The last group match of the Chinese team was played on January 16th, and they still have four days before the game on January 21st.

After continuous combat, Gao Hongbo did not arrange all four days to train

The day after the match against Uzbekistan, Gao Hongbo gave the players a full day off, so that the players could have a good rest, if they wanted to go shopping. They have never been to Doha since they set off from China on December 29 last year...

Gao Hongbo was unwilling to make the players too nervous, so he took out a precious day to relieve the pressure on the players. They could go shopping and buy some travel souvenirs for their families and themselves.

This holiday is the happiest thing for Chinese football players and a reward for their hard training and competitions before.

Many players slept in the morning and did not get out of bed until after nine o'clock.

Of course, Gao Hongbo did not get up so late, so the players could rest, but he could not rest as the team's head coach.

According to his usual routine, he got up at 7:40 in the morning, and at 8:20 he appeared in the hotel's buffet restaurant.

All four teams in Group A live in the same hotel, so in the past they often saw players from the other three teams in the buffet restaurant. Especially during the peak hours of dining, players from the four teams could be seen sitting together in their respective teams’ sweatshirts.

However, today, Gao Hongbo saw more and more people in the restaurant.

At this time, the hotel lobby will be very busy because players from two teams should be checking out.

The Uzbekistan players had not yet got up. They ended the group stage, entered the quarterfinals, and needed rest.

There is not one Chinese player.

But when Gao Hongbo finished choosing a round of food and sat back on his seat with a plate, he was surprised to find someone walking in from the restaurant door.

It is glory.

He was wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, and a towel around his neck. His hair seemed to have just washed his hair, one by one, and half of the T-shirt on his upper body was wet from the neck, which was pressed against him, highlighting his muscle profile.

Seeing Rongguang like this, Gao Hongbo knew where Rongguang went.

"Glory" he raised his hand and greeted.

When Rongguang saw Gao Hongbo wave to him, he walked straight over: "Gaozhi, good morning."

"You went to the gym again?"

Rong Guang nodded.

"It's holiday today, don't you go out for a walk?"

"There's nothing to visit." Rongguang turned his head and looked at the restaurant's glass curtain wall, blue sky and white clouds, palm trees and yellow streets.

The scenery in the Middle East is the same. He had played in Abu Dhabi before. At that time, Mansour accompanied him throughout the journey. He was also very generous, with horse racing and yachts. The street scenery of Doha and Abu Dhabi is similar, so I didn’t like the glory of shopping and other things.

"Don't you want to buy some souvenirs? Come to Doha to bring some specialties back to your family..." Gao Hongbo smiled.

Rong Guang shrugged and said, "Just have a championship trophy for the souvenir."

Gao Hongbo's smile froze on his face. He didn't expect Rongguang to give such an answer.

If you use the championship trophy as a souvenir, I am afraid that only people like Rongguang can think of it.

But...think about it carefully, it's really cool

※※※

When the team resumed training the next day, Gao Hongbo borrowed the words of Glory to motivate the players.

"...How did you get in the store in Doha yesterday? I believe many people have gained a lot, right?"

The players all laughed.

Yesterday, they bought and bought together in stores in Doha, which also attracted a lot of media shooting and reporting. After performing well in the group stage, the Chinese team players became celebrities pursued by the media.

They will also attract a lot of attention when they go out to the streets.

While they were shopping, many reporters followed them with cameras and cameras.

The news of their purchases in Doha appeared on domestic websites at the first time.

However, Chinese fans have understood the major procurement behavior of these players. They do not, like before, see news related to the national football team, and no matter how many times they see, they will rush in and scold them. Whatever they do, they will be scolded.

The Chinese team players also relaxed because of their continuous winning games and good performances. They bought a lot of them while shopping to reward themselves.

"But now everyone is going to return to training, and the next game will only be harder and harder to play. We should not be satisfied with entering the knockout stage. We should know that entering the knockout stage should be a tradition of Chinese football..."

Gao Hongbo did not lie. Before the 207 Asian Cup, the Chinese team ranked third in the overall record ranking of the Asian Cup. This was the result of missing the first five Asian Cups. It can be said that this result is very good.

Since the Iranian Asian Cup in 1976, the Chinese team participated in the Asian Cup for the first time. As of the end of the 2004 Chinese local Asian Cup, the Chinese team participated in the eight Asian Cups in total. In these eight Asian Cups, the Chinese team reached the semi-finals six times, two of which were second.

They lost to Saudi Arabia in the 1984 Asian Cup in Singapore and lost to Japan in the 204 Asian Cup final.

