The awards were before the reporters' interview. As soon as the game ended, the reporters rushed into the stadium, and the most active ones were the Chinese media. They had a clear division of labor, and some of them surrounded the head coach Gao Hongbo, while others surrounded Chu Zhongtian.

Although he lost the game, Park Ji-sung was very calm. He came up to exchange jerseys with Chu Zhongtian. Chu Zhongtian told him in English that this was his first national team jersey to win the championship and he would like to treasure it forever, so he was sorry that he could not exchange jerseys. Then he comforted his opponent.

Park Ji-sung left in disappointment, and the reporters quickly surrounded him.

"Tell me what I think, Chu Zhongtian!"

"Congratulations on winning the championship, Da Chu, how do you feel now?"

"Is it really great to beat South Korea to win the championship?"

"As the captain who led the team to win the Asian Cup for the first time, do you think there is any secret to success?"

Countless microphones reached in front of Chu Zhongtian's mouth, and the camera formed a circle outside.

When faced with these microphones, Chu Zhongtian did not answer their questions one by one, but opened his arms and said loudly: "This is a Spring Festival gift we have given to fans all over China. I hope everyone likes it. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all those who support us! Happy Chinese New Year!!!"

His voice was already hoarse.

But winning the championship is worth the price of hoarse voice!

Journalists always like to pretend that they have a special connotation, deep thoughts, and conscience. So at this time, we still need to ask a question that has a profound connotation, deep thoughts and conscience: "Does the victory of the Asian Cup help improve the environment of Chinese football, can it change the image of Chinese football, and can it allow Chinese football to embark on a virtuous cycle?"

Chu Zhongtian was very happy at first, but he won the championship, so of course he was happy, but when he heard about this question, he was not happy.

"Our winning championship has nothing to do with the overall environment of Chinese football. The image of Chinese football is not just for us to change and maintain, let alone let us bear the big burden of letting Chinese football embark on a virtuous cycle. As I said just now, this is a simple and pure victory. We won the championship. The fans are happy. This is enough. As for how Chinese football is going in the future, it has nothing to do with us. I can't consider such a long-term thing. As a player, playing well is enough, policies are not something we should worry about. For the New Year, everyone is very happy today. Don't come to make things difficult for us, okay?"

The reporter who asked this question was speechless, his face turned red and white for a while, which was so embarrassing.

Chu Zhongtian ignored the reporter and announced to everyone: "Please enjoy the victory, enjoy the championship, and enjoy the happiness this game brings to you. Thank you everyone!"

He said wow, he flashed out and ran to his teammates who were celebrating victory, and waved to them while running: "Go thank the fans!"

Under his call, everyone ran to the stands where the Chinese team fans were most concentrated, and then lined up to bow to the fans in the stands to thank them.

The fans obviously would not think about things that are very connotative like the reporters regardless of the occasion. They jumped on the court, constantly singing the national anthem and "Singing the Motherland". When they saw the players coming to thank them, they cheered in unison and gave a thumbs up to the national team. The Chinese fans and the team have not seen such a harmonious relationship for nearly ten years.

When you see this scene, you can understand what Chu Zhongtian means to enjoy the happiness brought to them by winning and the championship.

At this time, don’t think about anything except celebration and don’t care about anything. The dark side and system, don’t ruin everyone’s appetite at this time.

Celebrate it all, Chinese fans!

※※※Before the final prize is awarded, there are sub-prices, such as the Most Valuable Player, the Golden Boot Award and the Fair Competition Award.

The Chinese team became the biggest winner. The starting lineup award was awarded by the North Korean team. They only had two yellow cards in four games, and they were the ones with the least cards won by all participating teams, so they won the Fair Tournament Award.

The next one was awarded the best shooter, third and second place, and the last one came to the stage to receive the award. The last one came to the stage to receive the Golden Boot Award. There were huge cheers on the scene because Chu Zhongtian came to the stage.

In this Asian Cup, he scored five goals alone, and was the player with the most goals.

Chu Zhongtian took over the Golden Boot Award from AFC officials, showed it to the audience and walked off the stage.

Next, the Most Valuable Player Award was awarded, which was divided into three levels, like the shooter, namely the Bronze Ball Award, the Silver Ball Award and the Golden Ball Award. Chu Zhongtian, who had just stepped down, came on stage again. This time he received the Golden Ball Award from the officials. He won the Best among the Most Valuable Player Awards voted by coaches and reporters. In this Asian Cup, he scored five goals and assisted twice. From the first game to the last game, the most active player of the Chinese team was him. The Chinese team was able to win the Asian Cup championship for the first time in his historic, and his role was irreplaceable. Without him, the Chinese team might have even qualified in the group stage, but because of him, the Chinese team, which was originally a third-rate Asian team, became the Asian champion, and no one could interpret the meaning of the award "Most Valuable Player" better than him.

