiang Yuan is awesome!"
“Wuhu, hahaha!”
Postecoglu stood on the sidelines and said nothing.
Australia is bound to win the play-off against the dark horse Chinese team at home.
This is also the reason why Australia will play 3223 in today's game.
This is the result of scientific research by Postecoglou and the players on the team!
They were originally invincible, but unexpectedly lost in set-piece defense.
Without getting the first point, the Australian players did not retreat to the defense line in time, which gave Gao Lin the opportunity to make a safe cross!
While celebrating, Postecoglu called Degenek and Risden to the sidelines.
"If you can't restrict Jiang, then go and fight for his teammates. Without teammates to pass the ball to him, he won't be able to play the first game! Got it? Constrict their midfield!"
“Solve the problem fundamentally!”
Mourinho looked at the panicked Postecoglu calmly, then stretched out all five fingers of his right hand.
The Chinese players understood.
Start parking the bus!
……
(End of this chapter)