Before the 207 Asian Cup, the Chinese team's record in the Asian Cup was 15 wins, 11 draws and 15 losses in 41 games.

However, this outstanding performance was ended in the 207 Asian Cup. The Chinese team led by Zhu Guanghu failed to even qualify for the group stage... This is the first time for the Chinese team in 27 years.

Because they did not qualify for the group stage, the Chinese team's ranking in the Asian Cup historical record list also dropped sharply from third to fifth.

Originally, they were second only to Iran and South Korea, but now they are surpassed by Saudi Arabia and Japan.

Japan is even ahead of the Chinese team because of goal difference...

Before the Qatar Asian Cup, the Chinese team's total Asian Cup record was 16 wins, 12 draws and 16 losses in 44 games, scored 72 goals, conceded 50 goals, and had 12 goals.

Before the 207 Asian Cup, the Chinese team entered the knockout stage for 27 consecutive years.

So the 207 Asian Cup is a turning point for Chinese football and the beginning of a decline.

Fortunately, the Chinese team has glory this time, which has stopped this decline.

Taking into account the results of the three group matches of this Asian Cup, the Chinese team has won 19 wins, 12 draws and 16 losses in 47 games, scored 83 goals, and conceded 52 goals.

If the statistics end in the group stage, the Chinese team has surpassed Japan, which has won two wins and one draw in the group stage of this Asian Cup, and Saudi Arabia, which has both matched each other in three games, and returned to the third place in history.

“…I hope that when you finally leave Doha, Qatar, you will be able to bring a championship trophy as your souvenir”

The players looked at their head coach Gao Hongbo in surprise.

They have been in contact with Gao Hongbo for more than a year and have a good understanding of Gao Hongbo. They know that Gao Zhi is usually a low-key person and is never arrogant. When they have two games left in the final, they say that the goal is to win the championship. In this case, Gao Zhi was absolutely unspeakable in the past...

They found that since Glory came to the team, many things have changed, and some people have also changed.

Gao Zhi is one of them, and the Chinese team is no longer a rat crossing the street and everyone is calling and beating...

When Rongguang heard Gao Hongbo talking, he glanced at Gao Hongbo and found that he was nodding and smiling at him.

※※※

At 4:15 pm on January 21, local time in Qatar, the whistle of the first match of the Asian Cup quarterfinals rang at the Caliph Stadium.

This match between the Chinese team and Jordan team that has attracted countless attention has begun.

Jordan is not a strong team, and it ranks 19th in the Asian Cup. Before this Asian Cup, he only played one Asian Cup, with four games, winning one win and three draws, scoring three goals, conceding one goal.

But that was a performance in the past, and Jordan performed very well in this Asian Cup.

In the group stage, they tied Japan with L in the first round, revealing the first upset in this Asian Cup. In the next second game, they defeated the West Asian giant Saudi Arabia who reached the Asian Cup final three times, and revealed the second upset. In the third group game, facing Syria, which is determined to qualify, although Syria scored a goal, but hesitantly Syria scored an own goal and the rhythm was chaotic. Jordan scored a wonderful goal with goalkeeper to striker, and won in the 2l reverse, but lost to Japan in the goal difference goal to rank second in the group stage.

The best player of this team is their goalkeeper Shafi. In the three group matches, whether facing the counterattack of Japan's luxurious offensive lineup or the unity of Syria, Shafi's world-class saves always save the team from danger again and again. This goalkeeper who has participated in the Asian Cup for the second time also helped Jordan maintain a record, that is, Jordan has never lost in a 120-minute game since participating in the Asian Cup.

They reached the quarterfinals of the 204 Asian Cup in the 204 Asian Cup. In the quarterfinals, Jordan tied with Japan in 120 minutes of game time, and finally lost to Japan in the penalty shootout. And that time, Japan was helpless in the penalty shootout. After both of the first two players lost the penalty shootout, the Japanese team fell behind Jordan in the penalty shootout score at 02, which was equivalent to standing on the edge of the cliff being eliminated. At this time, Japan actually asked to change the goal, and it was unbelievable that the referee actually agreed to change the goal. This action affected the mentality of the Jordanian players who participated in the Asian Cup for the first time, and eventually they lost to the Japanese team in the penalty shootout...

However, Shafei's performance in that penalty shootout was still very good.

He saved Yuji Nakazawa's penalty kick in the penalty shootout.

Now he will face a more luxurious and terrifying glory in this game than Japan's luxurious attack lineup combined.
Chapter completed!