So he deserves the best player and no one is surprised.

When Chu Zhongtian held up the trophy of the Most Valuable Player, there was a burst of cheers.

For Chinese football, perhaps there will be such a glorious time only on October 7, 2001.

"Chu Zhongtian is the most dazzling star in this Asian Cup. He is the hero of the Chinese team to win the Asian Cup. Before, everyone questioned Chu Zhongtian as the core and captain of the national team, but never participated in international competitions. This will affect his performance in the Asian Cup. In fact, Chu Zhongtian gave us a full-score answer. He is proficient in goals, assists and defense. The Chinese team has been upgraded to two levels because of him. Before the game, he took the initiative to return to China to participate. Now his wish has finally come true! Congratulations, Chu Zhongtian! Thank you, Chu Zhongtian!" Duan Bin said emotionally.

Then the highlight came. All the Chinese team players and coaches walked onto the podium and took the gold medal from the Qatar King Emil. Finally, Chu Zhongtian came on stage and his trophy was handed over to the Chinese team staff to keep it. He first lowered his head and asked the king to hang a gold medal around his neck, and then took over the Asian Cup from the king.

When he raised the trophy high, red paper confetti spewed out from behind the podium and on the roof, and the live broadcast abandoned the Queen's classic "We Are the Champions".

The Chinese commentator shouted passionately: "Asian champion - China - China!!"

※※※ On the morning of February 1st, when all Chinese team players arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport, the lobby outside the airport was filled with Chinese fans coming to greet the team, leaders of the Football Association and the General Administration of Sports.

There was noisy scene, with national flag waving and people singing the national anthem. Such a scene could not be as good as the Olympic legion even if it returned with honor.

It can be seen that football has a considerable influence in China, and the world's number one sport is well-deserved.

The news that the Chinese team won the Asian Cup was on the News Broadcast the next day. When the Chinese team defeated South Korea 3-0 in the East Asian semi-finals, it broke the Korean fear and also went to CCTV's News Broadcast. As the most orthodox news column in China, the News Broadcast has always been considered to play major events in the Party and the country, and Chinese football can also be on the News Broadcast, but it is very rare.

Xi Jinping, the long-standing future national leader, is also a football fan, which allows Chinese fans to see the hope of Chinese football. Will the news broadcast be just a prelude?

When the Chinese team players walked out of the airport passage, the scene suddenly became excited.

However, what surprised everyone was that the person who appeared in front of everyone with the championship trophy was not the captain Chu Zhongtian, but the head coach Gao Hongbo.

As the team's biggest contributor to the championship, Chu Zhongtian was not in this team. When the national team returned with reputation, he was sleeping soundly on a plane from Doha to Munich, Germany, wearing an eye mask.

This month, he has been working hard without stopping. For the dream of the championship in his heart and to bring joy to the Chinese fans, he has tried his best and can only get a rest time at this time. No wonder Rangnick is worried about how much physical strength Chu Zhongtian has to deal with the Bundesliga and the upcoming UEFA Champions League... When Chu Zhongtian was sleeping soundly at a height of 10,000 meters, Gao Hongbo read a letter of thanks from Chu Zhongtian to the Chinese fans at Capital International Airport.

"...I am very grateful for your support for us over the past month. Thank you. I hope this championship trophy can bring you some comfort and happiness. This is our goal to strive for a month."

The scene was silent, and everyone was listening quietly to Chu Zhongtian's heartfelt words.

"Thank you, coach Gao, thank you, my teammates, without you, there would be no such championship trophy. In any case, we are a whole, see you in the World Cup qualifiers."

After Gao Hongbo finished reading, thunderous applause and cheers rang out at the scene.

"Thank you, Chu Zhongtian!"

"Thank you, the Chinese team, it's a good example!"

"Thank you, the country!"

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Chu Zhongtian did not thank the country, but I believe no one would dare to come out and say anything to him at this time. Now Chu Zhongtian's influence in China has exceeded the scope of sports. There are rumors that Chu Zhongtian is likely to be elected as a member of the CPPCC. If that happens, he will be the first player in Chinese football with such a status.

When he won the Asian Cup, the Chinese football team received a call from the central leaders and was said to have chatted with Chu Zhongtian for a few words. Obviously, his status could no longer be shaken.

After reading the open letter, the leaders received the flowers and fans were filled with flowers. The laughter and joy at the airport were heard.

The players of the national team were wearing gold medals and garlands around their necks, holding flowers and various gifts from the fans in their hands, and the fans around them were holding their posters and various powerful slogans to greet them.

In this situation, they only saw the Olympic and Asian Games delegations on TV with such treatment. Chinese football has never been enjoyed since 2001.

Everyone was busy shooting with mobile phones, digital cameras and DVDs, and someone murmured: "What Da Chu said is really right... I really have to pursue other than money when playing football..."

There are rumors this winter that it is a once-in-a-thousand-year cold winter. In fact, the weather is indeed very low today, it is already below zero, and there is snow outside, but it is particularly warm in the airport hall and no one feels cold.

※※※Beijing's airport was full of joy, while Munich's airport in Germany was as usual. Chu Zhongtian wore sunglasses, carried a big box, and walked out of the airport alone with his backpack. There he and his wife Emily came to greet him to kiss him enthusiastically.

"Congratulations, Asian champion." After the kiss, Emily smiled and said to her tired husband in front of her.

"Thank you, my dear." Chu Zhongtian and Emily walked towards the parking lot outside.

"Are you tired?" Emily asked.

"Fortunately, it's not tiring. It's just a relaxation after achieving the goal."

Emily smiled and said, "Beijing must be very lively at this time, right?"

Chu Zhongtian looked east like a conditioned reflex. He could completely imagine what would happen outside the Capital International Airport in Beijing, no matter what would happen in China. It was a pity that he could not be there. In order not to disappoint the fans, he asked Gao Hongbo to bring himself a letter of thanks.

I really want to see the smiles on the faces of those easily satisfied fans... This is a pity. Why did I win the championship so hard? Isn't it just to see the smiles on the faces of the fans?

On the night when the finals ended, he received a call from his father. The father on the other end of the phone was obviously drunk and pulled Chu Zhongtian to talk a lot, mainly about the stories of watching football when he was young, including watching Quanxing team and watching national team games. In addition to defending Chengdu, it basically seems that it is a history of blood and tears. Anyway, he kept saying it. Chu Zhongtian didn't interrupt him, just listened quietly, responded when he was asked, and waited until his father fell asleep before hanging up the phone. When he saw the call time, the international long distance had been called for an hour and twelve minutes.

Although he didn't see so many smiling faces of fans, through his father, he has deeply felt the feelings of domestic fans.

What will my father do at this time? What are Chinese fans doing during the period from the time we won the championship to today?

Chu Zhongtian thought about it and started laughing.

"Yes, it's very lively! Because it's the Chinese New Year."

Chu Zhongtian hugged Emily: "Let's go home, I'll make dumplings for you, and we'll celebrate the New Year too!"

※※※The celebration of the Chinese football team winning the Asian Cup is still going on. The Football Association and the General Administration of Sports are bound to mention that this achievement was achieved under their wise leadership. Obviously, they found a new fig leaf. Some media began to worry that this championship would not inspire Chinese football, but would make the Football Association and the General Administration of Sports think that this is enough, and the anti-black and anti-gambling will end there.

Although it is objectively possible that such a fact may be caused, it is not the champion's fault, nor the fault of the players of the national team who have worked hard for a month, but the fault of the officials. The matter of Chu Zhongtian leading the team to the Asian Cup championship cannot be erased or questioned.

Just as Chu Zhongtian said in an interview with reporters after the game, it is just a simple victory in a game, just a champion. What everyone has to do is very simple, that is, enjoy the victory of the game and enjoy the joy brought by the championship. As for what to do in the future, I will talk about it later.

It is better to have a championship than nothing.

Perhaps there will be no big improvement in the future of Chinese football, but fans will still feel relieved and happy when recalling the time in January 2011. This is enough.

※※※ Chu Zhongtian participated in the training of the entire Hoffenheim team the day after returning to Germany. When he appeared on the side of the training ground, his teammates lined up in two columns on the court, leaving a passage in the middle.

Chu Zhongtian was a little surprised. He couldn't figure out the situation. He hadn't seen his teammates for more than a month. To be honest, he missed him a lot. But he didn't expect them to welcome him so much.

This is generally the treatment enjoyed by the team that wins the championship - the opponent lined up at the exit of the court to welcome the champion to enter the court.

Chu Zhongtian was startled when he saw this situation outside the training ground. He hesitated for a moment before stepping in. He was not sure if this was a prank by his teammates.

As a result, as soon as he ran to the training ground, his teammates around him applauded and cheered: "Welcome the champion!!"

Chu Zhongtian then realized that he smiled at his teammates: "Thank you!"

Everyone rushed up and hugged him.

"Welcome back, captain!"

"I miss you so much, Chu!"

"I watched that final and I want to say that your performance is so fucking outstanding!"
To be continued...